Hide The Rum! Trickiwoo & Friends Are Heading To The World! A Jan 2012 PTR!

[trickiwoo]

I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Haha, sorry, had to get that out of the way. I'm pretty frakin' excited!

So... here are the basics:

Who? Me, DBF, and a couple of our friends
Where? POFQ
When? January 21-27, 2012

I hope you'll join me and follow along this PTR over the next 4 months and 2 weeks until we leave for our trip!


Table Of Contents:

Introductions
How This Trip Came To Be...
The Plan!
Shopping And Beer!
ADRs!
Camera Talk
I'm Still Here!!!
Birthday Presents!!!!
Menu Changes!
Once Upon A Time...
Sad News
New Phone!
Big news!!!!
New Pets!
2012: The Year Of Disney
Saturday Itinerary

 

[trickiwoo]

So to get this PTR started, let's introduce everyone joining in on our January Disney Adventure!

First there is me (Lindsay) and DBF (Chris)! I'm 25 and work at a doggie daycare. He's 26 and works as a computer programmer. We both live in Cary, NC. We've been together for a little over 5 years. This will be our 3rd trip to WDW together. In fact it's my 3rd time going to WDW ever! (I grew up in Southern California, so I went to Disneyland as a child. DBF on the other hand frequented WDW as a child.)

We have 2 dogs

Fernando is our (almost) 8 year old pug and Rosie is our 4 year old mixed breed dog.


Joining us on our trip is another couple..

Our friends Joe and Sofia! Joe is 28 and is currently in grad school studying Public Administration. Sofia is 26 and is currently in pharmacy school. They also both live in Cary, NC. They've been together about 2-3 years. This will be their 2nd trip to WDW together. It will be Sofia's 2nd trip ever, but Joe used to go every year as a child.


We have another friend who will possibly be joining us on our trip...

Diana! She is 29 and works as a graphic designer. She used to live in Cary, NC but moved to NYC a little over a year ago. She's been to WDW many times.

She wanted to come with us for the whole trip, but she doesn't have enough vacation days. So she's thinking of taking a long weekend and staying with family in Florida and meeting us at the parks for a day or two.


Joe and Sofia have already booked their trip and are staying at POFQ with us. So they are definitely going! And hopefully Diana will be joining us at least for part of the trip!

 

[trickiwoo]

So there are quite a few firsts for us this trip! It's our first time going with friends! Our past trips have been just the two of us. Also, it's our first time going in January! We've always gone in September! So I'm looking forward to a bit of a different experience!

There are also a few firsts for Joe and Sofia as well! They went this past May with Joe's parents, Joe's sister, and her son (Joe's nephew). So it will be their first time going without a kid in tow! Also, it will be their first time staying on-site! And it will be their first time eating at TS restaurants! (In the past they've stayed off-site, and ate off-site or just did QS meals.) DBF and I are very excited about sharing some of our favorite TS restaurants with our friends!

Which I should probably mention... WE HAVE FREE DINING!!!!

And that reminds me that I should probably share the story of how this trip came about!


So DBF and I took our first trip to WDW in September 2009. We LOVED it and went back again September of 2010. So naturally, we thought about going again September of 2011. And while we enjoyed going just the 2 of us, we really wanted to go with some of our friends. So when free dining for September 2011 was announced we went ahead and booked a trip and started asking friends if they wanted to go with us. Joe and Sofia weren't able to go in September because of school. We asked DBF's sister if she and her boyfriend wanted to join us. They said they were definitely interested and we had some planning going on with them for awhile, but then they decided they didn't have the money to go in September, but would love to go with us next year.

So after asking everyone we knew, no one was able to go with us. And then my parents invited us to go to the mountains with them this September. We liked that because we could bring our dogs. And neither of us had the vacation time to take 2 vacations in September. So after talking it over, we decided to cancel our WDW trip and go to the mountains with my parents instead.

Then in May, Joe and Sofia went to WDW. They came back and Joe said, "Disney was great! We want to go again! When are you guys going?" We said we didn't have anything planned at the moment, but would let them know when we did.

Then as the months passed, I started getting that urge to plan a WDW trip. I talked it over with DBF, and he wanted to go back too. We like going when it's least crowded (and cheaper!), and I didn't want to wait until next September! So I started looking at January and February of 2012.

And we started asking around to see if anyone was interested. We told our friends that we didn't have anything planned yet, but were considering going in January or February and that we were going to wait to book to see what discounts/promos were released for that time. Joe and Sofia said they were interested in more information, but didn't think they could afford to go then. But DBF's sister and her boyfriend were really interested and that January or February would be better for them than September!

So the plan was to wait for discount offers to be announced! I was hoping for Free Dining, but would be happy with anything. I spent a lot of time here on the DIS following rumors of Free Dining promos. And then, it happened! Free Dining was announced for January and February dates for 2012!

I immediately e-mailed DBF's sister and Sofia. DBF's sister talked it over with her boyfriend and Sofia talked it over with Joe. Much to my surprise, DBF's sister e-mailed me back saying they decided they didn't have the money to go. But Sofia e-mailed me back saying that they could probably afford this trip if they didn't have to pay for food! She also said they'd have to go in January because she had rotations for pharmacy school starting in February.

So over the next month we talked it over, ran numbers, and made some tentative plans. During this time, Diana expressed her interest in going with us! Then on Labor Day we got a call from Joe saying they were ready to book and he asked if he could bring his laptop over so we could finalize our trip plans and book! Of course we said yes, and they came over and we worked it out! And we booked our trips!

 

[trickiwoo]

So, here's what we are thinking for our trip...

Friday Jan 20: Joe and Sofia are driving from NC to Savannah, GA (which is about halfway between here and WDW) They're doing some sight-seeing and staying at a hotel for the night


Saturday Jan 21: DBF and I will be flying to Orlando then taking the DME to POFQ! Joe and Sofia will be driving from Savannah to POFQ! We'll probably meet up at the hotel and head to DTD for the day!

Sunday Jan 22: We'll all be spending the day at Magic Kingdom!

Monday Jan 23: We'll all be spending the day at Hollywood Studios!

Tuesday Jan 24: DBF and I will be spending the day together doing whatever we want, while Joe and Sofia will be spending the day together doing whatever they want! They'll have a car so they were talking about maybe going off-site that day. Where as DBF and I are perfectly happy staying on-site all day! We might be meeting at Epcot to have dinner together... not sure yet...

Wednesday Jan 25: We'll all be spending the day at Epcot!

Thursday Jan 26: We'll all be spending the day at Animal Kingdom!

Friday Jan 27: DBF and I usually hang out at DTD until it's time to get on the DME and head back to the airport to fly home. Joe and Sofia will be driving home. They don't yet know when they'll be leaving, if they'll go to DTD with us or what. I'm also not sure if they're driving the whole way home or stopping halfway again.

So yup, that's what we're thinking! We don't yet know what Diana's plans are, but hopefully she'll be joining us for part of the trip! We're not doing Park Hoppers, so we'll just be doing one park per day.

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Joining in! Your plans sound great!

 

[trickiwoo]

So I've been having a great weekend! Last night I went with DBF, Joe and Sofia to Big Boss which is a beer brewery in Raleigh. We hung out, had a couple beers, talked Disney and played shuffleboard.

It was a lot of fun! And the beer was tasty! My favorite is the High Roller IPA.

We discussed trip plans, ADRs, and general Disney stuff! Joe is SO excited about this trip! He even joked that at the end of our trip he wanted to commit suicide by jumping off Cinderella's castle so that he didn't have to go back home to the real world! Unfortunately with that plan you can never go back to WDW again! I'd much rather just move into Cinderella's castle myself and never leave WDW!


Then today DBF and I went to the mall. DBF's dad's birthday is tomorrow, so we bought him some presents! We got him a tie, a wallet and some cologne. While we were at the mall, we had to stop at the Disney store!

We got a hoodie for DBF to wear on our trip

And I got a Vinylmation for my collection. I went with one from the Lion King series and I got Pumbaa!

Also this week, DBF bought a camcorder for our trip!

Ok, he didn't just get it for the trip! He has a webseries where he reviews video games. So he mainly got the camera for that. (Which, if you're interested in watching some of his reviews, you can do so here) But he also plans on bringing the camera along on our trip and getting videos!

So yup, that's what I've been up to this weekend! I'll be posting my ADRs soon, so stay tuned for that!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Hey Hey! I'm subbing since you are my twin! AND, I noticed that you said FRAKIN, you wouldn't happen to love BSG, would you? I'm wondering just how many things we have in common! Can't wait to hear more and see more of your pics! We're leaving to head to WDW on the day you leave!

 

[trickiwoo]

Hey Hey! I'm subbing since you are my twin! AND, I noticed that you said FRAKIN, you wouldn't happen to love BSG, would you? I'm wondering just how many things we have in common! Can't wait to hear more and see more of your pics! We're leaving to head to WDW on the day you leave!

Haha!!! No way!!!!!! I was wondering if any BSG fans would pick up on that!!! Hmmm... what else do we have in common??? What month is your birthday? Do you play any musical instruments? Favorite food? Favorite song? Favorite book? Favorite movie? Favorite dog breed?

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Haha!!! No way!!!!!! I was wondering if any BSG fans would pick up on that!!! Hmmm... what else do we have in common??? What month is your birthday? Do you play any musical instruments? Favorite food? Favorite song? Favorite book? Favorite movie? Favorite dog breed?

Ok, I'm sure we'll have some differences in here! First off, I'm WAY older than you (38) and have 3 kids. You know one of my favorite shows: BSG. Birthday is March 5th, played the piano for years when I was younger and then gave it up, favorite food that I CAN eat would be anything sweet with dates or something, favorite food that I can't eat would be bread. I became a vegan because of problems with food, so I still really crave certain stuff and partake, but then I get sick.

Favorite song...hmmm...that would be hard as I have lots. Favorite old song: Just like Heaven, The Cure. Favorite song lately: Born This Way, Gaga. Favorite movie...old...Breakfast Club, new...Hmmm...probably LOTR trilogy. I read lots of fantasy/sci-fi stuff, but HP would be up there on my list of things I love and Mists of Avalon. Favorite dog breed? Oooh, that's a hard one! I petsit so many different breeds and love them for different reasons...I love the little dogs b/c they don't stink and I can carry them around, but the bigger breeds are so loveable! And not shedding is a plus, my own dogs (Boxer and a mutt) shed like mad! I'm always covered in hair, if not from work, then from my own house!

I looked at your photography! LOVE LOVE LOVE some of your animal shots and landscapes! I saw you posted to me in the photo question as well, that sneaky lens would be perfect if I didn't have such smart kids! The teenagers would notice immediately b/c they KNOW my camera so well and would ask what the strange lens with the hole was!

 

[trickiwoo]

Ok, I'm sure we'll have some differences in here! First off, I'm WAY older than you (38) and have 3 kids. You know one of my favorite shows: BSG.

Besides BSG, some of my other favorite shows are: Anything and everything by Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse)!!! I'm also a HUGE Lost fan! I love Doctor Who (and it's spin-off Torchwood!) I also love Fringe, House, The Venture Bros, The Walking Dead, Glee, Archer and Dexter. Also anything by Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies, Wonderfalls, Dead Like Me) But my all time favorite show is the Twilight Zone. Oh, and I'm currently watching Mad Men on Netflix. Haha, yeah, I'm a big tv fan!

Birthday is March 5th

Ok, mine is November 17th, but DBF's birthday is in March!

played the piano for years when I was younger and then gave it up

Me too! I started taking lessons when I was 7, and then stopped around middle school. I briefly picked it back up in college. I played the flute in middle school and high school, and I'm just now starting to get back to playing it again!

favorite food that I CAN eat would be anything sweet with dates or something

I also have a major sweet tooth and LOVE anything sweet!

I became a vegan because of problems with food, so I still really crave certain stuff and partake, but then I get sick.

I have a TON of food allergies, so I also have problems with food!

Favorite song...hmmm...that would be hard as I have lots. Favorite old song: Just like Heaven, The Cure. Favorite song lately: Born This Way, Gaga.

I don't have a single favorite song, but my favorite artist is David Bowie. I'm also a huge Duran Duran and ABBA fan! As far as current music goes, I do love Gaga!

Favorite movie...old...Breakfast Club, new...Hmmm...probably LOTR trilogy.

Awww! I love the Breakfast Club!!! DBF and I watched it together on our first date, so I have a very special place in my heart for that movie! I absolutely LOVE the LOTR trilogy... I'm a huge Peter Jackson fan! My all time favorite movie would have to be Bringing Up Baby. Heavenly Creatures and Labyrinth are high up there though. My favorite Disney animated movie is Lady and the Tramp, with The Little Mermaid in a very close 2nd. My favorite Pixar movie is Up with Finding Nemo in a very close 2nd. As far as Disney live action movies go, I'm a big fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean series and the Tron series.

I read lots of fantasy/sci-fi stuff, but HP would be up there on my list of things I love and Mists of Avalon.

I love, love, love the Harry Potter series (but who doesn't??) But if you couldn't tell from my username, my favorite author is James Herriot!

Favorite dog breed? Oooh, that's a hard one! I petsit so many different breeds and love them for different reasons...I love the little dogs b/c they don't stink and I can carry them around, but the bigger breeds are so loveable! And not shedding is a plus, my own dogs (Boxer and a mutt) shed like mad! I'm always covered in hair, if not from work, then from my own house!

I do love all dogs of all sizes, but my favorite breed would have to be pugs!

Haha, I know what you mean! Besides having 2 dogs of my own, and working as a dog-walker and pet-sitter, I also work at a doggie daycare! (Not to mention that I also do volunteer work for animal rescues!) So yeah, dogs are pretty much my whole life!

So yeah, it does look like we have quite a bit in common!!! Crazy!!

 

[trickiwoo]

So I'm sure everyone is curious about where we'll be eating on our trip! So here's the ADRs I've made:

Saturday: None... We'll be doing QS this day. I don't like to make ADRs on arrival day in case our flight gets delayed or something.
Sunday: Dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe
Monday: Lunch at Sci-Fi
Tuesday: Dinner at Coral Reef
Wednesday: Lunch at Le Cellier
Thursday: Lunch at Yak & Yeti and Dinner at 'Ohana
Friday: None... another QS day.


What we've done before:

Sci-Fi

Definitely our favorite restaurant at WDW! We LOVE the theme and atmosphere! DBF LOVES old Sci-Fi movies and has actually seen most of the movies they show the trailers for!

DBF also loves the burgers here

And I love getting drinks with glow cubes!

Coral Reef

Again, we love the atmosphere here!

And The Chocolate Wave is my absolute favorite dessert in all of WDW... if not in all of the universe!

Yak and Yeti

OK, so The Chocolate Wave is closely followed by these fried wontons

SO GOOD! DBF and I both LOVE these! In fact, this year DBF said, "When we go to Yak and Yeti I have to remember to order a small entree so I have room for those wontons..."

I'm also a big fan of these babies

And this will be our first time trying...

Whispering Canyon Cafe

This sounds like such a fun restaurant! I love the idea of antics and shenanigans during dinner! I've always wanted to come here, but I always thought it would be more fun eating here with a group than just DBF and I. So as soon as we booked a trip with friends joining us, I booked dinner here! Plus those skillets look pretty tasty!


Le Cellier

Basically I just want to see what all the fuss is about! DBF and I both love steak, so I thought it'd be worth checking out! Hopefully it's as good as everyone says it is!


'Ohana

Again, I want to see what all the fuss is about! I also LOVE bread pudding, so I can't wait to try the dessert here!


So yup, that's the plan! I'm pretty happy with my choices, so I don't think I'll be making any changes to them!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Your ADR's look like so much fun!! I especially love your Sci-Fi pics - I love the theme there!

 

[trickiwoo]

So we have quite a few photographers with us on this trip! Diana shoots with a Nikon D70 and you can view some of her work on her website. Sofia shoots with a Nikon D80 and you can view some of her work on her Flickr Stream. And I shoot with a Nikon D300 and you can see some of my work on my online portfolio.

Now, I don't know if Diana or Sofia plan on bringing their DSLRs on this trip, or if they just plan on bringing point and shoots. But I do imagine they're planning on bringing some sort of camera!

I do know that I plan on leaving my D300 at home this trip. The first time I went to WDW I just brought along a little point and shoot. I kept it in my pocket and didn't carry anything around the parks. The 2nd time I went, I brought the D300. And while I got WAY better pictures, it was a bit of a pain to lug that heavy camera around everywhere.

So I went in search of a good camera to bring to WDW. Something that takes nicer photos than a point and shoot, but is smaller, lighter and more portable than a DSLR. So I started looking at mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras. And I went ahead and bought a Sony NEX-3

(Yes, I bought a pink one!)

I love this camera!!! It takes amazing quality photos... especially in low light! It is very small and very light! And I can't wait to bring it to WDW!


The lens I mostly plan on using is a 16mm f/2.8 pancake lens

I will also be bringing a 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens

And a Lensbaby Composer with Tilt Transformer lens

If you aren't familiar with Lensbabies, they are creative, special effect lenses that you can bend and stretch that give your photos a really unique look.

With the Composer with Tilt Transformer, you can remove the Lensbaby portion of the lens

And you can attach any Nikon mount lens to the Tilt Transformer, and you get a tilt-shift lens! Pretty neat! So I'll be bringing some Nikon lenses as well to hopefully try out some tilt-shift photography while I'm there!


I also have a Nikon D50 DSLR that has been modified to shoot infrared. I plan on bringing that camera along as well, to get a few IR shots here and there.

Now, I *think* that's all I'm bringing... Later this year, Sony is coming out with a 55-210mm f/4.5-6.3 zoom lens for the NEX cameras. I'm undecided on whether or not I should get it... I definitely would like a bigger zoom for my NEX. But I don't know if I should pick this up, or wait and see what other zoom lenses are released in the future... And I don't know if it's worth it to spend the money on this lens before my trip... So I don't know yet... I guess we'll wait for the lens to be released before deciding.

So yeah, that's what I'm thinking camera-wise! Here's hoping I come back with plenty of fantastic photos!!!!

 

[Oliquig]

Hi, subbing in! It looks like you guys are going to have a great time. If its okay, I'm going to pass on some advice I heard. You are doing Sci-Fi for lunch (so am I)? I was reading here that you are better off paying oop, and using the dining credit elseware, since the price points for lunch here are quite low. Just passing the info on, since I found it interesting.

I had a pink camera too! It is somewhere in my house,but I have no idea where, so now I have a red camera. I am only bringing a point and shoot, I am not the world's best photog in the first place, and I would be too afraid of dropping it and breaking it, like I did on my last trip to the World.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Oh I'm so excited to see all your shots!! I've never heard of the Sony NEX-3, it looks great! I'm taking my Nikon D40 with me (and a rented lens for walk around) b/c I just can't stand the thought of missing a shot, especially when I don't know when we will all go again as a family! The following year I'm going on a girls trip and that trip I plan on bringing all my lenses and really going all out on the photography front.

 

[trickiwoo]

Hi, subbing in! It looks like you guys are going to have a great time. If its okay, I'm going to pass on some advice I heard. You are doing Sci-Fi for lunch (so am I)? I was reading here that you are better off paying oop, and using the dining credit elseware, since the price points for lunch here are quite low. Just passing the info on, since I found it interesting.

Hmmm... that is interesting! Thanks for the tip! If I were paying for the DDP, I would definitely do that! But since we have free dining, a free meal is a free meal!

I had a pink camera too! It is somewhere in my house,but I have no idea where, so now I have a red camera. I am only bringing a point and shoot, I am not the world's best photog in the first place, and I would be too afraid of dropping it and breaking it, like I did on my last trip to the World.

Hooray for pink cameras! I actually have a couple pink cameras... I have a Sony point and shoot that is pink. And I have a Diana (a plastic medium format film camera) that is pink! And I have a 35mm fisheye camera that is pink!

 

[trickiwoo]

Oh I'm so excited to see all your shots!! I've never heard of the Sony NEX-3, it looks great! I'm taking my Nikon D40 with me (and a rented lens for walk around) b/c I just can't stand the thought of missing a shot, especially when I don't know when we will all go again as a family! The following year I'm going on a girls trip and that trip I plan on bringing all my lenses and really going all out on the photography front.

Oh, I love the Sony NEX series! The problem is they're brand new cameras, so there aren't a lot of lenses out for them yet... But they're a lot of fun! If you ever have the time, you should go to your local Best Buy or electronics store and see if they have one on display you can play with! The first time I saw one, I thought, "This would be a perfect WDW camera!!!" so now I can't wait to finally take mine to WDW!!!!

Oh man, I would LOVE to take a trip to WDW where I could go all out on the photography front, as you said! I've considered taking a solo trip so I could go and just spend the whole time taking pictures. Haha, ideally I'd love to live close enough to WDW where I could just head there any time I had a day off and spend the day shooting at the parks!

 

[Colleen27]

Yay for January PTRs! I'm joining in. We're going to be upriver at POR that same week, Jan 21 to 29.

It sounds like we've got a bit in common - I'm a nut for Dexter, Lost, anything Joss Whedon, and especially Twilight Zone. And Labyrinth is one of my favorite movies of all time too - I chose my wedding dress because it reminded me of Sarah's dress in the opening scene.

The Sony NEX series looks really intriguing. I have a Sony a100 that I just adore, but I'm itching to upgrade to one of their new translucent lens models. As tempting as the NEX is for the more compact size, I suspect DH would string me up (or make me go a year without Disney! ) if I decided to start all over with a model that would require all new lenses.

Your plans look really good so far. And the countdown is almost down to double digits!

 

[trickiwoo]

Yikes! I haven't updated this PTR in months!!!!

After my last update, I went on vacation with my family (we rented a cabin in the mountains). Then ever since I got home, I've just been extremely busy with work! They've needed me to pick up extra shifts every week! Which is good, because I could definitely use the money for my WDW trip! But I've just been so busy, I haven't really even thought much about my upcoming trip!

But now things are starting to slow down and my trip is getting closer and closer! So I guess I'm back to trip planning!


So I recently started a photo blog for my WDW Photography! I just started it, so I haven't added a lot of pics yet, but you can view it at Disney By Lindsay

Speaking of which... is anyone else on Tumblr? If so, you can follow my personal blog at trickiwoo.tumblr.com/ I tend to post a lot of Disney stuff!


So today DBF and I went to the mall for lunch. Which we can't go to the mall without stopping by the Disney Store! I was overjoyed to find that the Disney Store was having a special where you could get a free Nightmare Before Christmas Vinylmation with every 3" Vinylmation you bought! Free Vinlymations??? HECK YEAH!

I bought a bunch! I got some Jingle Smells, Alice in Wonderland, and Villains Series 2! And I was SUPER EXCITED to get...

The Villains Series 2 chaser!!!!!!!!!!

Free Vinylmations AND a chaser?! It was a pretty good day...


Sooo, exciting news! Not only am I going to WDW in January... but it looks like I might be going to Disneyland in March!!!!

My great aunt passed away last month, and the family is planning on having a memorial service for her in Long Beach, CA in March. And my family is talking about going to Disneyland while we're there for the memorial service!

So yeah, I am very sad that my great aunt passed away. But it will be nice to see that side of my family! (I haven't seen any of them in almost 10 years!) And I am very much looking forward to Disneyland since I haven't been since 2007!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Glad you are back to planning! It's been crazybusy around here too, but before we know it, it's going to be January, so I'm happy about that! Love the Vinylmation pic!