"Let us plan our escape!" - Adults only for F&W/1st DVC-Oct '14 PTR(TR Link Post #99)

[skier_pete]

With two weeks to go, the Be Our Guest FP+ lunch seems to have resolved itself. As I expected, when the first reservation (that didn't actually exist) ran out, the system "reset" and allowed me to pick my dates. Unfortunately, the date we are going to MK is "sold out", so we will not be dining at Be Our Guest.

That's OK though. With only one day at MK, I was not real thrilled to be tied to a specific lunch time anyways. It just means we'll likely lunch at Columbia Harbor House, one of our favorites. (I love their Fried Shrimp, though last time they replaced their Apple Cobbler, one of my favorite favorites, with a gross Peach Cobbler.) It also might mean we can give the Sleepy Hollow Waffle Sandwiches a try!

I went into the spare bedroom last night, and discovered that DW has been secretly setting aside her clothes. Our plans for the trip is one checked bag, and one carry-on bag. This is DWs idea, she usually has us so overloaded with suitcases its insane, so I love the idea. In fact, she wants no carry-on of her own, so that she can enter the park without going through the bag-check line. I tell her "But I'll have a bag they have to check anyways, so you have to wait." She said, "Well, I'll just go through the other line and wait for you."

It's at that stage now where it's so close yet still too far. Two weeks will go by very quickly though. Just this morning DD said to me "I want to go back to WDW." Of course I couldn't tell her "Well, we will be soon, just not you!" instead I said "Just 11 months!" Am I a bad parent?

 

[PrincessInOz]

Shame that you didn't get a reservation for BoG. Nevermind.....you'll definitely do so.....in 11 months time!

When will DD find out?

Tell your DW that she's doing well getting ready for packing. I'm so behind in that task!

 

[skier_pete]

Shame that you didn't get a reservation for BoG. Nevermind.....you'll definitely do so.....in 11 months time!

When will DD find out?

Tell your DW that she's doing well getting ready for packing. I'm so behind in that task!

We plan on telling DD a few days before that we are going to visit friends in Florida (true), and that we are only going to go to Disney for Food and Wine @ Epcot (half-true) and that we are mostly doing adult stuff (true). Hopefully she won't discover the rest until years later.

 

[PrincessInOz]

We plan on telling DD a few days before that we are going to visit friends in Florida (true), and that we are only going to go to Disney for Food and Wine @ Epcot (half-true) and that we are mostly doing adult stuff (true). Hopefully she won't discover the rest until years later.

Your secret is safe with me......and the Dis.

 

[Tinker326]

So close! Very exciting to take your first 'DVC' vacay! I am slightly jealous. Even more so since I was SUPPOSED to be heading to Disney this weekend for ToT race and my in-laws are still going... but we cancelled. Boo! Although I do have Hawaii to console myself in, so.... I'll survive!

Becca asks me EVERY day if she can have a trip to Disney for Christmas & her 13th Birthday combined- because 'she just misses it so much'. I'm like- girl- you were JUST there 5 months ago. Try to not act like an entitled spoiled Disney brat! I have created a monster!!!!

Although based on her daily begging, I KNOW she is going to be crazy excited when we give them "Hawaii" for Christmas- which is the plan as to cut down on gift costs so we can afford Hawaii.

But I'm rambling & what I really wanted to say is 'Yhea!!! So close on Disney for you!!!'

 

[skier_pete]

So close! Very exciting to take your first 'DVC' vacay! I am slightly jealous. Even more so since I was SUPPOSED to be heading to Disney this weekend for ToT race and my in-laws are still going... but we cancelled. Boo! Although I do have Hawaii to console myself in, so.... I'll survive!

Becca asks me EVERY day if she can have a trip to Disney for Christmas & her 13th Birthday combined- because 'she just misses it so much'. I'm like- girl- you were JUST there 5 months ago. Try to not act like an entitled spoiled Disney brat! I have created a monster!!!!

Although based on her daily begging, I KNOW she is going to be crazy excited when we give them "Hawaii" for Christmas- which is the plan as to cut down on gift costs so we can afford Hawaii.

But I'm rambling & what I really wanted to say is 'Yhea!!! So close on Disney for you!!!'

DD still talks about spending time with your girls, even though the time spent was too short. I know she'd really like to Skype again too.

I am not sure a trip for us out to Chicago is in the cards for next year. Between a ski trip in Feb and a Disney trip in August already on the books for next year, it looks like our third vacation next year will have to be in the budget range of where we can drive somewhere and stay for the week next-to-nothing, so I think we will end up something like visiting family in New England or the Adirondacks. I am actually considering camping as an option. My least favorite thing next to being on a boat.

I am psyched for this trip to the point of distraction.

 

[skier_pete]

Not much to add at this time, just

SINGLE DIGIT DANCING!



With Nine days to go, we've done a lot of our packing. DW has been telling me how she is not going to take a carry-on or anything she has to carry into the parks on the first day. I said to her "It'll never happen." every time she brings it up.

Last night she says to me "I might have to bring a carry-on." Hee, hee, us husbands are right so rarely I just had to enjoy that moment. "See, I knew it!" No cold shoulder though! Respect to DW.

Last night we debated whether to order groceries to the room or just pick them up ourselves. We only want breakfast stuff, milk, juice, eggs, maybe butter. But leaning towards just hopping off the bus at the center of the resort and picking the stuff up ourselves. Gives us a little more time to get a feel for SSR.

That's it for now. Very minor stuff. Can't believe we are almost there. I don't want to work.

 

[franandaj]

Thanks for posting on my TR, that way I didn't have to go back a few pages to find your previous post and get the link to this PTR. I just read through the whole thing.

First off your DW has great taste, of the dresses that she was wearing in the first post, I have several of those same ones myself!

I also own at SSR, we bought for similar reasons as you did, but also that they have an onsite spa. It doesn't sound like that fits into your trip time or budget wise, but it's something I enjoy there. Yes you can use the internal busses as a shuttle. Like you said, one bus goes an opposite route and all the others make their last stop at the Springs.

The daily plans sound great. I've done F&W twice and I'm looking forward to reliving it vicariously through you. Dis-Yoda has also helped me out with my lack of F&W this year. What we would do is get almost all the food items and one or two wine or other beverages at each booth we would visit. I found that this ran us between $15-$22 a pop. Only ordering one thing from a booth will definitely help the budget.

The retro pictures were great, and how funny we both have pictures of the awful pink birthday cake castle and the funny stuff on the Epcot Globe! We've tried to recreate a few picture moments as well, but for us it's worked out better creating new picture memories. I'm looking forward to hearing about all the treats because it will probably be another two years before I make it back there.

 

[skier_pete]

First off your DW has great taste, of the dresses that she was wearing in the first post, I have several of those same ones myself!

I'll let her know. Like most women, she'll love the compliments!

I also own at SSR, we bought for similar reasons as you did, but also that they have an onsite spa. It doesn't sound like that fits into your trip time or budget wise, but it's something I enjoy there. Yes you can use the internal busses as a shuttle. Like you said, one bus goes an opposite route and all the others make their last stop at the Springs.

You know, I had to read back through my own PTR to remember I wrote that! We'll probably be testing this out the first day, as we stop by the Springs to pick up some groceries our fist day.

I told DW about the spa. It's not really my thing. (People touching me makes me very tense, the opposite of what a spa is supposed to do. Now a sauna and a hot tub? That'll do me fine.) I don't think she'll give it a try this trip. She likes them, but when they are pricey, she doesn't like to spend the money. Maybe someday I'll splurge for her, but not this trip. With the free DVC points and the points for the flights, we're doing this trip on the sort-of cheap, but in fact what we could actually afford for this trip was about $1000, and we are doing a lot to skirt that price point. (The big thing is our vacations normally entirely come out of my income, in this case, DW is chipping in the food budget, which won't be under $700 by my estimate.)

The daily plans sound great. I've done F&W twice and I'm looking forward to reliving it vicariously through you. Dis-Yoda has also helped me out with my lack of F&W this year. What we would do is get almost all the food items and one or two wine or other beverages at each booth we would visit. I found that this ran us between $15-$22 a pop. Only ordering one thing from a booth will definitely help the budget.

We've only really "done" food and wine our last two trips. Even in 2010 when we went in October, I think we really only spent a day in WS, and didn't really focus on the food. I don't know what was wrong with us! This will be the first time we've done (1) multiple days and (2) the festival center. This is our 4th trip this week in October, but in 2000 and 2006 I don't remember F&W at all, so we must not have paid any attention. After this, it will be at LEAST 2017 and maybe much longer before we get back for it, so hopefully we will enjoy it.

The retro pictures were great, and how funny we both have pictures of the awful pink birthday cake castle and the funny stuff on the Epcot Globe! We've tried to recreate a few picture moments as well, but for us it's worked out better creating new picture memories. I'm looking forward to hearing about all the treats because it will probably be another two years before I make it back there.

The cake! What a disappointment when I brought my GF to WDW for her first visit. When anyone talks of terrible things that Disney has done, few are worse than that cake! (The Epcot Wand wasn't nearly as bad! At least it didn't completely obscure the ball!)

We will try to recreate some of those pictures. I'm most curious to see if we can re-create the Brown Derby picture, because that would involve getting the SAME table.

 

[franandaj]

The cake! What a disappointment when I brought my GF to WDW for her first visit. When anyone talks of terrible things that Disney has done, few are worse than that cake! (The Epcot Wand wasn't nearly as bad! At least it didn't completely obscure the ball!)

I heard that after that, WDW vowed never to mess with their signature attractions (hence why you won't find the NBC overlay on the Haunted Mansion). It was such a disappointment for first time guests, they realized how many people make a once in a lifetime trip to WDW. Luckily it was my second visit when they had that. I found it rather novel.

 

[PrincessInOz]

So close!

 

[skier_pete]

SEVEN DAYS!


For anyone stopping by for more information about the trip, there's not much news to present. All I will say is that I WILL be providing a Trip Report once I get back. I'll post the link here, and hopefully be able to get it started within a week or two after we return.

We are packing for this trip in a very stripped down manner. I am leaving the video camera at home, but taking the point-and-shoot, as well as my cell phone. Expect LOTS of Food Porn. If you follow along, you will be getting a really detailed view of Food and Wine, at least without the premium events. Probably quite a lot of park pictures, but I think their will be only a few ride pictures, but I don't think very many, I want to just enjoy the rides this time

 

[skier_pete]

So I was just reviewing my FP+ selections and made some minor changes, which I won't bother with here. (I really do like FP+, I only wish you could (a) book more than 3 at MK and (b) didn't have the tier system that they do, but overall I think it's a nice system.)

Anyways, I noticed that they extended hours two of our days.

Friday at DHS, the park is now open until 8:30 PM instead of 7 PM. They also added a 9 PM Fantasmic show. This doesn't really affect us at all, except that now Characterpalooza is at 4:40 PM and 5:40 PM only. Not into autographs, but up for some photos!

The big one though, they yet again extended Magic Kingdom Hours. They are now opening the park until midnight - with EMH until 2 AM!

Wishes is now scheduled for 10 PM, which is much later than we originally planned. There's also a MSEP at 9 PM and 11 PM, which of course affects the ability to see Wishes from prime viewing spots. I also am very concerned now about the crowd levels with the park being open SOOO late. If it's too crowded though I thought of a second idea. Watching the fireworks from the DVC only "Top of The World Lounge" at Bay Lake Tower. The perks of membership, baby! (Realistically we probably won't do that though!)

Our original plan had us going back to the hotel around 3 PM for a rest/nap/swim and returning to the park by 7 PM. Now I am thinking more like 8 PM. Really getting in a good solid 1-2 hour nap. This'll let us keep going until late into the night. I am not normally a late-night person, but the idea of being in MK until after midnight seems like fun and something we've never done before. (Will be worse for DW, who usually is asleep by 10 PM.)

It occurs to me when thinking about this how completely different this trip is from our usually trips. Our DD, even though she wants to stay up at home, is always ready to CRASH by 8 PM at WDW. We rarely get to enjoy an evening out in the parks without lots of whining and torture. We are planning 3 VERY late nights in a row on this trip (2 @ Jellyrolls + this one) so there is little doubt we will be beat come the end of the trip. But c'mon, we gotta squeeze a weeks worth of entertainment into 5 days!)

This will likely be my last update - see y'all real soon!

 

[PrincessInOz]

I'm home from my trip. Are you back from yours? And how's DD?

 

[skier_pete]

I'm home from my trip. Are you back from yours? And how's DD?

Yes, we're back. Looks like I came down with a Disney cold. Tired from too many late nights. Gotta make it through the day today.

DD is fine. She asked how our trip was, but mostly wanted to know what we got her. She'll have to wait until tonight.

 

[Tinker326]

Yes, we're back. Looks like I came down with a Disney cold. Tired from too many late nights. Gotta make it through the day today.

DD is fine. She asked how our trip was, but mostly wanted to know what we got her. She'll have to wait until tonight.

Did you fly on a Frontier Plane to Orlando?

Kidding-

Welcome back! Looks like you had a FAB trip!

 

[franandaj]

Can't wait to hear all about your Trip. Hope you feel better soon!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Hope you're feeling better, Pete.

 

[skier_pete]

Here it is - the trip report is started. The link is.

"It's a 5! Gimmie More!" A Food and Wine Trip Report