A year without Disney? Who am I kidding?!(a PTR) LINK TO TR!

[Nermel9]

Don't cancel your Disney trip and go somewhere else!!! Just cut some things out! I'd say for one, cancel the cruise...there will always be another time to take a cruise!

If you have to get a room for 3 nights, go with a value, they're super cheap in September! I wouldn't cancel the Dolphin for a value, but it makes sense to stay in one for the nights you would be on the cruise.

I'm stressing on rental car prices too, they're crazy right now! If I went with Alamo right now for our trip, it would be $340!!! No way am I paying that much for a car, sorry! Hopefully, as October approaches, rates will go down.

I hope you can figure it all out and find a way to do things cheaper! I'd really think about not doing the cruise...just stay at Disney and hang out at the Food and Wine fest!

 

[DisMomAmy]

I agree to cut, not cancel! Reconsider the cruise & add three more nights at a value... Can you rearrange your Dolphin dates (without a change fee) so that you can do four consecutive nights at POP (or other value) & the rest at the Dolphin? Is there any kind of free dining offer out for your dates yet? I hear there are pins coming out that go through Nov which could be a sign of offers yet to come. Cut out Typhoon Lagoon, cut back on dining. Adding another few days to Greg's park ticket won't be a lot. Is the rental car just the one day for Universal? If not, cut it back to just one day.

Crunch the numbers... I'm sure you can make it work!!! I know you look forward to your vacations & work so hard all year to make them happen!!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Don't cancel your Disney trip and go somewhere else!!! Just cut some things out! I'd say for one, cancel the cruise...there will always be another time to take a cruise!

If you have to get a room for 3 nights, go with a value, they're super cheap in September! I wouldn't cancel the Dolphin for a value, but it makes sense to stay in one for the nights you would be on the cruise.

I'm stressing on rental car prices too, they're crazy right now! If I went with Alamo right now for our trip, it would be $340!!! No way am I paying that much for a car, sorry! Hopefully, as October approaches, rates will go down.

I hope you can figure it all out and find a way to do things cheaper! I'd really think about not doing the cruise...just stay at Disney and hang out at the Food and Wine fest!

Greg, apparently, doesn't want to cancel the cruise. He said it's something that we've really been looking forward to. I can see where he's coming from because let's say we go to Disney but don't go on the cruise, we may regret not going on the cruise, and that resentment can come out on the trip and have a negative impact on it. I don't want to take out Cali Grill OR Narcossee's or any of the dinners for that matter b/c I love eating at nice places. So I think we're just going to continue to save as much as we can and when we get closer to the trip, we'll make cuts if we need to.

I'm kicking myself because about 2 months ago when I was pricing, I found a call with Dollar for about $200/week. I wish I could have jumped on it! Oh well, it wasn't meant to be I guess...

I think that we are just going to have to be more careful about the "careless" spending while we're there.

Good news is that my raise at the library went into effect on May 1st, so they went back and paid me the difference between what I was making and what I make now so my paycheck this week was quite a nice number! The extra is going to go into the Disney fund!

I agree to cut, not cancel! Reconsider the cruise & add three more nights at a value... Can you rearrange your Dolphin dates (without a change fee) so that you can do four consecutive nights at POP (or other value) & the rest at the Dolphin? Is there any kind of free dining offer out for your dates yet? I hear there are pins coming out that go through Nov which could be a sign of offers yet to come. Cut out Typhoon Lagoon, cut back on dining. Adding another few days to Greg's park ticket won't be a lot. Is the rental car just the one day for Universal? If not, cut it back to just one day.

Crunch the numbers... I'm sure you can make it work!!! I know you look forward to your vacations & work so hard all year to make them happen!!

Unfortunately, the Dolphin cannot be changed without a fee b/c it was a pay at the time of booking deal. ($169/night, 6th night free, and $100 resort credit!) Free dining is through September 24th, if it was extended, I may consider paying the cancellation fee at the Dolphin and going to Disney property but right now I love knowing that we'll be able to walk to Epcot/DHS!

We're flying into Tampa, so a one day rental car is really out of the question. If we did that, we'd return the car at the Dolphin on Thursday, pick it up again for the day on Saturday and return it that night, pick it up again on Thursday AM to drive to the Port, return it right when we get to PC, and then pick it up again to drive back to Disney the day we disembark and keep it until the next day when we drive back to Tampa to go home! Phew! That's a lot of chaos and would probably be just as expensive as just keeping it for the entire time. Maybe...I'll definitely look into it, though.

Greg doesn't even want to cancel Typhoon Lagoon! I don't blame him though, but I did mention that instead of using his extra lunch money for tech gadgets and stuff over the next few months, he may want to contribute some of it towards our Disney envelope.

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Random Update!

Phew! It's been a long weekend! It's been a great one though, too! Greg's cousin and his new wife are in from Florida so on Saturday afternoon we met them in the city at the Taste of Chicago. Saturday evening I went to the Rascal Flatts concert! Boy, do I love country music, y'all! Sunday afternoon we went to Greg's aunts for a party to celebrate Greg's cousin getting married. Today, I was able to catch up on some laundry and pay a few bills, etc. and I'm headed out to the city pretty soon to meet up with Greg's family once again at Navy Pier for dinner!

On the Disney planning side, I was able to sit down and go through the food/misc. budget for the trip. This includes all table service, counter service and off-site meals. As well as the rental car, souvenirs, resort and parking fees, gas, etc. We still need to save just a bit over $1K with an optional $500 more for some fun money for adult beverages and such. I feel like it is definitely obtainable. So now, I'm not worrying quite as much anymore.

However, I did let the family I babysit for know today that I am pursuing another position within a library. So, I could potentially only be working at the one library for a bit. That means, we'd have to watch our spending even more.

If need be, I will make some more cuts. (i.e. staying off-site for our first night instead of at the Dolphin), I had to make that res. separate and it's not pre-paid so I can change it. Also, I would feel okay cutting out Yak & Yeti for lunch and the rain room on the Dream. But-I am going to redeem our debit card reward points for gift cards for gas/rental car. I have just a few more surveys to do on Sunshine Rewards to get a $25 gift card and we are getting $30 in reward dollars from our Disney Visa! Overall, I think we are on the right track to have the entire trip paid for with CASH. I refuse to pay for travel with credit cards that don't get paid off immediately when the bills come!

 

[Nermel9]

Glad you figured out how to save a little more $$ for your trip! I joined Sunshine rewards maybe a month ago, and I only have like $2.60 so far! I'll be amazed if I get to $25 by October!

Hey, I noticed you're having dinner on 9/29 at San Angel, what time is your ADR? Brandon wants to eat here and I'm considering it for our first night meal, but I'm REALLY pushing for Raglan Road...but if we do end up there, it would be funny if it was at the same time!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Ok, I'm all caught up now! Great Disney arrival day plans! Oh, and a little sneak peak into our honeymoon - we actually added a last minute San Angel Inn dinner and it ended up being one of our favorite meals of the entire trip. They have made a lot of changes there (new decor (well, as much as they can change the decor), new menu) and I think the restaurant has really improved.

Sorry about the money worries. I don't even want to figure up how much this trip cost us. Disney trips add up so quickly! I'm glad you're feeling better about things now, though. I just try to tell myself that, even though Disney vacations are pricey, you're making memories and you can't really put a price tag on that. I have never regretted a dime spent at Disney!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Glad you figured out how to save a little more $$ for your trip! I joined Sunshine rewards maybe a month ago, and I only have like $2.60 so far! I'll be amazed if I get to $25 by October!

Hey, I noticed you're having dinner on 9/29 at San Angel, what time is your ADR? Brandon wants to eat here and I'm considering it for our first night meal, but I'm REALLY pushing for Raglan Road...but if we do end up there, it would be funny if it was at the same time!

Actually, I haven't even cancelled Cali Grill on arrival day yet! I'm debating on replacing Sci Fi with Mama Melrose's so I'm not sure that I want to do anything just yet. I don't want to give up Cali until I absolutely know what I want to do.

Ok, I'm all caught up now! Great Disney arrival day plans! Oh, and a little sneak peak into our honeymoon - we actually added a last minute San Angel Inn dinner and it ended up being one of our favorite meals of the entire trip. They have made a lot of changes there (new decor (well, as much as they can change the decor), new menu) and I think the restaurant has really improved.

Sorry about the money worries. I don't even want to figure up how much this trip cost us. Disney trips add up so quickly! I'm glad you're feeling better about things now, though. I just try to tell myself that, even though Disney vacations are pricey, you're making memories and you can't really put a price tag on that. I have never regretted a dime spent at Disney!

Yay! We loved our lunch at San Angel last trip, DH requested it as one of his "must dos".

You're absolutely right about making memories. Plus, we're on the right track to saving for everything we want to do/eat, so I'm pretty content!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Update! The Changing Queen is at it again!​

DH and I have made the collective decision to cancel the Dream cruise. We canceled outside the 75 day window so we get a full refund. We'll now spend the entire 11 night trip in the happiest place on earth! I'm completely okay with it as it is saving us A LOT of money. Plus, the cruise is only 3 days and I just don't believe that's long enough to explore and enjoy this magnificent ship. We'll now stay at Pop for one night at the start of our trip so we can use Magical Express and to save $$. We'll move to the Dolphin for 6 nights and then go back to Pop for 4 nights. I'm not one to completely unpack our suitcases so I can't see switching to be a big deal, especially with the way I have it planned out. Anyway...

DH's birthday is next month and I've been purchasing presents here and there for him since May! So far, I got him a Chicago Cubs shirt, confused3 Why he likes that team, I don't know!) a Toy Story Disney Shirt, a Disney pin lanyard, and a Port Orleans pin. I also won a bid on ebay for 25 assorted pins for $18.50! I figure DH can choose which ones he'd like to keep, if any, and then use the rest to trade with the CMs. He expressed an interest in this last trip and I just think it's not something he'd start on his own, so I figured I'd start it for him!

Now, without further adieu, I present you with our plans for...

Sunday, October 2nd!

We will start the day with brunch at Fresh.

After that, we will spend just as much time as we'd like at the pool; floating, swimming, drinking, and lounging!

When we've had enough we'll head over to DHS for evening EMH.

I was able to score an ADR at Mama Melroses, it's a bit earlier than I'd like it to be but still we can work with it!

There is a chance that we wouldn't have seen Fantasmic on our arrival night so we may catch it this night. If we don't feel like hanging out at the pool we can always try to eat breakfast at Boma and go to Animal Kingdom or even go to Epcot for the Food & Wine fest.

 

[Nermel9]

Aww, I'm sorry you had to cancel the cruise, but it seems like the best thing to do! I really want to do a cruise too, but I'm not sure 3 days is enough time...I haven't really researched it yet, though! More time in Disney World sounds great!

Great plans for Sunday! I'll be at DHS EMH that night too, most likely riding ToT over and over, unless it's too crowded like it was in November, and we get frustrated and leave early again!

So, what are you doing on arrival day again? I read your plans, and it seems like you changed them again...I thought you were either eating at San Angel Inn or Cali Grill, but now neither of those are happening? I can't keep up, and I thought I changed plans and ADR's a lot!

We're arriving in MCO right when you are, and then we're going to POP...I wonder if we will run into you at baggage claim! Are you flying on SW?

 

[Joyciemc]

Well, if there is one thing that would make me feel better about cancelling a cruise, it would be more days in WDW!

Sorry you had to change your plans, but it sounds like it makes sense. Saving money, and I do agree that 3 days doesn't seem like long enough when you're cruising on such a super cool ship.

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I think you made the right choice by canceling the cruise. Our honeymoon was 11 nights and it was a great amount of time. Day four sounds relaxing and fun at the same time!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Aww, I'm sorry you had to cancel the cruise, but it seems like the best thing to do! I really want to do a cruise too, but I'm not sure 3 days is enough time...I haven't really researched it yet, though! More time in Disney World sounds great!

Great plans for Sunday! I'll be at DHS EMH that night too, most likely riding ToT over and over, unless it's too crowded like it was in November, and we get frustrated and leave early again!

So, what are you doing on arrival day again? I read your plans, and it seems like you changed them again...I thought you were either eating at San Angel Inn or Cali Grill, but now neither of those are happening? I can't keep up, and I thought I changed plans and ADR's a lot!

We're arriving in MCO right when you are, and then we're going to POP...I wonder if we will run into you at baggage claim! Are you flying on SW?

We spent 4 nights on a little Royal Caribbean ship and that was great. I like equal parts relaxing/adventure and on a 3 night DISNEY cruise, that wasn't going to happen.

On arrival day (I did edit that yesterday as well), we will be napping (or at least-I will be napping) in the afternoon at Pop (or lounging by the pool if our room isn't available). In the evening we are going to DHS and having dinner at 50s PTC and then seeing Fantasmic.

We are flying SW! Maybe we'll even be on the same bus!

Well, if there is one thing that would make me feel better about cancelling a cruise, it would be more days in WDW!

Sorry you had to change your plans, but it sounds like it makes sense. Saving money, and I do agree that 3 days doesn't seem like long enough when you're cruising on such a super cool ship.

I don't think I could cancel it if I weren't going to stay in Disney instead. Saving money is great, especially since I'm giving up one of my jobs (babysitting).

I was looking and in Feb. 2012 we can do a 4 night cruise on the Dream for less than $100 more than the 3 night. I'm aiming for that! Cruising in Feb. was great actually.

I think you made the right choice by canceling the cruise. Our honeymoon was 11 nights and it was a great amount of time. Day four sounds relaxing and fun at the same time!

I can't wait for you to start your TR! Do you feel like you were able to actually enjoying relaxing instead of worrying about touring like crazy? I think that I want to avoid making detailed TP's just because I don't want to worry about doing everything. I don't even want to bring a "Wish List". Last year, about halfway through the trip it caused me anxiety b/c I wanted to make sure I got as many things crossed off as possible. I think after 5+ trips to WDW, I know how to tour a park to avoid the long lines, etc. I just want to relax this trip. Really, if that means cancelling a "sacred" ADR b/c we want to do something else, I'm not worried that we won't find something just as good to replace it.

 

[DisMomAmy]

I'm so sorry you had to cancel the cruise!! But it sounds like the right decision for now. Hopefully you can schedule another one in the future and take a longer cruise!

Congrats on the huge raise!!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

I'm so sorry you had to cancel the cruise!! But it sounds like the right decision for now. Hopefully you can schedule another one in the future and take a longer cruise!

Congrats on the huge raise!!

It's really okay. I've been thinking about it for a few weeks now and at first Greg was not agreeing with me. Finally, I just told him and showed him numbers $$$ and he said it was okay.

Thanks, the raise was definitely unexpectedly high but much appreciated. I love my job at the library. I am in charge of the Lapsit program (story time for infants and toddlers) and next month I'm doing a Back to School After School Snack program, and then this fall I am starting a monthly cooking club for upper elementary and middle school children. Not to mention that I love recommending books to the patrons and assisting them on the computer.

 

[Nermel9]

On arrival day (I did edit that yesterday as well), we will be napping (or at least-I will be napping) in the afternoon at Pop (or lounging by the pool if our room isn't available). In the evening we are going to DHS and having dinner at 50s PTC and then seeing Fantasmic.

We are flying SW! Maybe we'll even be on the same bus!

That's crazy that we're getting there at the same time, same day and going to the same resort! I HOPE our room at Pop is ready when we get there, because we are going to need a nap! If it's not, maybe we'll see you by the pool! We should exchange numbers, even if we don't get the chance to meet up, it would be fun to know what section we both got placed in at Pop! What if we are in the same building?

We're not doing ME, so I guess we won't see you at the airport! We have to rent a car, neither one of us has the patience to deal with Disney transportation! I always want to try the buses, but Brandon always says no!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

It'd be funny if you guys were neighbors at Pop

 

[DisneyCrafter]

That's crazy that we're getting there at the same time, same day and going to the same resort! I HOPE our room at Pop is ready when we get there, because we are going to need a nap! If it's not, maybe we'll see you by the pool! We should exchange numbers, even if we don't get the chance to meet up, it would be fun to know what section we both got placed in at Pop! What if we are in the same building?

We're not doing ME, so I guess we won't see you at the airport! We have to rent a car, neither one of us has the patience to deal with Disney transportation! I always want to try the buses, but Brandon always says no!

I have a feeling that because our plans do overlap SO often, that we're bound to run into each other! We were going to have a car this trip but we've scaled it back to just one day (our US day). I don't mind Disney transportation, I've had just a handful of times where we've waited an obnoxious amount of time and DH prefers a break from driving while we're on vacation and I don't like driving anymore than I have to.

I will PM you my cell number shortly.

It'd be funny if you guys were neighbors at Pop

That would be quite interesting! I'm sure they'd be great neighbors, though!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

For a while I've been considering starting a trivia contest here on my PTR. I recently acquired some Disney World books (a Borders near my home went out of business and had great deals). With the recent inspiration from MouseScrapper here on the DIS, I've decided to go ahead and start.

The rules/directions are simple!

1.) Answer using ONLY your knowledge (or of those in your household, fellow trivia players here on my PTR-you get the idea). Basically, please DON'T google the question to find the answer. That takes most of the fun out of it! I'm going by the honor system here.

2.) I will keep track with a tally system. The person with the most correct answers will win. However, there may be bonus questions and if/when those are posted they will be specially marked and the first person to correctly guess will get an extra amount of tallies, to be determined by me.

3.) If the majority is having trouble with a particular question I will offer assistance in the form of saying which person is on the right track, giving a hint, or perhaps making the question multiple choice.

4.) You may enter the game at any time. You do not have to participate from the very beginning to join in on the fun!

5.) The winner will be announced on September 1st, as the game will end on August 31st. The prize will be a set of Mousekeeping envelopes for the duration of your stay on your next Walt Disney World trip! They will appear very much like these:

Which scored us some fresh roses from our mousekeeper when we stayed at the Grand Floridian last fall!

Let's begin shall we???


Trivia Question 1:

How many attractions in the Walt Disney World theme parks involve guests boarding boats?

(Please note I say attractions, the Friendship boats or the boat rides offered between PO and DTD aren't included.)

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I can't wait for you to start your TR! Do you feel like you were able to actually enjoying relaxing instead of worrying about touring like crazy? I think that I want to avoid making detailed TP's just because I don't want to worry about doing everything. I don't even want to bring a "Wish List". Last year, about halfway through the trip it caused me anxiety b/c I wanted to make sure I got as many things crossed off as possible. I think after 5+ trips to WDW, I know how to tour a park to avoid the long lines, etc. I just want to relax this trip. Really, if that means cancelling a "sacred" ADR b/c we want to do something else, I'm not worried that we won't find something just as good to replace it.

We definitely had a good amount of time so that we didn't feel rushed. Of course, we spent three out of those days doing water parks and having an impromptu free day, so we only really utilized 8 for the parks. I think one of the benefits to going to Disney so often (as we all do here) is that you don't have to do everything every time and spend each day going from ride to ride and just wearing yourself out. If I only went once every 3 or 4 years I would probably spend a lot more time in the parks just to get it all done, but I probably wouldn't enjoy myself as much then. We always end up touring the same way, even though it's not a written plan, mostly because by this point we know what we want to ride, and we know what works for us.

On to the trivia - I am so excited for this! I so want those envelopes!!! Ok, I'm going to guess 8. There are two attractions that I'm not sure if they are necessarily considered a boat, so I'll use one of them and not the other. Great idea!

 

[Joyciemc]

oooh, I love trivia! And those envelopes are a way cooler prize than a set of four pint glasses (which is what we usually win at Trivia night )

My guess is 8.