NOVEMBER 2012 Trip Planners Part 2~yes there IS another!

[ireneryan]

Sadly, I'm another one wishing away the summer. Your DD sounds like a hoot! "He doesn't travel well". Bah hah hah!

She is a hoot!! She is absolutely correct though, he doesn't travel well, can't handle lines, crowds, following a schedule, so it's just easier to go without him, someday we'll get a family trip in but it might have to be somewhere quiet like Maine.

And I just realized that I must look a bit crazy on all these posts b/c half the time I put her current age 3.5 and the other half I put how she will be when we are at WDW celebrating her 4th birthday. Which one is proper for the posts?

 

[ireneryan]

http://www.artscow.com/gallery/book/mvmcp-b5uuzjorn1fr

I had to share this!!!! I love it!

I love it too!!! Such a great idea, are they very difficult to make at artscow? They look wonderful!!

 

[exwdwcm]

I have a question..

when is Jersey week? I know it will be crowded the weekend we are out there due to the 1/2, but as we are doing that, it is not a big deal.

What is BOG?

Jersey week is Nov 5-9. You can anticipate that week being more crowded. Plus the weekend of Nov 9-11 will be pretty packed....you have the end of Jersey week, last weekend of Food & Wine, the Wine and Dine marathon events, Golf tournament, Festival of the Masters at DTD etc. We anticipate HUGE crowds on that Saturday. We plan to avoid the parks for the most part that Saturday.

Let's talk weather. We have always gone for Halloween and have only been up to like the 5th of November. Once we went in January and it was FREEZING and Oct 2011 there was a heat wave and it was 105 every day. OMG it was so hot!!!

I am planning on layers......shorts during day, but jeans at night and I always carry a hoodie, it can get cold in the restaurants even if it is hot outside! We had some warm days in October last year on our trip. The year before we did first week of December and about froze- it was in the 30s/40s!

Does everyone have a plan to fit BOG in if it does open for our trips?

Yes. I have an open dinner spot before MVMCP. If not, then we will just do quick service.

How much of a touring plan do you guys do? Only plan what park on what day? Plan what "land" first, second, ect... Or do you hard-core plan this ride, then this show, then this performance, this ride, ect....

I do a pretty good plan. I know which park in the morning, which park in the pm and which meals as well as fireworks or parades. I don't plan ride by ride, but I do plan which ones we will hit first and which ones to save for the busier times. Here is sort of what I do- I do a day by day plan printed out on a notecard and then I laminate it and put a keyring through it. it's handy and small and a great little reference tool- i keep the plan on it day by day and ADRs etc. I also put general times in, that way we know what time we should wake up in order to hit the park by rope drop etc. Here is what I put on it:

[FONT=&quot]FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]7:15am wake up, brkfst in room[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]8:15am leave for Epcot[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]9:00am Epcot opens[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]10:45am hit F&W booths for lunch
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2:00pm break in room[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]4:00pm head to DHS[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]7:15pm Sci Fi Dinner[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]8:00pm DHS closes[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
I add notes on the back for reminders of the big rides to hit in the morning or certain specific plans. But for the most part we know which rides we need to hit early to avoid the crowds etc.

 

[exwdwcm]

We live at Preston & Legacy, so we are REALLY close !!! Yes, I have many friends at work that got hit hard. I work for an insurance company & we are in overdrive right now trying to take care of our insureds.

I agree about American Airlines, I LOVE the early non-stop flight & that is what we have flown EVERY year for the past 10 years, but this year, I am afraid if we wait for AA to finish their negotiations & with gas prices so high, I am afraid their prices may not go back down to "normal". My biggest concern was that the SW flighs would sell out & we would have to cancel our trip. All the other carriers, Delta, etc, are just as expensive as AA right now, double what you are used to paying. SW is the only one that is about what we pay on average for total roundtrip tickets for me & my son, which is approx $500 total for both of us. AA is running about $700-800 total roundtrip for both of us right now & that is just out of our budget.

We got a 30% off Wilderness Lodge & I LOVE the WL & it's location to the Magic Kingdom & the fact that it is such a smaller resort, less people & crowds & the buses are always great !!! So, we did not want to downgrade to a value or moderate, the LOCATION of the WL is a huge plus & we love that resort !! This will be our 3rd stay at WL !!

Yes, we will lose a full day on Nov 10th, since our flight does not arrive until approx 9pm, but maybe we can make it to the Magic Kingdom's extra magic evening hours since we now won't have to get up at 2:00 am to get ready for our 6:00 am American Airlines flight like in the past 10 years. I am trying to not let that part get to me.......... OH well, we can always go chill by the pool & just relax that evening we arrive if we have to!! At least we will be there !!!

Southwest has at least 1 direct (meaning 1 stop but NO plane change) flight to Orlando MCO, that may work for you & your family, not having to change planes, that is the one that me & my son chose for both flights.
Our total was $514 & we added the "Early Bird Check In" for an addl $40 for both flights so my son can be assured of a window seat for total $554, so that is much easier to swallow, just the one hiccup of arriving late on the first day, but at least we did not have to cancel the trip.

You are not far at all! I work in Carrollton near Prestonwood Baptist at Midway/Park. My son goes to day care near Preston/Park. If you ever want to meet up- let me know. I meet up with another DISer for lunch sometimes- she is an ex CM too from the college program like me! You can always email me at michelle.peters1@hotmail.com or find me on Facebook under Michelle Easler Peters.

Hey there- thank you so much!!!! I did check out SW and i do see the "direct" ones. I might run it by my mom, but we aren't quite ready to purchase air yet. Waiting to hear if DH gets this new job or not. If he does, he might fly in a day after us. So we have to sort of wait it out- if he does come, we might do a different flight. ugh!

But i saw a SW one that was running about $350. Still pricey, but better than the $410 on AA (non stop). I also like the free bags.

I saw one with like 8:40am departure, with 1pm arrival. We don't want to get there too early anyways, since last year our room wasn't ready until 3pm and we were dying for a break in our room. lol! The return is earlier than i like though, but that's okay, we have 8 full days already. The return i see is at 4:30pm, arriving home at 7:30pm, again, no plane change. i was looking for more like a 6 or 7pm flight, but we might do that.

We will see. IF DH gets this new job, he won't be able to take Friday off. He would just fly in Friday night after work. That would open my parents, myself and my son to fly in on Thursday morning. DH, even if he stays at his current job, doesn't want to take off Thursday, so if he goes with us on Thursday, it would be a Thursday night flight. But he gets the new job and is flying in on Friday night, then the rest of us could come in on Thursday morning/lunchtime since i plan to take Thursday off anyhow. So it all depends. We will see. The flights might not be around when we are ready to book, but at the same time, hoping maybe I'll see some AA prices come down too. I've seen it go down some with some of my work travel- which is exclusively AA.

 

[JennCabello]

WOW!!! There is so much helpful information here! We are planning our 1st trip for November 15-22 with our DD5 and DD7 and staying at the WL CL. I have spent the past 2 days reading all of the great information from you guys, all I can say is THANKS!!!!!

 

[mommyof3princess27]

WOW!!! There is so much helpful information here! We are planning our 1st trip for November 15-22 with our DD5 and DD7 and staying at the WL CL. I have spent the past 2 days reading all of the great information from you guys, all I can say is THANKS!!!!!

....you are so very welcome. If you have any questions, please ask!

I love it too!!! Such a great idea, are they very difficult to make at artscow? They look wonderful!!

no they arent but if you are interested in any of the ones that I have made, you can just click the link and add to cart and buy them. I think the Christmas one was $5 shipped or so. I love doing them

 

[ThreeAngels]

http://www.artscow.com/gallery/book/mvmcp-b5uuzjorn1fr

I had to share this!!!! I love it!

Grr! Can't see this on my iPad. I'll have to get on the laptop later.

She is a hoot!! She is absolutely correct though, he doesn't travel well, can't handle lines, crowds, following a schedule, so it's just easier to go without him, someday we'll get a family trip in but it might have to be somewhere quiet like Maine.

And I just realized that I must look a bit crazy on all these posts b/c half the time I put her current age 3.5 and the other half I put how she will be when we are at WDW celebrating her 4th birthday. Which one is proper for the posts?

Reminds me of when MY mom and I took Disney vacations cuz my dad doesn't travel well either. He didn't want us to miss out, but he certainly didn't want to come either! Mom and I had so much fun on our trips. I'm so glad my DH loves to go, though.

Ha ha! I don't know what's proper, but you surely don't look crazy in ANY way!

WOW!!! There is so much helpful information here! We are planning our 1st trip for November 15-22 with our DD5 and DD7 and staying at the WL CL. I have spent the past 2 days reading all of the great information from you guys, all I can say is THANKS!!!!!

Welcome and happy planning! We'll be there November 15-24 at POR!

 

[sjs314]

Finally made a decision about the CP Pkg, now just crossing my fingers I am able to book the ADR on Tuesday.

Going to try for either the 6:45pm(1st choice) or the 8:15pm on Dec 1(Whoopie) @ Tutto Italia

I am happy now with my list of ADRs

11/28 Mama Melrose 4:30

11/29 Kouzzina's 8am
LTT 4:30 will change to BOG if possible

11/30 Kouzzina's 7 pm

12/1 Tutto Italia 9:15pm will cancel for CP Pkg 6:45 or 8:15 Show

12/2 Le Cellier 2:15pm
Rose & Crown 8pm

12/3. Via Napoli 11:30am

 

[DsnyMama]

11/29 Kouzzina's 8am

We have a 9am Kouzzina that day

 

[doberlady]

Just got my Ohana dinner ressie

 

[sjs314]

We have a 9am Kouzzina that day

We loved going to Kouzzina's in March, so much so we ate there twice. This time we are looking forward to having dinner there one evening too.

Did I say I was happy with my ADRs ??? Well that was short lived as I panicked and added a lunch time ADR for Tutto's just in case I can not get the CP Pkg I want and I am just not sure about the 9:15 late dinner there. I am so stressing out over the CP bookings opening up on Tuesday

 

[Smileybug]

We loved going to Kouzzina's in March, so much so we ate there twice. This time we are looking forward to having dinner there one evening too.

Did I say I was happy with my ADRs ??? Well that was short lived as I panicked and added a lunch time ADR for Tutto's just in case I can not get the CP Pkg I want and I am just not sure about the 9:15 late dinner there. I am so stressing out over the CP bookings opening up on Tuesday

Don't stress. You'll make me stress.

 

[saluki2002]

We're coming Nov. 23-Dec. 1 staying at Port Orleans Riverside for Anniversary and son's 5th birthday. Have all our reservations, just need to plan our days.

Nov. 23 arrive and dinner at Tony's Town Square
Nov. 24 breakfast at Crystal Palace
Nov. 25 Dinner at Teppen Edo
Nov. 26 Breakfast at Tusker House
Nov. 27 Dinner at Liberty Tree and MVMCP
Nov. 28 Breakfast at Chef Mickeys
Nov. 29 Late lunch at Mama Melrose and Fantasmic
Nov. 30 Dinner at Ohana's
Dec. 1 Leave for home

Any suggestions or tips on POR or resturants. First time at POR, stayed at All Star Movies in April 2011.

 

[ThreeAngels]

Just got my Ohana dinner ressie

Yay!!!

We loved going to Kouzzina's in March, so much so we ate there twice. This time we are looking forward to having dinner there one evening too.

Did I say I was happy with my ADRs ??? Well that was short lived as I panicked and added a lunch time ADR for Tutto's just in case I can not get the CP Pkg I want and I am just not sure about the 9:15 late dinner there. I am so stressing out over the CP bookings opening up on Tuesday

Don't stress. You'll have a magical time no matter what!

We're coming Nov. 23-Dec. 1 staying at Port Orleans Riverside for Anniversary and son's 5th birthday. Have all our reservations, just need to plan our days.

Nov. 23 arrive and dinner at Tony's Town Square
Nov. 24 breakfast at Crystal Palace
Nov. 25 Dinner at Teppen Edo
Nov. 26 Breakfast at Tusker House
Nov. 27 Dinner at Liberty Tree and MVMCP
Nov. 28 Breakfast at Chef Mickeys
Nov. 29 Late lunch at Mama Melrose and Fantasmic
Nov. 30 Dinner at Ohana's
Dec. 1 Leave for home

Any suggestions or tips on POR or resturants. First time at POR, stayed at All Star Movies in April 2011.

You'll POR! Make sure to take the time to walk around there. It's so beautiful! Take the boat to Downtown Disney. So beautiful and relaxing! Think about getting a preferred room. If you're far from Riverside Mill and/or a bus stop, it can seem like an exhausting walk, esp. After along day at the parks. Oh, and the gift shop is fabulous!

 

[Divaofdisney]

So excited for Tuesday when we can book the CLP Dinner Package.....we decided to come in a day early....because the plan was for my husband to fly down to Pensacola where my daughter Sarah lives and make the 7 hr drive with her so that she didn't have to do all that driving but here's the thing...they were going to leave at like 3-4 in the morning to try and get to POFQ by 12:30-1pm. I really didn't want them driving in middle of night so by coming in a day ahead they can get up and leave by like 7:30-8am have some breakfast and then drive hopefully arriving by like 4-5pm. They can rest a bit then we can all have dinner. Rachel and I will just fly straight to Orlando. I think this is a much better plan and it will give us more leisure time as well and not feel so rushed and stressed to get there. Added Fulton's Crab House for the 1st night--the menu looks great. Any other possible suggestions? I am really hope that BOG will be open so we can all go see and experience it. I am so excited to try all the different restaurants this time with the DXL Dining Plan...which we've never had before. Hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday.

 

[natter]

Just got my Ohana dinner ressie

CONGRATS!!!

 

[mommyof3princess27]

We loved going to Kouzzina's in March, so much so we ate there twice. This time we are looking forward to having dinner there one evening too.

Did I say I was happy with my ADRs ??? Well that was short lived as I panicked and added a lunch time ADR for Tutto's just in case I can not get the CP Pkg I want and I am just not sure about the 9:15 late dinner there. I am so stressing out over the CP bookings opening up on Tuesday

Do like I did, make the ressie you want and then if you can get it in the CP package great-if not try for your second choice

 

[ksack]

Okay... dumb question...

Has anyone ever tried the Priceline Name Your Own Price for airline tickets? At this point we are planning on driving unless fares come down to less than $200/person... I wondered if Priceline would be an option...???

 

[Divaofdisney]

Okay... dumb question...

Has anyone ever tried the Priceline Name Your Own Price for airline tickets? At this point we are planning on driving unless fares come down to less than $200/person... I wondered if Priceline would be an option...???

We have once, and it really wasn't too much of a savings off the price being stated on various travel sites. And the other problem is you can't pick your flight only the day so you are at their mercy as to where they will put you- also not a good thing if you like getting to your destination early or at some other desired time. It worked out for us...but haven't done it again for the above reasons. Good luck with whatever you decide., it may work for you- you just never know.

 

[DsnyMama]

Went through the Disney box today with the kids to take inventory That always makes us excited!!! I need to buckle down and list all of the hundreds of projects I need to get done and start doing them!! Anyone else have "disney crafts" to do??