Dec PTR, The More the MERRIER! 12/5 Upd... It's a BABY! reveal!

[francis6306]

Joining in!

We made Reservations at H & V when we heard that Manny was there. DS3 is a HUGE fan. When I called to make the reservation the CM told me that Manny is indeed there for breakfast and lunch.

YAY! I know my dd will LOVE to see him!

If I can sit down long enough to look at the menus I think we will have to do it and just figure out what we want to pay for oop!

 

[jenseib]

I can't remember your meals (maybe you didn't post them yet?) but if you have a couple of breakfasts, those tend to be much cheaper and you can py OOP for those. On the other hand, CRT is kind of a waste of 2 credits. We paid OOP for it last year. I have it booked for this year (if we go) and it is paid for already..out of pocket. I just call that our bonus meal. I think it was $155 for the 3 of us for dinner. And I think I could do 2 breakfasts for about that much, depending on where we went, so it's a wash. But our dinners always cost more with tip, so it evens out, I guess. We do mostly dinners, but I have one ADR for a breakfast, and I plan to pay oop for that as well. I guess basically what I am saying is sit down and do the figures. LOL!

 

[francis6306]

I can't remember your meals (maybe you didn't post them yet?) but if you have a couple of breakfasts, those tend to be much cheaper and you can py OOP for those. On the other hand, CRT is kind of a waste of 2 credits. We paid OOP for it last year. I have it booked for this year (if we go) and it is paid for already..out of pocket. I just call that our bonus meal. I think it was $155 for the 3 of us for dinner. And I think I could do 2 breakfasts for about that much, depending on where we went, so it's a wash. But our dinners always cost more with tip, so it evens out, I guess. We do mostly dinners, but I have one ADR for a breakfast, and I plan to pay oop for that as well. I guess basically what I am saying is sit down and do the figures. LOL!

I think I posted them earlier... but it is mostly breakfast

• Fri: No ADR (MVMCP)
• Sat: Breakfast @ CRT (MK)
• Sun: lunch @ Chefs De France (Epcot)
• Monday- Breakfast @ 1900 Park Fare (DHS)
• Tuesday- Breakfast @ Tusker House (AK)

So, I have two options really... Friday for lunch or a late lunch on Monday.

 

[sbprincess]

So the other day Christen and I were discussing snack options. I know there are so many goodies to use your snack credits for! A few of my favorites are:

The wonderful Pineapple Dole Whip Float!

School Bread! I love this treat. I'm a huge coconut fanatic so I thought it was great.

And last but definitely not least, the gigantic cinnamon roll from Main Street Bakery.

And an honorable mention goes to the Butterfinger Cupcake from Starring Rolls Bakery in DHS. It was way too much for one person. My DH didn't want any but I had to try it. But if you could share it between several people, it would be perfect

So, tell us, what are some of your favorites? I think we need some suggestions. You don't have to post pictures if you don't want to or don't have them. I would like to try some new things this time around. Maybe something off the "cult following" list. I know this wasn't really an update per se, but just something I was thinking about today! Thanks everyone!!

 

[francis6306]

I'm a little heartbroken... No comments??

Anyway, I figured I would give you a little update on the OTHER family that is going with us on this trip.

Nita is our sitter... therefore she is an angel! She keeps our DD Cortlyn during the day so that my husband can go to school fulltime and I can work full time. Nita keeps children in her home so its usually a wild place when I go to pick up my kidbut she LOVES it! Cortlyn adores Nita. I'm so glad! Nita's daughter Alyssa is like a big sister to Cortlyn. They fight, but they love each other too!

Nita is the only one in the group that has actually been to disney world at Christmas time. My understanding is that her family went there on Christmas Day back when she was in high school. But they didn't stay on property. Her husband has never been to disney, so when I mentioned we were planning a trip he was all in. He has also never flown, so he is excited to fly- IF they can get a good price on a ticket!

Now, like I have said, Shelley has been guiding me... but I think we might be dragging Nita and Michael! I don't think they quite understand the level of planning that Shelley and I were going to be doing for this trip. I kept telling Nita she needed to get online, look at the restaurants so we could be ready to book our ADR's. The week before our 180 window opened, I think I finally got through to her that we had to do this NOW! So, they chose to come with us to most of our meals and to the parks with us, but picked a few meals of their own.

Fri: Arrive, MK
Sat: MK, CRT, BBB Appt for Alyssa
Sun: Epcot, Restaurant Marrakesh for Lunch
Mon: BF @ 1900 Park Fare, DHS
Tues: AK, BF @ Tusker House, Dinner @ Boma

Today, I went to allears and created a document with all the places we were eating- menus and prices- so we can decide what we will be paying out of pocket for! I just need to talk to Corey about it... see what he says! I made one for Nita too... But Shelley's already done her own!

 

[stephielela]

I have never tried school bread or had a dole whip but i intend to try both within my next visits! that cupcake looks AWESOME!

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Hey girls!!! Loving all your planning!!! Shelley, I hear ya on the whole Candlelight Processional thing!! What the Heck in the hold up??? Super annoying, I know when we went in 2008, I had my package booked ages ago at this point! I think it probably has to do with narrators not making a committment to dates!

And I agree a Dole whip is a great snack option!!! YUMMY!!!

 

[sbprincess]

Just saw the info posted about the Candlelight Processional Package opening up on August 26th! Woo hoo! At least we now have a date. Now they just need to release the dining package information. My fingers a still crossed for Via Napoli to be on the list. I'm starting to think we'll choose that over Le Cellier. I can just save Le Cellier for another time since we've been there twice already. Hopefully since we're going on December 14th, and that's a Tuesday evening, we won't have too much trouble getting the restaurant we want. If we were planning for a weekend night I would be more worried about locals. Ahhh, to be a local one day though

Also, I'm so excited that Steven Curtis Chapman is scheduled as our narrator. I don't have anything against the others listed, really. But growing up listening to his music in the early to mid-90s, I think we'll enjoy seeing him.

 

[nessz79]

Popping in to say hi and that I'm here!

 

[francis6306]

Popping in to say hi and that I'm here!

Yay!

Hopefully we can keep people entertained!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Just catching up on everyone's PTR's today. I guess I have to try the Dole Whip whiile I am down there. Never had one. The School bread looks good too.

 

[jenseib]

I think I posted them earlier... but it is mostly breakfast

• Fri: No ADR (MVMCP)
• Sat: Breakfast @ CRT (MK)
• Sun: lunch @ Chefs De France (Epcot)
• Monday- Breakfast @ 1900 Park Fare (DHS)
• Tuesday- Breakfast @ Tusker House (AK)

So, I have two options really... Friday for lunch or a late lunch on Monday.

OK... To be honest I was too lazy to scroll back and look. LOL!

I really like schoolbread. But I don't like coconut, so I tried to scrape most of that off. LOL! I wish they had a non coconut version and I would be all over it.
I have yet to try a dole whip or float, but I am thinking next trip it should be on my agenda. I'm all about the classic Mickey bars. I just love them! Skip usually gets popcorn at least once during the trip.
Preztel rods from Goofys at DTD are also a new favorite of mine.
Also Pop has an icecream area in t he foodcourt that you can use snack credits for. Last year I had 2 icecream sundaes from there! MMM! They were good, but the icecream melted fast. DH got one the last night. He thought I was hiding it from him, even though he saw me eat 2 during the trip, he just wasn't paying attention. LOL!

Uusally we are so full from our TS that we have to force ourselves to eat snacks, and end up with extra at the end of the trip..which is why I got 9 dipped pretzel rods on our last day last year. LOL! And I ate almost every single one of them too. (Claire only ate part of one)

I hope to try a few new things next trip. I hear alot of people like Zebra domes, and since the plan is to stay at AKL for a few nights first, I might have to give some a try. I just not sure what they actually are? LOL!

 

[francis6306]

OK... To be honest I was too lazy to scroll back and look. LOL!

I really like schoolbread. But I don't like coconut, so I tried to scrape most of that off. LOL! I wish they had a non coconut version and I would be all over it.
I have yet to try a dole whip or float, but I am thinking next trip it should be on my agenda. I'm all about the classic Mickey bars. I just love them! Skip usually gets popcorn at least once during the trip.
Preztel rods from Goofys at DTD are also a new favorite of mine.
Also Pop has an icecream area in t he foodcourt that you can use snack credits for. Last year I had 2 icecream sundaes from there! MMM! They were good, but the icecream melted fast. DH got one the last night. He thought I was hiding it from him, even though he saw me eat 2 during the trip, he just wasn't paying attention. LOL!

Uusally we are so full from our TS that we have to force ourselves to eat snacks, and end up with extra at the end of the trip..which is why I got 9 dipped pretzel rods on our last day last year. LOL! And I ate almost every single one of them too. (Claire only ate part of one)

I hope to try a few new things next trip. I hear alot of people like Zebra domes, and since the plan is to stay at AKL for a few nights first, I might have to give some a try. I just not sure what they actually are? LOL!

Blah blah blah you and your AKL stay! I'm excited for you though! I'm thinking since we will be doing mostly breakfasts we should be fine using our snack credits for something around lunch time to get us through until dinner! BUT its good to know about the ice cream at Pop.

 

[francis6306]

So... lets go back in time a little... to 2005 to be exact. I am dating my now husband and Shelley's Brian was well... he didn't know he was in love with her yet! We don't have many if any pictures of this trip. So you have to imagine the trip!

Shelley decided that along with our other best friend Miranda, we needed to take a girl's trip to Florida and stay at her grandparent's house in Daytona. In the planning somewhere, it was decided that we should go to Disney one day. Then Miranda said she had a connection to a cast member, why don't we stay on property. None of us had stayed on property to that point and we decided it would just be one night. Miranda had never been to Disney World, so we were excited to go!

We had a GREAT time at the beach... but Shelley gave me a hard time about going in early the first day. I told her I thought I was sunburnt. She didn't believe me, but I went back to the house. Then a few hours later, they came in and Shelley looked at me and apologized. I was already close to being a lobster!!! Needless to say, I burn easily! We kinda drove Miranda crazy... she's a planner... she likes structure and knowing what you are doing next. Shelley and I aren't so much while on vacation (That being said- we are pretty organized and orderly in our day-to-day lives!!!). I remember anytime Miranda asked us what we were doing that day it was answered with "We don't know!!!! We're on vacation!!!!!"

I remember the drive to Orlando... there was some construction on the road. It took a while. We were VERY excited to get to WDW and follow the signs to Pop Century. When we walked in, I was kinda in awe. I mean, I had never stayed on property before!! Shelley and I kinda looked around while Miranda checked us in. Then we went to our room. We drove around to the rubiks cube, and started to climb the stairs- Side bar... are their elevators at Pop???- and we went up to our room. We were so excited! I don't remember anything specific about the room, but it was super exciting to be there!!

Okay, my daughter is being cuddly... I have to go snuggle and watch playhouse disney shows! Shelley, if you read this, feel free to add to the story!

 

[jenseib]

Yes there are elevators. They are in the middle section of each building. We always ask for first floor, but I have taken the elevators a few times to get some pictures from an above angle. I just love Pop!

 

[francis6306]

So, like I said before, this was Miranda's first trip to DisneyWorld. We had decided that the beach was most important and only planned for one day. Looking back, I can't believe we limited ourselves, but it was mostly likely because we were either too broke or too cheap to go more than one day.

We went in the being of May and there were NO crowds! We were amazed! I think we rode everything that we felt evening, Shelley and I were looking at each other saying we should have gotten the park hoppers! We TOTALLY could have got to Hollywood Studios (I think that was still called MGM? Maybe not...) or Epcot. I'm not sure where we ate... but we certainly didn't do any table service meals. We did get some ice cream or something and sat at a table waiting for the fireworks to start and they were pretty cool.

We then went out to wait on the bus... OMG, it took forever. Of course we were thinking why didn't we drive over, but eventually, we got on the bus and back to the resort. The next morning, I remember walking over to the pool area, but I don't think we went swimming... then we got in the car, and drove back to the beach house in Daytona. Shelley and I had NO understanding of how much we would kick ourselves in the butt for that little trip...

 

[jenseib]

I think every year I learn something new, and think, why didn't I do it differently before. But I hear you on being cheap. Back when I went in 1995 with my friend and her brother, I think it was about $42 to get in and we couldn't even believe how expensive it was. That would be so cheap now for a 1 day pass there now.
We went twice in May as well, and the crowds were so low. I loved it.

I love Dis. We can learn so many things that we couldn't before.

 

[sbprincess]

Like Christen said, looking back at that girls' trip in 2005 kind of makes me sick. For one, this was Miranda's first time to Disney, ever! She grew up in New Mexico so for her, DL was much closer. But still, she never made it out there. She moved to Georgia (where Christen and I are both originally from and lived at the time) right after high school (around 2001) making WDW right at her doorstep...but she still never went. So in 2005 we all decided to take the trip together. Disney was more of a side note though. To this day we kick ourselves for not taking better advantage of where we were and how much financial freedom we really had. I was blessed with parents who were able to help me with most of my expenses and at this time and I still lived with them. If I could go back in time, we would have totally stayed in one of the monorail resorts (that expense completely paid for by me). The only thing I would have asked of Christen and Miranda would have been that they cover their food and tickets. But then again, Christen and I weren't the fanatics we are today!

Christen remembers way more than I do about this one-day excursion from Daytona to Orlando. I vaguely remember checking in and climbing the Rubik’s Cube to our room. We literally threw our stuff into the room and went down to catch a bus. We went straight to MK and didn’t think there was a chance we’d have enough time to park hop so we just bought the standard ticket. All I really remember after that is that we were all pretty cold b/c we had worn shorts and it was overcast all day. And I remember telling Miranda I had never seen the MK that empty…ever! By mid-afternoon we had pretty much done everything. I have no idea where we ate lunch. The only thing I remember food-wise is that we ate dinner at Casey’s and sat at one of the tables for a LONG time waiting on the fireworks to start. I do remember Miranda cried over the show and then cried when we left. And the bus did take FOREVER, as it usually does, and we were exhausted when we got back to the room. We headed out early the next morning (why didn’t we add a day to our tickets and at least go to another park????) and returned to the beach.

So there’s our kicking-ourselves-over-being-so-stupid story. We all have them!! But I do like how every trip I find out a little more from experience to change for the next time! It keeps things exciting. Because no matter how much research you do, everyone is different. Different things bother different people. Let’s hope this IS NOT Christen’s last trip with me because she finds out she cannot stand vacationing with me!!

 

[francis6306]

Awe Shelley... I'm thinking you and I have been through a lot! We can handle a few vacations together!! and you remembered Casey's! haha! Didn't we see some floats with lights on them as we left that night through the trees??

I tell you... thinking about all of this just makes me sick to my stomach! But, at least we are making up for our trip now!! AND we know how easy it is to change things once we get there if we want to. Before I think we were locked into this-is-what-we-have-to-do and it didn't even cross our minds to come off the "plan."

 

[francis6306]

What have we done?

So, today, I was reading the Pop Thread and one of the things that they suggested was faxing your request to Pop a few days before... and then one of my fine readers was linked to a letter that she sends to the resort to help lock in her requests! (I'm looking at YOU Jen!) Of course, I'm worried that I wouldn't be able to remember to do that, so I remembered! I have outlook at work! I can set it as a reminder. So, I have a reminder to fax my request so that we get adjoining rooms! Although, I think Shelley MIGHT have been having a blonde moment...

So, my requests at this point would be a connecting King and Double room, possibly ground floor along with Nita and Michael's room adjoining. If we had to do double connecting double it would probably be best for Nita and Michael's room to be connected to us, just cause I know Shelley and Brian want the King if they can get it. I did see something about being able to see fireworks from one of the sections... THAT would be pretty neat if we could see that! I don't know. Any suggestions from former Poppers?