***OFFICIAL*** October 2011 - Updated 10/08/11

[ociana]

Hello everyone! We are all booked up for our first trip to WDW 10/13-10/23.

Been a lurker here on the boards for years now in our planning for Disneyland trips (we are west coasters). Those were always puny cheapy trips with 2-3 park days and a stay at motel 6, so they weren't worthy of me registering and posting. But this...this magnificent extravaganza of a vacation that we have planned is WELL worth posting about. (can you tell I am excited?)

Our "we" consists of my DH, 11 and 13 year old sons and me - the planner of the group. Here are all the gory details of my planning - please let me know if I make a misstep since I have never done this trip before!

We are flying overnight, arriving about noon. A lovely FL Tours Towncar will greet us at the airport and will stop at a grocery store on the drive. Is it odd to be excited about someone holding a sign with our name on it to greet us?

Where: Dolphin Resort - 6 nights on the summer sensations plan and 4 nights govt rate. We got a resort view, but my fingers are crossed for an upgrade.

Park Plan: We have a day slotted for each park with two flexible days. We are heading to Universal on Tues 10/18 and Wed 10/19 (just renting a car those two days). We are big rides people, so our focus each park is rides - using the mid afternoon busier time for shows and snacking.

ADRs:
Sat 10/15: 8:15am Tusker House
Sat 10/15: 2pm Yak and Yeti
Fri 10/21: 1:10 SciFi Drive In
Fri 10/21: 7:15 Hoop Dee Do

Extras:
Thurs 10/13: Mickey's Halloween Party (not booked yet - its our arrival day and still not sure)
Fri 10/21: YES Program Production Arts & Sciences class at Hollywood Studios.
Fri 10/21: 10pm Haunted Carriage Ride

Is it October yet?

 

[sjs314]

Hello everyone! We are all booked up for our first trip to WDW 10/13-10/23.

Been a lurker here on the boards for years now in our planning for Disneyland trips (we are west coasters). Those were always puny cheapy trips with 2-3 park days and a stay at motel 6, so they weren't worthy of me registering and posting. But this...this magnificent extravaganza of a vacation that we have planned is WELL worth posting about. (can you tell I am excited?)

Our "we" consists of my DH, 11 and 13 year old sons and me - the planner of the group. Here are all the gory details of my planning - please let me know if I make a misstep since I have never done this trip before!

We are flying overnight, arriving about noon. A lovely FL Tours Towncar will greet us at the airport and will stop at a grocery store on the drive. Is it odd to be excited about someone holding a sign with our name on it to greet us?

Where: Dolphin Resort - 6 nights on the summer sensations plan and 4 nights govt rate. We got a resort view, but my fingers are crossed for an upgrade.

Park Plan: We have a day slotted for each park with two flexible days. We are heading to Universal on Tues 10/18 and Wed 10/19 (just renting a car those two days). We are big rides people, so our focus each park is rides - using the mid afternoon busier time for shows and snacking.

ADRs:
Sat 10/15: 8:15am Tusker House
Sat 10/15: 2pm Yak and Yeti
Fri 10/21: 1:10 SciFi Drive In
Fri 10/21: 7:15 Hoop Dee Do

Extras:
Thurs 10/13: Mickey's Halloween Party (not booked yet - its our arrival day and still not sure)
Fri 10/21: YES Program Production Arts & Sciences class at Hollywood Studios.
Fri 10/21: 10pm Haunted Carriage Ride

Is it October yet?

Welcome to the October Thread!

I do not think your silly to be excited about someone holding up a sign with your name on it at all. Sounds like a great way to start off a special trip like your first to WDW.

 

[princess_ariel_85]

Just booked the haunted carraige ride and then I realised that we're going to have on hectic 2 weeks.

On the intinery so far is...

MNSSHP on the 2nd of oct.
Dessert party for the ladies if the group on the 3rd (yet to book this though)
Getting Married at the Wedding Pavillion on the 4th.
MK photo shoot on the 8th with dinner at Le Celliers in the evening.
Haunted coach ride on the 11th.
A day at Sea World, 2 days at Universal. I really can't wait... the excitement is building already

 

[sjs314]

Just booked the haunted carraige ride and then I realised that we're going to have on hectic 2 weeks.

On the intinery so far is...

MNSSHP on the 2nd of oct.
Dessert party for the ladies if the group on the 3rd (yet to book this though)
Getting Married at the Wedding Pavillion on the 4th.
MK photo shoot on the 8th with dinner at Le Celliers in the evening.
Haunted coach ride on the 11th.
A day at Sea World, 2 days at Universal. I really can't wait... the excitement is building already

Congrates on the Wedding !!! I am so jealous

Looks like a wonderful fun filled trip you have planned

 

[Mom2micayla]

Just booked the haunted carraige ride and then I realised that we're going to have on hectic 2 weeks.

On the intinery so far is...

MNSSHP on the 2nd of oct.
Dessert party for the ladies if the group on the 3rd (yet to book this though)
Getting Married at the Wedding Pavillion on the 4th.
MK photo shoot on the 8th with dinner at Le Celliers in the evening.
Haunted coach ride on the 11th.
A day at Sea World, 2 days at Universal. I really can't wait... the excitement is building already

Congrats on your pending wedding! What a magical way to celebrate your nuptials.

What's the haunted coach ride? I don't think I've heard of that one yet.

I'm totally done making ADRs (well for now.. you know how that goes ). I've got 4 character meals book (breakfast at Tucker, CP and dinner at 1900 PF and Garden Grill). I'm not all that thrilled about doing so many character meals and truly hate buffets, but I think it'll be the best option since we're bringing our 4 kids and my (then) 8 and 9 year old daughters are big eaters and will NOT be satisfied with the constant meaty macaroni, burger, cheese pizza, etc. Tell me I'm not going to be miserable, please!

I'm holding off on MNSSHP and Pirate's League until I see if I can score FD or a GP room code. If I can't get either, I'm definitely not doing MNSSHP and PL will be questionable too. Going to WDW with a family of 6, especially when you live on the west coast, is major $$$.

 

[Goofy_Mom]

Congrats on your pending wedding! What a magical way to celebrate your nuptials.

What's the haunted coach ride? I don't think I've heard of that one yet.

I'm totally done making ADRs (well for now.. you know how that goes ). I've got 4 character meals book (breakfast at Tucker, CP and dinner at 1900 PF and Garden Grill). I'm not all that thrilled about doing so many character meals and truly hate buffets, but I think it'll be the best option since we're bringing our 4 kids and my (then) 8 and 9 year old daughters are big eaters and will NOT be satisfied with the constant meaty macaroni, burger, cheese pizza, etc. Tell me I'm not going to be miserable, please!

I'm holding off on MNSSHP and Pirate's League until I see if I can score FD or a GP room code. If I can't get either, I'm definitely not doing MNSSHP and PL will be questionable too. Going to WDW with a family of 6, especially when you live on the west coast, is major $$$.

You ain't just whistling Dixie!! Ours is a family of 4 from the west coast, only one is a "child" according to Disney. I think we're going to do PL, just not sure if we going to do it on our MNSSHP day. It depends what the kids ultimatley decide on what they want to be. If they decide to not be pirates, we'll do the makeover on a different day.

 

[princess_ariel_85]

Congrates on the Wedding !!! I am so jealous

Looks like a wonderful fun filled trip you have planned

Thank you, I can't begin to express just how excited I am.

Congrats on your pending wedding! What a magical way to celebrate your nuptials.

What's the haunted coach ride? I don't think I've heard of that one yet.

I'm totally done making ADRs (well for now.. you know how that goes ).

Thank you, we're both disney fans so it made sense to tie the know in WDW.

I've never done the Haunted Carriage ride before, but this is the page I used for info...
http://www.wdwinfo.com/recreation/trailride.htm
and this is an old thread with pics
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2312607

I know what you mean with ADRs... I've promised Df I wont book anything else apart from the dessert party I want to go to.

 

[srauchbauer]

I have been reading about the tea party with Alice for girls and thought DD (6) would love this has anybody else ever done this activity with their little ones. Also thinking of signing DS up for the priate cruise.

Thoughts please.

 

[brookelynpenguin]

Thank you, I can't begin to express just how excited I am.


Thank you, we're both disney fans so it made sense to tie the know in WDW.

I've never done the Haunted Carriage ride before, but this is the page I used for info...
http://www.wdwinfo.com/recreation/trailride.htm
and this is an old thread with pics
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2312607

I know what you mean with ADRs... I've promised Df I wont book anything else apart from the dessert party I want to go to.

Can you already book the haunted carriage rides? My TA told me you couldn't book those until ninety days before your trip. I love Halloween and thought this would be a fun little outing for my and my fiancee.

 

[princess_ariel_85]

Can you already book the haunted carriage rides? My TA told me you couldn't book those until ninety days before your trip. I love Halloween and thought this would be a fun little outing for my and my fiancee.

Hiya, yeah you can book, I booked mine for the 11th yesterday. You can book it from 180 days out.

The number to book is 407-939-7529 & it's $60 per carriage. HTH

 

[Rorey]

Fri 10/21: 10pm Haunted Carriage Ride

Looks like I'll be getting done with the Carriage Ride when you're getting on. Ours is the 21st at 9:30pm.

Just booked the haunted carraige ride and then I realised that we're going to have on hectic 2 weeks.

Our 10 day excursion will be crazy busy, but I will love every minute of it. Congrats on the wedding!!!

Can you already book the haunted carriage rides? My TA told me you couldn't book those until ninety days before your trip. I love Halloween and thought this would be a fun little outing for my and my fiancee.

When I bought my MNSSHP tickets I was told 90 days too, but then I saw the thread about the carriage rides booking, so I called back and did that too. That was the last thing I needed to pre-order for, so happy it's all done.

 

[exwdwcm]

Yeah, I was a bit annoyed by the AirTran seat fees too. I saw a report on ABC news one day where one of the reporters took a flight and purchased everything that the airline charged a fee for to see how much he could rack up. So the ticket, I don't know where it was going, was round trip through Delta or a major carrier like that and was $350 or so. Then he paid for an upgraded seat, seat selection, extra frequent flier miles, preferred boarding, a blanket, pillow, movie, headphones, food, drink, etc. He also paid for 1 regular bag, and overweight bag and a pet carrier. When all was said and done he charged over $600 or something just in fees. Nearly twice as much as the ticket itself! They certainly can find a lot of ways to screw you if they want. Some of them you can't get around and they are the ones that annoy me.

doesn't surprise me one bit. they really are taking us for all we are worth these days!

Hello everyone! We are all booked up for our first trip to WDW 10/13-10/23.

Been a lurker here on the boards for years now in our planning for Disneyland trips (we are west coasters). Those were always puny cheapy trips with 2-3 park days and a stay at motel 6, so they weren't worthy of me registering and posting. But this...this magnificent extravaganza of a vacation that we have planned is WELL worth posting about. (can you tell I am excited?)

Our "we" consists of my DH, 11 and 13 year old sons and me - the planner of the group. Here are all the gory details of my planning - please let me know if I make a misstep since I have never done this trip before!

We are flying overnight, arriving about noon. A lovely FL Tours Towncar will greet us at the airport and will stop at a grocery store on the drive. Is it odd to be excited about someone holding a sign with our name on it to greet us?

Where: Dolphin Resort - 6 nights on the summer sensations plan and 4 nights govt rate. We got a resort view, but my fingers are crossed for an upgrade.

Park Plan: We have a day slotted for each park with two flexible days. We are heading to Universal on Tues 10/18 and Wed 10/19 (just renting a car those two days). We are big rides people, so our focus each park is rides - using the mid afternoon busier time for shows and snacking.

ADRs:
Sat 10/15: 8:15am Tusker House
Sat 10/15: 2pm Yak and Yeti
Fri 10/21: 1:10 SciFi Drive In
Fri 10/21: 7:15 Hoop Dee Do

Extras:
Thurs 10/13: Mickey's Halloween Party (not booked yet - its our arrival day and still not sure)
Fri 10/21: YES Program Production Arts & Sciences class at Hollywood Studios.
Fri 10/21: 10pm Haunted Carriage Ride

Is it October yet?

welcome!!!! i was a lurker for years (you can see i registered here over 10 years ago! lol- your trip looks fabulous!!! We are there the same week as you. You will love Hoop Dee Doo- have you done it before? I love the Dolphin, it is so nice and often overlooked. They have an amazing pool area for the boys to enjoy (and you!!)

Just booked the haunted carraige ride and then I realised that we're going to have on hectic 2 weeks.

On the intinery so far is...

MNSSHP on the 2nd of oct.
Dessert party for the ladies if the group on the 3rd (yet to book this though)
Getting Married at the Wedding Pavillion on the 4th.
MK photo shoot on the 8th with dinner at Le Celliers in the evening.
Haunted coach ride on the 11th.
A day at Sea World, 2 days at Universal. I really can't wait... the excitement is building already

wow, congrats on the wedding! it will be a busy time, but a lot of fun and great memories!!!

 

[ociana]

welcome!!!! i was a lurker for years (you can see i registered here over 10 years ago! lol- your trip looks fabulous!!! We are there the same week as you. You will love Hoop Dee Doo- have you done it before? I love the Dolphin, it is so nice and often overlooked. They have an amazing pool area for the boys to enjoy (and you!!)

Nope, never done it - first visit to WDW. We looked into the advance dining options and that one sounded like a blast to us. We are all fans of corny comedy and general silliness, so it should hit the spot nicely.

If you are there the same week then I am guessing we picked the right one! It was tough to pick a good time and to finally give in and decide that the kids will miss so much school. Only thing we haven't done yet is break it to the band teacher that our oldest will be missing two band performances...

 

[smitch425]

Well...as a family, we had made the decision to skip doing a character meal this trip because 3 of the 4 of us eat like birds and we didn't think it was worth the $100+. Well....so much for that plan! Last night we booked an ADR at Crystal Palace for Oct.22 @ 8:05am! The hubby is in it for the food, and I am going along with it to try to get some good pics in front of the castle before the gates open. I've heard mixed reviews on the food, but I'm not too concerned. We'll find something there that we like. Has anyone been? Is it similar to the food at Hollywood and Vine? If they have a banana and a Rice Krispie treat, I'll be good to go. LOL!

 

[srauchbauer]

Well...as a family, we had made the decision to skip doing a character meal this trip because 3 of the 4 of us eat like birds and we didn't think it was worth the $100+. Well....so much for that plan! Last night we booked an ADR at Crystal Palace for Oct.22 @ 8:05am! The hubby is in it for the food, and I am going along with it to try to get some good pics in front of the castle before the gates open. I've heard mixed reviews on the food, but I'm not too concerned. We'll find something there that we like. Has anyone been? Is it similar to the food at Hollywood and Vine? If they have a banana and a Rice Krispie treat, I'll be good to go. LOL!

We ate there in Feb and the food was disney breakfast buffet. We also decided not to do character meals this trip for the same reason just don't seem to eat enough food to make the price worth it.

 

[58cognac]

We ate there in Feb and the food was disney breakfast buffet. We also decided not to do character meals this trip for the same reason just don't seem to eat enough food to make the price worth it.

We did CP last year along with other character meals, but this year we're just doing CP. My DD11 can't get enough of the breakfast buffet and still talks about the raspberry crumb cake. My DH loved the breakfast, too, so for him to ask if we can go there again is a statement.

 

[lmc318]

Well...as a family, we had made the decision to skip doing a character meal this trip because 3 of the 4 of us eat like birds and we didn't think it was worth the $100+. Well....so much for that plan! Last night we booked an ADR at Crystal Palace for Oct.22 @ 8:05am! The hubby is in it for the food, and I am going along with it to try to get some good pics in front of the castle before the gates open. I've heard mixed reviews on the food, but I'm not too concerned. We'll find something there that we like. Has anyone been? Is it similar to the food at Hollywood and Vine? If they have a banana and a Rice Krispie treat, I'll be good to go. LOL!

Personally I like the breakfast buffets better than lunch or dinner, but I'm a big breakfast person. I think buffets are a waste of my money since I don't eat enough to make it worth the $$, but I like breakfast so at a buffet I can get a little of a lot of different types of food. So for me that's worth it. Plus my DD can get character interactions without standing in line, so that's worth it too! I also like CP better than the ever popular Chef Mickey's for the interior (nice and bright and open!), but in my experience, buffet food is buffet food.

 

[exwdwcm]

Well...as a family, we had made the decision to skip doing a character meal this trip because 3 of the 4 of us eat like birds and we didn't think it was worth the $100+. Well....so much for that plan! Last night we booked an ADR at Crystal Palace for Oct.22 @ 8:05am! The hubby is in it for the food, and I am going along with it to try to get some good pics in front of the castle before the gates open. I've heard mixed reviews on the food, but I'm not too concerned. We'll find something there that we like. Has anyone been? Is it similar to the food at Hollywood and Vine? If they have a banana and a Rice Krispie treat, I'll be good to go. LOL!

We LOVE CP breakfast. We do it almost every trip. I think it is one of the better breakfast buffets on property in my opinion. So good choice! WE are booked for 8:05 am one day too! I think the food is a LOT better probably than H&V's buffet, similar, but i think better (and i used to work at H&V! LOL). here's a pic of our plate on past trips! we love the breakfast lasagna/casserole thing- the mickey waffles, biscuits and gravy. they have great fruit, omelette station, tons of meats, cereals, pastries. Basically every breakfast food you can imagine.

Nope, never done it - first visit to WDW. We looked into the advance dining options and that one sounded like a blast to us. We are all fans of corny comedy and general silliness, so it should hit the spot nicely.

If you are there the same week then I am guessing we picked the right one! It was tough to pick a good time and to finally give in and decide that the kids will miss so much school. Only thing we haven't done yet is break it to the band teacher that our oldest will be missing two band performances...

you will love HDD then. It is a great show. The cast is just so funny!

well, i just wanted to avoid the first week because of food and wine opening and the 5k/races. Then I wanted to avoid the next because of Columbus day. I wanted to be back home for Halloween because my son's bday is 10/30 and we will have a bday party and all that. So that left third week open. Which so far, looks pretty great on the crowd calendars- mostly 1s and 2s with both saturdays being 5's. so not too shabby!!! the good news, there are a lot of big conventions on site that week that are booking up a lot of the Epcot area resorts, so while the rooms are all booked the parks should be really empty!

 

[smitch425]

Looks like a great way to start our last full day at the World!

 

[Goofy_Mom]

Now that MNSSHP is taken care of, all I have left to worry about is F&W. Being this is our first trip, would someone be so kind as to inform about the festival? I'm curious to know what other "nations" will be/have been in attendance, the cooking classes (how soon do they post the seminares and how soon are they able to book), highlights of previous trips/demontrations, etc. Can anyone help?