A Pirate Looks at 40! - PTR for Dec 12-20th!(NEW 12/11 - Final Update!)

[skier_pete]

Hello! And welcome to my very first Pre-Trip Report – many of you may have seen my name on here the DIS before…I love answering questions – especially for newbies. I am a DIS-board addict – usually checking out things first thing in the AM, and before I go to sleep. But, I’ve never done a (Pre-) Trip Report.

What does my PTR title have to do with anything? Well, continue on dear reader – I have a tale to tell:
Back in mists of time (October 2006) DW, DMIL and I took DD (then 3.5) on her first trip to WDW. It was a short trip (5 days) but lots of fun. DMIL had never been before, and like many others thought that Disney was “just for kids”. Before the trip was over, she said she wanted to come back with us again sometime. Well, we love DMIL, but don’t want to take her along on EVERY trip – so I made a suggestion:

In December of 2009, I will be turning 40 years old. We will go back to WDW to celebrate this milestone – the start (in my view) of middle age. We will invite the whole “family” (DMIL and DBIL, and well as my mom and step-dad) and will have a special holiday trip.

At the time, we were thinking that we would have maybe one trip in between October, 2006 and December, 2009. But we, in fact had two! DD is now six and a confirmed Disneyholic. I have been in planning mode for close to a year now, and I feel I got our plan down solid.

The "family" trip didn't work out..neither DBIL nor my parents showed interest in the idea. But the 4 of us are going anyways! For 9 fun and sun filled days away from the cold and snow of Buffalo.

So, if you are curious as to how an uber-planner makes his plans, or you are going to be at WDW at the same time as us and would like to see if our trips overlap (I LOVE meeting Dis’ers in the parks BTW, so say HI!) or if you are curious how a 40-year old became a Disney obsessive…Subscribe NOW, for the low, low cost of…absolutely nothing! (OK, maybe some bandwidth, but you have plenty to spare, right?)

Next up…a bit about me.

SkierPete

 

[skier_pete]

That’s me there…skierpete. I am an avowed Disneyholic and planning junkie.

My history with the mouse goes back to the first days of WDW….quite honestly my very earliest memory. My grandmother took me to Florida in 1972 to visit this place called “Disney World”. No-one called it Magic Kingdom back then. I was 2 and a ½ years old. I have very few concrete memories but this is what I am sure I remember (1) I could see the castle from the hotel pool area. (it was definitely not on site though), (2) I had a balloon that floated above my bed at night, (3) it was so hot that the pavement (tar) in the parking lot was partially melting and your shoes would stick to it when you walked, and (4) my grandmother did laundry at the hotel and turned all of my underwear pink. I don’t remember any specifics of any rides, or anything inside the park at all. But I guess I was hooked.

Over the next few years – we went down to Florida several times. (Grandpa had a brother who moved to FL – we stayed with them. We would go to Cypress Gardens (the glass bottom boats!) Sea World (Seymour and Clyde!) and of course Disney World. I have no idea how many times I went…it could have been twice, it could have been a dozen. My grandparents, aunt and uncle are all gone now, and there is no way to ask them. I was particularly enamoured with the Tiki Birds - and digging through my ancient record collection I have records (LPs) with the Enchanted Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, and It's a Small World soundtracks. I was a Disney obsessive before I even knew it.

I do remember my last childhood trip with Mom and Step-Dad. Only a year or so after Epcot opened, there wasn’t even Captain EO yet. We again stayed off-site, I was probably 12. I remember the hotel had a keyless entry – like they ALL do now…that was really amazing to me.

After that, my Disney addiction went into dormancy…Disney’s not all that “cool” when you’re in High School or College…even though I was an engineering student and about as far from cool as you get. It didn’t resurface until after I met my wife in 1995. She had NEVER been to Disney World. *GASP* Well, I knew I had to fix that oversight. We had our first trip together in May of 1997 to WDW, right before we moved in together. We stayed just off-site but that trip was completely *packed*. We did all three theme parks (no AK yet – though it was being built – you could see the tree of life from the top of Summit Plummet), all three water parks (including dear, departed River Country), Pleasure Island, Universal, and Cape Canaveral. We were even supposed to see a shuttle launch at 4 AM, but we couldn’t get out of bed…too exhausted. It was my first experience with planning a trip. It was loads of fun (both the planning and the trip).

So, we went back again in October of 2000. Another great trip – but I admit we didn’t enjoy it quite as much. Some stuff didn’t seem as fun the second time around. We did a little slower pace, but still added Islands of Adventure and of course Animal Kingdom. We decided that a return could wait a few more years. (The full-fledge addiction had not kicked in yet.)

We probably would have been ready to go back in 2003, but that was the year that DD was born. We are not ones to want to drag around an infant for a week at the world…I know many do and god bless you, but it’s not for me…so we waited…and waited. We considered going in 2005 – but after a trip to the local amusement park decided DD was just not ready. Finally, we could wait no longer, in 2006 we decided to go for it. We offered to bring DMIL along to help with child-duties, allowing us to have a few nights to ourselves, especially to return to our favorite spot – the Adventurer’s Club (Kungaloosh!)

Well, we weren’t there for long that trip…but I don’t know if it was the joy of sharing the experience with our child…something clicked in both of us…we wanted to go back again, and soon. We had planned a 2009 trip right then and there…but that wouldn’t be soon enough. Could we afford to go with Free Dining in 2007? YES! We even roped along DW BFF and her family – Disney newbies all. We had a great time, but were thinking we would have to wait two more years for the next trip. January 2008 rolls around, and we have a ski trip planned for February and a beach trip for June…I ask DW…”if you could go anywhere in the US, where else should we go?” she said “back to Disney World”. At first I hesitated…we had to go in August, and I didn’t know if I wanted to deal with the heat again…but I told her if Free Dining comes out again, we will do it. Well, I swept back into planning mode, and had our ADR’s booked long before FD came out…but it did. We went just the three of us, and again had a great time.

I got back in September of 2008, and it was time to start planning the 2009 trip. Ugh, 16 months away, the 12, then 9, now only 4. DD asks constantly when we can go back. She knows “For Daddy’s birthday”. The disease passed from generation to generation.

In all this, I have the DIS to thank for feeding my addiction. It’s one of the few places on the internet where there seems to be a helpful spirit and passion that doesn’t turn to negative anger. I love it here, and can’t wait to share the rest of my plans with everyone here!

Next Up: The Cast Members

 

[khertz]

Enjoying the intro so far! I'll be down in the World December 4th-14th with my DH, my parents and my in-laws. We are all newbies to December at WDW! I look forward to reading about your plans.

 

[skier_pete]

Me, SkierPete, 39: You already know a bit about me. I will say I am a planning nut. I have a 20 page spreadsheet with costs, park hours, ADRs, day plans, the whole shebang. I’m an engineer and do planning as part of my job, one of my favorite parts perhaps. I also love to ski (hence the name) and travel in general, as well as spend time with DW and DD whenever I can. Originally from Western Massachusetts, but have lived North of Buffalo, NY for 15+ years.

DW, age to remain secret, though she already celebrated her big 4-0. Originally from Rochester, NY. We met through a mutual friend 14 years ago (damn!). She is a good match to me in most things, and a perfect match in Disney trips.

DD now 6, the apple of my eye. I always wanted to have more than one child being an only child myself, but DW and I were blessed to have just this one. She is a good child, though she can be very stubborn and emotional. While she loves Disney in many ways, she is not much for trying new things while there. It all stems from Winnie-The-Pooh ride, her first when we went in 2006. Pooh’s nightmare scared the heck out of her, and since then she resists riding ANY new indoor ride. She STILL won’t ride PotC (“They have bad teeth” is her reason.) However, she LOVES Disney World, likes the characters though typically not real keen on waiting in lines to see them. She is definitely NOT a princess. (Quote of last trip “I am not a princess, I’m a girl!”) So, no BBB for her. She likes most of the shows, but not the nighttime ones. (We got her to sit through Fantasmic last trip, she does NOT want to do that again. I have convinced her to give Test Track a try, as I believe she will love it. (She is currently afraid of the hot and cold rooms.)

DMIL, 63, A wonderful lady who raised DW and DBIL on her own. Like most Mother’s, she can be a bit opinionated and want to do things her way. She also tends to always be late for things, and by late I mean HOURS late. This made me nervous going on our first trip, but she was ready for rope drop each morning. I took her to WDW last time because I thought she deserved a fun trip, plus she could watch DD at night, allowing us to go out. She loved it and wanted to go back. While we are not paying her way completely this time, we were able to get free tickets for her from a friend. (More on that later.) We are paying for the hotel room and she is just paying the $15 adder per night, and then with the free dining, it will cost her barely $400 including the flight down. She does not have a lot of money, but I am suffering from temporary layoffs at work, so I can’t pay her way completely this time. She does not seem to mind at all.

 

[skier_pete]

Enjoying the intro so far! I'll be down in the World December 4th-14th with my DH, my parents and my in-laws. We are all newbies to December at WDW! I look forward to reading about your plans.

Great to know I have at least one reader! I'll be posting most of my plans in the next week or so...we are currently away on vacation so updates are a bit few and far between!

SkierPete

 

[khertz]

Great to know I have at least one reader! I'll be posting most of my plans in the next week or so...we are currently away on vacation so updates are a bit few and far between!

SkierPete

Have fun on vacation! Looking forward to reading about the plans.

 

[mrskckitty]

My husband and I will be there from Dec 13-19 to celebrate my husbands 40th birthday too! When is your birthday? My husbands is the 18th. We are staying at SSR from the 13th-16th and then switching to GF from the 16th-19th. Hope you are enjoying your vacation!

 

[skier_pete]

My husband and I will be there from Dec 13-19 to celebrate my husbands 40th birthday too! When is your birthday? My husbands is the 18th. We are staying at SSR from the 13th-16th and then switching to GF from the 16th-19th. Hope you are enjoying your vacation!

Mine is the 14th...that is awesome...maybe our itineraries will overlap...its coming soon now that I am back from vacation.

SkierPete

 

[skier_pete]

The next stage was getting the flights we wanted. Flying out of Buffalo, NY, there is only one airline I want to fly…Southwest. Yes, its Wal-Mart air, but I don’t care…it’s the best price around most of the time, they treat you like human beings unlike the other airlines, and we have the Southwest Visa, which allowed us to have 2 free one-way credits. Finally, there are a few direct flights each day.

Over the years, I had learned that with Southwest, if you want the best deals, you either need to spring right when the tickets go on sale, or else you better be very watchful and patient. And I mean literally within the first hour of sales. Buffalo is about 1.5 hours from Toronto, a city of 3 million that does NOT have cheap flights to Disney. Half of any airplane bound for Florida is loaded with our Canadian friends. And they must all have good travel agencies.

So, our dates opened up on June 23th, which co-incided with a week in which I was laid off of work. (The first of three this year – but it’s NOT stopping my Disney trip.) So, all morning, I was working in the yard and running in every few minutes to catch the dates opening on Southwest. As 10 AM approached, I decided I would sit at my computer full-time…and keep refreshing. Well, the dates came up just after 10 AM, but at first you could not book….then…you could. I set up two windows, one for the flight down, one for the flight back. I knew exactly which flight I wanted…the flight down was a 7:30 AM flight on 12/12, arriving Orlando at 10 AM. I not only got it, I got it for $69 each! The flight back, I wanted the late (6 PM) Sunday direct flight – well, even the minute they went on sale, this flight showed completely unavailable! Those darn Canadian TAs again. The best we could do was an early afternoon (2:15 PM) flight that stops in Baltimore, gets in to Buffalo at 6 PM. While I had hoped to get the later flight so we could spend a few hours in the parks in the morning before leisurely checking out of our hotel, I was not completely devastated by this. The flight leg was $109, but we had two free flight credits, so our total flight cost for 4 people came to…wait for it…$548.80! That’s $137.20 a piece! YES, YES, YES!

I was totally psyched I had gotten these flights. We had previously had problems getting reasonable flights on Southwest on the dates we wanted, and had played significant games to get close to what we wanted. The only thing that could happen to make me happier would be free dining...

SkierPete

 

[skier_pete]

One day in July I came home and pulled the mail out of the box. A flyer, from Disney. With free dining! Yes, I’m saved! I open it up..it’s for the other family we went to WDW with in 2007. Darn it! They aren’t going to use it. WE will.

Then came the rumors of public codes…the AP codes came out…room only…oh no…then Disney Visa…free dining! I wasn’t even ready for it, it was 9 AM before I realized that FD had come out. I hopped on the phone…and got through on the first try…where were my fellow DISers…who cares.

I was able to change our reservation, now down to one room now that DBIL dropped out, to be a single reservation from Dec 12th to the 20th. We stayed at POP century. The last two trips we upgraded to Mods when we went with free dining. This trip, we were on a super-budget. Our company is continuing to do these 1-week layoffs, which will amount to us losing about 8 % of our income this year. It’s better than losing your job, but still painful because that money is our discretionary spending for such things as vacations.So far, we won’t have to dip into our savings for the trip, but we need to save every penny we can to get there. I also wanted to finally try out a value. The fact that only the QSDP was included and we had to pay to upgrade made a moderate even more appealing. I was tempted, I even asked about it, but there was no availability at Mods. That decided it for me. In the end, I managed to drop our overall cost by $280 AND add an extra day of free dining. Our package with 3 adults, 1 child, 8 nights, one day ticket for everyone (we’ll upgrade when we get there) came to $1654.48. An awesome deal in my view

SkierPete

 

[skier_pete]

So, in my previous section, I talked about that we had only booked a one-day ticket. This is because we have decided that since we want to take another trip in October of 2010 for the Halloween party, DW, DD and myself would be upgrading our tickets to an annual pass. Thinking goes this way – if we took two trips with no hop park tickets for 7 days – our cost per person comes to $500 per adult. If we buy an annual pass – that # goes to $520, but we get to hop on both trips. Two separate weeks of park hopping would cost over $600 per adult. So, we spend essentially the same money and hop for free. Seems like a good deal to me. In addition, we are considering if the finances work out, we might take a short “surprise” trip at the end of April. DD spring break is actually scheduled for the last week of April…well after the regular spring break crowds are gone. The tickets for that trip would basically be “free”. We’ll likely only do it if we can get cheap flights, but are thinking it would be a 4 or 5 night stay. No DDP – no TS restaurants – just a quickie budget trip. (Our October 2010 trip will be decidedly non-budget, but that’s for a whole different story.)

That still leaves us needing to get a regular park pass for DMIL, but I figure we can upgrade that separately. But, even better news. We have some close friends that are taking their kids for the first time (the kids, not theirs) in late-August. I helped them with some planning tips and got to talking. The guy’s mom works for a company that gets free passes for Disney. He said he probably wouldn’t be able to get enough for all of us, but could get us a few days. I asked, “Gee, if you could get us enough for DMIL, we would be honored.” He said he’d see what he could do…I needed a 4-day hopper and four 1-day tickets based on our park plans…he called a few weeks later…he got ‘em! So, DMIL gets free dining, (almost) free lodging, and free park passes (except for a 1-day ticket). How can you beat that!

You may ask, why didn’t you get passes for all of you….I would have liked too – but (A) they couldn’t get that many tickets and (B) unless they could get tickets for ALL of us, the DW, DD and myself are going to get AP as a cheaper alternative to buying passes next October.

Next up...the moment you've all been waiting for - the day-to-day plans!

SkierPete

 

[skier_pete]

Now that the reservations are complete and the flights are booked. I can start thinking about the individual day plans. Actually, I started thinking of that long before the reservations were made, but it just makes more sense to talk about here.

The way I plan is this: I start out with a list of the things that I definitely want to do…or at least the things that can only be seen at specific times, and I plan the trip around those specific things first. On a typical trip, this might be “Spectromagic” or “Fantasmic”. In particular, I definitely want to spend my Birthday day at MK…this is where it all started, and I think it is awesome to defy my age by starting my 40s riding Dumbo. In addition…it’s our first Christmas trip…and it’s unlikely we will come frequently at this time of year in the future. So, there are quite a few things we don’t want to miss:

AK: Jingle Jangle Jungle Parade
DHS: Osborne Lights
MK: Castle Lighting / Spectromagic / Wishes / Christmas Parade
Epcot: Candlelight Processional / Christmas around the world
Resorts: AKL, WL, GF, BC and Boardwalk.

You may notice one thing missing from this list…MVMCP. Sorry, Mickey, but I can’t see plunking down an extra $250 for something that isn’t that much more than want I get any other night.

So, this in addition to our usual favorite rides and shows…this is part of why I decided to do the AP / Park Hopper. We normally are not interested in hopping. I find that I would rather focus on one park per day than hop from park to park. However, in this case, we will be hopping…

Making the final pieces of the puzzle our ADRs…with the ability to hop, we can now enjoy more dinners in Epcot, where the majority of the restaurants are…a GOOD reason to hop. We have our favorites, but we always like to try something new.

Finally, while DD is finally old enough that we don’t need to have mid-day breaks – we still have to be careful how much we do…especially too many late nights and early mornings are a no-no – DD pretty regularly needs 10 hours sleep – so if we want to be out for rope drop – we can’t stay out much past 8 PM most nights.

So, here, at the day-by-day level, is the plan I hashed out:

Day 1 (Saturday, Dec 12) :
Arrive at MCO (hopefully) at 10 AM. DME to POP.
Decompress at hotel for an hour or so.
Head over to Epcot – focus on Future World
Dinner (sometime between 5:30 and 6 PM) @ Coral Reef
(DD loves The Seas, and it is required first stop at Epcot)
Back to hotel by 8 PM.

Day 2 (Sunday, Dec 13):
AK rope drop
Lunch at Tusker House about noon (our favorite from last trip)
JJJ Parade at 3:45 PM
4 PM, head to AKL to check it out.
Over to DHS for 6 PM – Obsorne Lights
8 PM EMH at the Studios (probably) – check out the Playhouse Disney Dance Party
Maybe hit a few EMH things, but mostly head back by 9 PM.
(None of us are big Fantasmic fans, but it won’t be playing tonight anyways by my estimate.)

Day 3 (Monday, Dec 14 MY BIRTHDAY! ):
MK for rope drop, straight to Dumbo and Peter Pan.
12:30 PM head over to WL for lunch
1 PM WCC lunch planned (new restaurant to us)
From WCC to GF for more decorations
Back to MK, Castle lighting, Spectromagic,
EMH night (probably) – unusual in that we are doing EMH two nights in a row…

Day 4: Free
After two (actually three) jam packed days – we need a day “off”.
Hang around the hotel, head to DTD for XMAS shopping.
DW and I will be going to California Grill for dinner (special birthday celebration - never been) around 8 PM, and to hopefully see the
Christmas wishes fireworks show at 9:30 PM.

Day 5 (Wednesday, Dec 16)
DHS at rope drop – hit TSMM first, and also catch Indiana Jones (I want to be cast in the show, dammit!)
Around lunch time, head to Epcot by boat, with possibly a stop at Beach Club / Beaches & Cream
World Showcase for the afternoon / evening with Dinner at Akerhaus.

Day 6 (Thursday, Dec 17):
Sleep in, head to Epcot somewhere around 11 AM – cover what we didn’t hit of future world on Saturday first.
Candlelight Processional Package – either Le Cellier (if we can get it, we haven't tried before) or Chefs De France for early dinner
6:45 PM CP
DMIL takes DD back to hotel around 8 PM…DW and I stay for Illuminations
Head to Boardwalk and check out Jellyrolls.

Day 7 (Friday, Dec 18):
MK for rope drop, most of the day here.
Moving to Epcot for the evening, dinner at Teppan Edo (another new Dining Experience)

Day 8 (Saturday, Dec 19):
The crowds will be building big-time today.
AK at rope drop for whatever we missed on Sunday.
Lunch at Flame Tree BBQ
Over to MK for the Christmas Parade (3 PM?)
Chef Mickey’s for early dinner.
Back to Hotel to pack up

Day 9 (Sunday, Dec 20):
Flight leaves at 2:30 PM, which means DME leaves at 11:30 PM.
I am thinking an early morning trip to MK (tentative opening is 8 AM, but might be 7 AM with EMH)
Hit a few rides, then a late breakfast (9 AM) at Crystal Palace followed by a return home.

There it is: 9 days that are rather fully packed. What do you think?

I wish I could have more hotel downtime…maybe later in the week we will find we have had our fill and will do this, but there is so much to see and do because of the holidays – next trip will have to be lighter on the “doing”.

SkierPete

 

[skier_pete]

100 Days to go, and the December Calendar came out today. Comparing it to my predictions using last year...there is almost no difference compared to what I used to plan. AK is open an extra hour one day. Fantasmic is playing one more day than I predicted. (I predicted Monday and Thursday, it's actually playing Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.)

The biggest difference is on Sunday, December 20th, last year showed early morning EMHs at MK...this year, it's Evening EMH. This means that instead of going to the park early for rides on our last day, and then getting breakfast, we will instead do the opposite and get a 8 AM breakfast ADR at CP, then hit a few rides before heading back to the hotel for ME. No major changes of plan.

It's also just over 365 days since our last trip, so 100 days sounds like a nothing to me. Just 10 days until calling for ADRs, then its a bit of a holding pattern. We have 1st grade starting anyways, so there is lots of excitement to keep us occupied, the weather for the long weekend looks to be georgeous...high seventies and sunny every day...so, I will be back with ADRs soon.

SkierPete

 

[khertz]

Just caught up. Great deal on the flights! We are also flying Southwest from New Orleans (it's the only airline with direct flights to Orlando), had have been watching the flights like a hawk. We managed to get our return flight for $73 after some careful watching, and just snagged our flight to Orlando for $91. Not bad considering when they first came out, all flights were $96! A little patience goes a long way.

Your plan sounds great!! Hopefully you are able to get all your ADRs.

 

[skier_pete]

I set the alarm this morning for 5:45 AM, to get up an make on-line ADRs...ugh, I so didn't want to get out of bed. But I did, and I am sure glad.

I did the on-line thing...it was giving me an error on my desktop (404 error), but the DIS comes to the rescue again...there's a thread about it, and rather than panic, I went on my laptop (which has NT, not Vista) and was able to book right away.

I went in order by those I thought would be hardest to get, which was as follows:

12/20 8:05 AM - Crystal Palace - Our last day, and we will have to catch ME by 11 AM. I figure we'll eat breakfast early, then have about 75 minutes to hit a few favorite rides.

12/18 7:20 PM - Le Cellier - Next I was going to do Akerhaus, but something inspired me...I thought - hmmm, let's just try Le Cellier on 12/18 for dinner. (We had Teppan Edo as the "planned" restaurant.) I type in for 7 PM, 4 people...and I GOT IT!

12/16 6 PM - Akerhaus - DD6 keeps asking to do the castle (CRT), but I don't want to use 2 dining credits, as we already need to use 2 for Candlelight Processional. Again, we got the exact time we wanted.

12/19 5:30 PM - Chef Mickey's - Nailed it again. Exactly the time I wanted. (We will see the first "free" Christmas parade at 3:15 PM, and then after a few more things, we can had over here for dinner.)

12/15 7:40 PM - California Grill - Special Birthday dinner, just me a DW. Wanted 8 PM to wrap up around the 9:40 PM christmas wishes fireworks, but this is fine.

12/12 4:15 PM - Coral Reef - Not thrilled with this one...that's the day we arrived, and I didn't want a late dining, but not THAT early either - our plane is supposed to land at 10 AM, so not an issue getting there. The other choice was 7:25 PM - which is not a good choice since we have to arise at 5:30 AM. This is the only one I will re-try over the upcoming weeks.

12/14 1:05 PM - Whispering Canyon Cafe - Lunch on my birthday. I wanted to try this restaurant and see the decorations at the WL. I was shooting for 1:30 PM, but again close enough.

12/13 11:50 AM - Tusker House - I knew this one I would get easy. Tusker House for lunch is just about the easiest ADR at WDW...but it was our favorite meal last year, and DW and I totally love the food here.

12/17 4:10 PM - Chefs De France (Candlelight Processional Package) - This one I had to call for...waited on hold about 30 minutes...but got through, and was able to get pretty much what we wanted. (the 6:45 PM CP - dining window is 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM) For two dining credits, we wanted to go to a place that had good appetizers and desserts, as well as was fairly "pricey". I suppose I don't care that much since it's Free Dining, but this is what we wanted and got.

So, summarizing our ADRs:
12/12 4:15 PM - Coral Reef
12/13 11:50 AM - Tusker House
12/14 1:05 PM - Whispering Canyon Cafe
12/15 7:40 PM - California Grill
12/16 6 PM - Akerhaus
12/17 4:10 PM - Chefs De France (Candlelight Processional Package)
12/18 7:20 PM - Le Cellier
12/19 5:30 PM - Chef Mickey's
12/20 8:05 AM - Crystal Palace

There's 11 Dining credits in there...well CG is just DW and I, so she's paying OOP for that one...and then we will pay OOP for WCC, since it is the cheapest of the remaining meals.

Hehe...90 days to go!

SkierPete

 

[khertz]

Congrats on getting all the ADRs you wanted, especially that lucky break on Le Cellier!!

 

[scdvcwannabe]

Congratulations on your ADRs. We make ours on Friday. Is it easier to do online instead of calling?

 

[skier_pete]

Congrats on getting all the ADRs you wanted, especially that lucky break on Le Cellier!!

I know, I really wouldn't be that interested in Le Cellier, but I am curious to see what all the hoopla (HOOPLA!) is about. Any time I go to what people call a "good" steakhouse, I find them decent to OK, but not worth the $$. Since I was able to get the ressie, I figure it's time to give it a try. We live all of 15 minutes from Canada, so I find very little of the Candian pavilion impressive. We used to love the Beaver Tails stand, but they closed that. (They still sell them in the real Canada though.) There is also a great steakhouse chain IN Canada called The Keg (or Le Keg if you are in Quebec), but it won't cost you $35 for a steak.

Congratulations on your ADRs. We make ours on Friday. Is it easier to do online instead of calling?

I wouldn't call it easier at all. It is certainly easier to just call for an ADR. However, you can book an hour earlier on-line (6 AM EDT vs. 7 AM EDT). What you have to do is log onto the Disneyparks website and access your ADR to take advantage of the 90+10 rule. (you can book 90 days from your start-date, but once that date arrives, can book 10 days out. For instance, today was 90 days from the start of my trip on Dec 12th, but I could book through my whole trip until the last day of the trip, Dec 20th.)

Anyways, you make all your ADRS by picking restaurant, day, time and party size, Then when you select it will tell you the closest time available and give you some alterntate selections, some of which are patently ridiculous. You then put your selection in your shopping cart, and shop some more. At the end your procede to checkout like any other website, and you get a reservation # for each restaurant.

Overall, it went pretty smoothly. It took about 30 minutes to complete all 8 reservations, but I type pretty fast.

SkierPete

 

[skier_pete]

I went on-line first thing this morning and checked for a different ADR time at Coral Reef on our arrival day (12/12). I was able to get 5:15 PM...which is much better than the current 4:15 PM. I wanted an early dinner - but not THAT early...I wasn't planning on us getting to the park until 2 or 3 PM, so this will allow us check out a few things first.

I will also be asking for a seat nearer the tanks (last time we were in the very very back), so we may have to wait a bit, so an earlier reservation would be better.

Anyways, I am now 100% satisfied, getting all the restaurants within 30 minutes of my desired times. I just have to call and cancel that 4:15 PM ADR, and I will be all set.

Now, how do I occupy the next 87 days?

SkierPete

 

[skier_pete]

DW and I were discussing an idea we had to run a "surprise" trip for DD for next April. Here's our reasoning:

1) Her spring break is really late next year...April 19-23rd, so crowds would not be bad.
2) We are getting APs for our December 2009 and October 2010 trips, so park passes would be "free".
3) Because we don't have to pay for passes and get an efficient cost/day out of them, we can make it a short trip - say 4-5 days.
4) Then, we could go down mid-week (April 21 or 22) and return on Monday night (April 26), which might lead to cheap flights. DD would only miss 1 day of school doing this.
5) We could maybe bring a friend of hers along, if we can find a parent willing to do this (and pay for airfare / park tickets). I know DD would love it, being an only child she is always asking to bring friends to WDW.

My question is, are we totally insane? Dealing with furloughs at work, I should be looking to cut expenses...as I am missing about 10 % of my pay the last 9 months. But...we could go to Disney for 4-5 days for < $1000 (staying at a value with an estimated 30% AP discount), we would clearly NEVER be able to do THAT again.

Do we need 3 trips in 11 months? God, we were talking that we are truly full fledge Disneyholics if we do this. (For all my ethusiasm of planning, I still generally can't understand people that spend ALL their vacation times at WDW.)

And if we go then, will we be getting sick of it by the October trip? I don't think so, because that October trip, if I pull off my tentative plans - will be beyond awesome, regardless of how much time we spend in the parks.

Basically, it all comes down to the airline ticket costs...if we can get an excellent flight price on 10/13 when those dates open on SWA, I don't think we will be able to resist.

75 days to go!

SkierPete