November 2012 Code Watch!!

[ThreeAngels]

Could it be? Yes, I believe it is!! I am finished with my Christmas shopping!!

I was off work yesterday so I took the kids to school, and got all of my shopping done!!

I buy gifts for my parents, aunt, and DMIL to give to our kids. They pay us back, but it makes it easier on them (all they have to do is wrap), and ensures the kids will get something they will love that I don't mind them having!

I had to run by Walmart and pick up the last little item this morning, but I got it! Now I can enjoy the holidays!

My boss left today for Disney. I did all of her planning, made her ressies, ADRs, photograph books, etc. so I sure hope her trip goes smoothly.

On a totally OT note: LSU is winning!

Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend!

Ack! I am SO jealous that you are DONE. I still don't have ONE thing!

I am pretty sure we decided to go in September. I feel awful that its supposed to my DD's Communion gift and yet I am making the plans and not taking her wants into consideration. The problem though is that if we do September, we will have to fly and well that adds at least 1K to our trip that we didn't plan on using.

We are 18 hours away -- we drive right through but with stops for gas and food it comes to 20 hours.

I came up with a plan that if we fly this year, we'll use our mileage. We were going to use our mileage towards our trip, but that won't be possible. BUT next year (2013) when we go, we may go Deluxe and drive. We'll see. I am already hoping that we get a bounceback offer.

We ate at Captain's Grille last year. It was good. Their service was awesome, better than the food that I remember!

Ouch to your 20 hour drive! Glad you liked Captain's Grille. Still deciding, but leaning toward Flying Fish.

Good morning everyone!



Flying with your son!! That would be so awesome!

I haven't been to the restaurants, but a co-worker of mine went to Flyin' Fish in February. He's kind of a food snob, and he said it was the best service he's ever had in his life, and the food was excellent. It's definitely on our must try list.

Yes, we can't wait to fly with DS! DS2 was really nervous about it. He was only 3 when we flew down moving to GA, so he didn't remember at all. The only reason he did it was for his brother, and he LOVED it. He recorded the whole thing. It was cool. DD and I are really looking forward to our turn.

Ooh, yes. Your post just about sealed the deal for Flying Fish! Thanks!

I LOVE LOVE talking about dining choices.

One of my decisions on one of these of trips, will be to stay non-deluxe AND get the deluxe dining plans so we can try some of these signature restaurants.

My kids, on the other hand, want to do the "signature" character dining......but the deluxe dining plan would give us even more options!

Each trip we try to do something "extra" now. This trip will be Halloween Party AND a meal at the castle.

I love talking about dining choices, too. We're planning to do a lot of new things this trip. We're going to go up in the big balloon at Downtown Disney, take the steam engine tour and see the Candlelight Processional for the first time. Several new dining plans, too. I'm so excited!!!!

Wow!! I do not have anything against the dining plans. We use the regular dining plan all the time. But I do miss just being able to walk into a resturant when you were ready to eat. I don't like sitting here wondering if I am going to get LeCieller this far out.

That would be SO nice to just walk in and have it all work out. Every single day, I search for Le Cellier for THAT day and about 6 months away, just to see. I think we'll be able to get it, especially with a little persistence.

Morning!

Thoughts about Southwest - the day & time seem to make a difference when you purchase. Supposedly, Tuesday around 3pm is the best option. I played with this a little last week & it was true. Same flight went from $89 one way to $139 between Tuesday afternoon & Tuesday evening.

SW & AirTran (or whatever they are now) are our only nonstop options. Won't ever fly AirTran after our last debacle with them - vastly changed flights with no notification and a late, then on time & finally early flight out of Atlanta. DS & were sprinting through the airport to reach the gate after we had been assured a 2 hour wait & went to get something to eat.

We have a beautiful fall day here! I hope everyone has an awesome day

We had a CORGEOUS day here in the Atlanta area. I love the Fall!

UGH! I just realized that 2012 is a leap year. One extra day to wait....GRRRRRR! I thought my countdown was screwed up!

 

[Smileybug]

Good morning ya'll. 376 days!!

 

[Smileybug]

Do any of you plan to go back in the same time frame in 2013? I'm Just currious. It would be fun to continue the chatting and planning. I know, I'm thinking WAY ahead.

 

[mommyof3princess27]

OMGoodness so much to catch up on!!!

UGH! Most of you can probably relate to my ridiculous feeling of YUCK this morning...

So its Jersey week in NJ meaning the kids had Thurs and Fri off of school (thus the reason Disney is busy this week with Jersey folks) for teacher's conventions. So the plan was to ship the 3 kids to Grandmas for the night and have date day/night with hubby. Much needed I should say. We haven't done this in a very long time.

Well hubby wakes up SCREAMING in pain. It was awful. Needless to say, we got our date day/night in the HOSPITAL. We get there at 9:20. Hubby has a kidney stone. OUCH! At 11ish I decide to head upstairs and go visit my 42 year old aunt who had open heart surgery this week. I get in the room, sit down for two seconds while the nurse is taking care of her, and I PASS OUT! Apparently I just would NOT come to until they used the smelling salts. Now I am in the ER since its code purple and they must check me over. I didn't get out until 8:30 last night!

Today I am nauseaus and light headed and DH is in pain. I am praying that my mother in law doesn't bring the kids back this morning but waits until dinner time at least. Isn't that awful. I miss them like heck but my couch sure looks good today!

Glad you are feeling better hope your DH soon feels better

And on to more fun topics LOL! Now that we are considering September instead of November for our trip. In order to make that happen, we would have to fly mid week to mid week. If we went in November, we could drive since we'd have the extra days off of school/work to get down there, but if we went Sept, we wouldn't.

So now that I am looking into airfare, the cheaper airlines don't have their September rates out yet. This stinks. I want to book like yesterday!!!!!!!

Anyone have a favorite airline??? We booked JetBlue last time and it was fine, but I hear Southwest is even cheaper. Cheaper is better for us

Continental is giving us a price of $1,152....which isn't TOO bad, but since we were going to drive, I hate paying that!

Favorite airline? Airtran def even with baggage fees still cheaper than SW by a few bucks but with 5 tix to buy-every penny counts!

Ha! A year from now we will have just returned and probably put down a deposit or made a payment on our 2013 trip.

Me too!!!! Im thinking about going the first week of November and doing MNSSHP and first MVMCP

Could it be? Yes, I believe it is!! I am finished with my Christmas shopping!!

I was off work yesterday so I took the kids to school, and got all of my shopping done!!

I buy gifts for my parents, aunt, and DMIL to give to our kids. They pay us back, but it makes it easier on them (all they have to do is wrap), and ensures the kids will get something they will love that I don't mind them having!

I had to run by Walmart and pick up the last little item this morning, but I got it! Now I can enjoy the holidays!

My boss left today for Disney. I did all of her planning, made her ressies, ADRs, photograph books, etc. so I sure hope her trip goes smoothly.

On a totally OT note: LSU is winning!

Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend!

I finished mine yesterday! I wanted it done before leaving for Disney- and I did it!

If free dining is offered I think you can pay a small extra fee per person and add the DDP. Does anyone know this for sure?

I may look into this. I think for DH and I to upgrade was $400 this trip

Good morning ya'll. 376 days!!

YOu will get there

Do any of you plan to go back in the same time frame in 2013? I'm Just currious. It would be fun to continue the chatting and planning. I know, I'm thinking WAY ahead.

MEEEEE!!!! I you guys!

 

[TinkPirateMom]

The reports are coming in from this past Jersey Week and they are scaring me. Apparently it was pretty darn crowded. I'm not sure we have any other viable options for travel dates though.

 

[dazednconfused]

Hi everyone.
Nice to see so many people chatting and getting so excited! So, I asked my TA about the elusive pin codes. She checked with Disney on my behalf. No code associated with my reservation. BUT, we have a year left! Anything can happen! I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'm actually going to arrive in Orlando less than week after my birthday. I guess I should tell my TA to indicate that in my reservation! Maybe, just maybe, Tinkerbell will sprinkle a little pixie dust on it! In any case, we're going to be enjoying ourselves at WDW. I've been listening to Christmas music on youtube. Great selection of Disney parks Christmas music! Makes me wish I was going THIS year!

 

[Smileybug]

OMGoodness so much to catch up on!!!



Glad you are feeling better hope your DH soon feels better



Favorite airline? Airtran def even with baggage fees still cheaper than SW by a few bucks but with 5 tix to buy-every penny counts!

Me too!!!! Im thinking about going the first week of November and doing MNSSHP and first MVMCP



I finished mine yesterday! I wanted it done before leaving for Disney- and I did it!



I may look into this. I think for DH and I to upgrade was $400 this trip



YOu will get there



MEEEEE!!!! I you guys!

I can't believe we are even talking about 2013. We really are Dsiney nuts.

The reports are coming in from this past Jersey Week and they are scaring me. Apparently it was pretty darn crowded. I'm not sure we have any other viable options for travel dates though.

I have been reading some of the reports as well. But it seems it was the perfect storm so to speak. Several things were lined up to make for a busier time.

Hi everyone.
Nice to see so many people chatting and getting so excited! So, I asked my TA about the elusive pin codes. She checked with Disney on my behalf. No code associated with my reservation. BUT, we have a year left! Anything can happen! I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'm actually going to arrive in Orlando less than week after my birthday. I guess I should tell my TA to indicate that in my reservation! Maybe, just maybe, Tinkerbell will sprinkle a little pixie dust on it! In any case, we're going to be enjoying ourselves at WDW. I've been listening to Christmas music on youtube. Great selection of Disney parks Christmas music! Makes me wish I was going THIS year!

I always stalk the resorts board for codes. I have almost always had some type of discount. (without having a pin emailed to me) Last year was a choice between free dining, room discount and a $500.00 gift card. We took free dining. I believe over the week it was all about the same savings.

 

[Smileybug]

mommyof3....I love what you have done with the first page. I have a favor to ask though. Could you change my resort from the POFQ to WL? We just made it official and switched.

 

[SMLounsbury]

Whew! I missed a lot over the weekend, lol.

We are doing the deluxe dining. Not sure the cost difference but we are total foodies and want to try more restaurants. PLUS we do not want to waste the trip in character lines so this will help us knock a few characters out while eating. I just emailed my hubby the list of restaurants I'm considering. I think if we want to go to any of the places we went this year to eat, that maybe we'll hit them for lunch. I'm waiting for word on the opening of the Be Our Guest restaurant. I definitely want to do dinner there and not necessarily QS.

We are driving next year. It's 16 hours for us and like $1k in savings considering there are five of us. We are leaving at like 3 a.m. and driving straight through.

For 2013, I honestly want to go either in winter (January) or in spring (April or May). I want to knock out all of the potential school year times of the year before my son gets to middle school and has a harder time catching up on missed work.

 

[Smileybug]

You know ....... ya'll have me rethinking the DDP. On our last trip we had the regular plan. And pretty much ended up eating two TS meals a day. With one paying out of pocket for. Our day consisted of us eating a TS for lunch (with ADR's). And it never seemed to fail that once we got back to the WL we would have supper at the Wispering Canyon. Thats the one we paid out of pocket for. I'm gonna have to look into the cost. I willing to bet we do the same thing next year.


Where do ya'll like to eat in Epcot?

 

[Happy Mom2]

mommyof3....I love what you have done with the first page. I have a favor to ask though. Could you change my resort from the POFQ to WL? We just made it official and switched.

Yay for WL!! Can't wait to see pictures!!

You know ....... ya'll have me rethinking the DDP. On our last trip we had the regular plan. And pretty much ended up eating two TS meals a day. With one paying out of pocket for. Our day consisted of us eating a TS for lunch (with ADR's). And it never seemed to fail that once we got back to the WL we would have supper at the Wispering Canyon. Thats the one we paid out of pocket for. I'm gonna have to look into the cost. I willing to bet we do the same thing next year.


Where do ya'll like to eat in Epcot?

We ate at Via Napoli, and we enjoyed it. I know there are alot of mixed reviews on it, but the pizza tasted just like what I had in northern Italy. The Italian margarita is the best margarita I've ever had. DH is Sicilian, and he said it is one of the two restaurants we had to return to in 2012.

We also at the Coral Reef, and it was our least favorite restaurant of the week. We found the food very bland; although, we are from south Louisiana and like our seafood seasoned well. The kids enjoyed the giant aquarium.

 

[Smileybug]

Yay for WL!! Can't wait to see pictures!!



We ate at Via Napoli, and we enjoyed it. I know there are alot of mixed reviews on it, but the pizza tasted just like what I had in northern Italy. The Italian margarita is the best margarita I've ever had. DH is Sicilian, and he said it is one of the two restaurants we had to return to in 2012.

We also at the Coral Reef, and it was our least favorite restaurant of the week. We found the food very bland; although, we are from the south Louisiana and like our seafood seasoned well. The kids enjoyed the giant aquarium.

Coral Reef has reallyhad some very mixed reviews. LeCeiller is our favorite for Epcot. Last year we were not able to get in. When we were going this year we couldn't get in. So I am hoping when my ADR window opens on May 28th that I can get it booked. It is now 2 TS credits. But we want it anyway.


Have any of ya'll eaten in the Castle with Cinderella? I have had that one boked a few times and alway back out.

 

[SMLounsbury]

I adored Coral Reef when we went. We were right by the tank and I had a lobster ravioli that I loved. I've heard mixed reviews on it. We also ate at the Electric Umbrella and liked it well enough. Probably one of my favorite quick service restaurants for the entire trip because it was just so easy and painless with the kids in tow.

Our Epcot plans are for Akershus for breakfast (to get the Princesses over with) and Les Chefs de France for dinner in hopes that we get to see Remy.

 

[erinscreen]

i am so sorry as i am new to staying on-site, booking, and this whole board! how do you get a pin? I am so confused, thanks!

 

[Smileybug]

i am so sorry as i am new to staying on-site, booking, and this whole board! how do you get a pin? I am so confused, thanks!

Hi and welcome!! When is your trip?

As far as getting a pin.............you pray. HARD. There are all kinds of little tips that people swear by. They haven't worked for me yet though. But you can go to the Disney website and sign up and then save a few vacation quotes. Oh and do this with as many email addresses as You can. You can also order the vacation DVD.
Anyone else have anything else to suggest.

 

[Smileybug]

6. Cretaceous Trail
- 6.1 Large Dinosaur sculptures in trees
- 6.2 Large Dinosaur sculptures in trees
- 6.3 If there are trees then there must be some shade?

I was just in an AK thread. Have any of you ever been on this trail? How have I missed this?

 

[erinscreen]

Hi and welcome!! When is your trip?

As far as getting a pin.............you pray. HARD. There are all kinds of little tips that people swear by. They haven't worked for me yet though. But you can go to the Disney website and sign up and then save a few vacation quotes. Oh and do this with as many email addresses as You can. You can also order the vacation DVD.
Anyone else have anything else to suggest.

Oh Thanks! Well, I am going to BWI in January, but want to start planning something for Nov/Dec 2012. So they email you pin codes based on your activity? Sounds interesting--better get on it! Since I rely on my own income, I can use all the disounts I can get! Thank you so much

 

[Smileybug]

Oh Thanks! Well, I am going to BWI in January, but want to start planning something for Nov/Dec 2012. So they email you pin codes based on your activity? Sounds interesting--better get on it! Since I rely on my own income, I can use all the disounts I can get! Thank you so much

What I have always done is stalk the Resort board and its offshoots. I have always been able to grab a code and have it applied to my ressie. I usually do this for family members as well.

 

[SMLounsbury]

We did CRT last month and I personally loved it. Some say it's overpriced and rushed, but we did not feel that way at all. Our six year old did not eat a bite, but everyone else loved their food. We had the greatest waiter ever.

 

[TinkPirateMom]

I have been reading some of the reports as well. But it seems it was the perfect storm so to speak. Several things were lined up to make for a busier time.

I know, but all the same elements will pretty much collide in 2012 as well, Jersey Week, last week of F&W, most likely first Osborne lights, and Veterans Day on Sunday the 11th being observed on Monday by federal offices and many schools making the weekend of November 9-12 a long weekend for many. I think I am just being a worrier though. I have to just keeping telling myself everything will be magical

I thought I quoted your other post but it's not here. Congrats on switching to the WL, very exciting. That is the resort I am leaning towards as well. The room decor does not thrill me but the resort grounds look amazing and a bunk bed room will probably be good for the kids. I think they are beginning room refurbs floor by floor there.