I was right, I can't wait! A Sept/Oct PTR

[stephielela]

I'm leaning towards #3 myself... I just cant decide on what two days to use! I know we will be doing Epcot on 9/29. I had heard you can get into MK at 4 pm with the party tickets, but then I have heard people say that CM's are saying 7 pm. If we can't get in till 7, we will for sure use our 2nd ticket that day, but if we can get in at 4...

 

[DisneyFirefly]

I'm leaning towards #3 myself... I just cant decide on what two days to use! I know we will be doing Epcot on 9/29. I had heard you can get into MK at 4 pm with the party tickets, but then I have heard people say that CM's are saying 7 pm. If we can't get in till 7, we will for sure use our 2nd ticket that day, but if we can get in at 4...

What party are you going to? I've heard that they say that every year, but can you imagine the lines if they barred party guests until 7? Some people wouldn't get in for hours! And they'd also have to clear the park of day guests instead of sweeping it like they've done the last couple years (you must have a party wristband to walk past the CMs with the ghost and pumpkin signs). It just makes sense for them to let party guests in at 4, but we won't know for sure until the first parties.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2504773 Thread about the 2010 parties, which will be updated as soon as they start

 

[stephielela]

What party are you going to? I've heard that they say that every year, but can you imagine the lines if they barred party guests until 7? Some people wouldn't get in for hours! And they'd also have to clear the park of day guests instead of sweeping it like they've done the last couple years (you must have a party wristband to walk past the CMs with the ghost and pumpkin signs). It just makes sense for them to let party guests in at 4, but we won't know for sure until the first parties.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2504773 Thread about the 2010 parties, which will be updated as soon as they start

We are going to the MNSSHP on the 30th. I would just be pretty upset if I used a ticket to get into a park that arrival day and then couldn't get onto rides or had to wait in long lines... I've heard the parks are pretty empty that time of year, but still. I'm thinking we will swim and do DTD the 28th, Epcot the 29th, MK the 30th and then swim/pack etc the 1st. After all we are going back like 2.5 months later... Plus I think Epcot and MK are the two parks where DS will be able to do the most.

 

[DisneyFirefly]

I wouldn't say 'empty', just slower. I don't think you'd have a problem getting on rides, but I do think that you'd probably want to take the day to relax on your arrival day. Traveling alone with a young child is sure to be frazzling

 

[stephielela]

I cannot believe I didn't come to this solution sooner! Sometimes I wonder about myself... the answer just came to me while i was driving home from work last night!
Anywho, here is the new plan:

9/28~ Arrival day
land at 11 am
get to POP around noon
swim, eat lunch, nap
go to MNSSHP!!

9/29
Epcot

9/30
Animal Kingdom~ I'm pretty sure we will do AK instead instead of DHS... It depends on which one DS can do more at I suppose... he does really like animals, and on our December trip we probably won't spend a ton of time there since the rest of us aren't all that into animals. plus the last time we were there in december we were freezing because of all the shade!

10/1
relax and swim until ME departure time

The money I am saving by switching to a 2 day ticket will more than cover the cost of my MNSSHP ticket! We are also upgrading to the regular dining plan. I am calling tomorrow to drop my friends name and make changes. I suppose if she changes her mind and decides to come, I can add her back on.

 

[stephielela]

I have decided to start using twitter for my trips. I am only going to "tweet" vacation related items, including live twitter updates from WDW!! I'm taking it for a test run during my upcoming vacation in New Mexico. My twitter name (address, whatever you call it) is @stephielela if anyone is interested!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Ooh, yay! I'm geekybaker!

 

[stephielela]

i saw you added me! i will add you as soon as i get home!! woo hoo, i now have 2 followers, lol

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Awesome!

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Hey there!!! Coming over to join the fun!!! Final plans look awesome! Can't wait to see where you will be dining now that you upgraded the regular DDP! Heading over to your December PTR now!!

 

[stephielela]

Ok, I have finally hammered out my details!

September 28~ Tuesday:
Arrive at airport at 5:30 am (my mom is going to drop us off, we luckily only live like 10 minutes up the road)

Depart ON TIME (hopefully) at 6:30 am. I have not decided whether or not I am going to check luggage. I only want to take my Vera duffel and DS's small rolling suitcase, so we could carry them on... but that would be stressful. However I am afraid that if I check my Vera, it might get damaged... any thoughts?

Arrive at MCO at 11:05 AM

(Hopefully) arrive at Pop Century around 12 pm. Get lunch at food court, swim, take a nap, then get ready for...

MNSSHP! I am so exited about this! We are going to be at MK right at 4 pm. DS will be dressed as a pirate, and I am going to probably wear a piraty-type tank top or something. I figure we will ride some rides before our dinner reservation at 5:45 the Plaza. (I am really going for cheap with the meals since I have to pay OOP for DS. I would prefer buffet's since DS could eat free, but Crystal Palace and Chef Mickey's were both booked. If I can switch before then, I will). After dinner we will do the Trick or Treat trails and see the sights until the fireworks. Then we will do fireworks, Villains show and the last parade before heading out.

September 29th~ Wednesday

Sleep in! We will not be getting back from MNSSHP till late, so I will probably let DS sleep as late as he wants. Plus Epcot has evening EMH's till midnight, so we won't be in a rush.
10 am: arrive at Epcot! Tour Future World until 1 pm.

1 pm: head back to Pop and grab lunch and a nap

4:15: Head back to Epcot for our dinner ressies at Biergarten (5:05 pm)

6:30 pm, tour World Showcase until time for Illuminations

After Illuminations, we will probably head out unless there is something else we need to see

September 30~ Thursday

Get up by 7:30 so we can be at the bus stop by 8:15

Arrive at Animal Kingdom for rope drop

We will start with the Kilimanjaro Safari's and then do as much as we can before our lunch ressie at Tusker House (1:30 pm). Our ressie includes seating for the Finding Nemos show. After the show we will probably be done and we will head to DTD for dinner at a QS location

October 1 ~ Friday

This day is a relax and swim day. Our flight does not leave until 3:55 pm, so I think ME will probably pick us up around 1. I am going to ask for a late check out so that we can stay in the room until 12, and then eat lunch and hang out around the hotel gift shop till it's time to go! We get home at about 6 pm, so I will have plenty of time to unpack and do laundry before bed, and then I won't have to work till 3 pm the next day! Plus by that time we will only have 10 weeks till our December trip...

 

[therussells08]

Those look like great plans! MNSSHP is so much fun!!

 

[stephielela]

Ok, I lied... I have changes my plans AGAIN! I have decided that the upgrade to the basic DP isn't worth it, it's not any more food and it will cost me more in the long run than I am willing to spend. I really like the flexibility of the QSDP as well. I am going to keep our Tusker House ressie and pay OOP for it, but that cost will be less than the $30 I was paying to upgrade. Plus I wasn't thrilled with any of our other ressies. Plus I really wanted the free refillable mug I am pretty sure that will be the last change, but who knows... Tonight while I am at work I am starting on my planning pages for this trip. I got a folder for each day at Target, (15 cents each- I LOVE back to school time!) and after much hemming and hawing, I have decided to buy a backpack for the trip as well. I found a good one on sale (at Target- where else ) for $9. It is a basic bag with 1 big pocket, 1 small and 2 side pockets for water bottles for me and DS. This brought up a question- can you bring water bottles that aren't clear into the parks?

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Yes, you can! I used to bring a water bottle in a foam insulator and they never made me take it off (but it was also a CM thing, one they handed out to us, so they always commented on it ). But yeah, you can bring any water bottle into the park, as long as it's not filled with alcohol

Also, yay for the refillable mug! I'm just going to buy one outright, since I plan on buying quick breakfasts at Pop's food court and would want something to drink with them

 

[stephielela]

Well, since there basically isn't much to update on because my trip plans are all set and I'm just waiting, I thought I would take this time to reflect back on how this trip came about...

Last August, my dad, sister, son and I went to Disney for 5 sweaty days. We had jokingly talked about it, but I already had a trip planned with my BFF to go to Texas in June. Of course swine flu erupted and made us nervous about going to Texas. Also the only way we were going to be able to go was by using my friends families' Hilton time share points. Well, then my BFF's mom decided she needed the points for their trip, so we couldn't use them all. This pretty much sealed the deal that my BFF and I would not be making it to Texas. My family and I discussed it some more and decided to go for the Disney trip, without my mom, since she couldn't afford to take the time off work. My dad is retired Army so we got the military special 5 day tickets, stayed at the Shades of Green, and even managed to get our airfare for about $100 per person round trip! We had a great time, and one of the things we did was get into the Wishes Dessert Party last minute. While I was waiting to pay, i was talking to a fantastic CM about it and we got to talking about MNSSHP. She told me about the Horseman and the trick or treat trails and everything and I thought to myself how awesome it would be to come in the fall, since Halloween is my favorite holiday. I pretty much put the idea on the backburner, since I knew I had a 3 day cruise coming up in November, and my BFF and I had already made our final payments, so it was obvious we wouldn't be changing our minds

Fast forward to January of this year. My BFF and I had a wonderful time on our cruise and decided to do a trip every fall. I researched a ton of different options and we decided to go to Southern California. I am from CA, but I had never been to San Diego. WE decided to do the City Pass, which got admission to Sea World, the SD Zoo, Universal and Disneyland. WE planned it so we could go to their version of MNSSHP, and again, we were supposed to use their families' Hilton points. The time comes when we can submit our Hilton requests, and my BFF's mom refuses to do it because my BFF owed her parents some money. At this point I decide we need to do something that is not reliant on her parents, since I refuse to have my trip ruined at the last minute. We look at soem cruise options, but we don't want to do the same one again, and they are pricey. After much research, I decide that I am going to WDW! I read on the boards about dining most likely being offerred for the fall. I tell my BFF I am going, and if she wants to join me and DS she is welcome to, since it won't cost anything to add her onto the room, and she would just need to pay for her park tix and airfare... Naturally I decided we had to go to a MNSSHP, and free dining got released as expected so this has turned into a much cheaper trip than a cruise.

 

[stephielela]

I found our water bottles today!! They are called water bobbles, they are water bottles with filters attached so that you can fill it up from a tap and not worry about how clean it is. They aren't sold very many places around here and I managed to find them at Cracker Barrel, but they only had 2 colors, and when we go in December there will be 5 of us... so I tried JC Penny and lo and behold, there they were! I got yellow, red, pink, blue, and black! The filters work for up to 2 months of continuous use, so they will last for a few vacations, and the bottles are BPA free. Plus, they were only $10 each, and since I got them in person, I didn't have to pay for shipping (thanks firefly for pointing that out!)

 

[stephielela]

Argh! Sometimes I even frustrate myself!!! As you might recall, I had previously decided to forgo the upgrade to the basic plan. my reasons were simple- i would still only be having 2 meals per day, and i would now have to pay tip on top of it, plus i'd be losing a snack credit and the refillable mug. I still stand by the fact that for the purposes of this trip, the upgrade is not worth it. I had decided to keep my Tusker House ressie so I could get the priority seating for Nemo. I also grabbed a ressie at Via Napoli because I know Jack and I could share a pizza, so it wouldn't be too pricey. I would also really like to get a CP ressie for the night of our MNSSHP, but I looked at the price and it's like $32! Now, I am under the impression that since they only charge for children 3-9, DS would eat for free, so it would be not a bad use of $, but I don't need 3 TS ressies... and actually I just don't want to pay for 3 meals... So I guess what I'm wondering is if Tusker House lunch is worth it? Is it really neccessary to have priority seating for Nemo? The menu looks ok, but not all that appetizing, and I would really rather have the CP ressie (if I can get it)... I don't know!! Any advice would be useful!!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

I say keep Tusker House until you find out if you can get a CP reservation. If you get it, cancel Tusker House. If you don't, go to Tusker House instead I've never eaten at TH, but I've heard it's excellent.

 

[stephielela]

That's a good plan firefly! And actually I did manage to get a LTT ressie for 4:20 pm, so if they do continue letting people into the parks at 4 pm with party tickets, it will be perfect! I realized that even though I love CP, we will be seeing characters all night, so there isn't any need for a character meal!

So right now, I have LTT on 9/28, Via Napoli for dinner on 9/29, and Tusker House for lunch on 9/30. I will have 6 CS credits to use, so this is perfect! I think I will get gift cards for each meal and that way I know it's paid for and done with. That way my main gift card can be just for souvenirs! Also, how much do you think you shold tip at a buffet? I assume that since at LTT they serve your food to you, that's probably a regular tip, but at TH where we are getting our own food... what do you think is appropriate?

Stay tuned for a schedule summary!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

I honestly don't know... The last time I ate at CP, we had an automatic gratuity (there were six of us), so we all chipped in, but I don't remember how much it was. I'd probably say $5, though, since I think that's about 15% of CP's prices.