Bargain Betty and Workaholic Starring In:What Are You, A Disney Expert?

[dawnbu40]

Hello and welcome to our TR! You may remember us from our May TR but if you are new here is some background.....Since this was the year of "What will you Celebrate?" my wonderful husband and I decided to take our first trip to WDW without the family. (As you may imagine this idea was a big hit with our almost 19yr old Disney Addicted daughter ...however no need to feel too sorry for her since we were just there in May, as a family) We decided WDW would be the perfect place to celebrate 25 years of being together and 21 years of marriage so while we were at POFQ in May, we booked the Sept. Free Dining package. We feel very blessed to have been able to go twice in both 2008 and 2009!

(from May 2009)

Now that you know a little background allow me to introduce the cast...


Myself-Bargain Betty..aka Dawnbu40..aka Dawn. I have been madly in love with Mickey and WDW since my first visit in 1972! It was love at first sight and I cannot get enough of the place even after another 12 visits!

My Leading Man-Workaholic..aka TSManiac..aka Dale. Dale and I met in highschool and were friends for almost 2 years before we started dating. We actually started dating on the day of my highschool graduation and we've been together ever since. Dale has been to WDW 8 times and while he isn't the Disney Addict I am, he loves Disney Dining and Drinking! (so convincing him to go for free dining and the Food and Wine Fest was easy!)

Our Supporting Player-PrincessCaitlin...aka Caitlin. Caitlin is a sophomore at Eastern Michigan University and had classes while we were enjoying WDW. She is a great young woman and very responsible. She did an awesome job taking care of the house and 3 dogs while we were gone. Our only apprehension about leaving was that just days before we left she and her bf (whom we all really liked and cared for) broke up. so there was some drama just before our departure! Even though Caitlin was not "physically" on our trip she was there through the magic of texting so she does have a role in this TR.


Bit Players-Our bffs from highschool who also married 21 years ago...Buck and Kim who joined us on our first evening.

Location-Pop Century from September 27-October 1st. We upgraded to the Deluxe Dining Plan and our trip will take us to 3 of the 4 parks as well as the Food and Wine Fest and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.

Now that you've met the cast and the stage is set I hope you will join us as we share the tale of "What Are You a Disney Expert?"

 

[dawnbu40]

Arrival Day!- Our flight was not until 2:15pm so we didn't feel the need to get to the airport any earlier than 12:30. The morning of course seemed to drag by! Finally though it was time to leave for the airport! We ran through the emergency contacts one last time and said a teary goodbye to our "baby". (Yes I know she is almost 19 but she's still my baby )We had decided to drive ourselves to the airport since our flight home would arrive around midnight. (This proved to be a costly mistake!) We were flying Air Tran for the first time and went straight to check-in our bag. The attendant was nasty but I reminded myself what a good deal we'd gotten. I quickly passed through security only to turn around and see Dale getting frisked! He had made it through the metal detector and even though he didn't set it off they still decided to frisk him? It was a little suprising and between the luggage attendant and security I was getting nervous! Thankfully, our flight was uneventful and we were able to help pass the 2.5 hours by playing with the adorable little boy in front of us. He was probably 3 and didn't speak English but we enjoyed him just the same! As we were making our descent the gentleman next to me pointed at the window on the other side of the plane. I looked and saw we were flying though a rainbow! I had never seen anything like that and it was beautiful! We disembarked and headed toward the ME. (We've done this so many times we can do this walk quickly) When we got down there we didn't have to get in the usual line and instead were directed right to the red carpet! We were told our bus was about to leave but they held it for us! I'd never gotten on ME so fast! We had landed at 4:45pm and at 5:45 we pulled into Pop! We walked right up to the counter and checked in. We had requested the 50's or 60's and we were placed in the 50's ground level. Since we had added this first night after our original package (and after the free dining offer ended) we were told we'd have to stop back the next morning and pick up our "package" but that our room would not be changing (THANKFULLY) We were impressed with both the service at the front desk and the cleanliness of the main bldg. (when we were at ASMo it was dirty and we didn't care for it) We grabbed our stuff and headed for our room. When we got there I immediately used Clorox wipes around the room (yes I am one of THOSE people ) while Dale decorated our window.

When we finished we had a text from Caitlin saying that each day she'd be sending us clues for a scavenger hunt. It was our job to find those things and take pictures of them. (This turned out to be really fun but some work too ) Our first set of clues were things around Pop so we set off to take a walk around Pop and get to know the place.

**The 50's area**

**We continued on to the 60's area**

Despite the humidity we loved our walk around Pop! The whole place is so colorful and well maintained! After our quick walk we decided to catch a bus to DTD where we were supposed to meet our highschool bffs for dinner. They had moved to Gainseville Florida a year ago so it was time for a reunion!

*Up next-DTD and Jelly Rolls!

 

[Daisy14]

**We continued on to the 60's area**

[/SIZE][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Theres our window!!! Lol, its the second floor on the right hand side (pirate flag in the window) while looking at the dancing people!!!

 

[dawnbu40]

Theres our window!!! Lol, its the second floor on the right hand side (pirate flag in the window) while looking at the dancing people!!!

That is such a coincidence that we got your window in our picture! We took several walks around Pop and we loved that so many people had decorated their windows!

 

[wannago2disney]

...I'm in and can't wait to read more!

You scared me there for a minute at the airport....we will be flying out of DTW and on Airtran....so glad nothing major went wrong

 

[PrincessCaitlin]

Yay you finally started!! It's about time

I love that picture of the play doh elephant he is so cute!

 

[dawnbu40]

...I'm in and can't wait to read more!

You scared me there for a minute at the airport....we will be flying out of DTW and on Airtran....so glad nothing major went wrong

Thanks for joining us! The rep at the luggage counter was so unpleasant I got very worried about the flight and Dale chose that moment to tell me that everyone at work had nothing but bad to say about AirTran However, the plane was clean, the flight attendants were friendly and we got there and back safely and it cost us only $59 each way so I guess you really can't ask for more then that! I would use AirTran again I think I'd just cross my fingers that I got a different attendant at the airport

Yay you finally started!! It's about time

I love that picture of the play doh elephant he is so cute!

Well it's about time you chimed in! The icons around Pop are all cute and make the resort really fun! And you should like that pic, since it was one of the things on your Scavenger Hunt!

 

[MEK]

I asked for it.....and I got it......Bargain Betty's most excellent return to the world TR! Yeah! I can't see your pics yet, but you are off to a great start. Did you love the 50's building? I can't wait to see where you were located.

I am glad your flight was eneventful. I used airtran once and I thought they were fine, but that was before the ridiculous checked baggage fees. Was there enough room for everyone's carry-on luggage?

 

[dawnbu40]

I asked for it.....and I got it......Bargain Betty's most excellent return to the world TR! Yeah! I can't see your pics yet, but you are off to a great start. Did you love the 50's building? I can't wait to see where you were located.

I am glad your flight was eneventful. I used airtran once and I thought they were fine, but that was before the ridiculous checked baggage fees. Was there enough room for everyone's carry-on luggage?

Hi MaryEllen! Thanks for coming over! We loved Pop! The size is nice and we liked our location. Our room faced that bowling pin in the picture and it was just a short walk to the main bldg. As non-smokers, the only thing we didn't care for was having to walk through the smoking area to get to Classic Hall. It seems to me it should be put in a more out of the way place but we would stay there again!

As for AirTran we were able to get all our things into 1 checked suitcase and 2 carry-ons. That did cost us an extra $30 but it was still cheaper than flying with another carrier. On the flight there everyone's carryon did fit on the plane but it was another story coming home!

 

[misskate]

I'm here! Can't wait to read more!

Loooove the scavenger hunt idea. Good thinking, Caitlin.

 

[KennedyMcKenna]

Hi!
We stood behind you guys in the line to meet the characters from UP! We chatted a bit, it was my fiance and I. So cool to have met you, signing on for your tr! Congrats again on your celebration of marriage!

 

[KennedyMcKenna]

Hi!
We stood behind you guys in the line to meet the characters from UP! We chatted a bit, it was my fiance and I. So cool to have met you, signing on for your tr! Congrats again on your celebration of marriage!

 

[dawnbu40]

I'm here! Can't wait to read more!

Loooove the scavenger hunt idea. Good thinking, Caitlin.

Hi! Thanks for joining us!
The Scavenger Hunt was a fun idea she got off someone else's TR. We ended up making a game for her too. We'd take pics with our phone and send them to her and have her guess where we were. We were even able to stump her a few times!

Hi!
We stood behind you guys in the line to meet the characters from UP! We chatted a bit, it was my fiance and I. So cool to have met you, signing on for your tr! Congrats again on your celebration of marriage!

Hello! It's so cool that you found us! It was nice meeting you two and you were adorable in your matching Carl tees!

 

[KennedyMcKenna]

Hi! Thanks for joining us!
The Scavenger Hunt was a fun idea she got off someone else's TR. We ended up making a game for her too. We'd take pics with our phone and send them to her and have her guess where we were. We were even able to stump her a few times!



Hello! It's so cool that you found us! It was nice meeting you two and you were adorable in your matching Carl tees!

Thanks! We do love UP. We just pre-ordered the dvd at our disney store and received free UP pins! Woohoo! I'm going to put a different pin on my work name badge each day, starting with Carl.

 

[mickeystoontown]

We spent our 25th wedding anniversary at Disney too! But, we had our two kids along. Oh well, we still got to celebrate at the Happiest Place on Earth!

I wish I could get some really cheap airfare so we could fly. Never been lucky enough to luck up on the $59.00 fare that you did. Lucky duck!

Looking forward to reading all about your Disney adventures.

 

[MEK]

Hi MaryEllen! Thanks for coming over! We loved Pop! The size is nice and we liked our location. Our room faced that bowling pin in the picture and it was just a short walk to the main bldg. As non-smokers, the only thing we didn't care for was having to walk through the smoking area to get to Classic Hall. It seems to me it should be put in a more out of the way place but we would stay there again!

:

I hear ya on the smoking bit. I always seem to run through somebody's smoke when I'm running in the morning. bleech!

As for AirTran we were able to get all our things into 1 checked suitcase and 2 carry-ons. That did cost us an extra $30 but it was still cheaper than flying with another carrier. On the flight there everyone's carryon did fit on the plane but it was another story coming home!

So what did happen on the way home????? Did they make people pay when they ended up checking their luggage? I see a good price on an Air Tran flight out of philly in May. I'm sure swa will drop to the same price, but the departure time is really good.

We had a similiar situation coming home on SWA. Everyone had carry -ons and about 7 of them would not fit. I don't get that because SWA doesn't charge for bags. I guess no one wanted to wait the extra 10 mins to get their bag.

 

[dawnbu40]

Thanks! We do love UP. We just pre-ordered the dvd at our disney store and received free UP pins! Woohoo! I'm going to put a different pin on my work name badge each day, starting with Carl.

We loved UP too! We saw it twice and can't wait for the DVD. I think the love story between Ellie and Carl is beautiful and our dog Riley (she's 6 & we adopted her 3months ago) is Dug She is extremely loving and squirrel obsessed! Thanks for the reminder! I need to get to the Disney store and order it so we can get the pin set!

We spent our 25th wedding anniversary at Disney too! But, we had our two kids along. Oh well, we still got to celebrate at the Happiest Place on Earth!

I wish I could get some really cheap airfare so we could fly. Never been lucky enough to luck up on the $59.00 fare that you did. Lucky duck!

Looking forward to reading all about your Disney adventures.

Hi and Happy Anniversary! This was the first trip Dale and I had ever taken as just a twosome! We have always had Caitlin or other extended family along so it was a treat but we did find ourselves saying "Caitlin would like this" a lot! We usually get pretty lucky with airfare. In the past, we've gotten great deals with Spirit and now AirTran is giving them some stiff competition!

I hear ya on the smoking bit. I always seem to run through somebody's smoke when I'm running in the morning. bleech!



So what did happen on the way home????? Did they make people pay when they ended up checking their luggage? I see a good price on an Air Tran flight out of philly in May. I'm sure swa will drop to the same price, but the departure time is really good.

We had a similiar situation coming home on SWA. Everyone had carry -ons and about 7 of them would not fit. I don't get that because SWA doesn't charge for bags. I guess no one wanted to wait the extra 10 mins to get their bag.

When we boarded in Orlando there was a huge lineup of luggage that would not fit on the plane. I don't know what they did with it or if people were charged but it looked like a mess! (we were bumped up to business class so we boarded early and didn't hear how they handled it) IMO it appeared that passengers were abusing the "1 carry-on and 1 personal item" rule. We saw one family with 2 little ones and you would not believe all the stuff they were trying to carry on including one of those huge double strollers

 

[thecapells]

Hey there!
I made it over!
Great Pop Century pics!
We've stayed in 70's and 80's but never 50's and 60's.
How's the walk to the buses from there?

And congrats on the Anniversary!!

Caitlin must've been busting knowing you were there and she was in school!!!

I know it was hard not to rub it in during my solo trip this year.
My deal to the kids was that I'd take video of everything that was new and that they hadn't seen before!
That made it okay when Dad brought home fun movies.

 

[dawnbu40]

Hey there!
I made it over!
Great Pop Century pics!
We've stayed in 70's and 80's but never 50's and 60's.
How's the walk to the buses from there?

And congrats on the Anniversary!!

Caitlin must've been busting knowing you were there and she was in school!!!

I know it was hard not to rub it in during my solo trip this year.
My deal to the kids was that I'd take video of everything that was new and that they hadn't seen before!
That made it okay when Dad brought home fun movies.

Hi Capell'sDad! Thanks for coming over! We loved the 50's and the 60's looked like great fun too! The walk was really short, maybe 5 minutes? It didn't even seem that long with all there was to look at! It was fun how many people had decorated their windows for Halloween or birthdays!
It was rough for Caitlin to be in classes while we were in WDW but she was a great sport about it! Like you we tried to pay extra attention to things she hadn't seen so we could share. She was most bummed about missing MNSSHP though!

 

[KennedyMcKenna]

Ok, here's a bit of an off topic question. Where did you get the clings for your window at Pop? We love to decorate, and I'd love to pick some up to hang up