Boo to me! - Solo Halloween PTR 10/22-29 - Link to TR posted!

[DisneyFirefly]

Hello!

So I just posted on my other PTR that our big trip was postponed. So I'm starting a new one, because I'm going on a solo trip in October and meeting up with some fellow Disers!

Me:

I'm the tall one

I'm Dana, I'm 26, and I was born and bred in Chicago. However, I feel like I belong in Orlando. I work full-time night shift as a CNA at a supportive living facility (basically an assisted living facility, but we get funding from the state of Illinois and our residents are able to use Medicare). I'm a former CM. I did the College Program twice, although one was technically an alumni program, and then I stayed on after to work seasonal, as that was all they had available. I would've stayed full-time if they had it, but this was when the economy took a downturn, so all they had was seasonal. Then they cut my hours and I was unable to find another job, so I wound up back in Chicago. I was considering going into nursing, but I've decided that I'm instead going to go for a business degree and then move back down to Orlando and work for WDW.

Why: For about the last year, my best friend and her husband and I have been planning a trip to WDW in January of 2011. About a week ago, Jacquie (the best friend) told me she'd blown out her knee again. She's been having trouble with her knee since sophomore year of high school, so I suggested she go see a doctor. She went this week and was referred to an orthopedic surgeon The surgeon then told her that she most likely needed a surgery, and had her take an MRI and told her to come back on Friday (which was today). I called her about an hour ago, since we'd discussed it and decided that if she needed surgery, we'd postpone the trip. Well, we're postponing it until probably November of 2011. She has three options for the surgery, but she's already excluded one of them because it wouldn't really fix the problem and she'd likely still need another surgery down the line anyway. The other two options are ACL reconstruction with donor tissue or with her own tissue.

Soooo.... I love Halloween at Disney. I love the parties and the Boo to You parade. I found out that one of my friends here on the Dis might "not" be going in October, so I started chatting with her about how awesome it would be to meet up. I was originally thinking about just going down for a few days in addition to the January trip, but then this surgery thing with Jacquie came up. So PrincessInOz and LuvChefMic and I started seriously talking about it. Then I made ADR's. And last night I decided, oh why not, and booked the trip. I figured that if I talked to Jacquie and her doctor had said that she'd be good to go by January, I could cancel it, but it turns out that her surgery won't happen for at least a couple months. If she goes for the surgery with donor tissue, there's really no telling when it would become available.

So I'm going on a solo trip in October to my favorite place in the world

When and where: I'm going to be there from October 22-29, 2010. I'll be flying down from Chicago early on the 22nd and flying home late on the 29th, most likely on Southwest. I'll be staying at Pop, and I'm on the basic dining plan.

I'll be posting the rest of my plans later tonight, since I have to run the dog around the block and then leave for work. Yay for night shift, right?

Table of Contents
ADR's and Itinerary!
Planning ADR's across state and country lines is fun!
One party ticket bought, and my parents may be joining me!
Itinerary and ADR changes
More ADR changes
Free dining announced!
Free dining BOOKED! Also, building request made
Must-do attractions at the parks
Vacation time approved and another ADR change!
Extending the trip by a day!
Some things I bought and some airline discussion.
Updated itinerary, my trick-or-treat bag, and Mickey mail!
99 days and list of F&W stuff I want to try.
Updated F&W stuff and other random things.
Just random things, and a family reunion in the works!
More random updates.
Shopping, ADR changes, and trip payments!
One more ADR change
Airfare, shopping outcomes, and 2011 whispers
Should I add a day or not?
Adding another day and minor itinerary changes!
Countdown calendar!
Snacks I want
Illustrated Itinerary Day One and Twitter!
Illustrated Itinerary Day Two
Pics from my first visit/CP in 2004
Another ride closure!
Illustrated Itinerary Day Three
Illustrated Itinerary Day Four
2009 mini-TR day 1
2009 mini-TR day 2
Illustrated Itinerary Day Five + 42 days left!
Paid in full!
Shopping!
Illustrated Itinerary Day Six
Dental update + Mickey mail!
Illustrated Itinerary Day Seven + I'm going to DISNEYLAND!
Name That Semi-Obscure Character, Week 1!
Mickey mail!
Illustrated Itinerary Day Eight + 30 days!
Tech troubles, airfare, and 4 weeks!
Trip journal and week 2 of my game!
Dental issue update
My Top Ten Rides at WDW
3 weeks! I'm going this month!
Mini-Six Flags Fright Fest TR
Mini-Six Flags Fright Fest TR Returns + 17 days!
Random things
Final Itinerary
Airfare update (aka, my fat belly won't bother anyone on my flights!)
Character Game round 4
Top Twelve New Things
Ten days left! Also, online check-in and pre-vacation to-do list!
Single digit dance!
4 days and other things
3 days left!
2 days!

 

[Luvchefmic]

Can't wait to read the continuing plans and your telling of all it took to get our ADR in line

Ruthie

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Can't wait to read the continuing plans and your telling of all it took to get our ADR in line

Ruthie

"And thus, the ADR of Liberty Tree Tavern became the debacle that nearly tore the trip apart... Sort of."



I just have something I have to do at work before I'll post my ADR's and such

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Okay, so, the plan for right now!

ADR's!
October 24 - Crystal Palace - 6:00pm (5 people)
October 25 - Sci-Fi - 6:15pm
October 26 - LTT - 5:20pm (4 people)
October 27 - Rose and Crown - 5:35pm
October 28 - Crystal Palace - 8:10am

Itinerary

Thursday, October 14
Check in

Sunday, October 24
Leave for the airport around 3am-4am (depending on if I'm flying from O'Hare or Midway) for a flight around 6am-7am.
Arrive at MCO around 12pm-1pm.
Take Magical Express to Pop.
Drop my stuff off in the room, if it's ready.
If the room is ready, get changed and go to the pool for a little while. If it's not ready, go to the food court and grab something to eat.
Around 3, leave for MK to go to MNSSHP.
Dinner with PrincessInOz, LuvChefMic, and their husbands at Crystal Palace at 6.
Go back to Pop and crash around 1am

Monday, October 25
Make it to DHS whenever I wake up.
Grab lunch at Backlot Express around 11 or so.
Dinner at Sci-Fi at 6:15pm.
Fantasmic!

Tuesday, October 26
Leave for MK to make rope drop.
Grab a quick breakfast at Main Street Bakery.
Lunch at Harbour House.
Check in for MNSSHP when they start handing out wristbands.
Dinner with PrincessInOz and Luvchefmic at Liberty Tree Tavern at 5:20pm.

Wednesday, October 27
Make it to Epcot whenever I wake up.
Grab lunch at Sunshine Seasons or Electric Umbrella.
Dinner at Rose and Crown at 5:35pm.
Illuminations.

Thursday, October 28
Make it to MK early.
Breakfast at Crystal Palace at 8:10am.
Check in for the party when they start handing out wristbands.
Dinner at Cosmic.

Friday, October 29
Grab lunch at the Pop food court.
Take ME back to the airport and go home

I don't really like to plan what I do while I'm in the park, except what I want to go on and where I want to eat.

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Also, apparently planning an ADR when the other two people you're planning it with are in Australia and Florida doesn't quite work out easily We had originally planned to all go to the party on the 26th, but then we found out that PrincessInOz's husband could make it to the party on the 24th, so we decided to get a reservation for that night, too! So I made a reservation for Liberty Tree for the 24th. I'd already made a reservation for Liberty Tree for the 26th, figuring I could change it later if need be. We decided to change the reservation for the 24th instead.

First the decision was to stick with Liberty Tree at first. Then we realized that PrincessInOz's husband is vegetarian and dinner at LTT is always the turkey meal. So we nixed LTT for the 24th and decided to keep it for the 26th, then tried to decide what restaurant to go to.

We decided to look at the monorail restaurants, and then LuvChefMic suggested we stay in MK for dinner, suggesting either Tony's or Crystal Palace.

Then PrincessInOz suggested Tony's or Kona.

Then I went and looked at what times were available around when we were looking to eat.

We decided to go between Tony's or Crystal Palace, and I looked up the times for those.

We were leaving the decision up to PrincessInOz because she's coming the farthest, and first she said Tony's because it was the earliest.

And THEN she asked who had better food!

I've never eaten at Tony's, so I couldn't say who had better food, but then LuvChefMic told me to just go ahead and book Crystal Palace, which I did.

So that's the story of the Crystal Palace ADR! It took us about 30 posts or so on the Last to Post game, but we got it done!

I'm just happy I get to hug and

 

[PrincessInOz]

Hey! It's not my fault that we took 30 or so posts to get to a decision! It was that LuvChefMic...first she said pick one...then she said it's up to ME....and then she makes the decision in the end!

I'm glad we're going to CP. I too would like to hug too:

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Hey! It's not my fault that we took 30 or so posts to get to a decision! It was that LuvChefMic...first she said pick one...then she said it's up to ME....and then she makes the decision in the end!

Well, do you want me to change it...? Again?

I'm glad we're going to CP. I too would like to hug too:

Awww, Piglet and Tigger are so cute

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Last night, I poked at my bank account and found out that I had a little more than I thought I did available to me. So I went and bought one of my party tickets It's the one for 10/28, and I selected to pick it up at Will-Call, since I like having the card ticket and I don't want to pay $5 for them to send me one ticket. I'm buying everything little by little, since that works best for me

I also told my coworker that I'm going on vacation in October, and she asked who I was going with, because she thought I was going in January. I told her I was going alone, and she got this look on her face and said, "Isn't that dangerous?" I'm sitting there thinking, "I used to LIVE there, and I've been to ALASKA by myself. Come on."

This afternoon, I was walking the dog and decided to call my mom. My parents have been out of town for about two weeks now, and they're due home in a couple days. I told her about the change in plans for the trip and explained about Jacquie's knee surgery (Jacquie's like another daughter to my mom) and then told her about my plans for this trip. She said it sounded like fun. I said that if she wanted to come with, she could. She asked how much it would be for her and my dad to come with. I got a quote for it, but I doubt they'll come. Neither of them are big Disney fans, and they also just spent a lot of money on this vacation that they're not even home from yet. She said she'd talk to him about it and then let me know. She did say that if they came with, they wouldn't be going to the MNSSHP, which is fine. I think they'd like it, but that's okay. So yeah, plans may possibly change a little bit, but I really don't think they'll be coming.

But I'm going either way, obviously

 

[Luvchefmic]

Hey! It's not my fault that we took 30 or so posts to get to a decision! It was that LuvChefMic...first she said pick one...then she said it's up to ME....and then she makes the decision in the end!

I'm glad we're going to CP. I too would like to hug too:

Ever hear the term "Sheet or get off the Pot? " someone had to make a decision or it would have taken 100 posts

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Ever hear the term "Sheet or get off the Pot? " someone had to make a decision or it would have taken 100 posts

 

[__disneygirl]

Hi there! I went solo when I was 18 in Oct of 08 and everyone gave me that same look and talk of like, WHAT are you thinking? But no one else had the time or money and I was gonna meet up with a bunch of people down there so I said F it and went!

You have my favorite place, SCI FI, on your itinerary! My family and I are obsessed with it. I just finished gushing and gushing about it in my TR a few minutes ago actually and it made me sooo hungry. Well, you are gonna have a great time! Especially b/c you're also going during Food and Wine!! Yummmmmmy!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Hi there! I went solo when I was 18 in Oct of 08 and everyone gave me that same look and talk of like, WHAT are you thinking? But no one else had the time or money and I was gonna meet up with a bunch of people down there so I said F it and went!

You have my favorite place, SCI FI, on your itinerary! My family and I are obsessed with it. I just finished gushing and gushing about it in my TR a few minutes ago actually and it made me sooo hungry. Well, you are gonna have a great time! Especially b/c you're also going during Food and Wine!! Yummmmmmy!

Hi! Oh, I'm used to it. I've been to half the states in the country, almost all of them by myself. I'm used to traveling alone. I mean, I went all the way up to Alaska on my own I'm used to it

I love Sci-Fi I haven't eaten there since my first college program, but I absolutely loved it. I'm a huge geek, so the theming was really cool for me I'm not sure how much I'll participate in F&W. I don't drink, and I'm going on a budget. I may have to tell my parents about that... Even if they come, we're going to be doing our own things for the most part.

 

[franandaj]

As if I don't hear enough about this trip on the LTP game , but I might as well join in to hear about the fun in more detail, since I almost could have joined you ladies!

 

[Nermel9]

I'm here for your new trip!

I'd love to take a solo trip someday, for a long weekend or something! I'd never consider doing it anywhere else but Disney!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

As if I don't hear enough about this trip on the LTP game , but I might as well join in to hear about the fun in more detail, since I almost could have joined you ladies!

Sorry I dunno about the other two, but I'm just really excited! Glad you're here, though

I'm here for your new trip!

I'd love to take a solo trip someday, for a long weekend or something! I'd never consider doing it anywhere else but Disney!

You should one day! I really like traveling by myself, because then I only have my schedule and complaints to deal with, not anyone else's Not to say that I don't like traveling with others, I just also like traveling alone Glad you're here!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Last night, I was thinking about my itinerary. I decided to swap two of my days. Instead of doing DHS on Monday 10/25 and MK all day on Tuesday 10/26, I'm going to spend all day at MK on Monday 10/25 because they have evening EMH. On Tuesday 10/26, I'm going to spend the morning and afternoon at DHS and then head over to MK for MNSSHP. I've canceled my Sci-Fi reservation for Monday and instead picked up a reservation at Chef Mickey's over at the Contemporary. I also decided to change my breakfast ADR for 10/28 to a lunch ADR at the Grand Floridian Cafe. Because F&W will be going on, I think I'm just going to wander around there and snack around lunchtime and use the CS credit I was thinking about using that day on another day.

So now my itinerary looks like this:
Sunday 10/24 - Check in, lunch at Pop, Magic Kingdom, MNSSHP, dinner at Crystal Palace at 6
Monday 10/25 - Magic Kingdom, lunch at Pecos, dinner at Chef Mickey's at 6:20, evening EMH
Tuesday 10/26 - DHS morning/afternoon, lunch at Backlot, Magic Kingdom evening, MNSSHP, dinner at Liberty Tree at 5:20
Wednesday 10/27 - Epcot, F&W OOP, dinner at Rose and Crown at 5:35, evening EMH
Thursday 10/28 - Magic Kingdom, morning EMH, lunch at Grand Floridian Cafe at 12:30, dinner at Cosmic, MNSSHP
Friday, 10/29 - Downtown Disney, lunch at Earl of Sandwich, fly home

I also spoke to my parents again and explained the trip to my dad. They're fine with me going on my own, but they're both interested in coming. They don't know if they can afford it, though. My dad's been out of work for almost four years and has been managing to find day work here and there, but it's not stable. I told them to just let me know by September and we'd figure it out then, since my final payment is due September 9. I did invite them on the trip Jacquie and Ian and I are going on next year, so they may join us then if they can't come this year.

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Gaaah, apparently I'm very indecisive when I'm bored. I changed around a couple of my ADR's again. This way, I can have my fish and chips without using a TS credit for them, since that's what I was gonna get at Rose and Crown. Hopefully I won't change my ADR's again unless my parents decide to come or I get an ADR at Le Cellier. I'm not expecting the latter to happen

The bolded bits are what I changed.

Sunday 10/24 - Check in, lunch at Pop, Magic Kingdom, MNSSHP, dinner at Crystal Palace at 6
Monday 10/25 - Magic Kingdom, lunch at Pecos, dinner at Chef Mickey's at 6:20, evening EMH
Tuesday 10/26 - DHS morning/afternoon, lunch at Backlot, Magic Kingdom evening, MNSSHP, dinner at Liberty Tree at 5:20
Wednesday 10/27 - Epcot, F&W OOP, lunch at Yorkshire Fish Shop, dinner at Cape May at Y&B at 5:15, evening EMH
Thursday 10/28 - Magic Kingdom, morning EMH, lunch at Grand Floridian Cafe at 12:30, dinner at Cosmic, MNSSHP
Friday, 10/29 - Downtown Disney, lunch at Planet Hollywood at 12 OOP, fly home

 

[Luvchefmic]

In your enthusiastic planning and switching of ADRs don't you DARE make a mistake & cancel the ones that we are going to or you'll be sorry !

 

[DisneyFirefly]

I'm not touching those ones Actually, my Chef Mickey's ADR is for two people. Do you wanna go? It's up to you

 

[Luvchefmic]

I'm not touching those ones Actually, my Chef Mickey's ADR is for two people. Do you wanna go? It's up to you

I'll have to let you know...a few reasons:

DH & I are going there for Thanksgiving Dinner (I was shocked I got that ADR !) another reason is you have the ADR for an EMH day so don't know if I want to go just to have to part ways after dinner BIG reason though is I always seem to be doing the dinner there lately (which I love don't get me wrong) but I would like breakfast there for a change its been awhile (wouldn't want it the day after MNSSHP) so I'll let you know...thanks for asking