NEWS FLASH: You must be 4YO to go to Disney! Oct '11 PTR, 10/24 WE'RE BACK! p 18

[Nermel9]

If they offer free dining for your dates, I say definitely upgrade to a mod! If it was a few hundred $$ I'd say don't bother, but the price increase really isn't that much, so why not? And if they don't offer it, ASMo sounds awesome, the Toy Story section sounds great!

[exwdwcm]

crossing my fingers for FD for you!

[Pixiedust530]

Just a little Disney Magic to share today!

I've been so involved in my Disney planning in recent weeks that wayne (my DBF) is getting tired of hearing about it all. We will be talking about something completely unrelated and somehow I will find a way to bring Disney into the conversation. I've been telling him over and over that "All Roads Lead to Disney"!!

Anyway, we live in KY so the Kentucky Derby is a HUGE event for us every year. I am not much of a gambler but I always place a couple bets on the KY Derby....it's just tradition. I read the names of all 19 horses in the race to Caden and he picked "Stay Thirsty" and "Pants on Fire" so I boxed those 2 horses in an Exacta. I ALWAYS pick my horses strictly on their name, and while I though Pants on Fire was a cute name, Caden had already picked it. Not to mention there was a much more obvious choice for me..... Animal Kingdom! Yep, the horses name is Animal Kingdom. How could I not bet a horse with a Disney name? I decided to bet $2 Across the Board (Win, Place and Show) on Animal Kingdom. He was a longshot, but so what?

I was at a Derby party, watching the race, and the 16 horse crossed the line and NO ONE had any idea who the horse was. The lightbulb came on and I was like "Hey, that was Animal Kingdom, that was MY horse!" The official results and payouts were posted, and I won $76.40....on a $6 bet! WooooHoooo! I would expect nothing less from a Disney themed horse! So now I have a little extra cash to put back for our trip!



Isn't he a beautiful horse?

[exwdwcm]

LOl, i bet many a dis'er had bet on that horse too simply by the name. so funny, isn't it! congrats on the win!!! more disney spending money, right?

and too funny on always bringing up disney or everything relating to disney. my sis and I are the same way. We can be at the mall in a bathroom and hear the music playing int here and say, hey, this sounds like disney music in the bathroom at the parks or something. we relate everything back to disney!

[-Hope-]

Awesome!

[mousescrapper]

Originally Posted by Pixiedust530

I was at a Derby party, watching the race, and the 16 horse crossed the line and NO ONE had any idea who the horse was. The lightbulb came on and I was like "Hey, that was Animal Kingdom, that was MY horse!" The official results and payouts were posted, and I won $76.40....on a $6 bet! WooooHoooo! I would expect nothing less from a Disney themed horse! So now I have a little extra cash to put back for our trip!

that is beyond awesome...YAY for you...my brother was there and I am sure he had txted me to pick a horse I would have done the same thing

[stephielela]

woo hoo! Way to go to follow your instincts! It's always nice to have a few unexpected dollars for your trip!

[Twoboysnmygirl]

How cool is THAT!!!!!! All roads DO lead to Disney.

[Tink2Day]

Originally Posted by Pixiedust530

Just a little Disney Magic to share today!

I've been so involved in my Disney planning in recent weeks that wayne (my DBF) is getting tired of hearing about it all. We will be talking about something completely unrelated and somehow I will find a way to bring Disney into the conversation. I've been telling him over and over that "All Roads Lead to Disney"!!

Anyway, we live in KY so the Kentucky Derby is a HUGE event for us every year. I am not much of a gambler but I always place a couple bets on the KY Derby....it's just tradition. I read the names of all 19 horses in the race to Caden and he picked "Stay Thirsty" and "Pants on Fire" so I boxed those 2 horses in an Exacta. I ALWAYS pick my horses strictly on their name, and while I though Pants on Fire was a cute name, Caden had already picked it. Not to mention there was a much more obvious choice for me..... Animal Kingdom! Yep, the horses name is Animal Kingdom. How could I not bet a horse with a Disney name? I decided to bet $2 Across the Board (Win, Place and Show) on Animal Kingdom. He was a longshot, but so what?

I was at a Derby party, watching the race, and the 16 horse crossed the line and NO ONE had any idea who the horse was. The lightbulb came on and I was like "Hey, that was Animal Kingdom, that was MY horse!" The official results and payouts were posted, and I won $76.40....on a $6 bet! WooooHoooo! I would expect nothing less from a Disney themed horse! So now I have a little extra cash to put back for our trip!



Isn't he a beautiful horse?

Congrats! We had Mucho Macho Man. My dear friend didn't have one in the Derby this year so I was free to bet on other horses

You won't get those odds on him in the Preakness Saturday. Maybe another longshot and you can really have a bundle for the Disney trip!

[Pixiedust530]

I haven't posted anything trip-related in a while so I thought maybe I should start detailing our day to day plans. I'm sure as I start writing it all out I will come up with some questions. I would love any and all feedback.

Day 1 - Travel/Arrival Day Saturday, October 15

I am so excited about October 15, but I guess I should technically be excited about Friday, October 14. Technically we will be departing on Friday night.

Wayne and I will both be working on Friday. I get off around 3:00pm and will come home and start packing the car. I know me...I will probably have the suitcases packed a week in advance...HAHA! Wayne doesn't get off until 4:30 and he will pick Caden up from after school care and head home. We will have to take one dog to the kennel, one dog to the next door neighbors house and 1 dog to the neighbor down the street. At this point Caden will still have NO idea about the trip. We will have a late dinner (7:00ish) and then I will SURPRISE Caden! (I'm still working out all the details so you will all have to wait a tad longer for all the specifics ) Once Caden has been surprised, we will make his nightly phone call to his daddy, let him share the excitement and then we'll hit the road. My plan is to pull out of the driveway promptly at 9:00pm. Caden's normal bedtime is 8:00pm so I'm hoping that by 10 or 10:30 the excitement will start to wear off and he will fall asleep. Fingers crossed on this one!

We will drive straight through ALL night. We'll stop for breakfast around 7am at either a Cracker Barrel or IHOP. It just depends on what is nearby when we are all awake and hungry.



Depending on how many stops we make (which I am hoping won't be much more than gas since everyone should be sleeping the majority of the trip), how long breakfast takes, and if we encounter any construction or traffic I am hoping to arrive in Disney sometime around noon. I'm not sure who will be more excited to see this:



We'll arrive at All-Star Movies and check-in. It would be nice if our room was ready, but I will hope for the best and plan for the worst. I know Caden will be antsy and ready to let out some energy, so if the room isn't ready we will plan to head to the pool and enjoy the sunshine of beautiful Florida!

Once the room is ready we'll get settled in, unpack, shower and relax for a bit. I might even try to grab a quick nap! My grandparents are flying and their flight arrives at MCO at 3:20pm. They'll be taking Magical Express and I am hoping they arrive at the resort by 5:30. Since we want to get an early start the next morning and I am sure we will all be exhausted from the traveling (especially me since I will do most if not all of the driving) I wanted to plan something fun but low-key and early for our first night. I thought that Caden would be anxious to experience Disney World, so we have 6:45 reservations for Chef Mickey's.



As we are leaving the resort to go to Chef Mickey's, Wayne is going to "forget" something in the room and go back to set up a Welcome Package for Caden. I already have a Toy Story bucket that I plan to fill with all sorts of goodies for him to use on the trip. Some of the items I have already picked up (or will pick up soon): Disney beach towel, Disney sunglasses, autograph book, light up spinning Mickey head, Cars beach ball, glow sticks, and a Vinylmation. I couldn't wait until October to see which Vinylmation Caden got so I was a bad Mommy and opened it and then resealed the box! Since we are going in October I chose to go with the Villians series. He got Kaa from the Jungle Book! It's REALLY cool!



I would love some more ideas of things to include in the Welcome Package! PLEASE HELP!

After dinner at Chef Mickey's we'll be heading straight back to the resort to get tucked in for an "early" night (it will still be later than Caden's normal bedtime). I hope Caden will be asleep by 9 or 9:30 at the latest and Wayne and I will be to sleep by 10 or 10:30. I know I for one will be EXHAUSTED and I want to be well rested for our next day....which includes Rope Drop!

[PEANUT1]

We did a welcome package for our girls in November. After check in...I ran up to the room with my bag while my husband took the girls to look around the hotel. When I was done, I met them and we headed to our room together.

I got some of the mickey head paint chips from home depot in all different colors and cut out the heads.....decorated the door with them with their names and had mickey heads on the floor in the room leading to the surprise...WHen they found the treats they screamed they were so excited. I was so happy that I got the moment on video. They thought the mickey heads on the floor were mickey's footprints.

I got my girls t shirts, disney water bottles (the metal ones), journals, princess pens, light up necklaces, mickey lolly pops, phineus and ferb stuffed animals and santa hats (cause we were doing the christmas party).

I think I will do it again this trip..it was so fun. this time maybe it will be from tinkerbell

[Pixiedust530]

Originally Posted by exwdwcm

I remember those sticker books in the 80s- i love them and collected stickers- remember the good old scratch and stiff stickers? those were my favorite!

We will be at 'Ohana at the same time, well same night- our ressie is for 5pm i think since we are doing MNSSHP that night. congrats on getting all the ADRs you wanted.

lol at your disney math! i hope something good comes out for you that you can utilize to upgrade to CBR. the only bad thing i have heard about those rooms is the mattress issue, but you've already heard it too- otherwise, they look fantastic to me and i would definitely pay an extra $113 to upgrade to CBR from a value!

I LOVED the scratch and sniff stickers. I remember I had a sticker that was Michael Jackson's white glove. It was white and soft to the touch and it had silver sequins on it. LOL....oh how I miss the 80's!

I am looking forward to 'Ohana...I have heard it is wonderful!

The more I think about it the more I think I might just ppocket any savings and stay at All Star Movies. IDK?

Originally Posted by Twoboysnmygirl

I say go for it if it's such a small amount more! FD is now released for September, and I'm not sure if they will release for October, BUT, you can almost always find a way to get a room discount. Do you ever get pins emailed to you? If you don't, go to the WDW site and price (AND SAVE) a few vacations in your dates range, hopefully you will get on their email list!

I have gotten a few pins in the mail but NEVER by e-mail. I am signed up everywhere and am always pricing and saving vacations. We'll see! I'm not sure if we will switch to CBR or not...part of me wants to just pocket the savings.

Originally Posted by 3princesses+aprince

Well, with free dining being released for September, you have a good chance of getting it in October. Now you just have to wait!

I'm with you on the kids going alone on the cruise. Even though, i'm sure they'll be fine, they do those cruises all the time. NOPE! There's always those freak accidents....

I've heard that FD for Oct usually comes out in July or August. We'll see!

Yeah...he won't be going on the Pirate Cruise this time....of coursse I don't really have anywhere to fit it in anyway so it's a moot point.

Originally Posted by Nermel9

If they offer free dining for your dates, I say definitely upgrade to a mod! If it was a few hundred $$ I'd say don't bother, but the price increase really isn't that much, so why not? And if they don't offer it, ASMo sounds awesome, the Toy Story section sounds great!

I'm leaning more towards staying at All Star. I actually dreamed last night that we were at All Star Movies checking in and we got a Toy Story room! WooooHooooo!

Originally Posted by exwdwcm

crossing my fingers for FD for you!

Thanks... I hope so too!

[Pixiedust530]

Originally Posted by PEANUT1

We did a welcome package for our girls in November. After check in...I ran up to the room with my bag while my husband took the girls to look around the hotel. When I was done, I met them and we headed to our room together.

I got some of the mickey head paint chips from home depot in all different colors and cut out the heads.....decorated the door with them with their names and had mickey heads on the floor in the room leading to the surprise...WHen they found the treats they screamed they were so excited. I was so happy that I got the moment on video. They thought the mickey heads on the floor were mickey's footprints.

I got my girls t shirts, disney water bottles (the metal ones), journals, princess pens, light up necklaces, mickey lolly pops, phineus and ferb stuffed animals and santa hats (cause we were doing the christmas party).

I think I will do it again this trip..it was so fun. this time maybe it will be from tinkerbell

What a great idea getting the Mickey Head paint chips at Home Depot. I think I might have to go start nabbing some of those! Ooooooh....those would be good for scrapbooking too!

I hadn't even thought about getting that on video but I will have to be sure to remember that. The water bottle sound like a great idea....I'll probably pick one of those up! Thanks!

[bellebookworm9]

Your PTR name caught my eye on the October 2011 thread, so here I am! Your plans look really good so far.

For your MK list, I really highly recommend Splash Mountain. It's tied with BTMRR as one of my favorite rides in the park and I don't see it on your list. I don't think it will be a big loss if you miss the Tiki Room. I know they are updating it (or would it be retrograding it? ) to make it more like the original but I still think it's annoying.

Epcot: I used to feel the same way about Epcot at age 15...but I didn't get to go on Soarin' or truly explore the park until last year. Now it's my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE! There's so much to see and do. I found Maelstrom and the Gran Fiesta tour to be weird and boring. In the Seas with Nemo and Friends, take some time to explore the aquariums, they are awesome and an unexpected hit with us! Yes, you MUST MUST MUST see IllumiNations. It's part of the reason Epcot's my favorite. I've been listening to the soundtrack for three years at least once a week and it never gets old. It's just amazing. With World Showcase, I don't know how Caden is with sitting through shows, so I might skip the ones in China, France, and Canada (though personally I love the France one because it has an amazing sondtrack). I highly recommend the American Adventure show. In each pavilion just look for some of the performers, and almost all of the countries (Mexico, China, Germany, Morocco, France, UK) have characters out at some point.

DHS: Backlot Tour and Great Movie Ride are not must dos for me anymore. I've done each once, on alternating trips, and I can do without them. Backlot is cool if you're into props from movies, and GMR is cool id you're into old movies from the 80s and earlier. I also really like the Beauty and the Beast show, it truly is spectacular, but with a 4 year old boy I can understand why it might not be at the top of your to do list.

AK: Festival of the Lion King is an absolute must do for my family now. It's one of the reasons I was finally able to convince my mom to go see The Lion King stage show when it comes to Buffalo in October. Finding Nemo: is really good too, but FotLK is just amazing.

For the possible free dining deal, I'm pretty sure it's just the Values that are automatic QSDP, I think Mods are DDP no matter what, so you wouldn't have to pay for the upgrade. As for the Pirate rooms, I'm with you: I think CBR is a beautiful resort but a little on the large side, and those beds seem kind of small, I completely forgot about the 4" mattress deal. My friends and I are entering to win a trip on Facebook and a CBR Pirate room is one of the choices. I was warning my friend about it but she was just like, "YOU GET TO SLEEP IN A SHIP! COME ON!"

Meals: In DHS I recommend Studio Catering Co. We had a really good sandwich there. Of course, I know Starring Rolls is also highly ranked what with their ginormous sandwiches and epic dessert options. DTD: Earl of Sandwich is great! I also recommend Goofy's Candy Company for dessert/sweet snacks. Ohana was really good if a little expensive. Crystal Palace is good no matter what meal you go for. I like Columbia Harbour House or Cosmic Ray's for MK CS.

Those are all my tips/advice! I hope I didn't repeat others too much or get too annoying lol. I can't wait to read more.

[Nermel9]

Arrival Day looks great! I hope your room is ready when you arrive, but if not, hanging out by the pool sounds like fun! I think Chef Mickey's is a great choice to eat your first night!

The welcome package sounds adorable! The only thing I can think of is maybe a Disney coloring book of some type? It seems like you have a lot of fun things in there already!

LOL I can't believe you opened the Vinylmation!