Boo to you, and Yo Ho Ho!! An Oct 2012 PTR. Updated 10/22!! Finally!!!!!

[ash-n-brensmom]

And for the first time since I don't remember when/I felt like my old bony self again/And I, Jack, the Pumpkin King...That's right. I AM THE PUMPKIN KING!
And I just can't wait until next Halloween/'Cause I've got some new ideas that will really make them scream/And by God, I'm really gonna give it all my might!/


Yo ho
Yo ho
Yo ho yo ho

We're beggars, blighters, ne'er-do-well cads
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho
Aye, but we're loved by our mommies and dads
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho
Beggars blighters ne'er-do-well cads
Aye, but we're loved by our mommies and dads
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho
Happy Halloween

We kindle char, inflame and ignite,
Drink up, me hearties, yo ho.
We burn up the city, we're really a fright,
Drink up, me hearties, yo ho
Rascals, scoundrels, villains, and knaves
Devils, black sheep, really bad eggs
Drink up, me hearties, yo ho
Happy Halloween

Yo ho
Yo ho
Yo ho, yo ho a Pirates life for me

Oh a pirates life is a wonderful life
A'roaming over the sea
Give me a career as a buccaneer
It's the life of a pirate for me

Oh a pirate's life is a wonderful life
You find adventure and sport
But live every minute for all that's in it
The life of a pirate is short

Yo ho
Yo ho
Yo ho, yo ho a Pirates life for me

Oh a pirate's life is a wonderful life
But not forever they say
When your neck's in a noose
And you can't get it loose
For the life of a pirate you pay

Boo boo boo boo boo to you!

Welcome one and all to our October 2012 PTR!!

This is our third attempt at a PTR...but never have I started one so early! Looking at my Countdown I am sad to say we have over 8 and half months to go! But! We are going and that's what matters!!!

We being this mad cap group we call a family!


Me...I am 39 but sadly will no longer be in my 30's when we are on this trip I might be needing a few of these while we are there..

I love Mary Poppins! DH wants me to take that as my disname...no thank you...so I go without a cute name. My first trip was the same as the rest of our family..Sept 2008 with my Dcousin and her DH and DD. Crazy vacation, lot's of drama...but we all fell in love with Disney that year and had to come back. This will be our 6th family vacation since then!

DH 38...aka Ferb! They are both British so the name fits! This is him in 2009...

What a ladies man!! Again, his first trip was 2008 and it was his idea to come back in 2009 and try it again but with just our little family. That was an awesome vacation. We didn't think we would be back again so we spent a little more than we are used to...turns out we came back again and again and again...well, you can see where this is going...

DD11...aka Stitch...and yes that name fits as well!

Stitch is her fave! But she loves anything pirate and so of course can't wait to meet Capt Jack Sparrow!!

DD7..aka Rapunzel...because she is her favorite right now!

On our most recent trip last month we finally got her to try new rides and has added POC to her favorites list, although BTMRR is still number 1!!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Our plans are surprisingly set for being this far out. Ferb and I have to pick our vacation time pretty early where we work (we both work for the same employer), so the dates we have to work with are narrow. The only change may come when we book the flights and that will only change by one or two days. And we purchased a timeshare last year and will be using it so that narrows the playing field for resort choice as well. The only thing left to do is figure out where we want to eat. So that will be the only variable as we go along the next few months.

The Plan:

When:October 22-30

Where:Wyndham Bonnet Creek

We want to be home in time for Halloween. The girls dress up at school and there is a parade and they want to trick or treat at home. Ferb and I took an adult only vacation last October and the girls had to stay with family and missed out on the Halloween stuff at school and had to TorT with their cousin. They survived, but it was poor planning on our part to go away over Halloween. So that's the plan. Dining will be OOP since we are staying off site and of course that means no EMH. No worries there, we have learned the hard way that whatever you gain during the EMH hour or three, it does not make up for the abundance of crowds the rest of that day. And we only do base tickets so hopping is not an option. Which brings me to tickets. We will be buying them from Undercover Tourist using the Mousesavers link and will be buying 5 day base tickets as of now.
In the past we have gotten 6 day base tickets, but I figure we can take a day off since we are planning on going to MNSSHP. I know it doesn't compensate for the price difference...not even close, but with everything you get for the party we think it's worth the extra cost and we can take an extra rest day to hang at the resort instead.
That's something we didn't do this past January. I never planned for a whole day at WBC because the weather is so iffy in Jan. But turns out we had a beautiful week and we really enjoyed being poolside there. So, knowing that the temps in Oct will be warmer, we are planning a whole extra day to rest and swim.

If anyone is interested in reading about WBC here is a link to the thread all about it! It's a beautiful resort and has so much to do!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2739937

We have a membership to Touring plans and I use them to help us plan which park to visit which day. I think this year I will pay closer attention to a newer site called easywdw. He seems to have a different set of park days sometimes and I wonder if he may be more accurate from time to time. I am going to do some research and check them against historical data and see who was more accurate. As of now I have a tentative plan on the go. I have to wait for the release of park hours and the schedule for MNSSHP to finalize our plans of course. But it feels good to get started with a rough draft.

As of now and all things being equal...this is our tentative plan...

Monday 22: Fly in as early as possible, rent a poolside cabana at WBC for the day and swim and rest and just chillax! Shop at Walmart for supplies for the week. Rest and head to DTD for dinner...probably Raglan Rd

Tuesday 23: MK with a possible afternoon rest at WBC

Wednesday 24: AK with dinner at Boma

Thursday 25: Sleep in and rest poolside at WBC and head to MNSSHP for the night

Friday 26: Sleep in and rest poolside at WBC Maybe shop at DTD and then head to a show for dinner...HDDR or Spirit of Aloha

Saturday 27: DHS with lunch or dinner at Prime Time Cafe

Sunday 28: MK

Monday 29: Epcot F&W fest baby!!!

Tuesday 30: WBC and then fly home late afternoon

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Like I said our first trip to WDW was in 2008...

Oh my how young everyone is....

We traveled with my Dcousin, her DH and their DD, who is the same age as our youngest. Dcousin had been many times before, although this was her DD's first time. We were newbs, even though I had already found this site and was researching like crazy. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We had a crazy week doing everything and yet really nothing. We got to all four parks and both water parks and Disney Quest and even attended MNSSHP , but when all was said and done..we had missed so much! Plus there was some drama between me and Dcousin. I love her like a sister, but it wasn't a good dynamic that week. No one person's fault entirely...just too tiring and stressful.

So before we left, Ferb took it upon himself to book a bounceback for free dining in 2009. That vacation had many metamorphosis....from free dining at Pop in Sept..to Buy 4 get 3 free in June...to Free dining again, but now in Aug and at CBR..and that's where it stayed. We spent more than we should have, thinking like I said that this was the be all END all vacation. We kept to the Pirate theme the whole week and got the girls pirate makeovers at Pirate's League and sent them on a pirate adventure at CBR on a pontoon boat...it was HOT HOT HOT...but wonderful. We toured the parks more along our pace and got so much done!! We got to celebrate my birthday that week and got the free gift card as part of the celebrate promotion!

One of the few pics where you can't see the sweat just dripping off of us!

Then in 2010 we managed to go again because our tax return was just enough to cover a budget trip at Pop Century and we were jonesin BIG time for some WDW!! It was official...we were hooked! But this time we decided to surprise the girls the morning we left! Crazy, I know...and it was pretty funny, too! But they were so excited to be going again and so were we. This was a more budget friendly trip, but we still had a wonderful time and it was also the last time we were on the dining plan. We got free dining again!

This time was in April and we celebrated Ferb's birthday! No gift card, but I surprised him with the Wishes Dessert Party to celebrate!

The next coming year was a difficult one for me and Ferb...not just rocky, but a mess....but we survived and were stronger because of it. And what better way to celebrate than a wonderful family vacation to WDW!! This was a big one and we decided to surprise the girls again, only this time on Christmas morning. Our vacation wasn't until March and we figured the girls would appreciate being in on some of the planning and we made huge countdown calendars to wrap as presents...what a dud...they basically wanted us to tell them on the day of...not make them wait...HELLO!!! WE ARE TAKING YOU TO WDW!! BE GRATEFUL!!! They got over that real quick and got into the spirit of the countdown! We stayed at POR with a room only discount that had the CM on the phone speechless over the discount! YAY US!!! We did dining OOP this time and ended up coming up ahead in the end..not by much, but enough to say that it was a good decision on our part! POR was lovely, but the main pool was have major heating issues and wasn't fixed until we were walking by it with our luggage in tow on the way to check out! Oh well...we had a nice poolside room right by the quiet pool which was heated. We had a wonderful vacation with a couple of surprises for the girls...namely the Pirate's and Pals Fireworks cruise! And Stitch was picked as first mate for our boat and Rapunzel got to walk with Mr Smee, holding his hand, all the way to the boat! Great pixie dust!

And then....we had some funds left over so Ferb and I splurged and took an adult only Disney extravaganza trip last Oct!! We did one day at Epcot for F&W then a 3 night cruise on the Dream, and then went back for a night at MNSSHP!! We had so much fun together....it was a testament to how far we had come...sssshhhh....the girls think we only went to the Bahamas with out them...they would kill us if they knew what we really did!

It was our 14th Anniversary that week and boy did we celebrate!!

And then because I love my Ferb sooo much, I surprised HIM with a vacation! I planned it all myself and hid it from him! But I sprang it on him while we were away alone in Oct! Happy Anniversary, honey!! He was shocked! But when the shock wore off he got excited and we decided to surprise the girls the morning we left...again!!
So that was this past January that we went...we had purchased our timeshare and had points left over which was the impetus of this vacation to begin with. We stayed at WBC and had a wonderful vacation..a few bumps along the way..but still AMAZING!!

So there you have it...our Disney history!! Hope you can come along with us as we plan for this October's Halloween Extravaganza!!

 

[disneymom727]

I'll follow along! It will pass the time while we're waiting to go too. We'll be there a week before you

 

[Moodyzblu]

I'll join ya !! (going to go check out your TR too !)

Cute family !! Looking forward to your plans !

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

I'll follow along! It will pass the time while we're waiting to go too. We'll be there a week before you

So glad to have you here! Oct is a great time to visit! What are your plans like?

I'll join ya !! (going to go check out your TR too !)

Cute family !! Looking forward to your plans !

Thanks for that compliment! Hope you enjoy the read along!!

 

[jenny105]

Jumped over from the October 2012 thread. You're a girl after my own heart - vacationing a ton to WDW PLUS a Lapu Lapu lover? You rock.

I used touringplans but have never heard of easywdw. I'll have to check that out.

And PS - I started my PTR in JULY!

 

[tifaas]

Hi there. I'm another person that came over from the October planning thread. You have such a beautiful family. It's so neat to see the changes from the year to year. I am bound and determined to try one of those Lapu drinks this time.

We used the easywdw touring plans for our recent trip this last Jan and have to say they were pretty right on the money. We did not encounter more than about a 5-10 min wait for most rides with most of the time being spent walking the long queue. The longest we had to wait for something was Test Track and that was 20 mins. We did not use any fast passes either so either that site is on the money or we just really lucked out.

I'm usually a lurker on these boards which is why I have such a low post count but really wanting to post more these days.

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Jumped over from the October 2012 thread. You're a girl after my own heart - vacationing a ton to WDW PLUS a Lapu Lapu lover? You rock.

I used touringplans but have never heard of easywdw. I'll have to check that out.

And PS - I started my PTR in JULY!

Hey! Glad you are here! I love me some Lapu Lapu!! There are a few other drinks that I love at WDW too... I have heard great things about easywdw so I figure it's worth the shot, kwim? And I think you are just showing off by telling me that you started in July.

Hi there. I'm another person that came over from the October planning thread. You have such a beautiful family. It's so neat to see the changes from the year to year. I am bound and determined to try one of those Lapu drinks this time.

We used the easywdw touring plans for our recent trip this last Jan and have to say they were pretty right on the money. We did not encounter more than about a 5-10 min wait for most rides with most of the time being spent walking the long queue. The longest we had to wait for something was Test Track and that was 20 mins. We did not use any fast passes either so either that site is on the money or we just really lucked out.

I'm usually a lurker on these boards which is why I have such a low post count but really wanting to post more these days.

Glad to have you here! Lurking is always allowed..I can see the numbers go up when I check how many viewings there have been. Although, even if no one was here I would probably still keep typing away...it's a safe place to rant on and on and on about WDW!!! I'm definitely going to check out easywdw. You aren't the first person to say how good Josh's site is. When did you go, just this past Jan or last year? We were there this year from Jan 5-12th.
Thank you for the compliment about our family...it's the most important thing in my life so it always feels good to hear nice things!
Oh, and BTW...you really do need to try a Lapu Lapu!

Hope you both enjoy reading along!!

 

[HeatherLassell]

I'm here I'm here I'm here!!!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

I'm here I'm here I'm here!!!

Thanks for joining us!

 

[laura428]

I'm in, too! And I love the Pirates theme - we're all big Pirates fans, too, and I gotta love me some Captain Jack.

We're making our first Halloween trip this October, and can't wait. We're going all out for this trip - think DH will be completely Disney'd out after it, so I figure if it's going to be a while before our next trip, what the heck?! (But then again, maybe it WON'T be, like it happened for you!).

And since we're staying a the Poly this time, I have NO excuses to not try a Lapu Lapu!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

I'm in, too! And I love the Pirates theme - we're all big Pirates fans, too, and I gotta love me some Captain Jack.

We're making our first Halloween trip this October, and can't wait. We're going all out for this trip - think DH will be completely Disney'd out after it, so I figure if it's going to be a while before our next trip, what the heck?! (But then again, maybe it WON'T be, like it happened for you!).

And since we're staying a the Poly this time, I have NO excuses to not try a Lapu Lapu!

The other day we decided to watch POC Curse of the Black Pearl...then when we headed to bed and switched on the TV, guess what was on? Yep POC #2!! I said to Ferb, this is crazy...it's following us!!
But yeah, we love the whole pirate thing too. And The Nightmare Before Christmas as well, so MNSSHP and the whole Halloween season is right up our ally!
Thanks for joining us!! Hope you enjoy the read..

 

[jenseib]

I'm in!

Now you are becoming a TA right? Buy the tickets through yourself and make some money on them!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

I'm in!

Now you are becoming a TA right? Buy the tickets through yourself and make some money on them!

Yeah, I thought about that actually...but we may be doing the YES program this time and it seems to save quite a bit on the ticket prices. If we don't then I will definitely be doing it myself!

Oh, and to another PTR!! When are you guys going next?

 

[jenseib]

We may do something this spring, but nothing planned for sure yet. But Claire and I are going on the Dream in Nov. with my family and then Claire and I are staying a couple days after at WDW and doing the MVMCP.

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

We may do something this spring, but nothing planned for sure yet. But Claire and I are going on the Dream in Nov. with my family and then Claire and I are staying a couple days after at WDW and doing the MVMCP.

Sounds "Dreamy" ! MVMCP is something we've never done before. This vacation in Oct was supposed to be the second week of Nov, then got moved to the first week of Dec when we thought my DSIL from the UK might be able to join us, but then moved to our current dates when Ferb couldn't get any of those weeks off of work. So, we ALMOST made it to that party. I do want to try it some time...

 

[hunterfaimly]

Found you on the October planning board and followed you we are booked at POR for the 21-27. Probably gonna add 19&20 offsite for some time at Seaworld. We suprised our DD 7&2 with a Christmas trip on Christmas morning and booked the bounce back. We also went in August 2010. I'm so excited to see the park with lower crowds. We are used to 9&10s. A 4 sound lovely.

Noelle

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Found you on the October planning board and followed you we are booked at POR for the 21-27. Probably gonna add 19&20 offsite for some time at Seaworld. We suprised our DD 7&2 with a Christmas trip on Christmas morning and booked the bounce back. We also went in August 2010. I'm so excited to see the park with lower crowds. We are used to 9&10s. A 4 sound lovely.

Noelle

Glad to have you here! We loved POR when we stayed there in March 2011. It's so pretty! I have had some higher numbers, but not 9's and 10's...doesn't sound like fun to me. I really liked the weather and crowds for the 2 days we were there in Oct 2011, I hope a whole week will be perfect!!

 

[tifaas]

Glad to have you here! Lurking is always allowed..I can see the numbers go up when I check how many viewings there have been. Although, even if no one was here I would probably still keep typing away...it's a safe place to rant on and on and on about WDW!!! I'm definitely going to check out easywdw. You aren't the first person to say how good Josh's site is. When did you go, just this past Jan or last year? We were there this year from Jan 5-12th.
Thank you for the compliment about our family...it's the most important thing in my life so it always feels good to hear nice things!
Oh, and BTW...you really do need to try a Lapu Lapu!

We were there this last Jan from Jan 22nd through the 29th. I need to get a trip report going for that trip as it was a very magical trip for us.

I am definitely going to try one now that you mentioned it. I had planned on booking Ohana's for dinner one night and that has me convinced! lol.