Doing Our Part to Stimulate the Economy – Sept ’09

[missj1975]

Thank you President Bush for sending us back to Walt Disney World. I would also like to thank my travel agent for emailing me about free dining. Thanks to Mr. Bush and Jessica at the magicforless.com we are going back to Disney in September. Yeah!!!

I keep saying “going back” because I did spend a week at WDW in January. Perhaps I should also thank my boss for giving me two weeks of vacation a year. Anyway, my boyfriend and I had a wonderful vacation in January but I never got around to writing a trip report. This time I am determined to write a report for the disboards because I love reading trip reports and so I would like to return the favor.

Let me introduce myself. I am Miss J, boring accountant by day, Disney fanatic by night. According to my grandfather I am an old maid but in reality I am a young 30 something who just recently found her prince charming. My DBF is in his 30’s too and practically perfect in every way. He is a keeper, especially since he likes Disney almost as much as I do and puts up with my obsessive compulsive planning.

We are spending 7 nights and 8 days at WDW September 20 through the 27th. I picked the last week in September because I wanted to be able to enjoy the Food & Wine Festival and a Halloween party during value season. Free Dining is just a nice bonus.

This is the fuzzy Disney math that we couldn’t resist.

My Stimulus Check $ 600.00
My DBF Stimulus Check $ 600.00
$ 1200.00
WDW Package Deal $ 1217.40
Total out of pocket *$ 17.40

This is where the fuzziness comes in. *I know we are going to have other expenses like gas, tips, MNSSHP tickets, etc. but we feel obligated to stimulate the economy so it is off to Disney we go*

This is a picture from our January 2008 trip.

 

[missj1975]

The Dining Plan is so worth it when it is free. Maybe not so much if you have to pay for it as two adults who are too busy to eat…

Time for a little back story.

I have a twin sister who is a bigger Disney fanatic then me. She honeymooned at WDW in 2003 and has pretty much returned to Disney every year since. I was a tag along on her December 2006 family trip and we had a great time with the DDP. My DBF has also honeymooned at Disney and has been several times as an adult. (In case anyone caught the honeymoon part, my DBF is a widower).

My boyfriend and I decided not to purchase the DDP for our January trip. This was our first trip together and we didn’t want to by tied down by ADR’s. My sister thought I was crazy for not purchasing the DDP so I decided to prove to her that the plan is not for everyone. And I did prove it. We ate at two nice sit-down restaurants, ate whatever we wanted at counter service places everyday and spent less then the total cost of the DDP. We really were too busy to eat most of the time (or maybe too tired). Our January trip was busy, busy, busy.

We have decided to stop and smell the roses on this trip. And eat tons of Free Food.

This is our schedule so far. The only thing set in stone are the dinner reservations. We will probably follow the schedule but I promised my DBF not to stress if we stray from the game plan.

Saturday 9/20/08
Arrive at Pop Century
Dinner at Ohana’s
MK for the night

Sunday 9/21/08
AK all day
Dinner at Boma
DTD for some shopping

Monday 9/22/08
HS all day
Break at DTD
Dinner at Mama Melrose
Stay at HS for late hours

Tuesday 9/23/08
Free Morning – check out the Mousesurplus warehouse
MNSSHP
Dinner at Tony’s

Wednesday 9/24/08
My birthday surprise
DBF is in charge of the day
So I have no idea what the plans are

Thursday 9/25/08
Epcot all Day
Break at Boardwalk
Dinner at Coral Reef
Stay for Illuminations

Friday 9/26/08
Free Morning
Food & Wine Festival
MNSSHP
Dinner at Crystal Palace

Saturday 9/27/08
Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare
Food & Wine Festival
Start the long drive home

These are my plans, out in the open for everyone to see. Feel free to comment, give suggestions, or just lurk. I know there are crazies in the world (I have met a few), but I’m not worried that someone will find me interesting enough to actually track me down. But just in case I am wrong and someone wishes to stalk me, gifts are always appreciated. Oh, and I prefer milk chocolate.

 

[SmithFamily2003]

Everything looks great so far! I wish I was going for free dining in Sept., but I have to wait until Feb. I totally enjoy the dining plan and think it is well worth it! So do you think your boyfriend is going to surprise you with something special on your birthday?

 

[missj1975]

Everything looks great so far! I wish I was going for free dining in Sept., but I have to wait until Feb. I totally enjoy the dining plan and think it is well worth it! So do you think your boyfriend is going to surprise you with something special on your birthday?

Thanks for reading. My boyfriend has a full day of surprises planned for me and he is very good at keeping secrets. I'm very excited because I've never had a boyfriend so interested in making my birthday special. He is definitely a keeper. The only thing I do know is we are going somewhere very nice for dinner because he told me to pack a dress.

This is my favorite photo of my DBF from our last trip. Baloo is one of his favorite Disney characters. DBF really hates getting his picture taken but the Disney Magic took over and he allowed me to drag him through several character meet and greets.

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

I have to agree with you about free DDP! It's great ! We paid for it last trip (2006), and would pay for it again, but free is even better!
I know some people have complained about it, saying too much food etc...not a problem for us!!!
I like the fact you can eat anywhere in WDW - I love going to all the deluxe hotels for meals
It is a bit different from our last trip - no appetiser and no tip included now, but for us it's still really good value!
Keep on posting! Your plans look good so far
Diane x

 

[missj1975]

I know some people have complained about it, saying too much food etc...not a problem for us!!!
Diane x

Yeah I'm not worried about it being too much food either . We love trying different restaurants. My DBF enjoyed our two sit down dinners in January so I am very excited about our upcoming ADR's. This trip is going to be much more relaxed (hopefully).

We ate at Tony's Town Square in January the day after it opened from refurbishment. It was wonderful. I was a little worried because I read lots of bad reviews but we decided to give it a chance. We are so glad we did and we are eating there again in September. This time it will be even nice because the food is free.

We also ate at Akershus for dinner. We loved all the different types of food. I thought about booking that restaurant again but I wanted to try some other restaurants too. I know this won't be our last visit to Disney so we will revisit it another time.

Thanks Diane for reading. I was beginning to worry that no one was reading my pre-trip report.

 

[missj1975]

We flew to WDW for our January trip. Flying is pretty easy since we both live in the St. Louis area and are close to an airport. We flew non-stop from St. Louis to Orlando with no major problems. I think it was a 2.5 hour flight. We parked in long term parking since I didn’t want to ask any friends or family to drive us to the airport at 3 am in the morning for a 6 am flight. The only issue we had was we didn’t realize there was more then one long term parking lot at the airport and of course we couldn’t remember the name of the parking lot after seven days in Florida. Luckily the shuttle bus driver was very nice and found our car but we did have some stressful moments wondering if we were going to be able to find our car in the freezing cold at midnight.

My dbf loves to fly, me not so much. I’ve always had luck with flights but I browse the internet a little too much and have read lots of horror stories about delayed flights, cancelled flights, rude uncaring airline employees, etc. I always feel like I am taking a gamble whenever I fly.

We did a cost comparison and decided driving would be cheaper then flying for this trip. Last trip we just used Disney transportation to get to the parks but we did rent a car for one morning for a trip to an orange grove. Renting a car for one day was a big hassle. We decided we really needed a car for this trip so with the cost of flights and the cost of a rental car; it will be cheaper to drive.

Time is also a consideration and we are giving up a day at the parks to drive since it takes around 18 hours to drive from St. Louis to Orlando. After some thought, we are ok with that. Both of us enjoy driving and have fond memories of road trips from our childhood so we are going to give driving a try. Plus I know we can get a long in the car for extended periods of time because we have done several weekend trips to Branson (4 hour drive).

I am actually excited about the road trip and have been brainstorming on ways to make the drive more enjoyable and less boring. I bought my DBF a Nintendo DS for his birthday a couple of weeks ago and he loved it. I was a little hesitant at first because my DBF does not like electronic games but I bought him Brain Age 1 & 2 and he loves them. Of course I had to buy myself one too so we could play the WiFi connect games. I am also surprising my DBF with an activity clipboard full of puzzles, coloring pages, maps, etc. I remember my aunt making activity binders for all the kids for our childhood road trips so I thought it would be neat to make one for my DBF. Yes we really are in our thirties but we are just big kids at heart.

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Miss J,
It sounds like you'll have lots of fun driving, though hopefully won't lose the car in the car park! We had a problem with check-in our last trip
We love Akershus as well, had a great dinner there last trip and are going again this trip, though we have also managed to get a lunch ADR at CRT this time
Keep posting, and if you get a chance check out my PTR!
Diane x

 

[missj1975]

Hi Miss J,
It sounds like you'll have lots of fun driving, though hopefully won't lose the car in the car park! We had a problem with check-in our last trip
We love Akershus as well, had a great dinner there last trip and are going again this trip, though we have also managed to get a lunch ADR at CRT this time
Keep posting, and if you get a chance check out my PTR!
Diane x

I had breakfast at CRT in 2005 and it was wonderfull. We had a great window seat and everything was perfect.

Thanks for reading and I am off to read your PTR.

 

[missj1975]

I am very excited about the MNSSHP. I went to one MNSSHP party in 2005 when I visited a friend who lived in Orlando. We had a great time collecting candy and posing for character pictures.

My boyfriend has never been to a MNSSHP but we did attend two Pirate & Princess Parties in January. We had a blast so we are looking forward to MNSSHP, so much so that we are attending two parties. The cost of the tickets put us over our “refund” budget but that is ok. We are both pretty frugal in our normal lives so we look forward to splurging at Disney.

The only thing we have debated is whether to wear costumes or not. I didn’t dress up in 2005 and we didn’t dress up for the P&PP’s. I was surprised by how many adults were dressed up for the event. I loved everyone’s costumes and have been very tempted to dress up.

I am a big fan of Alice in Wonderland and have been collecting Alice memorabilia since childhood. I have managed to accumulate a nice collection thanks to eBay and disneyshopping.com. I found this new Queen of Hearts costume on eBay. I was planning on wearing this dress for the September trip until I tried it on. The dress fits perfectly but the underskirt is made of scratchy netting that would require me to wear either pants or thick tights. Neither of those sounds appealing in the hot Florida humidity.

I went back to eBay and found this new Alice costume. I was very happy to find a normal dress. I say “normal” because anyone who has browsed costumes on eBay has probably noticed the trend of extremely revealing Alice (and other character) costumes that I like to refer to as the “slutty” Alice dresses. ***If I offend anyone with my observations, I do apologize but I am just shocked by the lack of decency on some of these costumes**** Anyway, I am happy with my Alice dress that comes just below my knees.

I really like the Alice dress. But then I was bored at work and found a thread showing a wonderful Giselle dress that a poster made for her daughter. Well that started me thinking that since I am going to two parties, I need two costumes. I emailed the poster and she has agreed to make me a Giselle dress at a very reasonable price. Well reasonable in my mind. My DBF thinks I have gone off the deep end but he tends to be a little cheaper then me.

Now my DBF is quite put out because he didn’t want to dress up but he thinks he has to because I am. He has decided to dress up as Indiana Jones. That could actually be a pretty cheap costume but my DBF has turned it into the most expensive costume ever and will probably end up costing him more then my three costumes put together. He isn’t happy with some cheap costume on eBay. Nope he has to find exact replicas on whatever Harrison Ford wore in the movie. He has spent hours on the internet researching shirts, hats, etc. I just shake my head at him and remind him that he is usually a cheapskate.

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

I went back to eBay and found this new Alice costume. I was very happy to find a normal dress. I say “normal” because anyone who has browsed costumes on eBay has probably noticed the trend of extremely revealing Alice (and other character) costumes that I like to refer to as the “slutty” Alice dresses. ***If I offend anyone with my observations, I do apologize but I am just shocked by the lack of decency on some of these costumes**** Anyway, I am happy with my Alice dress that comes just below my knees

I know exactly what you mean! I'm still in two minds whether to dress up or not - at this moment, probably not. Especially since I can't find any outfits that aren't X-rated!
Will keep looking, but the only decent ones are mega expensive - if i'm lucky I might get something before we go that won't get me thrown out WDW!

 

[missj1975]

27 days more until we leave. We ordered and received our trip ticket from AAA. I am shocked on how nice it is. It is a really nice spiral bound book with tons of spots to keep track of everything. I love journals so I am very happy with this nice freebie.

My BDF is worried about the drive down because we don't have a hotel room booked for the first night. We aren't driving straight through to Orlando and plan on stopping after 12 hours. We might drive farther or even less, depending on how the drive goes so I didn't want to book a hotel room since we don't have a definite stopping point. I think we will find a hotel room no problem wherever we stop but my DBF is worried. I told him to relax but he is getting anxious. He asked if I had a problem sleeping in the car. I just laughed. He is such a worrywart.

 

[ILuvCrush]

Your PTR is great!!! i'm subbing in.

I'm still on the fence about the MNSSHP... I'm going solo, I don't want to go and look like some kind of stalker or something!!!!

I'd love to go though...just need to talk myself into it.
I saw pics from last year of cute jack-o-lantern mickey ears.... yeah that will be MY costume!!!

I'm so excited for you!!

 

[kathleen27]

My boyfriend has a full day of surprises planned for me and he is very good at keeping secrets. I'm very excited because I've never had a boyfriend so interested in making my birthday special. He is definitely a keeper. The only thing I do know is we are going somewhere very nice for dinner because he told me to pack a dress.

This is my favorite photo of my DBF from our last trip. Baloo is one of his favorite Disney characters.

Your BF sounds great. What a fun birthday you'll have at Disney!!

I love Baloo. We haven't met him.
King Louie was alone at AK when we saw him.

I am very excited about the MNSSHP. I went to one MNSSHP party in 2005 when I visited a friend who lived in Orlando. We had a great time collecting candy and posing for character pictures.

My boyfriend has never been to a MNSSHP but we did attend two Pirate & Princess Parties in January. We had a blast so we are looking forward to MNSSHP, so much so that we are attending two parties. The cost of the tickets put us over our “refund” budget but that is ok. We are both pretty frugal in our normal lives so we look forward to splurging at Disney.

The only thing we have debated is whether to wear costumes or not. I didn’t dress up in 2005 and we didn’t dress up for the P&PP’s. I was surprised by how many adults were dressed up for the event. I loved everyone’s costumes and have been very tempted to dress up.

I went back to eBay and found this new Alice costume. I was very happy to find a normal dress. I say “normal” because anyone who has browsed costumes on eBay has probably noticed the trend of extremely revealing Alice (and other character) costumes that I like to refer to as the “slutty” Alice dresses. ***If I offend anyone with my observations, I do apologize but I am just shocked by the lack of decency on some of these costumes**** Anyway, I am happy with my Alice dress that comes just below my knees.

I really like the Alice dress. But then I was bored at work and found a thread showing a wonderful Giselle dress that a poster made for her daughter. Well that started me thinking that since I am going to two parties, I need two costumes. I emailed the poster and she has agreed to make me a Giselle dress at a very reasonable price. Well reasonable in my mind. My DBF thinks I have gone off the deep end but he tends to be a little cheaper then me.

Now my DBF is quite put out because he didn’t want to dress up but he thinks he has to because I am. He has decided to dress up as Indiana Jones. That could actually be a pretty cheap costume but my DBF has turned it into the most expensive costume ever and will probably end up costing him more then my three costumes put together. He isn’t happy with some cheap costume on eBay. Nope he has to find exact replicas on whatever Harrison Ford wore in the movie. He has spent hours on the internet researching shirts, hats, etc. I just shake my head at him and remind him that he is usually a cheapskate.

We are going to two MNSSHPs too!!! We arrive on Fri 9/26, and are heading to the party that night!!!
We're so excited, the parties are the reason we chose a fall trip.
My son will be dressing up as Indiana Jones on Sun 9/28. We have the hat from DHS last trip. He wears it all the time. I am keeping him to a budget on the rest. He is going to wear it to DHS that afternoon, and hopefully get his photo with the IJ stunt star. He is going to be some sort of skeleton pirate on Friday.

I agree with you on the costumes. I am having the same problem finding something. I am hoping to see something new soon, as Halloween approaches. I was at the store today, and they were starting to put out Halloween decoartions!!!

The Giselle dress sounds cool. When we went to P&Pparty I wished they had a dress like the one she makes from the curtains. That would be fun to wear.

 

[missj1975]

Your PTR is great!!! i'm subbing in.

I'm still on the fence about the MNSSHP... I'm going solo, I don't want to go and look like some kind of stalker or something!!!!

I'd love to go though...just need to talk myself into it.
I saw pics from last year of cute jack-o-lantern mickey ears.... yeah that will be MY costume!!!

I'm so excited for you!!

I just read your trip report. You are a very brave mama.

You should definitely go to MNSSHP. If anyone starts giving you the "OMG there is a stalker, better call security look" just pretend you are looking for your husband or kids and then say "Ohh that's right, there not here since I locked them in my basement." Hmmm...maybe not...that might really get security called on you so it is just best to ignore people and enjoy the atmosphere.

The decorations at the party are awesome. Mainstreet is lighted up with different colored lights and they have shadow images playing off of the buildings, very neat.

The first thing I am buying is the Mickey Head Shaped Trick or Treat bucket because I heard they go pretty fast. The mickey ears sounds neat so I might have to pick up a pair of those too.

Thanks for reading my report.

 

[missj1975]

We are going to two MNSSHPs too!!! We arrive on Fri 9/26, and are heading to the party that night!!!
We're so excited, the parties are the reason we chose a fall trip.
My son will be dressing up as Indiana Jones on Sun 9/28. We have the hat from DHS last trip. He wears it all the time. I am keeping him to a budget on the rest. He is going to wear it to DHS that afternoon, and hopefully get his photo with the IJ stunt star. He is going to be some sort of skeleton pirate on Friday.

I agree with you on the costumes. I am having the same problem finding something. I am hoping to see something new soon, as Halloween approaches. I was at the store today, and they were starting to put out Halloween decoartions!!!

The Giselle dress sounds cool. When we went to P&Pparty I wished they had a dress like the one she makes from the curtains. That would be fun to wear.

I can't wait for the MNSSHPs. I really can't wait to see my Giselle dress. The seamstress said I would have it the first week of September so I will post a pic as soon as I get it in.

If it wasn't for the Giselle dress, I probably would have just worn a Halloween shirt from Target. They usually have some pretty cool ones.

My favorite part of the parties are the parades. I love the gravediggers from the Haunted Mansion.

Are you planning on going to the Food & Wine Festival too? I went in 2005 for one day and loved it. It was so neat to sample all the different foods.

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

I saw pics from last year of cute jack-o-lantern mickey ears.... yeah that will be MY costume!!!

Ooh! I think I might go for those - they sound really cool! Do you get them in the WDW shops?

Di x

 

[ILuvCrush]

Ooh! I think I might go for those - they sound really cool! Do you get them in the WDW shops?

Di x

I don't know!!! I hope so
I just saw the pics and thought they were so cool!!

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

They look really cute! Might get some orange and black stripe tights to wear with them.
My outfit tonight - a lunatic!

 

[missj1975]

We went shopping over the weekend to pickup some items for the trip. My main concern was finding a nice dress for my birthday dinner. I found the perfect dress right off the bat. Plus the dress was 60% off so I was happy with the savings. Well my DBF was happy because he decided to buy the dress for me because he is just sweet like that.

I also bought a really cheap autograph book. Actually it is an index card book from Walmart for 88 cents. I then laminated some scrapbook paper on the cover.

On past trips I have bought the Disney Autograph books but I wanted to do something different on this trip. I will have the characters sign the back of the card (the unlined side) and then remove the cards from the book and match them with the character pictures for my scrapbook. I have never made a scrapbook for a Disney vacation. I just usually put my photos in an album and stick all the little paper souviners in a folder. This time I am determined to make a scrapebook, especially since I found some great scrapebooking sheets at Michael's.

I also took my suitcases out of the closet and started packing. Is three weeks to earlier? I bought all new socks and undergarmets for the trip. I thought if I packed them now I wouldn't be tempted to use them before vacation. I like to buy clothes just for vacation. I'm pretty good at finding great deals so I usually get by without spending too much money on my "vacation wardrobe."