Columbus Day Weekend Food Blitz! My first PTR! Updated 10/1!

[Joben]

What about Pip the cat? He's pretty cool too.

Pip is a jerk...at least according to SouthPark

 

[Joben]

Hooray page five, it was getting long to scroll through all that

 

[NigelSTW]

After a brush with uncertainty over the weekend, we have decided to stick with the plan. Li Li did some researching and figured out that we could get a woods view room at WL for a pretty damn good deal over our Columbus Day weekend stay. We’ve only visited WL and found it to be wonderful. The pool is fed by a spring in the hotel lobby. The hotel bar is very nifty. The lobby is amazing. It is awesome. It would still cost a bit more than staying at POR, but perhaps not too much more? However, POR was a done deal, right? A very nice resort in itself, and all paid up in full. So we had a dream resort with the COOLEST POOL EVER versus a very nice resort that was PAID IN FULL.

We thought about it. We thought it about it some more. Li Li crafted a pro and con list. We made a firm decision, and then changed our minds again, and then again. In the end, we stuck with POR. If we stayed at WL instead of having a trip focused on DTD and Epcot we’d probably focus on the MK resort area. The whole point of the trip was to do something a bit different. Hopefully a decent deal on WL will show up in the next couple years. We’re sticking with POR and we’re sticking with the plan.

I think.

 

[Disneylover99]

After a brush with uncertainty over the weekend, we have decided to stick with the plan. Li Li did some researching and figured out that we could get a woods view room at WL for a pretty damn good deal over our Columbus Day weekend stay. We’ve only visited WL and found it to be wonderful. The pool is fed by a spring in the hotel lobby. The hotel bar is very nifty. The lobby is amazing. It is awesome. It would still cost a bit more than staying at POR, but perhaps not too much more? However, POR was a done deal, right? A very nice resort in itself, and all paid up in full. So we had a dream resort with the COOLEST POOL EVER versus a very nice resort that was PAID IN FULL.

We thought about it. We thought it about it some more. Li Li crafted a pro and con list. We made a firm decision, and then changed our minds again, and then again. In the end, we stuck with POR. If we stayed at WL instead of having a trip focused on DTD and Epcot we’d probably focus on the MK resort area. The whole point of the trip was to do something a bit different. Hopefully a decent deal on WL will show up in the next couple years. We’re sticking with POR and we’re sticking with the plan.

I think.

Ha Ha!!! I know how indecision can mess with your mind! Those discounts that came out Aug. 1st threw us for a loop as well. In the end we decided to stick to AofA without any discount.

But our December trip??? Don't get me started! So far we have changed resorts 4 times. As of today we are staying at POR, but that could change tomorrow!

 

[Joben]

Hey, so I'm a big reader of the rumors and news and I just saw people saying today that they were staying at POR and just got the option of testing the magic bands and fastpass+. Are you guys still staying at POR? And do you have this option available on your reservation? I'm curious if this is going to be cool or not. almost time to stop counting down by months and weeks and count down by days....whatever I've been counting days since 200+

 

[Li Li]

Hey, so I'm a big reader of the rumors and news and I just saw people saying today that they were staying at POR and just got the option of testing the magic bands and fastpass+. Are you guys still staying at POR? And do you have this option available on your reservation? I'm curious if this is going to be cool or not. almost time to stop counting down by months and weeks and count down by days....whatever I've been counting days since 200+

Yep, we are still at POR, and I have been trying to keep up with all this magic band stuff. I have been checking MDE fairly regularly to see if the option to customize magic bands pops up, and it hasn't yet. I feel like everything is so conflicting. Some report that you don't get the option for magic bands until 20 days or less prior to your trip; other people reporting that you get magic bands when you do online check in. We haven't done online check in...yet. We were kind of on the fence about whether to do it. We are at 55 days out, so if I don't see the band option closer to the 30 day mark, I might try online check in and see what happens.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

DH and I won't be doing online check in. From what I have read its the one way to guarantee that none of your room requests get met. When you do online check in a computer randomly assigns you the next available room. If you check in the day of a human does it.


My guess is that the roll out of the rest of the magic bands will depend on how this test goes. From what I am hearing it sounds like its going well. I wouldn't be surprised if it goes live for everyone in time for our trip. Though I wouldn't mind at all if I'm wrong.

 

[Li Li]

Who just made FP+ selections? THIS GIRL!!!!!!!!

(Can you tell I'm excited?)

No magic bands yet, but the FP+ is pretty exciting!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Thanks for the heads up! I just went and checked and I can make them too! Same with you though. No Magic Bands yet.

 

[Li Li]

Thanks for the heads up! I just went and checked and I can make them too! Same with you though. No Magic Bands yet.

Hi there! Saw your post to me on the live dining thread too! So cool that we will be there at the same time. We'll have competing posts to Barb!

I have to give credit to the Facebook group I am in. It's a DIS'er October group, and someone on there posted about being 50 days out and just getting FP+ selections today.

We are probably going to plan on seeing Yee Haw Bob at the river roost lounge at POR on Saturday night if you are around!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

We'll see. Saturday is our Hollywood studios day but it just might work to go then. I definitely want to try to see Yee haw bob. We were planing on eating quick service back at the resort that night after we get back from HS.

 

[glaserjm]

Who just made FP+ selections? THIS GIRL!!!!!!!!

(Can you tell I'm excited?)

No magic bands yet, but the FP+ is pretty exciting!

Awesome! I'm excited for the possibility although I do think they'll roll it out to DVC only resorts last, so not sure if it will be available on our November trip or not.

Did you find the process pretty easy? My main beef with the system is that as of now what is being reported is that you can only make selections for one park per day. We are big hoppers so I don't like only focusing on one park, but I'm sure in time they will address that.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Did you find the process pretty easy? My main beef with the system is that as of now what is being reported is that you can only make selections for one park per day. We are big hoppers so I don't like only focusing on one park, but I'm sure in time they will address that.

I liked it for the most part. My main gripe with it was that it kept giving me options with fastpasses that hit during my dinner ADRs. There were a couple of times where I just didn't like any of the 4 options they gave me so I just refreshed the page and it gave me completely new options. I'm not a big hopper but from what I can see they time the fastpasses well enough to give you time between them to not feel rushed but they stay pretty close together. One option was always morning based one option afternoon based and one evening based. and one that they claim as "best match" of the 4 days I was working on last night only one of the so called "Best match" options worked for me at all.

I would have to say that the hardest part for me was getting DH to help pick. (He's very go with the flow and I trust you and your research to choose what's best) But the plus side here is that it finally forced him to flat out think about and tell me what rides he wanted to be sure to ride at each park.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Check your mydisneyexperience!!! I just got Magic Bands! A few others in the October thread are reporting access to Magic Bands as well. I bet you can customize now.

 

[NigelSTW]

Have new camera, new camera bag, and SD card for the trip. Hope to get some decent non-smartphone pictures on this trip.

 

[NigelSTW]

We're 15 days out until we leave. We've decided to go carry on luggage only so we can try to get on standby on earlier flight.

 

[Li Li]

I promise I am going to try to do a real update, but in the meantime, check out this link. It touches on the issue I talked about earlier about taking pics of the ride pics without buying them.
http://www.wdwforgrownups.com/articles/disney-applies-infrared-imaging-projection-patent

 

[NigelSTW]

We're 12 days to D-Day. (Disney Day. Not the invasion of Normandy)

Our flight out of Philly leaves at 11:30am. This drops us at MCO at 2pm. Which is a fine time to land unless one wishes to make ADR at BOG, then its too late in the day. Now, we are going to try and get stand-by on the 8am or perhaps even the 6am earlier flights. We've booked an airport hotel so we can manage to get to the airport without having to wake up at 3am and make our ride do the same.

This has consequences. Namely, not checking a bag for the flight and going purely carryon. So now packing has moved from an afterthought to a serious consideration. It's only three nights (four with airport hotel), and we are not planing to dine at Citrocos. However, I must bring my iPad, and my new camera along with with clothes. The carryon sized bag I have is filing up quickly. Li-Li has her items in her bag and likely more shoes than I can possibly be worn in three days.

There is always the risk we won't make either flight and wind up in WDW at the same time and sleep deprived. I think it is worth risk. If we could be at our resort before noon, it would be a huge boon for our time there. We'd actually have time to enjoy the resort a bit before making our way to the MK.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Sounds like a good plan. DH and I were able to get an 8:50 flight so if you get on the standby we might end up arriving around the same time.

Can you believe how close it is!?!?!


Keep an eye out for a purple backpack with a green mickey head luggage tag and our dis names on it.

 

[Joben]

almost out of double digit day waiting for you guys, you should probably celebrate.

We are almost to the point were we can say that we are less than a month.

We will be traveling back from Chicago when we hit an anniversary for us.

In about two weeks we will have been counting down for two hundred days. I've decided during the car trip we need to pretend we are driving the leg of the journey from Voldosta, Ga. to Orlando, FL.

When I talk about it to anyone other than Jayne it sounds like such a weird thing to do....