Our 3rd Trip to WDW, Sept' 09, *TOC on Pg 1* *TR STARTED - CLICK ON THE LINK*

[disneygirlinnj]

fabulous adr's and times! congrats on getting everything you guys wanted!

 

[joelp]

As my DW said before, we decided to take our ticket options off (Park Hopper with Water Parks) and make them base tickets to save the $400 and upgrade to CBR from POP... Good move - I can (barely) understand why anyone would use park hoppers - Choose one park for the day and stick with it ...




9/15/09 - Day 1 - Travel Day

• Arrive in Orlando around 4:30pm
• Go to DTD for a little shopping
• Eat at T-Rex around 8pm

You may be pushing it a bit here on your arrival day after travelling from the West Coast - remember, you lose 3 (4?) hours with the time zones ... plus, you have a big and early Day 2 planned ...




9/16/09 - Day 2 - Magic Kingdom Day

• Breakfast at Crystal Palace, 8:15am
• Rope Drop

When you get into the MK (or any park) for an early breakfast, you will miss the opening ceremony and "rope drop" - so make sure to show up at those parks "later" on one of the other days ...





9/19/09 - Day 5 - Free Day
I'll be in the MK celebrating my birthday that night, so if you want to stop by and watch Spectromagic ...





9/22/09 - Day 8 - Free Day / MNSSHP

• Breakfast at Chef Mickey's, 8:05am
• CS meal somewhere
• Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern, 4:25pm
• MNSSHP!!
• Hallo-Wishes and Villian Show

This has the makings for another long day - followed by another early morning. I'd plan on a mid-day break to rest ...

Looks ... busy - and WONDERFUL!!!

Even though you have a bunch of "days off" - I would plan on taking afternoon breaks a few days. Those late night/early morning combos will get to you after awhile ...

But it looks like we won't be running into each other anytime ...

Consider touring the monorail resorts, AKL, and WL on your "off" days or when you're in the vicinity ... with 13 days (I am SO jealous!!) you'll have plenty of time ...

I make my ADRs tomorrow (assuming I can get in touch with my TA today ... )

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Your plans look great! Stinks to have to gert up at 4am to get those ADRS, doesn't it? I wonder if we can get the 12am time online?

I agree with Joel about the down time. It will still be hot there, so you don't want any crabby tired people on vacation! As for worry about your arrival day - no worries - we are on the good end of the time change going East. It feels early to us, and DTD is the perfect way to get that "Disney feeling" going on the first night.

Not to be a party poper,, but did you plan any time for homework for the kids?

 

[lisalonglash]

Way to go on getting your ADRs! Your schedule looks busy, but fun

 

[oregonmommyof2]

Looks ... busy - and WONDERFUL!!!

Even though you have a bunch of "days off" - I would plan on taking afternoon breaks a few days. Those late night/early morning combos will get to you after awhile ...

But it looks like we won't be running into each other anytime ...

Consider touring the monorail resorts, AKL, and WL on your "off" days or when you're in the vicinity ... with 13 days (I am SO jealous!!) you'll have plenty of time ...

I make my ADRs tomorrow (assuming I can get in touch with my TA today ... )

Our schedule looks very busy, but last year we never really stayed until park closing... usually after dinner we made our way out of the park, we always took rests in the middle of the day... We only have the shows at night listed for our own knowledge of what nights they are playing, we are not planning on going to all of them...

Your plans look great! Stinks to have to gert up at 4am to get those ADRS, doesn't it? I wonder if we can get the 12am time online?

I agree with Joel about the down time. It will still be hot there, so you don't want any crabby tired people on vacation! As for worry about your arrival day - no worries - we are on the good end of the time change going East. It feels early to us, and DTD is the perfect way to get that "Disney feeling" going on the first night.

Not to be a party poper,, but did you plan any time for homework for the kids?

Alec is the only one who will have homework, and for the most part the teacher has him just keep a journal of things we do during the day and he was to talk to CM's in the World Showcase and ask them things about their home country... Our school thinks vacation should be vacation and I had to really ask for anything in the way of homework... We also have 2 very long flights that will be used for homework, along with free time that we have planned...

Way to go on getting your ADRs! Your schedule looks busy, but fun

I am so relieved about getting the ADR's, I freaked out last night, I looked at my list of ADR's as I was inputting them into my PassPorter and realized we made the Crystal Palace for the 15th, not the 16th... Umm, we will be on the plane on the 16th... So Terry calls right then and was able to get the 16th at 8:15... Whew!!! Crisis averted!!!

I called this morning and made our reservation for the AAA Storytime... We are going on the 16th... Now we just need our Ohana breakfast for the 27th so I can call for that tomorrow...

 

[kenyadh]

Hello OregonMommy and OregonDaddy. Love, love, loving your pretrip report. Keep it coming!

 

[oregondaddyof2]

Hello OregonMommy and OregonDaddy. Love, love, loving your pretrip report. Keep it coming!

Welcome to our PTR... Glad you joined us...

 

[dallastxcpa]

I have one suggestion. On one of your AK days stay late and watch them put the Gorillas to bed. There is a whole process that is both very fascinating and very entertaining.

 

[jordanyosh]

T N T,

Congrats on getting all your ADRs!!!!

Your plans look great!

Nice going upgrading

If you've got any ??? about CBR, let me know.

 

[Colleen27]

I have one suggestion. On one of your AK days stay late and watch them put the Gorillas to bed. There is a whole process that is both very fascinating and very entertaining.

Oooh, tell me more about this! Where and when do they do it?

 

[oregondaddyof2]

I have one suggestion. On one of your AK days stay late and watch them put the Gorillas to bed. There is a whole process that is both very fascinating and very entertaining.

I will have to check into this... This does sound like fun to watch... Thanks for the info...

T N T,

Nice going upgrading

If you've got any ??? about CBR, let me know.

You know I will bud ... I am so looking forward to CBR you have no idea... So much better than Pop...

 

[oregonmommyof2]

T N T,

Congrats on getting all your ADRs!!!!

Your plans look great!

Nice going upgrading

If you've got any ??? about CBR, let me know.

Okay... You asked for it...

How are the buses at CBR?

Are the rooms noticibly larger than Pop rooms?

We got a preferred room cause we heard horror stories on how far the walk is from other sections, is it really that bad?

Have you seen any snakes???

How's the food?

How big is the fridge?? Can I fit a half gallon of milk and some bottled water and juice boxes in it?

Umm, I think that is about it for now....

 

[jordanyosh]

If you get a chance take a Sea Raycer out. It's pricey but so fun. The lake, Barefoot Bay, is quite large!

 

[oregonmommyof2]

If you get a chance take a Sea Raycer out. It's pricey but so fun. The lake, Barefoot Bay, is quite large!

We are planning on doing this... The kids are also set up with the Pirate Adventure cruise... They are pretty excited...

 

[jordanyosh]

Okay... You asked for it...

How are the buses at CBR?
The busses are a bit different than Pop where there is one stop per park and DTD. There are 5-6 stops at CBR located at each village or two. I don't believe you wait any longer than you would at Pop. It may seem like it, but I kinda just think hey, it's public transportation and it's "free" so I just go with the flow.
Are the rooms noticibly larger than Pop rooms?
I wouldn't say noticibly larger. The sink area is larger (two sinks)and the privacy curtain is a nice touch.

We got a preferred room cause we heard horror stories on how far the walk is from other sections, is it really that bad?
we were in Barbados which is one of the farther villages. We enjoyed the walk, but if you like getting drink refills in your mugs, it's far. Trinidad South is sooo far.
Have you seen any snakes???
not at CBR.
How's the food?
We enjoyed it, but I'm pretty easy to please. Remember, CBR is the oldest moderate/value on property and Pop is the newest so in terms of how things work, Pop may have a leg up on CBR, but not necessarily in terms of quality.
How big is the fridge?? Can I fit a half gallon of milk and some bottled water and juice boxes in it?
It's been awhile since I've stayed there, but we did have a frig. I THINK it would fit the stuff you listed....
Umm, I think that is about it for now....

Hope that helps

 

[jordanyosh]

We are planning on doing this... The kids are also set up with the Pirate Adventure cruise... They are pretty excited...

I'm pretty excited for you.

 

[oregondaddyof2]

I wanted to take a minute and post a picture of our camera equipment we will be taking with us... In the past 3 weeks, I have spent over $1000 on my dSLR on new lenses, filters, batteries, etc... For Father's Day, my kids each got me a new battery for my camera .. This will really come in handy for the long day at the parks!! My DW got me the monopod, a lens, and a filter... She is awesome!!


A good overview of the equipment including tripod and monopod aka "the stick with a string" (not including the Canon A560 that I am using to take these pictures)

A close up of the Panasonic HDD Camcorder that my DW found on sale at Best buy a few months ago...

A close up of the Olympus Water proof camera that we found on sale at Costco a few months ago including the floating wrist strap... This will be awesome for the pools and water parks!

And a close up of my baby... I bought this camera last year for our last trip, and got some really good pictures... i have been doing a lot of research on how to get better shots, and have bought a few more items for it, so I am hoping to get amazing shots this time...

 

[disneygirlinnj]

Ohhhh...drooooollll over the equipment!!! My stash only consists of 3 lenses, 2 batteries, a remote and a newly purchased tripod so far.

 

[oregondaddyof2]

Here are a few photos of our new clothes... My DW, as she has said, has a problem and likes to shop a lot ... This is only a fraction of the stuff we have gotten for this trip...

My Clothes...

DW Clothes...

DS Clothes...

DD Clothes...

And, DD had to have a new suitcase for this trip...

 

[oregondaddyof2]

Ohhhh...drooooollll over the equipment!!! My stash only consists of 3 lenses, 2 batteries, a remote and a newly purchased tripod so far.

I forgot... A few weeks ago, my awesome DW bought me a wireless remote just because she is so wonderful ... I have a total of 4 batteries now, and a battery grip which adds a vertical shutter, hold 2 batteries at a time, and makes it a lot easier to hold ...