Cruising, Wining, and Disney Dining - Two 2012 PTRs in One! **TR LINK UP**

[Katie & Glen]

Ok I'm not so sure I like you anymore since you're a Rangers fan... ewwww. LOL! I am a big time Flyers fan so I really hate you guys this year! I do love th picture of you hugging Lundqvist. I will say that he is a big time cutie!

I did not know they added Lightning to the LMA show, we may have to pay it another visit this year!

 

[jenny105]

Ok I'm not so sure I like you anymore since you're a Rangers fan... ewwww. LOL! I am a big time Flyers fan so I really hate you guys this year! I do love th picture of you hugging Lundqvist. I will say that he is a big time cutie!

I did not know they added Lightning to the LMA show, we may have to pay it another visit this year!

Don't be bitter. It's not like it's MY fault the Flyers can't beat the Rangers this year. In all fairness, the Flyers have outplayed the Rangers most of these games but they can't crack Lundqvist!

 

[amandaluvsgoofy]

Here I am making a pop-in visit! I hope you and Kris have a wonderful Valentine's! We're doing things really low key, too. Like order a pizza and stay in low key!

I can't believe your trip is getting so close! When you make your ARDs the rest of the time will fly by!

DHS is a park that I love, but things really do have to go your way! If things are shut down and lines are too long, then it can stink! We got super lucky this past time with our timing and FP collection! We still missed out on Indy and LMA the last two times. Oh well, just another reason to go back!

And do the Animation Academy! Do it twice if you can! I really loved it! We ate at Pizza Planet and really liked it! I think it's a perfect place to take kids, too!

Hope life is treeing you great!

 

[tifaas]

Hi there! I followed you to your PTR from mine. I had to come check out your plans and have caught up. I hope you enjoy the Animal Kingdom Lodge as much as we did. We ate at Boma for both dinner and breakfast on check out date. We loved both meals and if you are breakfast people, definitely try to squeeze in a breakfast meal. The scrambled eggs with goat cheese and the raisin bread french toast were to die for. mmmm...

Now I am thinking we might have to book a breakfast there before our Animal Kingdom park day. LOL..I look forward to joining in for the rest of the trip planning with you.

 

[jenny105]

Here I am making a pop-in visit! I hope you and Kris have a wonderful Valentine's! We're doing things really low key, too. Like order a pizza and stay in low key!

I can't believe your trip is getting so close! When you make your ARDs the rest of the time will fly by!

DHS is a park that I love, but things really do have to go your way! If things are shut down and lines are too long, then it can stink! We got super lucky this past time with our timing and FP collection! We still missed out on Indy and LMA the last two times. Oh well, just another reason to go back!

And do the Animation Academy! Do it twice if you can! I really loved it! We ate at Pizza Planet and really liked it! I think it's a perfect place to take kids, too!

Hope life is treeing you great!

Hi! How have you been? How are the hubby and Emma? I hope you had a great Valentine's Day. Ours was really fun

I've never had a problem with DHS except for last trip. It was frustrating to say the least. I'm hoping we have a better day there this trip.

I've done the Animation Academy before and enjoyed it. It's been a few years so I'm wondering what my drawings will look like

I hope all is well!

Hi there! I followed you to your PTR from mine. I had to come check out your plans and have caught up. I hope you enjoy the Animal Kingdom Lodge as much as we did. We ate at Boma for both dinner and breakfast on check out date. We loved both meals and if you are breakfast people, definitely try to squeeze in a breakfast meal. The scrambled eggs with goat cheese and the raisin bread french toast were to die for. mmmm...

Now I am thinking we might have to book a breakfast there before our Animal Kingdom park day. LOL..I look forward to joining in for the rest of the trip planning with you.

Hi!
Thanks for the Boma breakfast suggestion. Everything sounds yummy. I think Kris would love the raisin bread french toast. Maybe we'll eat there on our last day. Seems like a nice way to say goodbye to AKL.

 

[jenny105]

Hi everyone!

Kris and I had a great Valentine's Day. When I got home from work, Kris surprised me with flowers & I gave him some candy & a Disney gc We went to a local Italian restaurant called the Brick Oven in the next town over. The food was pretty good but I don't think we'll be returning there. They don't accept Visa or Mastercard, only Amex, which we didn't know prior to getting there. But they accept personal checks. Kris was a little miffed about that because he doesn't have Amex and was planning on using his Visa. So he had to run around the block in the rain to an ATM. Also, the fact that they put us at a table where everytime the door opened we got hit with the cold air from outside didn't make things any better. We still had a good dinner though. After dinner we came home & made chocolate peanut butter fondue. Yum! I made way to much though and ended up making chocolate covered strawberries that I will be snacking on everytime I open the fridge. It was a great night

I got a few other Valentine's Day surprises as well. When I got home from work, a Dale & Thomas gift basket was waiting for me. I had won it from Sunshine Rewards during their holiday contest and it showed up on Valentine's Day. So now we have all this yummy popcorn to snack on too.

Also, I found out I won 25,000 frequent flyer miles from Southwest! That pretty much covers our airfare to Orlando! I've never flown with them before because they don't fly direct from our local airports (EWR, JFK, LGA). They do fly direct from Philly and Long Island but both are about 90 minutes away. The airfare for our dates is not published yet but will be on February 20. I was looking at the average point rates for airfare out of both airports and Philly is around 30,000 & Long Island is 23,000for two roundtrip tickets. So I think we're going to fly out of Long Island. I feel bad asking anyone to drive us all the way out there just to drop us off so I was looking at hotels in the area for the night before and was able to score a travel agent rate at a Courtyard nearby for $50. They run a free shuttle and the girl on the phone told me I could leave the car at the hotel for the week at no extra cost. So we don't even have to worry about parking, score! Has anyone flown Southwest? I was reading about their boarding process and there's no assigned seats. You just sit where you want. Has anyone ever had trouble getting seats together? That's the only thing that I'm not crazy about. But it's free so even if we can't sit together, I'm not going to complain! I have to wait 6-8 weeks for the points to credit to my Rapid Rewards account (I got 250 points just for creating one!) and then I can book.

Exactly 4 months from today I will be boarding the Disney Magic! It's getting closer!!

227 days to go til Disney, 47 until we can make ADRs!

 

[tifaas]

It sounds like you had a wonderful Valentines Day! Score on the free airfare. I have never flown on Southwest myself because we can fly non stop via Jetblue ourselves from Austin and like having an assigned seat. Although if they were much cheaper I would probably give them a try. My younger sister flies them all the time and doesn't seem to have had any issues yet. I think you can pay a fee to get a better seating group and up your chances of finding two seats together. However don't take my word on that as I'm not 100 percent sure.

We did breakfast at Boma on the day we checked out when we stayed there. It was definitely a good way to say good bye.

 

[Katie & Glen]

That's awesome you won the miles! And no, I am not bitter about the Rangers beating the Flyers.

 

[Joyciemc]

We fly Southwest almost exclusively- they have an amazing cancellation/change policy (no fees, AND if the fare goes down, you get the new price!) and checked bags are not an extra fee.

The no assigned seating issue is not as big a deal if you remember to check in as early as they allow (24 hours, I think- but double check with SW so you know for sure) You can pay an extra $20pp (I think that's the cost- again, double check) for priority seating, which means they check you in automatically as soon as it is available for your flight. This way, you are guaranteed an early boarding number and should have no problem.

The past few times we've flown SW, we checked in late and have boarded pretty much last. So we haven't sat together on a trip to Florida in a long time- and it was ok! The fact that you can change or cancel your plans without being reamed by ridiculous fees makes it totally worth it, IMHO.

Congrats on the free flight- that is awesome!

 

[smile4stamps]

Love Southwest!!

Flying them next week to go see my hubby!!

The key is to check in early for a better boarding spot and then you won't have any trouble finding seats together...

I love their no charge change/cancellation policy and bags fly free!!

 

[jenny105]

It sounds like you had a wonderful Valentines Day! Score on the free airfare. I have never flown on Southwest myself because we can fly non stop via Jetblue ourselves from Austin and like having an assigned seat. Although if they were much cheaper I would probably give them a try. My younger sister flies them all the time and doesn't seem to have had any issues yet. I think you can pay a fee to get a better seating group and up your chances of finding two seats together. However don't take my word on that as I'm not 100 percent sure.

We did breakfast at Boma on the day we checked out when we stayed there. It was definitely a good way to say good bye.

That's awesome you won the miles! And no, I am not bitter about the Rangers beating the Flyers.

We fly Southwest almost exclusively- they have an amazing cancellation/change policy (no fees, AND if the fare goes down, you get the new price!) and checked bags are not an extra fee.

The no assigned seating issue is not as big a deal if you remember to check in as early as they allow (24 hours, I think- but double check with SW so you know for sure) You can pay an extra $20pp (I think that's the cost- again, double check) for priority seating, which means they check you in automatically as soon as it is available for your flight. This way, you are guaranteed an early boarding number and should have no problem.

The past few times we've flown SW, we checked in late and have boarded pretty much last. So we haven't sat together on a trip to Florida in a long time- and it was ok! The fact that you can change or cancel your plans without being reamed by ridiculous fees makes it totally worth it, IMHO.

Congrats on the free flight- that is awesome!

Love Southwest!!

Flying them next week to go see my hubby!!

The key is to check in early for a better boarding spot and then you won't have any trouble finding seats together...

I love their no charge change/cancellation policy and bags fly free!!

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

Southwest sounds awesome. I absolutely love that not only is the first checked bag free, the second bag is too! I can overpack! Usually I'm worried about fitting everything and then if my bag will be overweight.

I was looking at their website last night and saw that you can pay $10/flight and they'll check you in as early as possible. All you have to do is print your boarding pass within 24 hours of your flight. Since we're not paying for the flights, I will probably do that at least on the way to MCO so we can have a better shot at getting seats together.

I can't believe I lucked out and our airfare is covered. Soooo excited!

 

[Imagineer5]

That is sooo awesome about the free southwest flights. That stinks they dont fly direct from any airport near you, but it sounds like you came up with a great plan. We also love flying sw and haven't had any issues at all flying together, but I think we will do early bird check in this next trip just because we will have Aria and want to get some decent seats.

Sorry to hear about the weird valentines dinner, at least the food was good! Haha. Sounds like it was nice though, and fun chocolate fondue!

 

[Dancegrl624]

I had NO idea you had a PTR! Totally joining in and I'll try my best to catch up. I hope to start a PTR soon for our Sept trip (yay!).

 

[jenny105]

That is sooo awesome about the free southwest flights. That stinks they dont fly direct from any airport near you, but it sounds like you came up with a great plan. We also love flying sw and haven't had any issues at all flying together, but I think we will do early bird check in this next trip just because we will have Aria and want to get some decent seats.

Sorry to hear about the weird valentines dinner, at least the food was good! Haha. Sounds like it was nice though, and fun chocolate fondue!

I don't mind having to travel a little further to catch the flights since they're FREE! I think I'm going to pay the service charge for the early bird check-in so we'll have a better chance at getting seats together. I think it's only $10 or so, no biggie.

I had NO idea you had a PTR! Totally joining in and I'll try my best to catch up. I hope to start a PTR soon for our Sept trip (yay!).

Meghan!!!! HI!!!
It looks like you have a few trips coming up, awesome! When you start your PTR send me the link!

 

[khertz]

So I scrolled through & got all caught up today!! Congrats on the free flights, that is pretty awesome! We always fly Southwest to WDW because it's the only direct flight to Orlando from New Orleans, and it's always come out cheaper too than to take a non-direct flight with another airline. Plus, you can't beat the no baggage fees! We've never had a problem choosing seats because we always do our best to check in right when we can at 24 hours before the flight. Now that we have DS we can board with family boarding, so it's still not a problem. We pretty much always fly Southwest if and when we can. We are not able to get any good SW flights for our DL trip, and the baggage fees are so frustrating!

 

[Dancegrl624]

Meghan!!!! HI!!!
It looks like you have a few trips coming up, awesome! When you start your PTR send me the link!

I definately will!

 

[jenny105]

So I scrolled through & got all caught up today!! Congrats on the free flights, that is pretty awesome! We always fly Southwest to WDW because it's the only direct flight to Orlando from New Orleans, and it's always come out cheaper too than to take a non-direct flight with another airline. Plus, you can't beat the no baggage fees! We've never had a problem choosing seats because we always do our best to check in right when we can at 24 hours before the flight. Now that we have DS we can board with family boarding, so it's still not a problem. We pretty much always fly Southwest if and when we can. We are not able to get any good SW flights for our DL trip, and the baggage fees are so frustrating!

Thanks! I'm so excited we don't have to worry about paying for airfare. The prices out of this area are outrageous! I know what you mean about baggage fees, I hate them! Not only do you have to pay for the bag, if it's overweight, you have to pay ANOTHER fee. It's ridiculous. That's one of the reasons I like JetBlue so much - no bag fees and free snacks! I feel like every other airline nickels & dimes you. I'm sure I'll like Southwest...as long as we get seats together

 

[jenny105]

Hi everyone!

Southwest & JetBlue have opened up their fares through October. It's about time! I checked the JetBlue prices out of curiosity and from JFK they're not bad - the times are terrible coming home though. Out of Newark, they're outrageous! I checked Southwest and the flights I can afford with the points I won are decent. There's a 6:20 flight but I don't think we're going to take it. That's a little too early for us so we're opting for the 11:10. It gets in around 2 PM so I'm hoping to be at AKL by 3-3:30. The flight coming home is later, around 8 pm, so we'd get to spend most of the day at WDW. Now all I have to do is wait for my points to come through. SW told me 6-8 weeks. I'm hoping that really means 3 weeks.

Now onto the plans!

Day 6 - 10/5/12 - My 30th Birthday!

Today is my birthday! We are planning on spending the day at MK, my favorite park. We'll start with breakfast at Crystal Palace - I know a lot of you have the same idea! Hoping for a DIS meet this morning. We're not going to go for a super early breakfast. I'm thinking around 10ish will probably be good for us.

According to last year's schedule, there should be a MNSSHP this day so the park will only be open until 7. I was thinking of doing MNSSHP this night but if we take that flight I mentioned earlier, we'll probably do the party our first night instead. So the question is, where to have my birthday dinner and what to do that night? If BOG is open, I definitely want to go there for dinner! If not, I was thinking of CRT or Hoop Dee Doo. The only thing I don't like about those two options is that you have to pay up front when you make the reservation. I want to use my dining plan so why do I have to pay in advance? Plus, I don't think Kris will like the food at HDD. He's a picky eater and doesn't like to eat meat off the bone.

So I'm open to suggestions for dinner! I feel like if we go to Narcoosees or California Grill, I'm going to want to run back to the hotel to freshen up. It doesn't really make sense to go all the way back to AKL when we're already in the vicinity of both restaurants.

I was also thinking of going to WCC. I've heard it's fun to go there on your birthday and they'll give you extra attention.

Another idea was to go back to AKL and then head out to Downtown Disney. We could have dinner & drinks at Raglan Road. I've never been there and want to try it. Or we could have dinner in the Boardwalk area, maybe Yachtsman, and go to JellyRolls or the Dance Hall.

Kris suggested going to Citywalk for the night. That could be fun too but we'd have to cab it out there & back plus they charge a cover at every bar if you don't have the party pass. And after I get a couple drinks in me, I'm going to try to figure out how to break in to IOA to run around WWoHP.

Thoughts? Ideas? What are some other good restaurants in DTD?

222 days to go!

 

[klacey1]

So many possibilities-- I am a huge fan of WCC and think that would be really fun! You could always start with dinner there and then head to Jellyrolls or DTD. I know the former would kind of be a pain to get to, but I think it'd be worth it! The Yatschman is also really good if you wanted to cut down on unecessary transportation.
The only TS restaurant I've eaten in at DTD is T-Rex...which was good, but I don't know if that's the atmosphere you're looknig for on your birthday! I heard Portobello is supposed to be really great-- and Raglan Road is definitely on our "next time" list!

 

[smile4stamps]

So many choices on what to do!

I'd say choose what you wish since it's your birthday! If you want HDDR go for it!

I didn't realize they charged your card right away with the shows... I thought it was charged at the time of the show. Maybe that changed since the last time I booked the HDDR... either that or I was so excited about getting a spot I didn't pay attention!

I think Jellyrolls would be fun. I need to look into that more for our trip...

I would probably pass on leaving WDW property as well as that can really add up the cost...