November 2012- F&W, MVMCP & Smelling the Roses

[vikkii19]

Originally Posted by exwdwcm

Hi Vicki! Welcome!!! So glad to hear you liked that week last year. Yep, we are realistic. We might do MK on Saturday, but only at rope drop and might do the Family Magic Tour, which I think starts at 10, so we'd be part of a group and then leave right after that. I figured the crowds won't be bad that early and if they are, we are part of a tour, so it shouldn't affect us too much, since we aren't really doing attractions (and if we do, maybe we get front doored). Did you do F&W that last weekend?

Garden Grocer has always been great. The only thing I might check out is using the Personal Disney Shopper if she is cheaper, but I'll have to compare prices. Also, she will buy I think where you want- like wal-mart, so that the deals might be better, and therefore cheaper total. Plus, i think you can request more special items or brands that way. With GG, i think you are limited to what is on their site, which is a pretty good selection. I figured I would just check out my options to find the best deal. But GG has always been fabulous in terms of no problems, great service, etc.

Sorry your parents won't make it, but glad your in laws might! We just took my mother in law in 2010 (December early). She had a ball. It was her first time. She rarely gets to travel or leave OK/TX. So it was fun. My parents do travel a lot now that they are both retired. They did Hawaii last year and are booked for an Alaskan Cruise in August! Plus WDW in NOvember. We did the Smokey Mountains in June with them too. They love to travel! WE will have a great time!

We did F&W the very last Sunday (we only arrived on the Saturday afternoon, so it was the most logical choice) and started in Canada as soon as the booths opened at around 10:45am, by 2pm we were in Mexico and it was starting to get crazy. When we first started the booths had maybe 3 to 4 people in line, but once we got to Mexico there were at least 15 to 20 people in line. We ended up skipping the last 4 or 5 booths because there were just too many people. This year we're going earlier in the week, probably the Thursday afternoon so hopefully it won't be as busy.

[mousescrapper]

Ok I am caught up

Love that you are going back in the fall and taking your parents too ...I just know they will love BLT as much as we both do, can't wait till next yr when I take my parents there for the first time

Seems like a packed time to go and see a lot...but your a pro, I know you will come up w/ a great plan


So I can help w/ two of your Q's

Stroller, so we debated it for Naomi-Ruth for our Jan trip she turned 5 the end of Nov..so just a tad older at the time of travel than Will


But we figured we would need it half the time we were there. She did great and we loved not having to deal w/ parking it, etc....when we went to MK in the morning she walked it and when we went back in the evening after dinner (in the villa hear $$$ savings) we used the stroller

We used the stroller at EP since its just huge w/ a lot of walking but skipped it for a 3/4 day at the Studios

So I'd say you can probably manage a similar system

Haven't tried the personal shopper for groceries or anything yet...but I'd go that route for a gift delivery to your room vs the Disney florist...those prices are crazy and the selection is limited

Looking forward to more plans

[obxlover]

Originally Posted by exwdwcm

Thanks for the info, noting it now in my folder! So how did it fit in the car? That is my concern. Renting a wheelchair is easy enough- we can fit that, but a scooter too?

Thank you for joining and for the info. Good to know a child can fit nicely too. Plus, it is nice to have more storage on the scooter, right?

We have a Honda mini van and it fit perfectly in the back with one set of seats down, I'm not sure how well it would fit in a car .

The storage basket was great for holding camera bags, etc.

[tree320]

Love reading this and since some of our days overlap I can steal some of your plans.

[exwdwcm]

Originally Posted by vikkii19

We did F&W the very last Sunday (we only arrived on the Saturday afternoon, so it was the most logical choice) and started in Canada as soon as the booths opened at around 10:45am, by 2pm we were in Mexico and it was starting to get crazy. When we first started the booths had maybe 3 to 4 people in line, but once we got to Mexico there were at least 15 to 20 people in line. We ended up skipping the last 4 or 5 booths because there were just too many people. This year we're going earlier in the week, probably the Thursday afternoon so hopefully it won't be as busy.

Thank you so much! It sounds like if we start early, it should be manageable!

Originally Posted by mousescrapper

Ok I am caught up

Love that you are going back in the fall and taking your parents too ...I just know they will love BLT as much as we both do, can't wait till next yr when I take my parents there for the first time

Seems like a packed time to go and see a lot...but your a pro, I know you will come up w/ a great plan

So I can help w/ two of your Q's

Stroller, so we debated it for Naomi-Ruth for our Jan trip she turned 5 the end of Nov..so just a tad older at the time of travel than Will

But we figured we would need it half the time we were there. She did great and we loved not having to deal w/ parking it, etc....when we went to MK in the morning she walked it and when we went back in the evening after dinner (in the villa hear $$$ savings) we used the stroller

We used the stroller at EP since its just huge w/ a lot of walking but skipped it for a 3/4 day at the Studios

So I'd say you can probably manage a similar system

Haven't tried the personal shopper for groceries or anything yet...but I'd go that route for a gift delivery to your room vs the Disney florist...those prices are crazy and the selection is limited

Looking forward to more plans

Thank you for all the info!! I think we will plan to take the stroller and use in the evenings like you said. Yep, i need to figure out a cool gift for Will to do! I need to check out what she can put together for us.

Originally Posted by obxlover

We have a Honda mini van and it fit perfectly in the back with one set of seats down, I'm not sure how well it would fit in a car .

The storage basket was great for holding camera bags, etc.

Great- thank you so much. I think we will definitely be getting a mini van.

Originally Posted by tree320

Love reading this and since some of our days overlap I can steal some of your plans.

Yeah- LOL! feel free to steal anything you want!

[disney_dreamingmom]

Joining in! I'm so excited to finally be truly participating in all the fun here on the DIS. I've been randomly checking things out here for years (since our first trip in 2009) but this time around, I want to dive in, join the fun, and hear all about your plans. Our next trip is booked for the same week you're going, so I'm especially interested to hear what you have up your sleeve. I may get brave enough to try my own rookie trip report!
Regarding the stroller, our daughter had just turned 4 during our first visit, and we used the umbrella stroller pretty consistently but more out of convenience to stash all our stuff, etc. than out of necessity. My DD enjoyed taking a break in it but I think she could have easily done it without.
She was 5 on our next trip, and this time, we had a 7 month old, so she got bumped from the stroller and did great.... never complained and walked her little legs off. Hope this helps!

[jpmom97]

Love your plans so far!

When we went with my parents in 04' my mom had her own motorized wheel chair, it was so big, it took up a lot of the trunk on my dad's Explorer. She needed it at home though, no use in renting when she owned hers. But I would rent for sure and have it delivered to your hotel. My son also sat on her lap when he got tired, even though I had double stroller. He really loved it! My mom was also a diabetic, she had some good food choices at the parks. I am on HRT, I know how your mom feels, it makes me tired too. Some days I am so exhausted that I have to nap. I know it's hard to get for some but it just comes over you. Hopefully with all the fun of vacation it won't happen for your mom or me )

I am debating on a stroller for our next trip too. Even though my son will be 7, he is tiny for his age. I would love the freedom without it, to not have to come out of a ride and one of us go back for the stoller. I think I will pack it and bring it when we do the parks at night like someone else suggested. I hope during the day he will want to keep up with his brother and sister.

Can't wait to hear more plans!

[exwdwcm]

UPDATE

Hi everyone! Well I've been slowly tweaking our plans a little. I met with mom on Saturday night to go through them and make sure we are doing what they want to see too. Dad wants to eat at Sci Fi, so I've added that in. I originally had La Hacienda on the list too for Epcot at night, so we can try and catch Illuminations from the window. But I don't think their menu appeals to us all (and I've eaten there once). So we might try Via Napoli (I've eaten there 2x, but would be a first for them) or Chefs. I love Chefs and haven't eaten there in ages. We've done VN the last 2 trips. So have to figure that one out.

So here is the plan as it stands for now. Anyone want to bet on how often it will change?

We plan to try and fly in on Thursday afternoon/evening. We will stay in one of the values or maybe even a mod if we can get a good deal for one night. We will see. I am thinking POP or Art of Animation. We haven't stayed at a value yet at all, so I'd like to experience one. If DH wants to work that morning, I might have to try and find a later flight, but we will see. We probably won't have time to do much at all, I just see us flying in late, getting the rental car, and getting some fast food dinner at the food court before crashing.

Friday, November 9th
breakfast in room
Epcot at RD, F&W booths for lunch (hit at 10:45am)
break
DHS in evening
Dinner at Sci Fi

Saturday, November 10
Crystal Palace breakfast before MK opens (8am)
MK in morning
Family Magic Tour at 10am-12pm
fast food lunch (Cosmic Ray's or Pecos Bill)
break in room and swim
Dinner at JIKO at AKL

Sunday, November 11
breakfast in room
Epcot for RD, hit F&W booths for lunch at 10:45am
break
MK evening (closes at 7pm for MVMCP)
Ohana dinner (8pm or so)

Monday, November 12
snack in room
AK for EMH/RD
late breakfast at 10:45 at Tusker House
leave AK around 3-4pm- break in room
dinner at Be Our Guest in MK
beaches and cream dinner if not open yet

Tuesday, November 13
sleep in, breakfast in room
DTD for shopping
lunch at Paradiso 37 or Earle
break in room- nap before MVMCP
dinner at Contempo Cafe in CR
MK in evening for MVMCP

Wednesday, November 14
breakfast in room, sleep in
Hit Blizzard Beach at opening (10am)- parents sit this out
IF too cold for BB, we will probably do DHS or MK instead- or do Welcome Home Wednesday at 2pm at Boardwalk for DVC (never done this)
break in room
Epcot in evening
dinner at Via Napoli or Chefs De France

Thursday, November 15
snack in room
MK for RD for EMH at 8am
breakfast at Main St. Bakery (10am)
Pirate League or Barbershop at 11:30am
fast food lunch
Break in room
Evening in MK or DHS
fast food dinner
Top of World Lounge for WISHES?

Friday, November 16
breakfast in room
DHS for RD at 9am
break in room
Epcot in evening
Garden Grill dinner late (8pm)

Saturday, November 17- Departure Day!
snack in room
check bags at RAC, check out
Head to MK for RD at 9am
boat to Poly for 10:45am breakfast at Ohana
back to MK for a few hours
evening flight back to DFW

So that's the plan so far. I know my parents might not join us every time, but at least for meals.

I am sure this will change, but I based it on historical hours and EMH, so hoping I got those mostly right!

[WDWCPALUM03]

Last October we used Memories by Betsy to have a special basket made and delivered for my DD who was almost 3 at the time. I highly reccommend her. She can be found on Facebook, by googling the name, and there are a few posts here on theDis about her.

[khertz]

Looks like a good starter plan, but we all know how much those can change over the course of a PTR! I can't really help on the restaurant issue since I've never eaten at Chefs or Hacienda, but you know we just LOVED Via Napoli. From reviews I've read, sounds like you can't go wrong with Chefs or VN. I think Hacienda requires a certain taste that DH and I just don't have so I don't see us ever trying to eat there.

I too am hopeful that Be Our Guest will be open so we can possibly try there. I bet reservations will be a pain to try and get though, so we will see how that goes. I'm just so ready for all of the information to come out for our trip!! When will Be Our Guest be open? What will the park hours be? What nights are the parties? It's all making me so crazy! I'm ready to PLAN SOMETHING!!!

[mousescrapper]

The plans are coming along good

I love that you have the Family Magic Tour in your plans we loved that

[exwdwcm]

Originally Posted by disney_dreamingmom

Joining in! I'm so excited to finally be truly participating in all the fun here on the DIS. I've been randomly checking things out here for years (since our first trip in 2009) but this time around, I want to dive in, join the fun, and hear all about your plans. Our next trip is booked for the same week you're going, so I'm especially interested to hear what you have up your sleeve. I may get brave enough to try my own rookie trip report!
Regarding the stroller, our daughter had just turned 4 during our first visit, and we used the umbrella stroller pretty consistently but more out of convenience to stash all our stuff, etc. than out of necessity. My DD enjoyed taking a break in it but I think she could have easily done it without.
She was 5 on our next trip, and this time, we had a 7 month old, so she got bumped from the stroller and did great.... never complained and walked her little legs off. Hope this helps!

Welcome and so glad you jumped in! I've been on the boards since 1999 and was just a lurker for many many years! I'll definitely read along with your PTR!! I think we are going to do the stroller. At least take it and use it at night. that way he can rest if we are staying late for a parade or something. i think he'll do okay in the am without it. Thanks for the tips.

Originally Posted by jpmom97

Love your plans so far!

When we went with my parents in 04' my mom had her own motorized wheel chair, it was so big, it took up a lot of the trunk on my dad's Explorer. She needed it at home though, no use in renting when she owned hers. But I would rent for sure and have it delivered to your hotel. My son also sat on her lap when he got tired, even though I had double stroller. He really loved it! My mom was also a diabetic, she had some good food choices at the parks. I am on HRT, I know how your mom feels, it makes me tired too. Some days I am so exhausted that I have to nap. I know it's hard to get for some but it just comes over you. Hopefully with all the fun of vacation it won't happen for your mom or me )

I am debating on a stroller for our next trip too. Even though my son will be 7, he is tiny for his age. I would love the freedom without it, to not have to come out of a ride and one of us go back for the stoller. I think I will pack it and bring it when we do the parks at night like someone else suggested. I hope during the day he will want to keep up with his brother and sister.

Can't wait to hear more plans!

Thanks! Hopefully she won't be too tired, but we will take a break each day and we aren't afraid to split up or even just rest in the park on a bench either. I know, it is hard to decide- the freedom of not having it is great, but having it for storage is nice too. We just took Will to the zoo last weekend with no stroller. He did fine, but after 3 hours, he was asking to be carried and the kid is tall and heavy! We also made a mistake wearing his crocs, i think he has a hard time wearing them that long to walk. i think we will do the same, bring it in at night and try not using it during the day. We usually do park opening and break by 1 or 2pm.

Originally Posted by WDWCPALUM03

Last October we used Memories by Betsy to have a special basket made and delivered for my DD who was almost 3 at the time. I highly reccommend her. She can be found on Facebook, by googling the name, and there are a few posts here on theDis about her.

I've heard all about her, so i might have to look into it. She is much cheaper than the Disney Florist! Thanks,

Originally Posted by khertz

Looks like a good starter plan, but we all know how much those can change over the course of a PTR! I can't really help on the restaurant issue since I've never eaten at Chefs or Hacienda, but you know we just LOVED Via Napoli. From reviews I've read, sounds like you can't go wrong with Chefs or VN. I think Hacienda requires a certain taste that DH and I just don't have so I don't see us ever trying to eat there.

I too am hopeful that Be Our Guest will be open so we can possibly try there. I bet reservations will be a pain to try and get though, so we will see how that goes. I'm just so ready for all of the information to come out for our trip!! When will Be Our Guest be open? What will the park hours be? What nights are the parties? It's all making me so crazy! I'm ready to PLAN SOMETHING!!!

Yeah, we've scratched Hacienda for sure. I think like you, it just wasn't my parents taste. I know they will enjoy Via Napoli. So we are putting that on for sure! I know, the schedule is driving me crazy. I had hoped hours would be released today, but don't see them yet on the TA site.

Originally Posted by mousescrapper

The plans are coming along good

I love that you have the Family Magic Tour in your plans we loved that

Hey there- thanks for sticking around. We are excited to try the tour! I think it will be a lot of fun. Also excited to try the Sorcerers game too!

[exwdwcm]

So just a quick update. Life has been busy and crazy to say the least. My Uncle Charles passed away from pancreatic cancer and while in Houston for his funeral, my Grandpa fell at his nursing home. We missed my Uncle's funeral to drive back to Dallas (5 hours or so) to be with Grandpa. This was my mom's brother and dad. He never regained consciousness (he had Alzheimer's bad) and had a DNR, so he passed away just a week after his son, my Uncle. So it was a trying time.

Mix in being super busy at work- my coworker in Ohio that supports the same product as me being laid off and basically taking on her workload..........then becoming a travel agent with Love the Mouse travel and I am pooped. I finished my Disney College of Knowledge training and have several quotes out on packages and tickets. Waiting to book my first one, which might end up being our own tickets! lol! But I am having so much fun so far quoting Disney trips and helping them with their plans.

I was certain today would be the day, as last month it was March 16th that hours were released. That was a Friday. So maybe this Friday. Who knows. I will be checking every day though!!!! I am dying to confirm hours and EMH so I can finalize my plans. ADRs are only like 26 days away.

So here are a few more updates on the trip itself:

• Decided we will take stroller, but probably only use at night.
  
• We will for sure rent a wheelchair for mom.
• Debating if/when to rent a scooter for Dad- probably will do it on a case by case basis or they can take turns in the wheelchair.
• We compared the dining plan vs TIW. I think TIW is our choice. While the dining plan would be fun to add (at a cost), it would be too much food for us and we could actually save money with TIW. I ran all the numbers, what we would order etc. and it just isn't a savings for us if we added on the DP. So we will stick with TIW.
• As mentioned- we decided to switch Hacienda for Via Napoli instead.
  

Questions I still have:

• Schedule!!! I need it!
  
• EMH- i need it!
  
• Refillable mugs----so we had these last year and loved having them. I am a coke drinking fool. Well usually coke zero. I hate diet coke and diet drinks other than coke zero. I also hate bottled or canned coke- i like fountain drinks with ice. So there in lies my dilemma. Mom is the same way, love fountain with ice. So do we splurge on buying mugs? We will have a 2 bedroom with a full kitchen and plan to order some water and drinks for the room. We can always bring our own cups/mugs and use those in the room. But we loved going down to Contempo each day to get some soda or coffee for DH. So still trying to decide if we want to do the mugs or not. It was such a nice luxury last year. Since we have a rental car, we would usually fill up on our way out to the car, and then just leave the mugs in the car all day, grab them on our way back in and fill up again on the way to the room. It worked great.
  
• Rental car- need to find a mini van! I will be waiting until closer to the trip for this as my experience is prices go down a LOT the month and weeks leading up to the trip.
• Airfare- it's still crazy out there. We will just keep on waiting to book this. Hoping to get something under $330, which is what we paid last October. If I can find something under $300 today, I'll book it, but so far, nothing. We will pay more to fly direct- we already decided that. With mom and dad's health issues and a 4yo, it isn't worth trying to connect.
  
• Flying in on Thursday night, November 8th. So we are booked at BLT for Nov 9-17th- 8 nights. I would really love to come in on Thursday afternoon or evening. This way we get a full day on Friday to do Food and Wine in the am. My parents are retired. I could easily take off Thursday. But DH is the kicker. I have to convince him. He hates taking off too much time, even though they don't even have an official vacation policy and he hardly ever takes off (yeah he is one of those). His coworkers take off a ton. So i just need to convince him......even if he works that morning, to take off at noon so we could get an afternoon flight. If I could get him to take off the whole day, that would be awesome and we could do like a 10am or something flight and actually have time on Friday night to unpack, relax and maybe do a fun meal somewhere and enjoy the resort.
• Paradiso- so i have this on here still and just can't decide if we want to do that or not......we LOVE EoS. So we could just as easily do Earle!

[vikkii19]

Originally Posted by exwdwcm

So just a quick update. Life has been busy and crazy to say the least. My Uncle Charles passed away from pancreatic cancer and while in Houston for his funeral, my Grandpa fell at his nursing home. We missed my Uncle's funeral to drive back to Dallas (5 hours or so) to be with Grandpa. This was my mom's brother and dad. He never regained consciousness (he had Alzheimer's bad) and had a DNR, so he passed away just a week after his son, my Uncle. So it was a trying time.

Mix in being super busy at work- my coworker in Ohio that supports the same product as me being laid off and basically taking on her workload..........then becoming a travel agent with Love the Mouse travel and I am pooped. I finished my Disney College of Knowledge training and have several quotes out on packages and tickets. Waiting to book my first one, which might end up being our own tickets! lol! But I am having so much fun so far quoting Disney trips and helping them with their plans.
That was a Friday. So maybe this Friday. Who knows. I will be checking every day though!!!! I am dying to confirm hours and EMH so I can finalize my plans. ADRs are only like 26 days away.

So here are a few more updates on the trip itself:

• Decided we will take stroller, but probably only use at night.
  
• We will for sure rent a wheelchair for mom.
• Debating if/when to rent a scooter for Dad- probably will do it on a case by case basis or they can take turns in the wheelchair.
• We compared the dining plan vs TIW. I think TIW is our choice. While the dining plan would be fun to add (at a cost), it would be too much food for us and we could actually save money with TIW. I ran all the numbers, what we would order etc. and it just isn't a savings for us if we added on the DP. So we will stick with TIW.
• As mentioned- we decided to switch Hacienda for Via Napoli instead.
  

Questions I still have:

• Schedule!!! I need it!
  
• EMH- i need it!
  
• Refillable mugs----so we had these last year and loved having them. I am a coke drinking fool. Well usually coke zero. I hate diet coke and diet drinks other than coke zero. I also hate bottled or canned coke- i like fountain drinks with ice. So there in lies my dilemma. Mom is the same way, love fountain with ice. So do we splurge on buying mugs? We will have a 2 bedroom with a full kitchen and plan to order some water and drinks for the room. We can always bring our own cups/mugs and use those in the room. But we loved going down to Contempo each day to get some soda or coffee for DH. So still trying to decide if we want to do the mugs or not. It was such a nice luxury last year. Since we have a rental car, we would usually fill up on our way out to the car, and then just leave the mugs in the car all day, grab them on our way back in and fill up again on the way to the room. It worked great.
  
• Rental car- need to find a mini van! I will be waiting until closer to the trip for this as my experience is prices go down a LOT the month and weeks leading up to the trip.
• Airfare- it's still crazy out there. We will just keep on waiting to book this. Hoping to get something under $330, which is what we paid last October. If I can find something under $300 today, I'll book it, but so far, nothing. We will pay more to fly direct- we already decided that. With mom and dad's health issues and a 4yo, it isn't worth trying to connect.
  
• Flying in on Thursday night, November 8th. So we are booked at BLT for Nov 9-17th- 8 nights. I would really love to come in on Thursday afternoon or evening. This way we get a full day on Friday to do Food and Wine in the am. My parents are retired. I could easily take off Thursday. But DH is the kicker. I have to convince him. He hates taking off too much time, even though they don't even have an official vacation policy and he hardly ever takes off (yeah he is one of those). His coworkers take off a ton. So i just need to convince him......even if he works that morning, to take off at noon so we could get an afternoon flight. If I could get him to take off the whole day, that would be awesome and we could do like a 10am or something flight and actually have time on Friday night to unpack, relax and maybe do a fun meal somewhere and enjoy the resort.
• Paradiso- so i have this on here still and just can't decide if we want to do that or not......we LOVE EoS. So we could just as easily do Earle!

We were debating on TIW vs DDP and have decided on the DDP for this trip, but in the future we'll most likely be doing the TIW. I also debated flying out on Thursday, but decided against it since we have about a 7 hour drive to the airport, so we'll be driving on Thursday and hopefully getting a really early flight Friday morning.

On another note, I say splurge for the mugs. I don't think you'll regret it even if you have a full kitchen.

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Hey you! You need to catch up on this PTR!

I'm sorry to hear about your Grandpa and Uncle. Did you find flights yet?? I was waiting for SW but then found a great deal with United one day, so SW loses my money by holding out so long on flights!

I'm subbing, I don't know why, but I wasn't subbed!