Main Street Back Again - Pre-trip Report for January 2008

[sandicinderelli]

Main Street, I'm coming back, baby!

ABOUT ME:

I'm a 30 year old in the midst of a career change. I've lived in west Texas all of my life, so I think you can guess that I'm ready for a change. After graduating in Business Administration (Management, Marketing) in 2001, the only industries I worked in were accounting and property management. Ugh! I didn't like the way things were going. The hardest decision I had to make was leaving the job. It was decent paying, but I couldn't bear the egotistical environment any longer.

Now, I'm going for Communications, and the ride has been awesome. I'm sitting on a 4.0 in my major and I can't believe how much I am enjoying all of my classes. The next stage in my master plan is to get a good entry-level position in broadcasting or communication technology. I'm leaning right now toward moving to one of the following areas around the country: Houston, TX; San Antonio, TX; Orlando, FL (that would be awesome!); Denver, CO; or Seattle, WA. I like the west coast, where most of my friends and family are. But, if I must venture out even further, I wouldn't mind moving to: Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Washington, DC (big if!); or Atlanta, GA.

Next semester is going to be dedicated towards getting everything ready, set, go before I walk. Daunting, isn't it?

ABOUT THIS TRIP:

This trip is for the College Program Alumni who worked on Main Street during the Spring 2007 semester. And I am very excited to see everyone again. Josh and Meagan put out the idea and ran with it. Here’s a breakdown of how the mafia hits Main Street once again:

Who: Main Street Mafia
What: Reunion - PARTY!
When: Friday, January 25 - Sunday, January 27, 2008
Where: Magic Kingdom
Why: Because we miss our crew!


Resort of choice: Pop Century
I've already saved an itinerary on disneyworld.com and decided to stay at Disney's Pop Century. Last March, when my twin (yes, I'm a twin) and her friend came down to visit me, we stayed at Disney's All-Star Music, which was pretty cool. I've heard a lot of good things about POP, so I'd figure I'd try it. What would be great is if some of my former cast mates could stay with me! I'll try and pay off the trip by January 15, but I'll get i done bit by bit.

Advanced Dining Reservations (ADRs): Working on that...
I ate mostly counter service during my CP, so that's what I'm used to. However, it would be wonderful to sample some table service that I've been dying to try.

Special plans, events, etc: Hopefully, willy nilly!
Although we don't have anything "set in stone" yet, I'm pretty sure that we'll be at MK most of the time. I am hoping that we can do as much as we can as a group, but also have the opportunity to separate and do whatever if we want to. I'm really excited because Disney has a Pirate and Princess Party planned for that weekend! I really want to go and stay the full four hours, which we will probably end up doing if we go together.

Main Street Mafia Reunion is less than 21 days away and I am so ready to get here. Even though my last semester of school will have already started, and the reunion is short notice, I just couldn't resist. Then, my twin and I were planning on visiting WDW during Spring Break, but that's even further away.

Anticipation.....

Next time: Find out how the CP really reeled me in...

 

[earthfaries]

Hi! Sounds like a super fun trip It's getting close too! Can't wait to hear more details!!!

 

[sandicinderelli]

I was finally able to live outside of my comfort zone. Although it was scary as first, it felt great! I was always hesitant to leave town, mainly because I was so involved with my church and my family depends on me a lot. But it had to be done, sooner or later, so I chose sooner.

Well, how did the CP change everything exactly? Okay, let me give you the scoop, in SHORT detail.

The CP helped me change my view of...well...myself: In TX, I was beginning to think that my personality had changed. I'm usually a very positive person, but with all the job drama going on, I began to lose some of that fire. But once I started working on Main Street, I found out that I hadn't lost my happy nature, it was just suppressed.

The CP helped me change my view of others: It was WONDERFUL being exposed to so many people with so many different backgrounds. The "hometown feel" was crushing me. I was able to expand my thinking (out loud sometimes) and that was really refreshing.

The CP helped me rediscover what I do well and what I do not: I came to Disney very confused. I was thinking, okay just what do I do well, and what am I horrible at? It was very nice to be able to have time to assess my skills and have managers THAT ACTUALLY GAVE ME FEEDBACK!

Breaking out of the box: I got to live outside of Texas! I was also exposed to other personality types than the same ones in TX. This was a HUGE deal for me. I wanted to break out of certain stereotypes, and being immersed in such a diverse environment like Disney makes that easier.

Relit my love for Disney: As a child, I always gravitated to Disney films. I love movies and Disney films are a big chunk of that. But learning how Disney worked was what really did it. Fascinating. If you want details, just do a CP. You'll get the !

Main Street was a great place for me. I met awesome cast members and I just miss the place!

Well, it's been 239 days since I landed back in El Paso (yes, we are in Texas, not Mexico) from the Spring CP. No, I was not happy about it, but life goes on. I've been wanting to go back to Disney SO BAD! And after getting knocked out of the running for a PI, I thought there was no way I could go back soon.

But alas, there is hope! Here are just a few things that I'll be looking forward to seeing once again at MK.

The Morning Show

Cinderella Fountain

I love this show!

Splash is my favorite! Too bad it will be in refurb! :-(

BTMRR

Cinderella Castle by day...

...and by night

Good ole Main Street USA (a bit blurry – sorry)

The excitement is becoming more intense, but, as with everything in life, a huge development has surfaced. After checking the “Main Street Mafia Reunion” event info in Facebook, I found out the Meagan can’t go! BUMMER! She works at an accounting firm, so tax season is underway, which means no time off until after April. AAAAHHHH! Meagan was one of my favorites to work with. So, the event has kind of been sitting there with hardly any responses from anybody, and the “leader” in me wants to just make stuff up to do. But that’s really hard to do when you don’t know who going to be there. Therefore, I am officially calling out my disclaimer notice on this pre-tripie: In the event that the reunion is cancelled, this pre-trip may chronicle my solo trip to WDW in January 2008. There. I feel better already.

What I don’t want to happen is cancelling this trip altogether. Waiting for this trip has been keeping me sane for the last couple of weeks (besides being with my baby nephew at Christmas), so I would hate for it to be a waste.

So the wait continues….still waiting to hear back from the Main Street Crew. Next time, find out what my final itinerary is going to look like…

MAIN STREET MAFIA REUNION - PRETRIP REPORT
Chapter 2 - Details, Details, Details...
Chapter 1 - How The CP Changed Everything
Main Street Back Again - Pre-trip Report for January 2008

 

[sandicinderelli]

As I stated in my last entry, the excitement is becoming more intense, but, as with everything in life, a huge development has surfaced. Meagan can't come and there's not much of a response from everyone else.

When I logged into Facebook this morning, I got another bombshell. Jackie's cousin is getting married that weekend, so she's not going either. DOUBLE BUMMER! I wished her well and told her that lots of pictures will be posted on a new album once I got back.

The good news is that Crystal and her boyfriend Josh will be there that weekend celebrating her B-day, and she welcomed me to meet up with her at the P&P Party. So that's comforting...

SO...my pre-trip report has officially changed. Friday night, I started putting the details together. First, I was on southwest.com to see what the flight price tag would look like. There was a special on flights on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I decided that I'll just have to miss my 10:30 class and get into town in time for the rest of them. I could finish out the week and just miss Monday at KVIA, instead of missing both Monday and Friday.

Then, I was on disneyworld.com updating my quotes when I got the idea to see if I could call and reserve a resort with a cast member rate. I chatted with a CM and he gave me the number. I called and spoke to a wonderful CM (unfortunately, I forgot to get her name) and we went at it. After she verified my info, she told me that all the value resorts were booked for Friday. When we tried Saturday, only Pop Century came up, which was good because that was my top choice. I tried to see if ASMo was open, but no dice. With the discount, the deposit came out to something I could afford at the present time, so I booked that sucker!

Then, she asked if I wanted to book any ADRs, and I obliged. I figured I could try and get a sit down meal at least one. So, we began. My first choice was to do a character breakfast, so I asked if there was anything at Donald's Restaurantosaurus on Sunday (1/27), but it was booked. Then, we tried Hollywood & Vine and we got a hit! The ADR is at 8:00 am and the characters are from Playhouse Disney, which I watch on occasion. We were on a roll, so I decided to see if I could get one for that evening. I was hoping to get one at the Crystal Palace on Saturday, but with the P& P Party going on, it was kind of difficult. So, Sunday again it was, and, to my pleasant surprise, she had three times open! Wow. The ADR is at 5:50 pm with Pooh & Friends! She asked if I wanted to set up another one, but I thought two was great enough. I thanked her for everything. She was really, really nice.

Everything came together on Saturday when I went back online to plan. My DSis came in my room to see what I was up to, and that's when she told me that she wanted to come with me for the weekend! It's going to be a sister weekend getaway! YAY!

So, I got on the phone to see if I could change the reservations to Friday, but Artina couldn't find anything. It was crazy! All-Star Movies was free on Friday, but not Saturday- Monday. Only the moderates were free for the whole weekend, but I wasn't about to go overbudget. So, after consulting DSis, we booked the Friday night at ASMo. But after we found out that there were no evening flights going out on Southwest, we had to cancel. I must have been on the phone for about 1 hour. I apologized for the confusion, and I just decided to keep everything the same and add DSis on the reservation. So, I didn't lose any money. That's always good.

The details are almost complete. All that needs to be done is get the plane tickets and we're all set!

Who: DSis and me (and a few members from the Main Street Crew, if I see them)
What: Weekend Getaway/Mini-reunion
When: Saturday, January 26 - Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Where: WDW
Why: I miss WDW too much!

Resort: Pop Century
The deposit is paid, so it's all set. Since I don't have a current ID (I asked for one Saturday), I'll have to pay the regular rate. But at least the resort is booked.

Advanced Dining Reservations (ADRs):
Hollywood & Vine: Sunday, January 27th at 8:00 am - Playhouse Disney characters
Crystal Palace: Sunday, January 27th at 5:50 pm - Pooh & Friends

Special plans, events, etc: Willy nilly!
A possible maybe is the Pirate & Princess Party on Saturday, but that depends if DSis wants to go. Otherwise, it'll be whatever we want to do, most like a movie and Planet Hollywood. I would like to meet up with Crystal though, but we'll see.

The trip is less than 18 days away. Find out if I get the flights I wanted next time...

WEEKEND GETAWAY/MINI-REUNION - PRETRIP REPORT
Chapter 3 - Down to the Wire
Chapter 2 - Details, Details, Details...
Chapter 1 - How The CP Changed Everything
Main Street Back Again - Pre-trip Report for January 2008

 

[earthfaries]

I'm so glad everything worked out for you. It's great your sister gets to go!!! That will be fun

Crystal Palace is great, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I love H&V too, I haven't had breakfast there, just dinner and it was great. Hope you got a great deal on a flight. Keep us posted, 18 days is so soon!!!

 

[Villainess]

You are going to have a great time w/ your sister!

 

[planetcaravan19f]

Thank God for sisters!!!!

I was getting bummed out there for ya but I'm glad she was able to go with you!!! Do you guys get along very well, is she a big disney fan also?

Can't wait to hear more!!!

 

[sandicinderelli]

Thank God for sisters!!!!

I was getting bummed out there for ya but I'm glad she was able to go with you!!! Do you guys get along very well, is she a big disney fan also?

Can't wait to hear more!!!

Yes, thank God! We get along pretty good. She's a big fan of "The Little Mermaid", but I haven't sensed that she's big on Disney yet...at least not as much as I am!

 

[planetcaravan19f]

Yes, thank God! We get along pretty good. She's a big fan of "The Little Mermaid", but I haven't sensed that she's big on Disney yet...at least not as much as I am!

The Little Mermaid uh? I like her already!!! If she's not big on disney, she will be, you can work some magic on her!!!

 

[sandicinderelli]

Friday was a very good day. It was a GREAT day, simply because I was able to finish all of my purchases for the trip.

THE RESORT: POP CENTURY

I wasn't feeling really well on Wednesday night, so I did only two hours and came home. I didn't even go in on Thursday, which was good because I started feeling better. So, on Friday, after work, I came home around 2 pm, had some lunch, and got to work on more planning. First, I checked the boards for anything new, checked my bank account for deposits, and checked my e-mail.

I then checked my reservation online to see what the balance was. And I'm proud to say that I was able to call WDW Reservations, spoke to Chip. He was very nice, and we had a laugh when he asked me about the weather down here. I told him, "It's really nice, just like in Florida!"We finished our call and I PAID THE BALANCE! Yes!! Three days before my deadline, too! WHOO-HOO! Now I can be excited about this trip without having those worry willies about the resort.

THE PLANE TICKETS

Next, the plane ticket. I went back to southwest.com to see where ticket prices to Orlando were standing. As I was getting ready to fill out the round trip form, my eyes were drawn to the bottom center of the page, where WDW was a FEATURED DESTINATION for the week! How cool is that!?! So I clicked on that, filled out the form, and pretty much all the flights were $99 one way! $99!! After double checking my school schedule, I picked my flights and booked that baby! My round trip flight was only 50 cents more that I had planned! I couldn't believe it. So, I called DSis and told her to call me back because I was pretty sure that these flights were going fast. Our wonderful weekend begins at 2:00 EST on Saturday, January 26th!

DISNEY'S MAGICAL EXPRESS

Next up, Disney Magical Express. I spoke with Ginny and she confirmed my reservation. But when she was reviewing the flights, the system was telling her that my flight coming in was three hours later than Southwest had on their schedule. She told me that perhaps Southwest posted the wrong time, or they had changed the flight time. So, she booked the DME and told me to call Southwest to make sure I have the right flight information. I called Southwest and they confirmed that the flights had the correct times. So, when I called DME back, I got another CM and she said that even though DME had a different time, it was perfectly okay for us to come in anytime, and all we have to do is show our ticket/confirmation number. Whew! I thought we were going to have some drama there for a while.

PIRATE & PRINCESS PARTY

Then, Pirate & Princess tickets. I called the number listed on disneyworld.com and spoke to Whisper (yes, that was her name). She was very friendly. While she was taking care of the order, she talked about how she took her daughter to the party and a great time they had. We also talked about the chance of the party selling out, which we didn't think it would because of the time of year. We both think that will change come March. Thank goodness - if the 1/26 party was sold out, I would have cried my eyes out! But, my tickets are in the mail! I remember her asking me if I wanted to get them online or from will-call, but I told her I would rather come to the party with the ticket in my hand. Plus, if I got the tickets online, I would have had to print them out on regular paper. The cool thing about doing that is that the Park Greeters can just scan the ticket as opposed to having to worry about the ticket not reading. But, I want my ticket for keepsake, so I'll just to be extra careful not to demagnetize it. Yay! DSis and I are going to the party!

Well, I was all done. I was still high off of accomplishment, so I looked up the menus for my ADRs. Then, DSis came home. I rushed to tell about the ticket prices and she went online quick. She booked her ticket, and then I called DME back to give them her ticket information. And I spoke to, who else, but Ginny again. She took care of everything and said she couldn't wait to see us. How marvelous! I played around a bit and checked on those plane ticket prices again for fun. The return trip that DSis booked (on a Sunday) went up $134 within the hour after she booked it! I told her and she was SO happy! We were getting while the gettin' was good!

Finally, I received in the mail our updated DME tags. Since I booked the reservation at first for me only, I didn't have the tags for DSis to put on her luggage. But we've got them now!

Then, on Saturday, I went to the Disney Store and put more money on my gift card. The only thing is that I wish there was some way that I could get a list of what stores, counter service, and restaurants take the gift card, just in case I need to have my debit card on standby.

That's all she wrote! The only thing I have to do is finalize the solo part of my trip, which I'll be doing this week, but since school has started again, I don't know when I'll finish. Nevertheless, we're very excited!

POP Century is going to welcome some very enthusiastic twins! Find out next time what we plan to do on when we land...

WEEKEND GETAWAY/MINI-REUNION - PRETRIP REPORT
Chapter 3a - Chapter 3a - Pirate & Princess Tickets Arrived
Chapter 3 - Down to the Wire
Chapter 2 - Details, Details, Details...
Chapter 1 - How The CP Changed Everything
Main Street Back Again - Pre-trip Report for January 2008

 

[GoofyaboutMickey]

Wow sounds like a wonderful trip. And you are lucky it is so close....mine seams so long away. Bummer that Splash is going to be closed.

 

[sandicinderelli]

The Pirate & Princess tickets arrived Thursday! YAY!! The surprise is that they look like the room keys, which is great because I always find that the slim, paper tickets give Park Greeters the most trouble, so that's good. One of them has Mickey and the gang, and says "Where everyone screams at the sight of a mouse." Cute, huh? The other one has Bashful, Doc, Dopey, and Grumpy hurling down Splash Mountain, and it says "Where everyone is happy, no matter what their name is." I'm going to give Sue first choice, and I think she's going to pick the one with the dwarfs.

By the way, after seeing it discussed on these boards, I've decided to make a binder of our trip! I'm a pretty organized person, and when I travel, I like to have everything at arm's length, ready to use when I need to. I want this trip to go off without a hitch, so I'll need to keep everything in one place. I went to Office Depot to see if I could find a nice one, and I did. I'm actually using presentation book as my trip binder. What I like about it is that it has sheet protectors already in it. Nothing gets torn or dirty. It's great! It also had a place for a card, so I put my gift card there. Everything in one place. Plus, the spine of the binder is soft, so I could have it in my carry on bag without it messing up my bag. All there's left to do is to print out the trip planner spreadsheets I fill out. Then, we're all set!

WEEKEND GETAWAY/MINI-REUNION - PRETRIP REPORT
Chapter 4 - First Day Plans
Chapter 3a - Pirate & Princess Tickets Arrived
Chapter 3 - Down to the Wire
Chapter 2 - Details, Details, Details...
Chapter 1 - How The CP Changed Everything
Main Street Back Again - Pre-trip Report for January 2008

 

[sandicinderelli]

Our first night at WDW is looking to be jammed packed! Full of fun, that is. Our flight is scheduled to land at 2:00 pm EST in Orlando. Give or take 30-45 minutes, and we'll be at Pop Century by 3:00 pm. Since DSis is coming with, we going to do some things that she didn't get a chance to do last time. So, if our room is ready, we'll drop off our carry on bags, and head immediately to Epcot.

DSis really, really, really loved Club Cool, so she wants to buy some soda from there. We'll hang out at Epcot for a bit, take pics, ride SSE and Test Track, and do a little shopping for the party. Then, we're going to head over to DHS. I love Fantasmic!, and we ran out of time last March to see that show. Now, this is her chance to see why I LOVE it so much. I hope she gets enamored about it as I am.

After Fantasmic!, then it's on to the Pirate & Princess Party! I going for a piraty look this year, but DSis definitely wants to buy a crown/tiara, so we'll see how that turns out. The rest of the trip is up to us, so nothing else is planned except for our ADRs. Like I said before, willy nilly.

Less than 2 days, and we'll be immersed in the magic! I hope my trip report will be much better than my pre-tripie was, but thanks for reading. Stay tuned next week for the trip report to come!

WEEKEND GETAWAY/MINI-REUNION - PRETRIP REPORT
Chapter 4 - First Day Plans
Chapter 3a - Pirate & Princess Tickets Arrived
Chapter 3 - Down to the Wire
Chapter 2 - Details, Details, Details...
Chapter 1 - How The CP Changed Everything
Main Street Back Again - Pre-trip Report for January 2008