Food & Wine Extravaganza! Oct 2010 PTR...including BONUS Dec 2010 PTR!

[wdwgirl03]

That's good you have had good luck with AirTran. Our last two trips we've had bad luck with them. First in Jan. my parents' flight ended up getting in almost 10 hours late (their original plane was declared dead so they had to get them another plane) and then in April our flight was delayed too. Ugh. Hope your good luck continues!

 

[jenny105]

You know I've never had a problem with AirTran?? They've changed our flight times before, but it's always been within 5-10 minutes of the original flight, nothing much. I've heard complaints about AirTran from people, but I've always wondered why I don't see it? I guess I'm just lucky! (Knock on wood!)

I hope you didn't just jinx yourself!

Perhaps it varies on destination? We were originally booked to be back home by 2 in the afternoon so I could relax for work the next day. Then it changed to 6 p.m. arrival--not too bad. Then the latest change has us now arriving home at 9:45 p.m. (and it's a two hour ride from the airport home) so I ended up taking the next day off of work so I can recuperate. What frosts me is that it is no longer a non-stop flight; I hate flying so having to land in Georgia and then take off an hour later again is not making me happy.

That's a heck of a time change! And then they're gonna change it from direct to a stopover on top of that?? I'd be SUPER annoyed!

 

[onelilspark]

That's good you have had good luck with AirTran. Our last two trips we've had bad luck with them. First in Jan. my parents' flight ended up getting in almost 10 hours late (their original plane was declared dead so they had to get them another plane) and then in April our flight was delayed too. Ugh. Hope your good luck continues!

I hope you didn't just jinx yourself!

I don't know if I should book AirTran now! After everything was said, I probably did jinx myself!!!

 

[onelilspark]

SW fares are out. Humph, not great times. About the same price as my initial AirTran/JetBlue combo, but I'd have to drive out to Buffalo...
I'm debating different options, but there are so many (I'm also looking at AirTran & JetBlue out of Buffalo & Syracuse) that I'm getting confused. I think a spreadsheet is in order

 

[onelilspark]

Ok...ready to be confused? Good.

I'm thinking with it being December, I should really consider Rochester above Buffalo or Syracuse. I'm only 15 minutes from ROC, but it takes me an hour or more to get to BUF or SYR...and if it snows?! Forget it.

So, I signed up for the JetBlue credit card the other day (long story, but my Bank of America card is totally changing, I'm irritated, so I went with another to maintain my current credit level...) And with my first purchase, I get a free round-trip flight on JetBlue. I wouldn't think Orlando would be the best use of those points, BUT... I can leave at 355 on Thursday night. Not particularly late, but it gets me into JFK at 5, which means I can still call back and return emails from the people I missed during that hour. And then I'd get into MCO at... 1053. It's almost a 3 hour layover, but I like the JFK airport, I can take my time getting some grub and returning emails. The only thing, is that the 355 flight is $168 for one way! So, what I was thinking, is using part of that free flight for a 1 way, which would take care of that... Then, I can do the flight home at 530 on Sunday. That's direct, which will be nice. It's $133, but I have $50 credit on JetBlue, so it'd bring my total trip cost to about $93.

Thoughts??

If I don't use the "free" credits, the cheapest I can get it is $237, leaving Friday morning at 9, getting in at NOON! and then the same 530 flight back. That already includes the $50 credit.

 

[onelilspark]

I'm 99% sure for my December trip I'm going to take that 3:55PM flight from JetBlue that leaves Thursday and come back on the direct flight at 5:30PM. I'll use half a credit, then the $50 credit. I'm really trying to do a budget trip, so I think that'll work out the best. Obviously if I flew down Friday morning, I wouldn't have to pay for the hotel Thursday night, but I'd only get a half-day instead of a full day...

I'm going to sleep on it a bit, keeping an eye on prices of course! And see what I think will work best

 

[2_Eagle_Mom]

I think doing the Thurs night flight is a great use of the credit. I'll bet you can find a cheap room offsite if you wanted for that Thurs night and then Friday AM transferring to your hotel of choice.


Ahh for the days of cheap flights...

 

[onelilspark]

I think doing the Thurs night flight is a great use of the credit. I'll bet you can find a cheap room offsite if you wanted for that Thurs night and then Friday AM transferring to your hotel of choice.


Ahh for the days of cheap flights...

The room onsite at a value since I have a PIN is only $64! (Plus taxes and fees blah blah blah...) I'm a little snooty when it comes to hotels since I travel for work. I only stay at Hampton Inns, Courtyards, or Fairfields (or similar) and I think I'd have a hard time finding any of those for less than $64. Plus then I don't have to transfer in the morning!!

 

[2_Eagle_Mom]

"WOW that's a great price" (insert really annoying commercial guy here)

I agree I doubt that you could find a lower rate and then you'd have to figure out transportation. It will be fantastic for you waking up on Friday morning and have your entire vacation just sitting outside your door.

 

[onelilspark]

"WOW that's a great price" (insert really annoying commercial guy here)

I agree I doubt that you could find a lower rate and then you'd have to figure out transportation. It will be fantastic for you waking up on Friday morning and have your entire vacation just sitting outside your door.

I guess it's a good ad because I know exactly the one you're talking about!


I like the sound of that, my entire vacation sitting outside my door

 

[shordiebecka]

I so know your conundrum! We live in CT, within 45 minutes to Providence, an hour to Hartford, 1.5 to Boston and 2 to NYC. I'm constantly figuring out which price is best from where. If i fly out of NYC, i can save about 100$...but then I have to figure out gas money and the pain of possibly waking up at 3:00 am to get there.

Bottom line- I always tell myself my vacation begins the night before I board the plane. In Disney, I pay someone else to clean my room and give me food...so why shouldn't I pay myself a little extra money to avoid stress and chaos the first full day of vaca? I am one who is willing to pay a little extra to go to a close airport and not stress....however, I am also a huge bargain shopper sooo the struggle never ends for me. Unless it's a GREAT deal and a large amount of money for the difference, I usually just go with convenience.

 

[onelilspark]

I so know your conundrum! We live in CT, within 45 minutes to Providence, an hour to Hartford, 1.5 to Boston and 2 to NYC. I'm constantly figuring out which price is best from where. If i fly out of NYC, i can save about 100$...but then I have to figure out gas money and the pain of possibly waking up at 3:00 am to get there.

Bottom line- I always tell myself my vacation begins the night before I board the plane. In Disney, I pay someone else to clean my room and give me food...so why shouldn't I pay myself a little extra money to avoid stress and chaos the first full day of vaca? I am one who is willing to pay a little extra to go to a close airport and not stress....however, I am also a huge bargain shopper sooo the struggle never ends for me. Unless it's a GREAT deal and a large amount of money for the difference, I usually just go with convenience.

It's amazing how many airport choices are out there! Plus, if I really wanted to, I could check Erie (2.5hrs), Binghamton (2.5hrs), and Elmira (2hrs.) Apparently Allegiant Air flies out of Elmira, only twice a week, but it's soooo cheap! I'll keep it in mind for another trip, but I don't think it'll work for this one.

Your second paragraph really drove home a point. Thanks so much for posting it. You're right! I should pay myself a little extra!

 

[onelilspark]

It's been fairly quiet over here. Bandit had his first Vet appointment today and did very well! He got 2 shots and we'll be headed back in about a month to finish up his shots. The Vet praised him for being such a good boy too! He's a healthy puppy, so we're very happy. He's pretty sleepy tonight from the shots, so it's really quiet tonight!

I have a company car for work that just got replaced. So now I'm driving around a Ford Escape. It's weird to drive a new car, always feels so different! I think I'm liking it better than the Jeep Liberty though, so that's a plus!

Finally, I got a new laptop!! Mine was slowly dying, so I took the plunge and got a new one. It's a Studio from Dell. I love how fast it is!

Tomorrow night we're going to the Brad Paisley concert! And Saturday we're having a get together for the choir members.

Sunday? I'll be cleaning because my MOM is coming up to visit! (My parents were already planning to visit in late July, but she wants to see her grandpuppy!) So I'm hoping the F&W details will be released soon, hopefully while she's here so we can go over it together!

 

[arbolita]

Posting to say that I'm subbing to your PTR We'll be coming to WDW just after you (and everyone else on the DIS apparently )

 

[onelilspark]

Posting to say that I'm subbing to your PTR We'll be coming to WDW just after you (and everyone else on the DIS apparently )

Thanks for stopping in! The good news is that I'll be posting to twitter while I'm down there, so you'll know ahead of time which F&W booths are good and which are bad!

 

[onelilspark]

A conundrum... my Mom suggested that I invite my cousin along for the December trip. I responded that I'm okay doing a solo trip, but now I feel guilty! She loves WDW too (she actually did the CP!) So maybe my solo trip won't be a solo trip ...again Actually, I probably would still have solo time with her since I can't imagine we'd do everything together!

 

[onelilspark]

It didn't take long after I invited her that my cousin emailed me back to say that she'd love to come! So pretty much everything about that trip (except for days and flights) is changing. As I mentioned, she did the College Program, so she still knows a bunch of people who work there. So she offered to hit them up to get 40% off our hotel stay And now since I'm splitting a hotel, I really don't care where we stay (funny, neither does she) so I just requested staying somewhere that I haven't. She also mentioned that the taping of the Christmas Parade would be that weekend, so we might sit in on that! How fun!

It's funny, I've never planned a trip with another Disney enthusiast (minus my Mom.) As soon as she emailed me back, she had all these questions about my current plans It should be fun!

Stay tuned!

 

[KatMark]

It's been fairly quiet over here. Bandit had his first Vet appointment today and did very well! He got 2 shots and we'll be headed back in about a month to finish up his shots. The Vet praised him for being such a good boy too! He's a healthy puppy, so we're very happy. He's pretty sleepy tonight from the shots, so it's really quiet tonight!

I have a company car for work that just got replaced. So now I'm driving around a Ford Escape. It's weird to drive a new car, always feels so different! I think I'm liking it better than the Jeep Liberty though, so that's a plus!

Finally, I got a new laptop!! Mine was slowly dying, so I took the plunge and got a new one. It's a Studio from Dell. I love how fast it is!

Tomorrow night we're going to the Brad Paisley concert! And Saturday we're having a get together for the choir members.

Sunday? I'll be cleaning because my MOM is coming up to visit! (My parents were already planning to visit in late July, but she wants to see her grandpuppy!) So I'm hoping the F&W details will be released soon, hopefully while she's here so we can go over it together!

I feel so bad for them when they get their shots...they look so sad, And they do sleep all nigiht...it wears the little ones out.

Can you PM me about your Studio from Dell? What did you have put on it, etc. Our computer crashed again and I really need to breakdwon and get a new one.

When is Mom coming?

It didn't take long after I invited her that my cousin emailed me back to say that she'd love to come! So pretty much everything about that trip (except for days and flights) is changing. As I mentioned, she did the College Program, so she still knows a bunch of people who work there. So she offered to hit them up to get 40% off our hotel stay And now since I'm splitting a hotel, I really don't care where we stay (funny, neither does she) so I just requested staying somewhere that I haven't. She also mentioned that the taping of the Christmas Parade would be that weekend, so we might sit in on that! How fun!

It's funny, I've never planned a trip with another Disney enthusiast (minus my Mom.) As soon as she emailed me back, she had all these questions about my current plans It should be fun!

Stay tuned!

I think you are going to have a blast. Let us know when the resort is selected.

 

[arbolita]

That should be fun having your cousin with you! Though I have to say, I really hope that one day I will be able to take a solo trip. Now, I love my husband, but he's not quite as adventurous as I am with food, so there are some restaurants I will never be able to try when we're in the World together.

Do you have a top 5 list of resorts you haven't tried yet?

 

[onelilspark]

I feel so bad for them when they get their shots...they look so sad, And they do sleep all nigiht...it wears the little ones out.

Can you PM me about your Studio from Dell? What did you have put on it, etc. Our computer crashed again and I really need to breakdwon and get a new one.

When is Mom coming?



I think you are going to have a blast. Let us know when the resort is selected.

I'll send a PM right after this (I might look at the Dell site to make sure I have it right! )

Bandit actually did pretty well getting the shot. Our Vet (who I love, I'm really happy we found this particular Vet) gave him a treat to distract him, and it totally did! He definitely has a healthy appetite. What's funny is that he was up on the table, there were 3 containers up there too, one with cotton balls, one with cotton swabs, and one with treats. He sniffed out the one with treats so fast! Our vet says, "well, there's nothing wrong with his nose!"

My Mom is coming up on Monday, staying through Wednesday. She has a few extra days off from work and found good airfare, so she's coming to see her Grandpuppy

I'll definitely keep this posted with the December info. Right now, that's all there really is! At least until that F&W schedule is released! I might need to change the name of the PTR!

That should be fun having your cousin with you! Though I have to say, I really hope that one day I will be able to take a solo trip. Now, I love my husband, but he's not quite as adventurous as I am with food, so there are some restaurants I will never be able to try when we're in the World together.

Do you have a top 5 list of resorts you haven't tried yet?

Haha, I've always wanted to take a solo trip, so I was looking forward to it. But then my Mom suggested her coming too, and I figured she'd enjoy coming too. I guess I shouldn't complain that there are too many people in my life who love Disney

My top 5:
1)Boardwalk...I can't justify the cost for it though!
2) POR...I love POFQ, so I want to try the sister resort
3) CBR...round out the Mods (and the pool looks so cool!)
4) ASMo...I want to stay in Toy Story!
5) All Star Sports...resort doesn't appeal to me, but I want to round out the Values.

The others I have never stayed at...Contemporary, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Yacht Club, Saratoga Springs, Old Key West, Fort Wilderness.