From Certifiably Insane to Shockingly Lucid: 10/20 - TR Link Posted, We're Back!!!

[annnewjerz]

So I finally have an update!!

About two months ago, we were speaking to my brother in law about the fact that they (him and his boyfriend) were taking a trip to Florida and would be spending a day in Epcot, a day in DHS, and a day or two in Universal. They would not be going to the Magic Kingdom which I thought was craaaazy since my BIL had never been, but it was their trip so what could I do?? At this point, we were planning to be in Florida for MNSSHP on October 9th (our wedding anniversary) and thought nothing of it.

Fast forward to about a week ago, I was speaking to my brother in law and was getting updates about their trip---whether or not they had gotten tickets yet, what their dates were, etc. Well wouldn't ya know, they were arriving on October 16th, one day before our new arrival date!



They should go with us! My BIL has been to WDW once, but never to the Magic Kingdom. They were skipping it again this trip because according to him and his boyfriend, Magic Kingdom was for little kids. I know he would have so much fun if he just gave it a shot and so began the quest to convince them to go to MNSSHP with us.

I compiled pictures that I had asked for on the Photo Board, I got together the best YouTube videos of HalloWishes and the Boo To You parade---I got together pricing, laid out the details of when you could enter the park, what we would do while we were there, the candy, all of it!

.......now that the bait had been laid, I just to wait for a bite.

Well, yesterday that bite came! We are now officially a party of 4 going to MNSSHP on October 18th. We'll be meeting up with them at MK to go to the party at 4:00 and as soon as we enter, we'll try to get all of the best attractions done. I know my BIL is going to have a blast and I can't wait to see his face from the big drop at the end of Splash Mountain the first time he rides it.

Here's what we plan to do:

4:00 - 7:30pm
Enter the park and do whatever attractions we can in Adventureland/Frontierland/Liberty Square such as:
Splash Mountain
Pirates of the Caribbean
Haunted Mansion
Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road
Jungle Cruise

7:30 - 8:30pm
Grab dinner at Cosmic Ray's

8:30 - 11:00pm
Hang out on Main Street, stake out a spot for HalloWishes at 9:30 and the Boo To You parade at 10:30.

11:00 - 12:00am
Do some attractions in Tomorrowland/Fantasyland such as:
Mad Tea Party Tea Cups
Buzz Lightyear
It's a Small World
Peter Pan

So---that's the plan for now. We'll see how it goes.

Now we just need to think of something to dress up as.

Any suggestions??

 

[annnewjerz]

So today I indulged in a little online pre-trip shopping

I was at work taking a break from the DIS and happened to stumble across Banana Republic's website. I saw the words "FINAL SALE" which for anyone who knows me (which would be none of you really ) means trouble!

I ended up finding a few long cardigan shawl neck belted sweater deals that were originally $80, marked down to $20. Now---I know what a lot of you are thinking.............

"Well Ann, if it was on final clearance, that's because no one liked it enough to buy it."

Hmmmm, even if you're right, for $20 when I wear a sweater every day to my freezer of an office building, how could I go wrong? Regardless, I doubt I will use said sweaters for my trip in October since it'll probably still be upper 80's, and because of this, I won't be posting a picture in this PTR. Sorry!

So, after adding these to my shopping bag, I saw that they were offering free shipping on orders of $100 or more.

What's this? That included purchases from BR, GAP and Old Navy!

Let me preface this by saying that I have found the clothes at Old Navy to be extremely poor quality. Usually within a couple of months, the hem will come out of my skirts, there will be a hole in the armpit of virtually ever sweater I purchased, etc. So why would I continue to shop there, you ask? Because it's CHEAP with a capital C-H-E-A-P!

I'm one of those that mixes and matches. A $15 dress with $100 sandals, a $5 pair of flip flops with a $25 dress from Target with a $135 Juicy cardigan. So there are certain parts of my wardrobe that are literally disposable---there are flip flops that I got on $2 clearance that I have been known to use super glue on because they're so comfy....but all of those sale items make room for lots of more expensive sale items to be mixed in.

But back to the good stuff.

So I went onto the Old Navy website and started looking at their sale section and found some very cute things that I can wear to WDW in October, wear on the weekends here during the summer and probably just barely suck the life out of for our trip in December as well.

$17.99 each---throw these on with some spandex shorts underneath for modesty, perfect lightweight dress for WDW.

$19.99---got this one in white, although I'm not really sold on it, looks like it may be a little short and I can't very well throw on black bike shorts underneath without it being too noticable. Had to get to my $100 total thought

$9.99---hopefully this will be a good cardigan. Usually I don't have good experiences with Old Navy sweaters in particular and I'm hoping this is the exception to that rule.

$2.99---these are the last thing I ordered. I'm sure they won't be extremely comfy for walking around WDW, but I got them for using around the hotel room (hotel carpets = GROSS) and by the pool if we use it in October.

 

[annnewjerz]

So this post is about PINs. No, not the great kind that you find in your e-mail left by the Disney Fairy giving you 40% off and Free Dining all in one trip, the kind that you stick on a lanyard.

I recently took up pin collections and it's quite addictive. I've been trying to decide what pins (if any) I would take on my trip to WDW in October for MNSSHP. I don't think I should take all of them, since we'll only be going to the MK---so I think maybe I'll stick with my "spooky" pins, which would be Haunted Mansion.

Here are some of the ones I have collected so far that I'm thinking I'll bring:

My favorite.

There are more, but I'm just too lazy to look them all up on PinPics.

 

[annnewjerz]

Well folks, today was FINALLY my 90 day mark for our trip in October. And as many of you know, 90 days means ADRs!

My plan was to wake up at 5:30, get the computer started, pull up my reservation information and get to booking. Well, life threw me a curve ball and I ended up staying out until 1:30am playing "Catch Phrase" at a relative's house (yes, we are real party animals), so when my alarm went off at 5:30am this morning, my plans went out the window.

I went back to sleep until 8:00am and after a horrible dream where we booked the wrong dining plan, couldn't make any ADRs because I waited until too late in the day---I hastily signed onto my WDW account, pulled up my reservation information and got to booking.

I'm happy to say that I LOVED the online system. It was very easy, very fast and very awesome. Within about 5 minutes, I was all done with confirmation numbers in my e-mail and able to get another quick 30 minutes of sleep before the doggies woke me up.

Now I know what all two of you readers are thinking---"The suspense is killing me, what did you get?!"---and I hate to be the messenger for boring news, but it is exactly that.

After reading some of Carrie's (Lurkyloo) trip reports, seeing some pictures that her friends had taken at their lunch, and needing to pick some places that wouldn't take away too much park time, I decided on The Plaza Restaurant in the Magic Kingdom-------


--------for both of our ADRs.

So on October 17th at 6:00pm I'll be spending my birthday eating a delicious burger & fries, chocolate milkshake (made with chocolate icecream and chocolate syrup, which I have learned is the best blend for true chocolately goodness) and hopefully a free birthday cupcake. I'd really like it if I got to meet the Mayor, he seems like a hoot, but that'll just be the icing on the cake.

On October 18th at 5:00pm my party of four (Me, DH, DBIL and DBIL's boyfriend) will be eating delicious burgers & fries and chocolate milkshakes at The Plaza before attending MNSSHP. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. If I haven't seen an appearance by the Mayor yet, I hope I will get to this time.

The Plaza seemed like the perfect choice for a trip on a budget. Inexpensive, good food, in the park we will be visiting for each day, not too long a meal, right on Main Street so after we get out we can stake out our spots for the parade and fireworks if we feel so inclined.

I'm happy with my choice and I'm sure both trips will be highly enjoyable. I've heard nothing but good about The Plaza so far, so I'm not worried.

Only 3 more months and I'll be another year older in the happiest place on Earth!

 

[KathyRN137]

Fast forward to about a week ago, I was speaking to my brother in law and was getting updates about their trip---whether or not they had gotten tickets yet, what their dates were, etc. Well wouldn't ya know, they were arriving on October 16th, one day before our new arrival date!

They should go with us!

I compiled pictures that I had asked for on the Photo Board, I got together the best YouTube videos of HalloWishes and the Boo To You parade---I got together pricing, laid out the details of when you could enter the park, what we would do while we were there, the candy, all of it!

.......now that the bait had been laid, I just to wait for a bite.

Well, yesterday that bite came! We are now officially a party of 4 going to MNSSHP on October 18th!

Awesome! I love how you set the trap!

So this post is about PINs.
I recently took up pin collections and it's quite addictive. I've been trying to decide what pins (if any) I would take on my trip to WDW in October for MNSSHP. I don't think I should take all of them, since we'll only be going to the MK---so I think maybe I'll stick with my "spooky" pins, which would be Haunted Mansion.

Those HM pins are amazing! I love my pins, too...

Well folks, today was FINALLY my 90 day mark for our trip in October. And as many of you know, 90 days means ADRs!

I'm happy to say that I LOVED the online system. It was very easy, very fast and very awesome. Within about 5 minutes, I was all done with confirmation numbers in my e-mail and able to get another quick 30 minutes of sleep before the doggies woke me up.

That is so good to hear... I don't know why, but I'm a bit apprehensive about making my ADRs online. I'm glad you got what you wanted... who cares if its the same restaurant... it's your birthday so eat where you want to!!

It won't be long now!


Kathy

 

[annnewjerz]

Awesome! I love how you set the trap!




Those HM pins are amazing! I love my pins, too...




That is so good to hear... I don't know why, but I'm a bit apprehensive about making my ADRs online. I'm glad you got what you wanted... who cares if its the same restaurant... it's your birthday so eat where you want to!!

It won't be long now!


Kathy

Hi Kathy!

When do you get to make ADRs?? It should be coming up within the next week or so, right? I was apprehensive at first also. So worried it would be confusing, slow, hard to do.....something, but it wasn't any of those things! It was honestly one of the best bits of Disney planning I've done yet and I'm so happy to be done doing it for the first time.

I actually even did a "test" to see how hard my ADRs for our December trip will be. I went through in October (which I know, not really an accurate guage) and for the days that were open to be booked, I tried to get all of my ADRs on the day of the week and time that I would want them in December. I got ALL of them within 10 minutes of the ADR time I wanted---I'm so excited and hope it's that easy once my 90+10 for December comes along.

 

[annnewjerz]

So I have a bit of a predicament. As any of you readers know, when we go to The World in October, I am taking advantage of the "Get in Free on Your Birthday" promotion that they have going right now. As a result, we purchased DH a one-day base ticket so he could get into the parks with me.

My original plan was to go to the MK. It's my favorite park, I was able to get an ADR at The Plaza, I would get a chance to practice my photography in the MK for our December trip, the park is open until 11:00 (the latest of all the parks that day)---all in all it just seemed like the best choice.

Well today, a co-worker who is more of a Disney nut than I am came over and told me he thought we should do Epcot on my birthday since we'd be going MNSSHP the following day. The Food & Wine Fest is going on still I believe and he said since we had never been to the F&W Fest he would highly recommend it.

So I need opinions, what do I do? We have two Epcot days scheduled for our trip in December and there are only a handful of attractions that I would like to see there. The park closes at 9:00 but I would still have about 8 hours of park time to pass in a park that I don't think would really keep us entertained for 8 straight hours. BUT the Food & Wine Fest always looked like a lot of fun.

What would you all do? Magic Kingdom or Epcot for our one non-MNSSHP park day?

 

[WrightFamily06]

Just joining in here after the great camera advice you gave me over on WillowBelle's TR . I decided to check out your PTR 's and you have some great plans for this one , gonna eventually get over and checkout your December one also I would have picked the Wave for my Birthday meal but the Plaza also sounds like a nice choice I think you should spend a day at Epcot during this trip , that way you get to be at two parks not just one on your trip ! I couldn't go and just go to one park ! LOL By the way I also have a brother named Chris , what a small world . LOL Or a very popular name ! LOL Can't wait to hear more about your plans !

 

[scoot241]

I've never been to F&W or MNSSHP. If I were to choose just on the parks, I'd choose MK. But if F&W was involved, I might have to go check it out.

There's also plenty to photograph in EPCOT, if you want to look at it from that angle. There's Spaceship Earth, a giant ball I could see from Canada, another large golf ball object I could see through the thing in the lake in China (or was that Japan?). Oh, there's also a large ball you can see from Mexico. Strange thing about EPCOT, there's lots of large golf-ball like objects.

Seriously, I'm having a tough time choosing too. I think I would lean toward checking out F&W. If it turns out that it's something you don't really care for, you'll know you never have to make arrangements for it again.

Just my six cents (I know, more than you asked for).

 

[annnewjerz]

Just joining in here after the great camera advice you gave me over on WillowBelle's TR . I decided to check out your PTR 's and you have some great plans for this one , gonna eventually get over and checkout your December one also

Hi! Welcome!

I would have picked the Wave for my Birthday meal but the Plaza also sounds like a nice choice

I was leaning towards The Wave for my birthday meal (a little more special) but decided to skip it because we are on a budget. It was either The Wave for birthday dinner, or a one-day park pass for my DH to join me at a park of my choosing on my birthday. I think I picked the right one.

I've never been to F&W or MNSSHP. If I were to choose just on the parks, I'd choose MK. But if F&W was involved, I might have to go check it out.

There's also plenty to photograph in EPCOT, if you want to look at it from that angle. There's Spaceship Earth, a giant ball I could see from Canada, another large golf ball object I could see through the thing in the lake in China (or was that Japan?). Oh, there's also a large ball you can see from Mexico. Strange thing about EPCOT, there's lots of large golf-ball like objects.

Seriously, I'm having a tough time choosing too. I think I would lean toward checking out F&W. If it turns out that it's something you don't really care for, you'll know you never have to make arrangements for it again.

Just my six cents (I know, more than you asked for).

Thank you for the input. All six cents are appreciated! The Food part of Food & Wine Fest interests me, but DH and I are not really drinkers and while I am really looking forward to going to Epcot from a photographic standpoint, we will have two whole days there in December.

In the MK, there is lots to shoot along with a bunch of rides I enjoy----so I'm thinking if I go in October to MK and get some of the rides out of the way, I'll be more likely to really go at a relaxed pace around the MK during our December trip, if that makes any sense.

I'm confusing myself at this point!!

 

[WrightFamily06]

Hi! Welcome!

I was leaning towards The Wave for my birthday meal (a little more special) but decided to skip it because we are on a budget. It was either The Wave for birthday dinner, or a one-day park pass for my DH to join me at a park of my choosing on my birthday. I think I picked the right one. :thumbsup

Thanks so much

I totally agree with the more special part for the Wave but going with the Plaza for budget reasons make sense also ! Sounds like you made the right choice when it came down to it though especially if it meant DH getting a pass or not . LOL

 

[KathyRN137]

Hi Kathy!

When do you get to make ADRs?? It should be coming up within the next week or so, right? I was apprehensive at first also. So worried it would be confusing, slow, hard to do.....something, but it wasn't any of those things! It was honestly one of the best bits of Disney planning I've done yet and I'm so happy to be done doing it for the first time.

That's my only fear... that it might be s-l-o-w! Glad to hear of your good experience!

I make mine on August 1st!

Hi! Welcome!
In the MK, there is lots to shoot along with a bunch of rides I enjoy----so I'm thinking if I go in October to MK and get some of the rides out of the way, I'll be more likely to really go at a relaxed pace around the MK during our December trip, if that makes any sense.

I'm confusing myself at this point!!

That reasoning doesn't sound confusing to me. If you have another day at the MK you can really enjoy all the special party stuff at MNSSHP instead of feeling like you need to squeeze in a ton of rides.

Kathy

 

[annnewjerz]

So I have a little update for everyone!

I had been a little bummed last week about the December Free Dining offer. We had been in September 07 during free dining and while we still had a GREAT time, I was worried that with us doing the Deluxe DDP in December, if free dining was offered we may have trouble getting all of our ressies---even though we don't have anything crazy like Le Cellier or CRT.

Well I'm over it, a trip to The World in December is bound to be great, no matter what discounts are offered.

So with that being said, I decided to embark on making sure everything is in order for our October trip. I hadn't yet seen a Fall Room Only Discount code released and decided to pop onto Mousesavers.com to see if there were any and guess what? THERE WERE

Now we are only staying at a value in December, so it's really not much of a savings, but for this budget trip---every little bit helps!

With the 29% code for values, we are now paying $155-ish for 2 nights in a standard room at POP rather than the $201 we were paying before. This made DH happy, cause like I said, every little bit helps

 

[WrightFamily06]

Congrats on getting a discount on your room stay !
Everyone just loves a discount ! I know I do !

 

[annnewjerz]

Congrats on getting a discount on your room stay !
Everyone just loves a discount ! I know I do !

Looking for deals/sales and saving money in general is a hobby of mine. It has gotten to the point where DH is a little annoyed by it. The checking SW for cheaper flights everyday, the "I'm not buying this purse for $100! I can get it at TJ Maxx in 2 months for $40", the "Go to this gas station, it's .03 cheaper than the one across the street!!"

What can I say? I guess I just understand the value of a dollar. Scoring such good deals is what allowed us to take vacation this year, after all.

 

[Villainess]

Glad you were able to save some $. I feel the same way - go to Marshalls in a month and it will be there.

 

[annnewjerz]

I've been a very very bad girl---and did something so out of character for me.

As you guys know, our trip in December is our week-long not many expenses spared Disney trip. Because of this, our trip in October was on a strict budget and was just a quick trip to celebrate my birthday and go to MNSSHP.

Well, I couldn't shake the idea of upgrading to a Moderate. It was only $50 more than my original pre-room only code room at POP cost, and since we will be spending a good bit of time at the resort (a day and a halfish) I figured it might be nice to have a step-up from a value resort.

This is SO UNLIKE ME. Every trip we have taken, I've scouted out the cheapest hotel options and in 2007 when we went to Disney I was fine staying a whole week at the All-Star Resorts and now?? Now I couldn't even make myself stay at POP for two nights!

What's happening to me? I know that going to the Boardwalk this year is a bad idea. It has completely changed my view of where we should stay. Before I was of the mindset that I should stay at a value because it would just be a place to sleep---totally Disney commando! Now, I'm actually thinking about spending time at the resort we pick. I don't even know myself anymore.

So, with all of this in mind and some poking around on the Resorts Board I looked into which Moderate I would like best. It was between Port Orleans French Quarter and Coronado Springs. Both seemed like nice places for adults to stay.

The pros of POFQ were the food court (mmmmm, beignets) and the boat to DTD. The cons was the general theme of the resort---wasn't really into the drama masks, the look of the rooms that much or the dragon/lizard pool.

The pros of CSR were the renovated rooms, the queen beds, the fitness center and the Dig Site pool---but the food court and large resort size just seemed "meh."

So, after going back and forth, I decided on CSR. The larger resort size isn't of much issue since we are two healthy young adults, the food court isn't really an issue either since we will only need to find something for breakfast at the resort, after that we have plans for lunch/dinner elsewhere.

That was a very long winded way of saying........


WE UPGRADED TO CSR!

I'm hoping it'll be a nice surprise for DH. The other day I threw out a hypothetical "Would you be okay with a value, or would you like to upgrade?" and he said he was fine with a value---but I think if he CSR was only $50 out of our budget, he would have picked it in a heartbeat.

 

[scoot241]

I stayed at CSR in 2004 and it was wonderful. I think you'll really enjoy it. I found that the size of the resort made it very relaxing; everyone is spread out fairly well, and the main pool is not close to any of the rooms, so the noise from the pool won't be bothering anyone. It's a beautiful resort too and you should be able to get some nice pictures.

 

[KathyRN137]

This is SO UNLIKE ME. Every trip we have taken, I've scouted out the cheapest hotel options and in 2007 when we went to Disney I was fine staying a whole week at the All-Star Resorts and now?? Now I couldn't even make myself stay at POP for two nights!


What's happening to me?

You've simply caught a virus, dear.
Some call it "Resort Creep," others call it "Upgraditis!"

Congrats on CSR... I just know you'll love it!!


Kathy

 

[annnewjerz]

You've simply caught a virus, dear.
Some call it "Resort Creep," others call it "Upgraditis!"

Congrats on CSR... I just know you'll love it!!


Kathy

Oh no. This sounds bad. Is there any treatment? Will I ever be able to stay at a Value again?!

DH will not be thrilled to hear about it. The most recent expensive condition I've contracted is called "NAS" or "Nikon Acquisition Syndrome"---it causes spontaneous camera lens purchases, excessive drooling at tripods, etc. and is veeeery costly.