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

[mrsksomeday]

This picture is fantastic!! His sponsor should buy it from you and use it for something!

 

[oregonmommyof2]

Terry bought me Wii Active last night! He surprised me with it... I have the Wii Fit and like it okay but it doesn't have a lot of activities that I get into doing... I also have the Gold's Gym Cardio Workout for the Wii, that one is shape boxing and I love it... But I needed something with more things than just that... So, we will see how I do on my 30 day challenge... Hopefully I will drop a little bit of weight before we go to Disney...

 

[jordanyosh]

Terry bought me Wii Active last night! He surprised me with it... I have the Wii Fit and like it okay but it doesn't have a lot of activities that I get into doing... I also have the Gold's Gym Cardio Workout for the Wii, that one is shape boxing and I love it... But I needed something with more things than just that... So, we will see how I do on my 30 day challenge... Hopefully I will drop a little bit of weight before we go to Disney...

Tell Terry I need some new clothes......a new laptop and a new Ipod.....

Congrats on the gift.

 

[winkers]

Nice farmers tan! Are you showing it off or trying to get rid of it?

I can laugh because I'm so white it just shows up as a blur on film.

 

[oregondaddyof2]

I did it just for you Winkers...


And a little for Jordan too

 

[winkers]

I did it just for you Winkers...


And a little for Jordan too

I'm honored.

 

[oregonmommyof2]

Tell Terry I need some new clothes......a new laptop and a new Ipod.....

Congrats on the gift.

Wanna hear something funny???

Last year before our trip... He bought me a new laptop, a new Ipod and some new clothes...

This year we bought the new underwater camera, a new hard drive camcorder, new clothes again... And all of his camera junk...

pretty soon we are gonna run out of things to buy...

 

[oregonmommyof2]

Okay, so I did the Wii Active last night and again this morning... I am doing the 30 day challenge... It is working out 5 days a week to a pre-determined workout... Each one adds something new and changes the order of how you do things so you don't get bored with it... I must say, I woke up this morning feeling it in my muscles, but not super painful like when I got the Gold's Gym Boxing, I was having fun so I played for about 3 hours straight and was in tears for 2 days after...

We have 8 weeks until we leave so I am going to really work hard and see if by using this Wii Active in the mornings and like 20 minutes of Boxing at night, and eating better, if I can drop some weight before the trip...

So, if you see me on here in the morning, yell at me to get off my big butt and put down the cheetos and go work out!

Jordan, if you could dress up like this...... and send me a video that would be great... Thanks bud...

 

[Porturican]

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... We both felt that we could just enjoy full days in the parks rather than wasting the time to hop to other parks, and I am the only one in the group that likes the water parks... Last year when we bought the hopper option, we jumped parks 2 times... Totally not worth it.. I have the parades and shows listed that will be playing ont he days we are at the parks... We want to hit most of them, cause i want to make sure I get good video and pictures, and like anything, the more chances i have, the better chance I have at getting good shots... We may skip a couple of them though if we are busy and have already gotten good pics...

Here is the schedule we have laid out now that our ADR's are secured...

9/15/09 - Day 1 - Travel Day

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

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

• Breakfast at Crystal Palace, 8:15am
• Rope Drop
• Snack Credits for Lunch
• Parade at 3:00pm
• AAA Storytime
• CS at Cosmic Rays for Dinner
• Wishes at 8:00pm

9/17/09 - Day 3 - Epcot Day

• Eat in the room
• CS somewhere in World Showcase for lunch
• Dinner at Le Cellier , 5:45pm
• Illuminations at 9:00pm

9/18/09 - Day 4 - Animal Kingdom Day

• Breakfast at Tusker House, 8:00am
• Rope Drop
• Snack credits for Lunch
• Parade at 3:45pm
• CS Dinner at Flame Tree

9/19/09 - Day 5 - Free Day

• Eat in the room
• CS somewhere at DTD, most likely Earl of Sandwich
• Dinner at Planet Hollywood, 6:15pm

9/20/09 - Day 6 - Disney Hollywood Studios Day

• Breakfast at Cape May Cafe, 8:00am
• Snack Credits for Lunch
• Parade at 3:00pm
• Dinner at 50's Prime Time, 5:05pm
• Fantasmic at 8:00pm

9/21/09 - Day 7 - Epcot Day

• Breakfast at CBR
• Snack Credits for Lunch
• Dinner at Garden Grill, 5:15pm
• Illuminations at 9:00pm

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

9/23/09 - Day 9 - Magic Kingdom Day

• Breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table , 8:30am
• Snack Credits for Lunch
• Parade at 3:00pm
• Dinner at Ohana's, 5:30pm
• Wishes at 8:00pm

9/24/09 - Day 10 - Epcot Day

• Breakfast at Akurshus , 8:05am
• Rope Drop
• Snack Credits for Lunch
• CS Somewhere in the World Showcase for Dinner
• Illuminations at 9:00pm

9/25/09 - Day 11 - Animal Kingdom Day

• Eat in the room
• Picnic in the Park for Lunch
• Dinner at Rain Forest Cafe, 4:00pm

9/26/09 - Day 12 - Magic Kingdom Day

• Breakfast at Ohana's , 8:00am
• Snack Credits for Lunch
• Parade at 3:00pm
• CS at Cosmic Ray's for Dinner
• Spectromagic at 8:00pm
• Wishes at 9:00pm

9/27/09 - Day 13 - Disney Hollywood Studios Day

• Eat in the room
• CS at Pizza Planet
• Parade at 3:00pm
• Dinner at Big River Grill
• Enjoy a night at the Boardwalk

9/28/09 - Day 14 - Travel Day

• Eat in the room while packing
• Go to DTD for the last time
• CS at Earl of Sandwich
• Leave Orlando Airport at around 4:30pm

Totals

• Magic Kingdom - 3 Full Days + MNSSHP
• Epcot - 3 Full Days
• Hollywood Studios - 2 Full Days
• Animal Kingdom - 2 Full Days
• Free Days - 3 half days and 1 Full Day

Very cool...i just started to read your pre trip post and love it so far we will be there during your stay also (9/19-9/25) at ASMU and its our 1st WDW trip ever! Have done Disneyland for hte past 10 yrs and always dreamed of coming to WDW, now thats a reality! I am already trying to figure out how to do a cruise & WDW next year and hopefully free dining again (if they offer it) and I havent even been there for my 1st trip yet!
ANyway maybe I'll see ya guys in HS as I will be there also on the 20th, my son & I are eating at 50's cafe at 2:30. We are thinking of doing Blizzard BEach either the 22nd or 24th not sure yet but my son n nephew cant wait...me too my sister probably will pass. Well from one west coaster to another have a great trip to you and your family and I will keep on reading you and your wifes posts!

 

[Porturican]

Okay to update on my stress list... Things are moving right along...

1. Done
2. Done
3. Not really stressing over it cause the ocean seems very inactive at this point, just kinda hoping it isn't the calm before the storm...
4. Still need to plan his birthday party, but have to change the date to accommodate Terry's work schedule...
5. Not too worried about this anymore cause the dogs totally love Jordan, and he plays with them and will let them cuddle with him, they will be just fine...
6. This one will start halfway through August...

I got through Terry's birthday just fine, had 2 parties...

Today I purchased Terry's airfare for August 3rd coming home the 6th to go to Las Vegas to see his aunt... She is very excited to have him come visit and help do somethings that she cannot do on her own...

I think I am doing very well on the stressing front... I don't think I will stress too bad on the hurricanes, worst case Terry has 3 weeks of in December and we will just go then...

I admire all your organization...so I really want to start packing do you think its too early? 1st trip to WDW in 60 days!

P.S. I am really worried about Hurricanes too

 

[oregondaddyof2]

Very cool...i just started to read your pre trip post and love it so far we will be there during your stay also (9/19-9/25) at ASMU and its our 1st WDW trip ever! Have done Disneyland for hte past 10 yrs and always dreamed of coming to WDW, now thats a reality! I am already trying to figure out how to do a cruise & WDW next year and hopefully free dining again (if they offer it) and I havent even been there for my 1st trip yet!
ANyway maybe I'll see ya guys in HS as I will be there also on the 20th, my son & I are eating at 50's cafe at 2:30. We are thinking of doing Blizzard BEach either the 22nd or 24th not sure yet but my son n nephew cant wait...me too my sister probably will pass. Well from one west coaster to another have a great trip to you and your family and I will keep on reading you and your wifes posts!

Welcome to our PTR... We are glad you stopped by... You are going to love WDW!! It is totally different than DL... There is so much to see, and so much to do... If you wanna see some pictures you can click on my Flickr link in my signature and follow it to Travel/Disney... I have last years trip pictures in there from each park... Your son & nephew are gonna LOVE Blizzard Beach ... That is my favorite of the 2 water parks... If you have any questions, let us know... Again, welcome

 

[oregondaddyof2]

so I really want to start packing do you think its too early? 1st trip to WDW in 60 days!

You are asking the wrong person... When we booked our trip in February, I had to pull the suitcases out and my DW began packing then ... She did a dry run and packed everything to see how many suitcases she needs... She has done this at least a dozen times over the past few months, so in other words, it is not too early Preperation is a good thing...

P.S. I am really worried about Hurricanes too

I don't think you have anything to worry about... This year is a lot more calm on the water than last year... My wife has done a bunch of research, and she found that El Nino is forming this year, and that means a lot calmer Atlantic Ocean and less hurricanes We should be goood to go this year...

 

[Porturican]

Okay so Disney just loves to make me crazy... Online ADR's rolled out today... I make my ADR's in the morning... Now we booked through our amazing travel agent who we love, but in doing that we made it so we couldn't get the online 90+10 rule to work... But I called her and she thinks she got to the bottom of it and I will be fine when the time comes... Otherwise it will be the phone for me at 4 AM...

I number crunched and bit my fingernails.... Called Disney a total of 4 times today... Okay fine 6 times... Using the PIN code and staying at AKL would save us 1300... Free dining saves us 1700...

I think we are looking at Caribbean Beach Resort... We have never stayed at a moderate so this will be new... We are debating whether to get a preferred room or not... It will cost an additional 365 for the preferred room...

We are also looking at our ticket choices because in 2008 we only park hopped twice and the kids went to the water park once, I went once only to drop off the water proof camera... Terry loves the water park, but we can add the water park option to his ticket when we get there... We will have the funds to be able to upgrade all of us if we decide we want to but we are just thinking that it is a waste of money since we don't really use the options...

I will be back as soon as our ADR's have been made, hopefully we will snag some good ones...

What is a pin code?

Also since you guys were there last September was it this crazy with all the resorts/adr's booking up? I'm just worried about the crowd level since I thought Sept. would be a slower time of year.

 

[Porturican]

You are asking the wrong person... When we booked our trip in February, I had to pull the suitcases out and my DW began packing then ... She did a dry run and packed everything to see how many suitcases she needs... She has done this at least a dozen times over the past few months, so in other words, it is not too early Preperation is a good thing...



I don't think you have anything to worry about... This year is a lot more calm on the water than last year... My wife has done a bunch of research, and she found that El Nino is forming this year, and that means a lot calmer Atlantic Ocean and less hurricanes We should be goood to go this year...

Thanks for the all the info and the welcomes.
I think I'm gonna start packing this weekend! I usually am up the night before doing all the packing and I dont want to do that this year esp. since my son is leaving on I guess you would call it a red eye flight from SFO with my Sister n Nephew Friday night at about 10:15pm arriving Sat. at 10am in Orlando. And I leave Sat. at 6am arriving at 5pm. (wish i was getting in early too!)

 

[oregondaddyof2]

What is a pin code?

Also since you guys were there last September was it this crazy with all the resorts/adr's booking up? I'm just worried about the crowd level since I thought Sept. would be a slower time of year.

Somebody can add to this or correct me if I am wrong as i am still fairly new to pin codes, but a pin code is something you get from Disney via email when you are registered on their site.. It is basically a coupon that Disney is offering you... The code is attached to your name, so when you call to book your vacation, you give the Disney rep you "pin code" and they will give you the discount that they offered you... Pin codes can range from free dining, to the one we got which was like 40% off resort room rate and everything in between... Not everyone gets one so when you do, you are lucky...

September is a great time to go enjoy the parks... Dining on the other hand, is a little harder to enjoy... In order to get the dining you want, you have to book reservations 90 days out ... Last year it was 180 days out, so it was a little easier to get the restaurants you want, but that changed this year... We set our alarm clock for 4am (west coast time since Disney dining opens at 7am Florida time) at the 90 day out mark and was on the phone immediately... Me and my wife both had our phones out and made the reservations that we wanted... If you can get a reservation, you will enjoy it... The atmosphere the CM's provide in the restaurants is awesome... There were a few places last year where we did not have a reservation and we were able to just walk up and walk in... You have to get there right when they opened around 4 or 4:30pm... We did this at Liberty Tree Tavern in MK as well as Garden Grill in Epcot...

The park crowds are very manageable... Last year, most rides had about a 10 min wait... Only 1 ride that I can think of, the new Toy Story Mania at DHS was over an hour wait... The weather is amazing, except when it rains... Last year we only had 1 day where it rained a little, but it only lasted a few hours...

 

[oregonmommyof2]

Hello all!

Terry is working 8 hours of overtime today, he will be home at 4:00pm...

I thought I would update everyone on what we have been figuring out for my parents anniversary trip...

After lying our butts of to our parents and making them think Terry and I were planning a trip for ourselves... We got their input and talked to my brother...

Mom surprised us all and said she wants to do an Eastern Caribbean CRUISE!!! For years the woman has said NO WAY!

So, we have looked up every Eastern Caribbean cruise we could find and found that the price for the cruise including airport transfers and tips, plus airfare... We could totally afford to do that plus a few excursions! We like that!

Here is the one we have decided on...

Saturday, Sep 18 Miami, FL
Sunday, Sep 19 Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
Monday, Sep 20 Fun Day At Sea
Tuesday, Sep 21 St. Thomas, USVI
Wednesday, Sep 22 San Juan, Puerto Rico
Thursday, Sep 23 Grand Turk
Friday, Sep 24 Fun Day At Sea
Saturday, Sep 25 Miami, FL

So, once we get back from Disney, Terry and i will put the deposits down and get it paid for... My brother is being deployed the end of August... We told him that we will just pay for everything and when he gets back he can reimburse us for his share... My Mom is an accountant and she will be handling his accounts while he os gone so she would notice him sending us money!

I am both scared and proud at this very moment... My brother called last night to let me know that his deployment is being extended... At first I panicked and said, um... hello.... Doesn't the Air Force know we have things being planned for July??? Don't they know that your sister is a freak who will need medication to get through this??? (This is where Winkers comes in...) Then he told me why... One of his fellow Airmen, who is married... is also going to Afghanistan, but was scheduled to stay longer than my brother... Well, that Airmen would not only miss his child's birthday, but also his wife and he are expecting another child... And he would miss the birth... Once my brother heard that, he went to the commanding officers and volunteered to stay so his buddy could come home... I am going to miss him so very much, but I am so proud of him for doing this...

I told Terry that we need to add funds into my budget for sending packages to my brother... His response was to take whatever I needed to buy whatever my brother wanted... Have I mentioned how much I love this man!!!

 

[jordanyosh]

I did it just for you Winkers...


And a little for Jordan too

Thanks Terry

 

[jordanyosh]

Wanna hear something funny???

Last year before our trip... He bought me a new laptop, a new Ipod and some new clothes...

No way!!!!!!

This year we bought the new underwater camera, a new hard drive camcorder, new clothes again... And all of his camera junk...

pretty soon we are gonna run out of things to buy...

You can NEVER run out of things to buy...

 

[jordanyosh]

Okay, so I did the Wii Active last night and again this morning... I am doing the 30 day challenge... It is working out 5 days a week to a pre-determined workout... Each one adds something new and changes the order of how you do things so you don't get bored with it... I must say, I woke up this morning feeling it in my muscles, but not super painful like when I got the Gold's Gym Boxing, I was having fun so I played for about 3 hours straight and was in tears for 2 days after...

We have 8 weeks until we leave so I am going to really work hard and see if by using this Wii Active in the mornings and like 20 minutes of Boxing at night, and eating better, if I can drop some weight before the trip...

So, if you see me on here in the morning, yell at me to get off my big butt and put down the cheetos and go work out!

Jordan, if you could dress up like this...... and send me a video that would be great... Thanks bud...

I wish you nothing but success with your workout routine

However, you will not be seeing me in a cheerleader's outfit...EVER.

 

[jordanyosh]

Mousesavers or even here on the Home Page of the DIS there's a link and they will give you the pin codes for various discounts offered.