Booked a month off to go to WDW, think that's enough?

[Disney Brat]

Thanks for the welcoming! Wow look at all of us Winnipeggers here!! LOL So who is totally fed up with our weather, and the conversations about it??!!!! You must be getting so excited! Can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[Mindy5767]

What's tables in wonderland?

I've got a ADR at Boma on Wed. 5/15 AT 5:15pm. Never have eaten there before but it sounded great! We're also going to try the new Sanaa with just the 4 adults and we're having DS17 to take the younger girls somewhere for kid food. That's on Thursday at 6:30pm.

 

[Shir Kahn]

What's tables in wonderland?

I've got a ADR at Boma on Wed. 5/15 AT 5:15pm. Never have eaten there before but it sounded great! We're also going to try the new Sanaa with just the 4 adults and we're having DS17 to take the younger girls somewhere for kid food. That's on Thursday at 6:30pm.

Tables in Wonderland is a card you can buy for $75 if you have annual passes. This card is good for 20% off all your food at almost every place in WDW. It really doesn't take long to cover the cost of the card. I'm kind of looking at it as a card that takes care of the tip for us! Of course, most of the meals we'll be using it for won't be tippable anyway. 20 x breakfast at Pop Century (roughly $15 for the 2 of us equals $60 right there.

 

[Mindy5767]

Tables in Wonderland is a card you can buy for $75 if you have annual passes. This card is good for 20% off all your food at almost every place in WDW. It really doesn't take long to cover the cost of the card. I'm kind of looking at it as a card that takes care of the tip for us! Of course, most of the meals we'll be using it for won't be tippable anyway. 20 x breakfast at Pop Century (roughly $15 for the 2 of us equals $60 right there.

Only 2 of you? thought you MIL and BIL were coming? We don't have an annual pass. At least not yet. If we decide on our next trip plan before we leave, and it is within 1 year, we'll get them... but we're doing 8 days now. It makes sense to get the AP if you're there 10 days or more... I wish! Lucky you! You are right... that would really pay off the more meals you have there in ressies. We've got only 4 ADR's right now, we plan to do a few QS's, Rainforest and B&C. We really could have used the Tables in Wonderland last year. We had AP's nov 07-Oct 08!! We did 3 trips in that time. I didn't know about it!

 

[Shir Kahn]

There's actually 5 of us total, but the other three are on the dining plan. I'll likely be using the card for all of us when we go for breakfast together though.

 

[Mindy5767]

There's actually 5 of us total, but the other three are on the dining plan. I'll likely be using the card for all of us when we go for breakfast together though.

They've always told us that everyone in your party has to be on the same plan. Are the other 3 in a separate room?

 

[Shir Kahn]

They've always told us that everyone in your party has to be on the same plan. Are the other 3 in a separate room?

Yes they are, but you can definitely use different methods of payment. You just have to let the server know ahead of time to make it easier for them.

 

[All7OfUs]

Hey There, My Friend,

Just checking in. The TIW card sounds like a great deal. I'll have to ask maroo if she's gotten one, since she'll be going twice more this year alone. Might save us some money on our Sept., 2010 trip (if she renews her AP) and we don't get free dining.

And I see you've added a couple of extra days too! Very good!

 

[Mindy5767]

Since I'm DVC, I get dining discounts at various restaurants. Good ones. So, it probably wouldnt pay for me. Especially since we want to save $$ by eating in our villa and using the kitchen that is so pristine since nobody uses them!!

 

[Piglets Mommy]

Hi! Just checking in!
Loving your PTR so far!

 

[Shir Kahn]

Hey There, My Friend,

Just checking in. The TIW card sounds like a great deal. I'll have to ask maroo if she's gotten one, since she'll be going twice more this year alone. Might save us some money on our Sept., 2010 trip (if she renews her AP) and we don't get free dining.

And I see you've added a couple of extra days too! Very good!

This always happens when I`m in charge of vacations!

Since I'm DVC, I get dining discounts at various restaurants. Good ones. So, it probably wouldnt pay for me. Especially since we want to save $$ by eating in our villa and using the kitchen that is so pristine since nobody uses them!!

We`re actually going to be eating some meals in our room at times to save some cash as well. 30 full days of eating in restaurants isn`t cheap!

Hi! Just checking in!
Loving your PTR so far!

Thanks!


So, a couple of updates:

Was reading the disboards yesterday and happened across a thread concerning the new online ADR reservation system. So, being the curious person I am, off I went to take a look. On a complete impulse, I decided to scan our dates for supper reservations at Le Cellier and whaddyaknow; I got a match! Out of the entire stay, there was one open reservation on July 16th at 5:05pm. I had tried and tried to get a supper reservation on the phone but I started too late, as this restaurant is extremely popular and you usually need to book the full 90 days in advance. I set speed records hitting the buttons to reserve that open spot!
I also booked 4 days at the Best Western Lakeside for $28 a night from July 5th-July 9th! 1.8 miles from WDW and has a Pizza Hut onsite, as well as 3 pools, a breakfast buffet, a Walgreens, 7-11 and lots of other places within walking distance! The breakfast buffet is $9 a person, but if you walk 2 minutes, you can go to Ponderosa and have a $3.50 breakfast buffet! It`s listed as 3 stars on tripadvisor and there are a ton of reviews, mostly positive. Basically, it`s going to be a place to lie down for a few hours until we head back to Disney anyway, so I really don`t care if it`s a 9 star hotel!
So, how are you all doing?

 

[Mindy5767]

Tim,

How can you eat in your room at the Pop to save money? There isn't even a ktichenette. Cereal and pop tarts maybe! You might as well do this. Bring some cereal, or the like. In the Pop's cafeteria/food court there is a toaster. You can heat up your own food just as easily as food you buy there. Nobody cares. You can also ask a CM to give you an empty foam cereal bowl. I did that once. My DD wanted some cereal we'd brought but I didn't have a bowl, so I asked for one. They gave me a foam (probably Hefty brand) bowl and there is plastic tableware for the taking. I just added milk that from the grab n go case! Easy! I'd rather eat there than try to eat at the tiny table in the room that's covered in my electronics!! Oh.. and another thing... if you bring your own bowls or plates, you can easily wash them quickly in the mug wash station.

 

[Shir Kahn]

It's Jason actually, Tim is my brother-in-law.

We've actually already got the pop tarts packed! We're going to have a fridge the whole time we're down as well, so we're going to stop by a grocery store and buy some stuff like bread and sandwich ingredients to take into the parks with us. We won't be doing this too often, but enough to save some cash.

 

[Mindy5767]

It's Jason actually, Tim is my brother-in-law.

We've actually already got the pop tarts packed! We're going to have a fridge the whole time we're down as well, so we're going to stop by a grocery store and buy some stuff like bread and sandwich ingredients to take into the parks with us. We won't be doing this too often, but enough to save some cash.

ugh!! How did I get your names mixed up? Now I have your face attached to your BIL's name in my brain!! I'll have to fix that.

The closest grocery store is the Winn Dixie. I already joined their membership program online so I could get their card before we leave. I want to qualify for the specials of the week. Although, you can probably join when you get there. Check into it. The store I believe is up Vineland-Apopka Blvd. Its behind the Panera Bread. Its way cheaper than ordering in for groceries and way cheaper than buying them at the DVC shops. Although, depending on what and how much you're buying at any given time and time=money... you might need to shop DVC a few times.

 

[Mindy5767]

Yup.. I went back to the beginning of your posts to see where I got your names wrong. Tim's name appears at the bottom of your picture, so when I looked at it (I have a tiny laptop screen), I only saw his name under your picture. Next time I wanna get a laptop big enough for me to see the whole of anything at the same time. I can't see the whole picture at once usually.

 

[Shir Kahn]

Thanks for the info! Now I have a name to put into my GPS! It's getting so close now! Almost single digits!

 

[purplepeg]

Wow you really are getting close. Great job on the online dining ressie. How can you go and not visit the home country? Are you planning on doing any updates from WDW? I think you mentioned a possibility of that.

Are the suitcases out?

 

[Mindy5767]

Here is the grocery store information for your GPS.


Winn-Dixie #2215
SHOPPES OF LAKE AVENUE
11957 SOUTH APOPKA VINELAND RD
ORLANDO, FL 32836

Store Director: James Bailey
Phone Number: 407-465-8600
Pharmacy Phone: 407-465-8606
Store Hours: Mon - Fri: 7:00 A.M. - 12:00 A.M.
Sat: 7:00 A.M. - 12:00 A.M.
Sun: 7:00 A.M. - 12:00 A.M.

 

[Shir Kahn]

Wow you really are getting close. Great job on the online dining ressie. How can you go and not visit the home country? Are you planning on doing any updates from WDW? I think you mentioned a possibility of that.

Are the suitcases out?

We might be doing some updates from WDW, I'm just not sure how often at the rates they charge for internet access. At $10 a day, I'd only be using it for about a half an hour max per day, pretty expensive! I guess I might space it out and maybe pay for a day here and there.

Here is the grocery store information for your GPS.


Winn-Dixie #2215
SHOPPES OF LAKE AVENUE
11957 SOUTH APOPKA VINELAND RD
ORLANDO, FL 32836

Store Director: James Bailey
Phone Number: 407-465-8600
Pharmacy Phone: 407-465-8606
Store Hours: Mon - Fri: 7:00 A.M. - 12:00 A.M.
Sat: 7:00 A.M. - 12:00 A.M.
Sun: 7:00 A.M. - 12:00 A.M.

Thanks!

So, it's really getting close now, I've actually started looking for some of my electronics to get them all ready. We've converted most of our money now. That was painful, the dollar has been dropping like a rock again. Four shifts left to work now, one day off. Those are going to be really long shifts. I work Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, have Wednesday off for Canada Day, then I work Thursday. Friday, we'll be getting up, heading to the bank to convert the last of our money, stopping at McDonalds for breakfast (one of our traditions for WDW trips) and hitting the road! We're planning to drive for about 12 hours and hopefully stopping in Madison, Wisconsin. The 4th, we're going to be driving until we get to Marietta, Georgia. Hopefully they've got some decent fireworks there. I know we're pretty close to Atlanta at that point but we don't want to stay in any large cities.

Going to get up early on the 5th and drive until we hit Orlando. We'll find our hotel, check in and then head to WDW! We're staying offsite until the 9th when we check into Pop Century, so no extra magic hours for the first bit. Looking forward to the $3.99 breakfast buffet at Ponderosa though! The place we're staying at also has a Pizza Hut actually in the hotel!

Anyway, that's the update for now, cya in a bit!

 

[Mindy5767]

Just so you know..In the plaza that is right by the Winn Dixie there is a Panera Bread. Its a sandwhich/coffee type place. They have free high speed internet as does Starbucks. I haven't scoped out the starbucks yet though. You should be able to just pop into one of those shops and get your internet needs taken care of for no cost... other than the coffee or baked good that you would be tempted to buy.