ADRs, Touring Plans, Free Dining, What?

[lazydoxy66]

It's been 19 years since my last visit to WDW. I had no ADRs, no plan then and no idea that this next trip was going to take up so much of my life!

Welcome to my first PTR!

The Who, The When, The Where and The What for.
Me and DH
Sept. 7th - Sept. 13th
POR
Our 10th Anniversary

Who we are.
I'm lazydoxy aka Kristel.

I'm the fun one. The one who always finds the glass half full, the silver lining, the diamond in the ruff, etc. (I'm no saint, I have 'pity me' days and 'I wish I had a machine gun on the front of this car days) I'm also the planner on this trip, all trips for that matter. I hate planning! I don't like it when my plans go astray. I don't like my fun restricted to time frames. Thank goodness for the DIS and a couple of other websites.

DH aka Doug.

Pictured here with one of our 'kids'. Note the tatoos on the right arm. This will help you find me in the parks along with the LGMH on my bag. DH is laid back but he has no sense of humor. He looks mean but as you can see by the picture, he has a good heart. He has no planning or organization skills at all. We are proof that opposites attract.

We live in the country between Lafayette and Indianapolis. We both were born and raised in Indiana. We're both blue collar all the way. No fancy shmancy, over-glorified, blown out of proportion story here. Just simple folk who love to travel. No kids, just dogs and cats and 1 turtle. Good friends and good times, that's what it is all about!

If you check out the thread listed in my signature, you'll see I've been to Disney on several occasions. DH has been to WDW only once when he was very young.

I really want to take a moment and thank everyone on these boards! Every little tidbit has helped me so much with all my planning. I hope that my PTR will be entertaining and informative for everyone else. Here's a list of some of the websites I found helpful:
www.waltdisneyworld.com - for all things Disney. (Park info. and maps, itineraries, pricing, ride descriptions, restaurants in the DDP, etc.)
www.allearsnet.com - up to date park info, reviews, dining menus, packing lists
www.touringplans.com - create itinerary, dining reviews, packing lists
http://www.stitchkingdom.com/ - Photopass info.
www.shirtsupplier.com - great shirts, shorts, and sweats (including wicking) at great prices
www.minimus.biz - travel sizes items from soap to food.
www.mousesavers.com - all kinds of discounts
Of course, you are at the #1 source of all things Disney - The DISboards!!

That's it for now. Next up '2006 - The Big Shock'

Installments:
2. The Big Shock
3.Where We Gonna Stay?
4.What Did I Miss Here ?
5.Discovering The DIS ...
6.Whew, I'm Not Nuts After All
7.What's Halfway Between Indiana And WDW ?
8.ADRs and Bad News, Part 1
9.ADRs and Bad News, Part 2
10.The Perfect Bag and Packing List
11.Free Dining? and Clothes
12.Recap and My Final Estimate
13.You Know You've Gone Over The Edge When...
14.Review of the Baggallini Messenger Bag
15.Packing, Yep I'm Gonna Start Now!
16.It's Not Stealing If They're Free, Right?
17.We Interrupt This PTR ...
18.A Little Gift
19.More Plans
20.One Less Bill to Pay
21.DIS Shirt and Sign
22.Magic in the Mail!
23.Bag Tags and Post Cards
24.More Stuff for the Parks.
25.Itinerary for WDW: Day 1: Arrival at POR
26. Itinerary for WDW, Day 2: Epcot
27. Day 3: DHS
28.Day 4: Magic Kingdom
29.Day 5: Animal Kingdom
30.Day 6: Anything Goes!
31.Day 7: Leaving the Magic

TR: Humidity, Food, The Monster & Pixie Dust starts on Pg 14, Post #207. A list of links to the chapters follows the intro.

 

[2BusyPlanning]

19 years!!!!???? I can't wait to hear all about this one! I'm here...

 

[lazydoxy66]

Just after we returned from our vacation in Gatlinburg, Sept of 2006, I started thinking about our next vacation. Our 10th wedding anniversary would be in Sept of 2008. I wanted to do something special.

I began lurking on the internet. California, Pennsylvania, the Carolinas, Michigan. Finally I had picked out 3 possibilities.
I went to DH and asked him to make the final decision. You know how after so many years you are able to read your spouse's mind without trying - He gave me that look that says 'I don't care, you pick.' To which I gave him the look that said 'For once in your life make the decision.'

These were the choices:
1. The Myrtles Plantation

(I can't take credit for this shot. It came from the website)
We were supposed to go here a few years ago but Katrina beat us to it.

2. Las Vegas

(This is a postcard) We spent our honeymoon here.

3. Walt Disney World

(Taken from the WDW website)
Drum roll, Please!

He says very quickly, Disney World. What? Excuse me, is this your final answer, do you want to use a life line, poll the audience? Your answer is #3 WDW? That was indeed his final answer. I was absolutely stunned. Never in a world of a million dreams would I have thought he would pick WDW. I secretly had hoped that he would pick WDW.

The easy part was done. I had no idea that I was going to be a Disney freak by the beginning of 2008.

Next up - Where we gonna' stay?

 

[lazydoxy66]

Thanks for being the first to sign on Lydia. I'll try to put something on here every day until I get to the present.

 

[2BusyPlanning]

Next up - Where we gonna' stay?

Where!!!??? I know it's 3 months til your trip, so I guess you already have your reservations. Hmmmm... I'll go right in the middle and say Port Orleans.

Am I right?

OK, I'll wait and hear the whole story. I'm shocked that your DH picked WDW. Mine would have picked the beach!

 

[lazydoxy66]

This is a big decision. WDW has so many great looking resorts. Where do you start. This would have been early in 2007 when I started browsing WDW.com. I didn't know about the DISboards yet. I didn't think to go look in a book store for various guides. All I knew is that I wanted to stay somewhere I'd never stayed before and I was kinda' hooked on the idea of a villa. I finally took some info. to DH. ( I always try to include him in all decisions. That way he can't blame it all on me if he doesn't like it. )

AKL

or
WL

Both of us liked WL.

By the way, for anyone who thinks WDW is out of their budget - I actually did start putting money aside in Sept. of 2006 for our anniversary trip. $120-$150 a month to be exact. I just knew that in 24 months I was going to WDW and I wanted around $3000 in my vacation account by then. It takes planning and patience. WDW is worth the wait. I've waited 19yrs, 24months is a no sweat deal, right?

As I said, we both liked WL. So I started getting package prices from WDW.com. A villa is pretty salty. I go to DH and let him know the damage. Villa vs. standard room. If we get the villa we won't need the DDP. We can take our own food with us. DH says 'We'll be on vacation, you don't want to cook!, We just need a place to sleep and take a shower.''

Betty is my hero. However my DH does have moments of sheer genius. He is very good about bringing me back to reality.

So POR it is. Wait a minute. I thought we were staying in WL??!!

Next - What did I miss here?

Disclaimer: All these pictures, again, came from their respective websites.

 

[lazydoxy66]

Well....
About mid-way through 2007, I got an opportunity to expand my job-set skills. I think that's what they called it. Anyway, I worked a day shift job for the first time in decades. Mon.-Fri., 8 hrs. - Quite a change from my usual 12hr nights, 3 on 3 off. It really threw a wrench in my personal life. I didn't think about WDW for a couple of months. I mean, I had over a year until we would be going, right?

So when I finally got my mouse ears back on, and I looked at my 'saved vacation @ WL', not booked yet, I decided that I didn't want to stay in virtually another cabin/woods type resort. We had stayed in a cabin in Gatlinburg in 2006. Time for a change.

I found these at WDW.com
POFQ

and POR

Absolutely beautiful!!

I saw that PO was moderate pricing. Cool!
Back to DH, who is tired of making decisions. I told him I liked POR best. He did too! Very Cool! He especially liked the part about saving money.

I booked POR on-line the first part of Jan. 2008!!!
Room with water view, 2 adults, 7 days, DDP, Park Hopper for 5 days plus insurance = $2,25960. I also let them know it was our anniversary.

DH wanted to drive to WDW. I said as long as we add an extra day going and coming home to stop overnight, that's fine with me. I refuse to start a vacation tired and cranky. (DH really doesn't like to fly, he won't admit it. He had to take Dramamine when we flew to Vegas.) And this will give us some time to sight-see on the way down.

Now I had to rent a car and find somewhere midway between us and WDW to stay.

Next up: Discovering the DIS and other helpful tools.

 

[2BusyPlanning]

Where is everybody?!

Hey! I was right! (or am I?) Very cool place to stay. We stayed there a couple of times. The first time it was Alligator Bayou and the other was the mansion side. Both visits were during the "Dixie Landing" years. We enjoyed it very much. Both sides of Riverside are beautiful. If you are streering away from rustic, I would have requested the Mansion side. But, all sides are great.

I am looking forward to hearing more...

 

[lazydoxy66]

Lydia, I think there are just too many great TRs out there right now. Darn DISers!

Thanks for the tip on the styles at POR. Actually, DH likes the rustic and I like the mansions. I let them know it was our anniversary - didn't make a pref. on room other than water view. We'll just have to wait and see! I like surprises!

I was going to make another installment but I got side-tracked. There's always tomorrow.

 

[lazydoxy66]

I have to admit, at this point of time, I thought I was close to being done with my planning. Then I found a book at one of those big bookstore chains. You know the one with the latte bar.

(Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.)

DH was looking for a book by Dean Koontz. I wandered over to the travel section. There are quite a few books about Disney. (DUH) Most had the word 'guide' in them. I decided things had to have changed in 19 years,(Another DUH!) buying one of these guides couldn't hurt.

After looking through about 10 of them, (Here it comes) I decided on 'The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World - 2008', henceforth known as UG. (Wait for it) The book has everything you could ever want to know about WDW and the Orlando area parks. (BAM!) This is where reality slapped me in the face. Holy smokes!! I knew nothing. I am sooo not going to panic!

I read 775 pages in less than 3 days, only skipping the sections about children and special needs since I have neither. My Disney freak emerged. Panic set in. (Ping, Ping, Ping) A thousand new terms bounced around in my head, a hundred websites had to be looked at, I really need to figure out where we are going to eat so I can make ADRs, and now I need to know which park to go to on what day!! That's when I found the DISboards, Thanks UG.

Next: Whew, I'm Not Nuts After All!

 

[lazydoxy66]

I'm out of time again today. If you haven't seen it yet, I have another TR entitled 'Disney Past - A Tribute to My Disney Dad'. If you can see signatures the link is listed below.

 

[IlovemythreeC's]

Hey! I found your pre-trip. I am excited to hear about your plans!

 

[lazydoxy66]

Hey! I found your pre-trip. I am excited to hear about your plans!

Yea! I'm so glad you're on board. Thanks for joining me and Lydia.
I'm at work right now. (Break time). I can't do photos from here just comments. I've been trying to add info. every day. As you can see sometimes my days just aren't long enough. I'm on vacation next week. Maybe I can get us caught up to the present by the end of it.

 

[teruterubouzu]

Hi! I am looking forward to reading the rest of your trip planning. I found your report via the very sweet thread you posted about your father.

I'm in a similar situation as you trip-wise. It's been 21 years since I've been to WDW and obviously, a lot has changed. I don't actually have a trip booked *yet*, but I'm trying very hard to convince my boyfriend that it would be a great place to vacation.

 

[lazydoxy66]

And if I am, I've got a lot of company.

Wow! The DISboards! What can I say that you all don't already know. If you can't find it here, you won't find it, period!! I was on a whirlwind of discovery.

By the way, at the end of January, I was able to go back to my previous position of anonymity on the night shift.

I found out there are a whole bunch of discounts and freebies just waiting to be snatched up. I knew I could get a discount through my insurance on things like car rental and hotels. Didn't know I could get some through my credit card co. Mousesavers.com has all kinds of discount codes for all kinds of stuff. There is also a thread on the DIS with freebies.

My employer gets a discount on car rental @ National. Lafayette doesn't have quite as many choices of car rental companies as the bigger cities. I stuck with National because it's located in a more convenient area for us. I would love to rent a bigger more stylish car for our vacation. However, I also didn't want to bust the bank on gas. We're going with a Malibu.

The best discount I could dig up was through Master Card. I just went to the MC website and looked for car rental under the discount section.(Visa also does this) They saved me $15. I also used a National code for another $28 off. You have to keep checking on these discounts. They are only good for a certain time frame and change a lot. Total for 10 days rental = $267.84. I didn't think that was too bad. I booked our car at the end of Feb.

People keep asking me about the gas. The way I see it, if we weren't going on vacation, we would be driving to work. We would be filling up 2 cars at least once that week. The first full tank for WDW is already in the rental. We'll be using WDW transportation while there at the parks. With the Malibu we should get about 30 miles to the gallon. That means we are only out 1 to 2 tanks of gas. I can afford that for a WDW trip. I'll keep track of this for my TR after the trip.

Next: What's Halfway Between Indiana and WDW?

 

[lazydoxy66]

I got a little ahead of myself in the last post. The beggining of February was the nutty period.

I think I was on the internet every day looking at clothes, bags, shoes, Dis stuff, packing lists, dining menus, touring plans and hotels along our route at the halfway point of the drive down.

I was collecting gobs of paperwork with 'very,very important' information. I needed somewhere to keep it. This is what I came up with:

My WDW Bible. It's just a simple binder with a couple of pockets inside. Not expensive. I bought the stickers at 'Dollar Tree' and the transfer lettering at 'Hobby Lobby'.
And I decided, early on, that I wanted a daily journal to write in while on vacation at the World.

Front, inside.

Back, inside

I found this at 'Dollar Tree' also. It's just a cheap little notebood, about 5" x 6". I added stickers and lettering to it too.

It is a little over 1,000 miles from my front door to WDW. (I'm trying not to think about that too hard.) I started looking for places around Atlanta on 75, not too close to Atlanta, though. I looked south, thinking it might be best to get through Atlanta on that first day. I compared interests and hotels at different towns/cities. Tanger Outlet Mall is always a nice place to go and spend money. However, the hotels in that area - not so good according to reviews on Tripadvisor.com.

Actually, the halfway mark would be north of Atlanta. I found what looks to be a 'peach' of a town called Cartersville. The Comfort Inn at this town had good reveiws.

It looks like one of those nice local towns, with beautiful buildings, good food and nice people. The Etowah Indian Mounds are near here also. I think it will be a pleasant stop. And I got a discount on the hotel room through my insurance - $59.13/night, tax included. I booked it for the way back home too.

Next: ADRs and BAD NEWS!

 

[2BusyPlanning]

Very cute organizational tools! (big word, huh?)
I will have to check out our local Dollar Tree. I brought some neon lime green glow bracelets and necklaces there for our last trip. I wore just a couple and ended up giving some away to kids sitting close by (for Spectro and Hallowishes).

I can't wait to hear what you booked for ADRs. (I booked mine just this morning!!! Yay!) And bad news? I hope it's not tooooo bad.

 

[the4princesses]

Hi just wanted to tell you po por both are very nice places last year we stayed at the po, i see you were going to stay at a plantation a few years ago, it is just like the one you wanted to stay at before!!
Very nice,pools and you can ride the boat to wdw and you can take it to downtown disney. The restaurant at the hotel is Boatright's you would love it!!
The food is great!! New Orleans style!!
Do you have the dining plan?
If you do, these are some places you would love to eat: you will need to get your adr soon, they fill up fast.

1. Coral Reef, the best #1@EPCOT
you can call Coral Reef and tell them you are celb. you Anv. This place has a fish tank all around it!! They have a diver that will go down and come to the glass and hold a sign up and it will say what ever you want it to say Like
HAPPY 10th ANNIVERSARY!!
you can also e-mail pictures and they will make a personal menu for you and your dh!!
Call WDW and tell them want you want to do and they will give you the #
to call to coral Reef.
2. Libery Tree at MK It is great!
3.Boatrights at PO
4.Wispering Canyon @WL
5.50's Prime time @DHS
6.O'hanas@MK
They are our favorite places!!

I have to tell you anyplace you stay on Disney Prop. you will love!!
We will be at POP Sept. 2-11th,2008
With free Dining!!

OH, go to MK City Hall they will give you a pin that say's Happpy Anv.
every place you go they will celb. it with you when they we the pin!!
Like give you all special deserts!!
Congratulate you all!!
It will be the most magical time you will every have!!

CAN YOU TELL I'M ADDICTED TO DISNEY!!
This will be our 2nd time to go with Free dining!!
We have had the best time getting to eat and expierencing all these great Places!!

I hope I have been a help, if you have any questions I will do my best to help!!
Have a wonderful 10th Anv.
Kathy

 

[lazydoxy66]

Hey 2BP, If you want a preview of the bad, click on this thread - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1847173 Warning!! It is sad but also fun.

T4P - Just hold your horses. I'm gettin' to all of that. Thanks for the tips.

I've been so immersed in this trip, I'm surprized I don't wake up with newly grown mouse ears!

 

[lazydoxy66]

Ding! And on this floor you will find that you need to figure out where you will be so you can figure out where you will eat. ADR, TS, CS, Snack. OMGoodness! It's like a domino effect and it's picking up steam.

ADR - Advanced Dining Reservation. Definition from UG - "In reality, however, you have a Priority Seating, because you're still only guaranteed to be accorded priority over walk-ins." So why are these so important? I mean, this meant that not only did I have to find menus to the restaurants so I could decide where to eat, I had to kinda know what park I was going to be in on which day. A whole other nightmare. My insides at this point, remember I don't like having a plan, are screaming 'Get out while you can!' My brain was saying, 'Suck it up, pansy, put on your flak jacket and dive in!'

I dived in! At this time the park hours for Sept. had not been posted yet. I started looking at restaurants. DH and I have similar tastes in food. Although he likes fish and seafood way more than me. I've dined at a few 'fine' French places, DH is more comfortable at McD's. We both enjoy trying new tastes and we are fairly easy to please.

2 restaurants from my previous trip were a must:
50's Prime Time Cafe (PTC)

and the Luau at the Poly.

I loved the way I felt when I walked in PTC in 1989. It was like walking into my grandma's house. It was so comforting. We had a great CM. He played the part of a cousin. Sat right down next to me and started talking about how Aunt so and so was in the kitchen trying to make us something good to eat, and how we better eat all out veggies or she'd be mad. Oh, and keep your elbows off the table or no dessert! It was so much fun.

The Polynesian Reveiw(Spirit of Aloha, SoA) was outstanding. I like poly food and the show was terrific. A good change of pace for the week. This will be our ann. dinner. And yes they know. I hope it is still as good as I remember. I've seen mixed reveiws.

I showed DH the menus for these and got no arguments. I had carved the other 3 days of TS (table service) restaurants down to 14 or so and took those menus to DH also. Yeah, I got that look again and had to explain why we were doing this so early in the year. I figured since I picked 2 he could pick the others.

Next : ADRs and BAD NEWS! Part 2