Halloweentime with Mickey PTR ***complete!~TR link added- post #205***

[MA pigletfan]

Thanks for reminding me..we wil be there from Oct 8-12th in the park so i guess we should make our PS too!! i hope we arent' too late!

 

[julezdisney]

Okeydokey! All fixed!

Thurs., Oct. 9th- Goofy's Kitchen moved back to 7pm.

Fri., Oct. 10th- Minnie & Friends @ The Plaza moved back to park opening at 8am.

Sat., Oct. 11th- Princess Lunch @ Ariel's Grotto moved forward to latest lunch seating at 3pm.

Sun., Oct. 12th- Blue Bayou same @ 8pm for yummy desserts & ambience.

Whew!

Now to move on to revamping our actual day tours, to finally decide on MToTP, and deciding how and if our in-laws actually fit into all this.

It's so soon.

Buying airfare next weekend.

 

[Charleston Princess]

I can't wait to hear about Blue Bayou -- that's the one I think sounds soooo neat!!! Louisiana-type food and POTC ride -- what could be better?

 

[stagemomx3]

I can't wait to hear about them. Those are almost the exact reservations I want to make for our trip!

 

[julezdisney]

We live about 25 miles from Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. We go to Disneyland more frequently.

Glad I'm not the only one who feels this way!

Hey Julezdisney- Summer's going great! Great Trippie! I love it! I agree completely with six flags! It may be fun sometimes, but it doesn't compare to disney. After you experience disney, there's no going back. Nothing else compares. On a better note- FOUR MORE WEEKS!!! Anyways, love the trippie girly!

I agree. And WOW! You're leaving soon!

I know the decisions are tough but it sounds like you're making some good ones!!! Good luck deciding on what to do!

Thanks!

Why can't you just trade the Princess Breakfast to Friday?

We're spending as much time in the Magic Kingdom as we can on Friday actually, to try to avoid the crush on Saturday.

Thanks for reminding me..we wil be there from Oct 8-12th in the park so i guess we should make our PS too!! i hope we arent' too late!

Oh wow! We'll be there the same time!

I can't wait to hear about Blue Bayou -- that's the one I think sounds soooo neat!!! Louisiana-type food and POTC ride -- what could be better?

Oh, I know! Actually, we're only eating desserts there though, but I am SOOO looking forward to seeing it/being there!

I can't wait to hear about them. Those are almost the exact reservations I want to make for our trip!

Yay! Great minds think alike!

 

[julezdisney]

OMG, I'm freaking out!

I'm 42 days out! With a balance to be paid in 17 days and airfare still to be bought!

DD starts Kindergarten in just 3 days and we need to buy schools supplies still!

DH is mad at DMIL and doesn't want to tell her when we'll be there and turned down help paying for airfare! DOH! Idiot!

 

[kaoden39]

OMG, I'm freaking out!

I'm 42 days out! With a balance to be paid in 17 days and airfare still to be bought!

DD starts Kindergarten in just 3 days and we need to buy schools supplies still!

DH is mad at DMIL and doesn't want to tell her when we'll be there and turned down help paying for airfare! DOH! Idiot!

Aren't husbands wonderful? I hope everything improves.

 

[travelmel]

Where I have I been!!

Subscribing!!

 

[julezdisney]

So. Gang. You've all seen the updated title and are, I'm sure, wondering what is going on NOW.

For heaven's sake, can this chick get ANYTHING about her trip decided?

Well, no.

But there's some big news about our Disneyland trip. You ready?

It's now a Disney WORLD trip!

One reason: AIRFARE.

It hasn't gone up, we just can't afford it. Period. We are crappy budgeters and haven't saved enough. (Refer to my new thread on Disboards discussing this-WHERE DOES MY $ DISAPPEAR TO?) So instead, I'm cancelling DLR , saving $800 off of transportation by making the looooooooooooong drive from Chicagoland down to Sunny Orlando.

But this is OK. Because I've never been to WDW and I'm v. excited to check it out!

Here's the Itinerary:

Wed., Oct. 8th- Leavin' town around 6-ish. Driving until approx. 2am. Budget motor-inn somewhere, as yet undetermined, as a short stopping point. VERY SHORT. We'll get in about 5 hours before hitting the road again about 7am.

Thurs., Oct. 9th- Making the last 10 hours in hopefully more like 8-1/2 or 9. Arriving to hotel, rental house, condo, or Pop or Value approx. 5pm-ish. Stopping at Walmart to stock up on food, grabbing dinner, and CRASHING. Or exploring. We'll wing it, depending on arrival time.

Fri., Oct. 10th- Hopefully a character breakfast. Pray for me- I'll be calling the dining line tommorow. If no char. breakfast- than hopefully AKL or Poly for bkfst. (thanks for ideas, Jackie!) and snooping around those resorts. Round of Disney mini-golf. Back to digs for swim, lunch, chill, and change for MNSSHP.

Sat., Oct. 11th- Entirely no-park day. We'll be hunting down the Character Outlet. Possibly checking out Old Town. Shopping in DTD. Touring the resorts. Hopefully taking in the 5:15 dinner show at the Poly. If not- possibly the HoopDeDo Revue at Fort Wilderness. Ending at the Campfire at Fort Wilderness before heading back to our digs to get ready for park opening.

Sun., Oct. 12th- I had planned a second day at MK. Just to keep it simple. But than I thought, Geez, I REALLY want to go to Hollywood Studios. Then Jim chimed in with, "I wanna go to Epcot." So I dunnow what we'll do. I guess I just have this impression that Epcot won't be as fun for a 5 and 6 year old as DHS would be.

Mon., Oct. 13th- We head home. At a rediculous hour. Like, 3:30 am or something. I'm gonna work on sweet-talking DH to keep kids out again on the 14th so we can leave at a decent hour and stop someplace to sleep on the way home. He thinks we can make the drive straight-through but I told him we're not as young as that anymore. He gets tuckered out about 10pm, and my night vision is a joke.

So isn't this crazy? I'm very disappointed that I'm not going to DCA though. I'm not feeling it at the moment because I'm getting excited to start planning an itinerary for WDW (oddly- I'm more excited about our non-park day as far as planning goes- I really wanna explore.....). But I know as soon as we get back, I'm gonna cry over not getting to see DLR all dolled up. Expecially the CALIFORNIA letters before they tear them down. For all I know, this is the last time they'll look like this for Halloween.

Ok, I'm not gonna talk about it, I'm getting bummed. I'd rather feel excited about seeing WDW then get bummed about NOT seeing DLR and the Haunted Mansion layover.

Ok, ok, stop it, me! You're going to WDW!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

You will love WDW!!! You will just love it!!!

Make sure you update us on the dining this morning!

 

[kmab00]

Aaaaaaaaah!! You're coming over to my World now!! YAY!!! That's so exciting! I know you're disappointed but seriously....you're going to have a BLAST and so will your kids!!!!!! Let me know if you have any questions or need anything! I'm definitely here if you need something!

Are you going to fit in Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party? I've never been at Halloween time but from what I've seen in pictures, it looks like SO much fun!!!

Yay for you guys! I'm so excited!!!

 

[julezdisney]

So!

Yesterday I cancelled the booking of DLR and swallowed the penalties. . Yikes. Oh well. I still owed $471 and the reservation and needed $1200 for airfare. With going to WDW instead, I need $600 for gas and MNSSHP tix altogether. So the savings obviously are there.

I called WDW-DINE and made ressies for breakfast at Park Fare for Friday morning at 9:45. I wanted to make ressies for the Aloha Show at the Poly for dinner Sat. night or for Hoop-De-Do Revue but when I saw it would be 200+ for our family of four, I realized my husband would kill me if I spent that much on a dinner show and not on upgrading to a 2-day pass.

Instead I think we'll do dinner somewhere else followed by fireworks viewing from the beach at the Poly..... maybe. I really want to explore Saturday but really that's up in the air as I went to the library yesterday and picked up a number of books including:

Everything Guide to Orlando and....

Birnbaum's Official Guide To WDW

Birnbaum's Official.....for Kids

Passporters Guide to WDW

They're making me more excited- but giving me too many ideas!

 

[kmab00]

Passporters and Birnbaum's are with me every trip!! Love both of those guidebooks!!!

 

[julezdisney]

Ok, Im on the WDW PTR board! Start giving me tips, people!

One thing I want everyone's opinion on- is what to do about Sat., Oct. 11th.

Originally, as you can see in our itinerary- I wanted a non-park day to explore the resort. Hunt down Character Warehouse. Maybe go to be tourist in Old-town. Have lunch and a "kitchen sink" on the Boardwalk, maybe rent a surrey bike and/or boat for the afternoon. See some performers on the Boardwalk. Head over to the Poly for dinner at Ohana's and view fireworks from the beach, and see the water electrical parade.

BUT, I assume all that would total the area around $200, which would be what it would be, I think, to get 2-day base tickets rather than 1, and we could then spend the day at AK or DHS, spending Sunday at MK before heading home early am Monday.

It's our first trip to WDW, and I really want to explore.... but I really want to let the kids see more of the parks too though.... I dont know.

 

[julezdisney]

Argh! I'm so frustrated! I cancelled the ressies on Monday, and here it is Thursday and I still have no refund! The ressie is def. cancelled though because I just tried to log in to be sure. I'll give them 5 business days though.

It gives me time to decide on my hotel.
If I can get a good rate- I'd like to stay onsite- at Pop or ASMu. ASMo is sold out, I'm pretty sure.

If not - I've narrowed down offsite to a few choices- based on both cost and amenities. The idea of spending more on a nice place and truly just lounging on our off-park day is very tempting. But the idea of spending the bare minimum for a place to lay our heads while spending 80% of our time outside of the hotel is also very tempting. I think I'll narrow it down to two nice, two budget, and call for on-property prices before discussing it with DH. Hopefully, we'll have that refund by the time we've made our decision. I KINDA NEED IT TO BOOK, DISNEY! YEA, THANKS.

Poo.

 

[Charleston Princess]

I hope your refund comes quickly!!! How frustrating to be waiting on it!

 

[julezdisney]

Oh man. Five weeks and 1 day and we will be on our way to the World!

That's just.... 36 days!!!

I have narrowed down our condo/villa selections. I'm really having a tough time of it. Here's my list:

Vacation Villas @ Parkway
Sunlake Resort
Liki Tiki Village
Oak Plantation Villas

I'd actually rather do the Inn @ Plantation Villas- with full use of the pools and facilities at their Villas next door, but DH is really bugging me about having a kitchen. I'd rather save the extra $ and do an extra day at Disney. It seems all the stuff off-property I'd like to do on our "Off-park Day" would end up running us enough $$ that it would seem to be cost effective to just do the extra day at the park. There's so much entertainment and attractions in the parks that it seems more of a value....

Otherwise, here's some examples of an "off-park day" I'm trying to plan.

A) Breakfast @ 'home'. Go to Gatorland! $71 Lunch @ 'home. Swim/rest/change. Dinner show & Arabian Nights. $109

B) Breakfast @ 'home'. Spend day @ Aquatica by Sea World. $156 Packed lunch. Dinner is the aloha show they have there. 1/2 the cost of Disneys!!

C) Breakfast @ 'home'. Find Character Warehouse for souvies. $60 Visit DTD to shop & do Disney Quest. $160 Break for snacks there. Dinner @ the Polynesian with fireworks on the beach following, $0 and hopefully see the Electrical Water Pageant. $0 If the kids are still up for it- hit up Boardwalk to see performers, etc. $0 However, I think performers are only there from 6-10 maybe so that might not pan out.

My favorite idea though is to, of course, pay less for a hotel room, get an extra day of parks, and go to AK!

What to do.... decisions... decisions... decisions...

 

[TahoeMom]

My vote is for an extra day in the parks! AK is great fun!

 

[Charleston Princess]

I vote for Animal Kingdom -- it's my fave park for atmosphere -- and it has Everest -- with a Yeti -- and a safari -- with giraffes!

 

[julezdisney]

Ok, so I did some more research and it seems there's some mixed reviews on the Arabian Nights dinner. That it's good for kids but the food is crappy. I swore I read reviews that it was a great experience. I am looking into buying the tix through dealers on ebay and emailed a number of former buyers of a certain broker to get their opinions on the dealer and the show- the ones that responded (3 so far) said they had a great time and the food was OK, so I'm a little bent on what to do.

Here on the Dis, there's an Oak Plantation thread, which is where I wanted to make my reservations, and one poster said that it felt really far away from everything so I might re-think that as well.

I got my refund(s) from WDTC so I'm booking hotel tommorow! Which brings me to my next issue- MNSSHP tickets. I also wanted to buy those. BUT I was listening to a podcast and they were saying that if the weather is an issue (ie rain) that it may be beneficial to buy them that day so you don't waste your money if the parade and fireworks are cancelled. The day we're going (the 10th) are not discounted advance purchase dates so the cost is not a deciding factor. What do you think? Do I run any risk by waiting of the party being sold out? It is the only day we can go- as we'll be on the road on the 13th- the next party date. How is the weather in October- it's always suggested as a great time to go, so I assume an all-out night shower isn't likely.

We'll be arriving in town the late evening or the afternoon of the 9th. 19 hrs from Illi, starting at 6pm Wed. night. so going to the party on the 9th (I THINK there's one on the 9th) is probably not a good idea at all.