MNSSHP? and FD?!?! Going once..Going twice...Sold. 10.24.11-10.31.11 (New dates!)

[KatieCollette]

Yay! Welcome to my very first ever PTR!!! I've never done one, so it may be a little rough around the edges. I'm a newbie to the DIS boards, so please be patient and pass on any helpful advice!

Now that you've been warned, I gotta say that I am extremely excited about our Disney trip. First off:the who!

I am a 24 year old mother of 1 and am currently a stay at home mom. I used to work at a bakery part time, but there was a little mishap with the ovens and they have been shut down for about a month and a half now. No idea if or when they are gonna open again. At least this gives me more time to feed my Disney obsession! This is my millionth and half trip to WDW. Well, not really, but I honestly have no idea. I've been there more than 15 times at least. My parents owned a travel agency so we went all the time with the deals/discounts he got. This will be my 3rd trip with my son and 2nd with my DH.

My husband is 26 and is a GM at McDonalds. Works long hours but loves it This will be his 2nd trip to the World. He went for the first time last February. He was semi-excited then, didn't really know what to expect. Let's just say we had an amazing time and he caught the Disney bug, which means I could easily talk him into funding more of MY Disney addiction!

My spoiled little angel is currently 5 years old and in kindergarten. He will turn 6 and be in 1st grade befpre the trip. This will be his 3rd trip. He loves Star Wars and Mickey Mouse! We were able to hit Star Wars weekends his first trip and can't wait to see the new refurbished ride!

More details to come!

 

[KatieCollette]

Ok the where and when:

Well we got back from a 3 night, 4 day stay at POP in February. And I immediatly started to plan our next trip. I HATE crowds, DH HATES excessive heat. It's near impossible for DH to get off of work during the summer months, so we waited for the next free dining offer to come along. Low and behold, I saw it pop up last month. We are going from 9/19 to 9/24, the last week free dining is available. We couldn't go to early in the offer window because I didn't want to pull DS out of school so close to it starting up again.

Right now we are booked for AKL. However, that probably is going to change. At first I thought I would hate WL, but after pouring over the DIS boards I think we would LOVE it! So may change to there. Still debating. Will probably keep debating up to the last minute. But that's just me. And you wanna know the worst part, I've been looking at all the threads about CSR yesterday and today. Ahhh I'm so bad.

 

[Kat in GA]

I'm in!!

Free dining does make that heat a little more tolerable.

Looking forward to hearing about all your plans!

 

[KatieCollette]

I'm in!!

Free dining does make that heat a little more tolerable.

Looking forward to hearing about all your plans!

Thanks! I hope the heat isn't toooo bad in September. DS loves him some pool time, so I'm sure we'll be in there every afternoon!

 

[KatieCollette]

Tentative Schedule:

Now I am usually a super strict trip planner, but in WDW, I like to go with the flow for the most part. I know where we're going to eat. Where we are going that day. But when we get the parks, I just like to walk around and go where ever we want to. Thank you for the slow seasons! If we went during Peak, I would go at the crowds and wait times! We are getting the basic tickets, no park hoppers, no waterparks. I think it's a waste (for us). Maybe when the DS is older, but not now. FYI, not putting are ADR's in the schedule yet. Still making them, and some will depend on whether I switch resorts or not!

So without further ado:
Monday:
arive at MCO at 10:40 via Airtran (blech. hate them, but they are cheap)
Head on over to AKL (or whatever resort we DO end up staying at)via ME
Explore the hotel
DTD all night, dinner at Rainforest Cafe or Trex

Tuesday:
MK all day!!!
Walk around, soak up atmosphere.
See parade, Wishes at night
Must do attractions:
Philharmagic
Peter Pan
Small World
Pirates

Will most likely head on back on the hotel after lunch for nap/pool time and back to MK for supper and the rest of the night.

Tuesday:
Epcot, baby!
We love love LOVE the world showcase!!!
Soooo we're sleeping in (def not an early bird family)
Hitting the showcase first, starting with the Canada side.
Lunch at Rose and Crown! We love us some fish and chips!
We'll probably try and drink our way around the world We won't make it of course, but I gotta get a margarita from Mexico at the VERY least.
Dinner in Norway with the Princesses.
Probably gonna hit at least a little of the um... we call it boring... part of Epcot ahh don't shoot me for saying that! At least do soaring. NOOO test track for me!

Wednesday:
Animal Kingdom and Resort day!
Now DH and DS have never been here, we had short vacations before and always left this one out because we are definitly night people and this one closes at 6 normaly. I've only been there once when I was a teen, right after it was open. Not all the attractions were done and I barely remember anything, so it will be like new to me! Now since we are actually taking a trip that lets hit all the parks we're making time for it!
We'll make our way on over to AK fairly early (for us) at like 10ish.
Hit a couple of the Big shows/attractions :
Lion King
Kilminjaro
Bugs Life
Dinosaur
whatever else catches our eye
Back to the resort for an early night and dinner and hopefully pool time!

Thursday:
My second favorite park, HS. Also my DS and DH's least favorite park. Why, oh why do they not like this park as much as I do? They just don't get it! But I am def a show person and Little Mermaid has been my favorite since FOREVER! The only show/attraction that I would stay away from is Journey to Narnia. Boringggggg. And i hate to say it, but TSM is not my favorite either. I LIKE IT before I get attacked. It's just not my favorite. We have the video game for Wii, which is almost exactly like the ride. So I would rather not wait in like for 90 minutes to play something I can play at home.
We'll get an early start.
Hit the faves:
MERMAID!!!!!
TOT!!!! (Even though I have to drag DH and DS on it)
Beauty and the Beast
Stunt show
Great Movie Ride
TSM (depending on if we can get a FP and how long the wait is)
the Backlot tour
Back to the hotel early again for dinner/pooltime/relax time

Friday:
MNSSHP!!!!! WOOOOTT!
Our first Halloween party here. And I. Can't. Wait!!! We will go back early in the AM to MK to wonder around, hit shows/attractions that we either missed or want to do again.
Will go back to the hotel after lunch for pool time/naptime.
Back to MK for dinner and the partaaay
I will be Minnie, and the DH and DS will each be Mickey! WOOT!
Then we will be there till close basking in the halloween-ness. Def want to get as many pictures/autographs with all the characters out. Hope to see some good ones

Saturday :
Last day
Epcot again
Will sleep in, get up, pack. Drop the bags off and head on over to Epcot.
Lunch, and the World Showcase again.
Back to the hotel around 3 to get on ME to go to MCO for our 6:40PM flight.

Sunday:
First day back at home.
Hit the DIS boards and start planning our next trip

 

[shocky5]

Your PTR is going great! And your family is so cute! AND don't you love it that your DH has caught the bug? Mine too - he has trouble spitting it out from time to time but he always agrees to let us go back!

Can't wait to follow along!

 

[KatieCollette]

Your PTR is going great! And your family is so cute! AND don't you love it that your DH has caught the bug? Mine too - he has trouble spitting it out from time to time but he always agrees to let us go back!

Can't wait to follow along!

Thank you thank you! Those darn DH's. They better let us go back! or else!

 

[Kat in GA]

We have done the Halloween party twice - and just love it! The first time we went was actually my girls' first time in the parks. It was not a smart decision to do it that way as they just wanted to ride, ride, ride and were so not interested in the parades, the Headless Horseman, and all the cool villains that were out. But...our second time was great! They even want to go and do it again.

 

[KatMark]

Joining in if you don't mind another follower. And you are doing great for a first time PTR reporter.

 

[KatieCollette]

I'm back! Haha sorry but there have been some MAJOR changes. And life happens. The good news? I'm no longer a stay at home mom! (A nice way of saying I was unemployed!) I now have a REAL job that I LOVEEE! Also, So what happened was that we decided we weren't going to go to the World anymore. because.... we we're going to go to Jamaica instead with my parents and brother and sister ! But of course, my family is nuts and always say they will do things and that never happens. (Story of my childhood.) Soooo me, being the strict and controllling Mama that I am, decided to take the reins of the trip back into my hands again, and decided that we are going to WDW. For sure. And now we have another cast member, my DB, who is going to turn 13 the week before. So it will be a birthday trip, and we will have a built in babysitter with us.

Also the dates changed, and so did the hotel. Now, we'll be staying at POR during FD! DS and I stayed there for our Mommy-Son trip, but Daddy never has and neither has the DB. He's only ever stayed off site when he was growing up. So it will be a new fun experiance for him. We we're planning on going Oct 17-24 for DB's bday, but FD dates came out. Dates are now 10-24 thru 10-31. Which means we'll be there for 8 days! And going to MNSSHP, but not sure the dates yet.

So here's our newest all-star vacationer that will be coming with us :

His name is Chris, and he's 12 going on 13! The Bears fan (ugh) He loves to read, and play video games. He went to Disney last year with our Dad and sister and his favorite park is Epcot. He also wants to hit up the Lego Store in DD and is saving his money for it! He's also very excited that he will be considered a Disney adult, and can order off the adult menu and not the kids. I'll be adding his birthday celebration to all our ADR's so he can expect a lot of cupcakes! Not telling him till we get ther though!

up next- The crazy week that FD hit!

 

[Kat in GA]

Welcome back!!

Glad that you are still going to the world - and being there on Halloween - how cool. Have you decided which day to do MNSSHP?

 

[KatieCollette]

Thanks! Well, we were aiming for Sunday the 30th, but DH doesn't really want to go there for our last night. I think we're going to do Tuesday the 25th. Less crowds that night than the 30th, which is a huge plus for me. Still deciding though. I'm on a mission to get a picture with the dwarves though, for sure!!!

 

[KatieCollette]

OK sooo.. now on the stress of waiting for a discount!

Once we decided that we we're going back to the world, we had some major financial planning to do. We had just gone in February, so that had eaten quite a bit of our savings. And like I said before, I was unemployed waiting for my work to open up again after the fire. But... I started interviewing and I got a job I love that makes considerably more money that what I had been making at the bakery. So Disney was a GO! But, I wanted to go longer. 8 days to be exact! crazy when our last two trips were only 4 days a piece. So, I scoured the DIS and checked mousesavers history over and over again until I was pretty convinced that they would offer a FD promotion in October, when we wanted to go. Now this was already back in June that I decided this.

So I waited.


And waited.


And waited.

UNTIL, the wonderful Danny25 posted about the FD rumor about a week or two ago. The bad news was according to him, the week I wanted to go was blacked out. Oct 17th-24th. So I quickly consulted with the DH and he said its no problem for him to move vacation dates. It actually was better for the kids too since they have that Thurs and Fri off of school. So I ran to make some of the important ADR's for that week (le cellier, CP). And started to wait for the day it supposedly came out!

That morning I jumped up and checked the DIS boards to see if there were any confirmations yet. And of course, we all crashed it and it wasn't working.

So I went to work, because I didn't have 2 hours to spend waiting on hold at that time. Got to work, checked the DIS page on FB and there was confirmation!!! So I called on my lunch break, waited for only 8 (!!!!) minutes on hold, got through, and put in a request for POR preferred (more on those deliberations and subsequent changes later ) and got it!

So now we're booked for sure for POR 24th-31st. Still have to book MNSSHP and some ADR's but I can't wait! 74 days!!!!

Up next: How I drove my DH crazy with badgering him about resort preferences 24/7. And how he threatened to cancel the trip

 

[shocky5]

Yeah!

Glad it's all working out for you all to go! And how awesome of you to take The Bears Fan!

Trip sounds great! Can't wait to hear more about POR. I am staying there in Feb. '12 for the princess half marathon.

 

[KatieCollette]

Thanks! We stayed at POR before, just me and the DS, and I'm sure the other two will love it! And the "bear fan" delights in throwing in our faces how much he loves the bears and hates the packers, even though he born and bred in cheesehead land But we had the last laugh last season!

The DH can't be talked into wearing a real costume, but I'm thinking I can convince him to at least wear a Packers jersey, and the brother can wears his Bears. That will make for some interesting photo shoots!