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

[arbolita]

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.

I've also never been in any of the Deluxe resorts, simply because of the cost. Maybe one day after I win the lottery...

I'll let you know what I think about POR after our trip! It was a hard decision between CSR and Port Orleans for our honeymoon last year, but KatMark glowing recommendation and presence in the CSR thread last year definitely swayed my decision. I'll give you a comparison of the two after we get back =)

 

[KatMark]

We've done two deluxes in our over 20 visits to Disney. We did the Contemporary three times and the Polynesian four. We did these when the kids were little because we didn't really know about any of the other resorts (and there weren't a lot at that time...they were 18 months old the first time each of them went). Personally, I find the monorail overrated, but we did love the Polynesian -- it just had a nice, tropical feeling to us...and we loved the tiki torches and the pool and the food, etc. We enjoyed the Contemporary, but not as much. Once we found the CSR, we just couldn't see spending the money for a deluxe anymore when the CSR has everything we need (including a hot tub and spa which the Poly does not have). And with two boys in college, every penny is squeezed out. We do still want to try the AKL and the Beach Club and will probably do split stays with them somewhere down the road with the CSR. The other deluxes really don't hold that much appeal to us.

 

[onelilspark]

We've done two deluxes in our over 20 visits to Disney. We did the Contemporary three times and the Polynesian four. We did these when the kids were little because we didn't really know about any of the other resorts (and there weren't a lot at that time...they were 18 months old the first time each of them went). Personally, I find the monorail overrated, but we did love the Polynesian -- it just had a nice, tropical feeling to us...and we loved the tiki torches and the pool and the food, etc. We enjoyed the Contemporary, but not as much. Once we found the CSR, we just couldn't see spending the money for a deluxe anymore when the CSR has everything we need (including a hot tub and spa which the Poly does not have). And with two boys in college, every penny is squeezed out. We do still want to try the AKL and the Beach Club and will probably do split stays with them somewhere down the road with the CSR. The other deluxes really don't hold that much appeal to us.

We stayed at the Deluxes a lot when I was little (the old Treehouse villas!) But now they've just gotten ridiculous in price, so I lean more towards the values or moderates, especially when I don't go in Value season!




So Bandit has learned how to climb stairs. The catch is, he's terrified of going downstairs! So I've blocked the upstairs with a gate, because otherwise he runs up and whines at the top. Well, I apparently forgot to put up the gate, which he discovered. He's living up to his name ("Bandit") and stealing any clothes he can get his hands on. So I started closing the door to the closet where our laundry basket is...I forgot to close that today too (can you see where this is going?) I was sitting here eating lunch when I realized he was being awfully quiet...so I went upstairs, sure enough, he was there. But not stealing clothes, nope, he got himself inside the basket!! ...And of course he's afraid of heights, so he won't jump out

I caught him red-handed!

 

[KatMark]

We stayed at the Deluxes a lot when I was little (the old Treehouse villas!) But now they've just gotten ridiculous in price, so I lean more towards the values or moderates, especially when I don't go in Value season!




So Bandit has learned how to climb stairs. The catch is, he's terrified of going downstairs! So I've blocked the upstairs with a gate, because otherwise he runs up and whines at the top. Well, I apparently forgot to put up the gate, which he discovered. He's living up to his name ("Bandit") and stealing any clothes he can get his hands on. So I started closing the door to the closet where our laundry basket is...I forgot to close that today too (can you see where this is going?) I was sitting here eating lunch when I realized he was being awfully quiet...so I went upstairs, sure enough, he was there. But not stealing clothes, nope, he got himself inside the basket!! ...And of course he's afraid of heights, so he won't jump out

I caught him red-handed!

He just wanted to take a nap on the soft clothes, mom.

 

[onelilspark]

He just wanted to take a nap on the soft clothes, mom.

What you don't see in the picture are the 3 pairs of my underwear he dug up and started chewing on!

 

[HeatherBelle614]

Haha; Wendy isn't a cougar, she's just mature. She turned 7 months last Thursday already!

How fun to be planning with your cousin! I wish I had another Disney enthusiast in the fam to do something like that with; I can't wait to hear where you decide to stay!

I am waiting, waiting, waiting on that stupid website to update!

 

[BippityBoo]

Wow! Seems like you are getting a GREAT deal on your plane ticket!!! I wish we could fly JetBlue out of where I live. It is always so cheap!

The picture of the pup in the laundry is priceless!

 

[jenny105]

Haha that's adorable!!!

 

[onelilspark]

Haha; Wendy isn't a cougar, she's just mature. She turned 7 months last Thursday already!

How fun to be planning with your cousin! I wish I had another Disney enthusiast in the fam to do something like that with; I can't wait to hear where you decide to stay!

I am waiting, waiting, waiting on that stupid website to update!

I can't wait for it to update, it's driving me nuts! I need to realign everything and I can't do it unless I have the schedule!

Wow! Seems like you are getting a GREAT deal on your plane ticket!!! I wish we could fly JetBlue out of where I live. It is always so cheap!

The picture of the pup in the laundry is priceless!

JetBlue usually works out to be a decent deal. I do really like flying them, so I'm glad they fly out of this area!

Haha that's adorable!!!

He's a little menace, but we love him

 

[onelilspark]

Ok! A December update!

If I failed to mention it before, my cousin did the College Program with Disney, so she knows a bunch of people down there. She's trying to see if one of her friends can get us a CM discount on the room. After much debate, we've settled on All Star Movies, Preferred. (Sound familiar ) If her friend can't get the CM discount, then we'll just use my PIN. It's incredible, with either discount, we're probably going to be spending about $30 each per night for the room...or just shy of $100 for the weekend We thought about doing a deluxe, since the location would be awesome and it wasn't that expensive with us splitting it (around $100 each/night.) But $30/night v $100/night...hmmm...we went with the cheaper option. Figured this way we can do 2 sit down meals (thinking the Wave and one of the new Epcot ones) AND MVMCP! ...and probably still not make up that $200 difference!

So to wrap up, we've decided to stay cheap & indulge.

 

[KatMark]

Ok! A December update!

If I failed to mention it before, my cousin did the College Program with Disney, so she knows a bunch of people down there. She's trying to see if one of her friends can get us a CM discount on the room. After much debate, we've settled on All Star Movies, Preferred. (Sound familiar ) If her friend can't get the CM discount, then we'll just use my PIN. It's incredible, with either discount, we're probably going to be spending about $30 each per night for the room...or just shy of $100 for the weekend We thought about doing a deluxe, since the location would be awesome and it wasn't that expensive with us splitting it (around $100 each/night.) But $30/night v $100/night...hmmm...we went with the cheaper option. Figured this way we can do 2 sit down meals (thinking the Wave and one of the new Epcot ones) AND MVMCP! ...and probably still not make up that $200 difference!

So to wrap up, we've decided to stay cheap & indulge.

Although I'm not a fan of hte values, I think what you are doing is perfect! Extra food, tickets, etc.

 

[glennbo123]

As much as you wanted to do a solo trip, I imagine it'll be fun to go with your cousin. Looking forward to seeing how the plans come together.

 

[shordiebecka]

Your December plans sound perfect! I wish i could get DBF to go down to a value... I personally enjoyed the value resorts every time I went, and would love to indulge in other things!!! Your puppy is too cute

 

[onelilspark]

Although I'm not a fan of hte values, I think what you are doing is perfect! Extra food, tickets, etc.

What's funny is that I don't really care too much when it comes to rooms. I might have if it were a week long trip...then I'd splurge because I'd probably be using the pool, etc. But for a 3 day trip? Eh, as long as I have a clean place to shower and sleep, I'm happy!

As much as you wanted to do a solo trip, I imagine it'll be fun to go with your cousin. Looking forward to seeing how the plans come together.

It's funny planning it with her since she's a Disney fanatic too. I'm used to planning things where the other person has no idea what I'm talking about!

Your December plans sound perfect! I wish i could get DBF to go down to a value... I personally enjoyed the value resorts every time I went, and would love to indulge in other things!!! Your puppy is too cute

I guess I was good in that I started him off with a value

 

[onelilspark]

So...how about some October news? We got the email today for our Meeting down in Orlando. Our original "save the date" had the meeting going from Sept 27-Oct 1 (the week right before we were planning.) The email today has it from Sept 27-Sept 30 (Thursday instead of Friday.) So now I need to see if A) they'll pay for my plane ride back on the 9th and B) if I'll need to take Friday 10/1 off I'm in sales and I have a home based office, so considering I'd be out of the office for 4 days, I'd really need an office day at the end to get back to people/get caught up. So if I were home, I'd be using 10/1 as an office day. But in order to get them to extend my flight, I might have to take that Friday off I'd be hanging around my parent's place on Friday, with my work laptop, so it makes sense to me to just use an office day that Friday. But I might not be allowed to do that I sent an email out to my boss, so pixie dust & fingers crossed that things work out the way I want!!

 

[KatMark]

is on the way.

 

[onelilspark]

In other news...apparently Rochester just got an earthquake (about an hour ago.) I didn't feel a thing and now I'm bitterly disappointed that I missed it.

 

[onelilspark]

is on the way.

Thank you!

 

[arbolita]

Keeping my fingers crossed that you hear good things back from your office!

 

[onelilspark]

Keeping my fingers crossed that you hear good things back from your office!

Thanks! I'm anxious to hear the verdict!





For anyone else going during F&W, I found out through arbolita's PTR that the 2010 Food & Wine Thread here on the DIS has started: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2482006 Lot's of good information there, plus people who are F&W regulars that are very helpful with planning!