Planning Our Happily Ever After - A Disneymoon PTR! (NEW 7/13 - TR Link!)

[ronnmel]

For some reason I missed this last update. (It might have to do with Ron checking the Dis under my account sometimes...).

Love your plans for the first full day. So great that you are staying at a monorail resort. Makes it easy to come back to the room to rest mid-day.

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

For some reason I missed this last update. (It might have to do with Ron checking the Dis under my account sometimes...).

Love your plans for the first full day. So great that you are staying at a monorail resort. Makes it easy to come back to the room to rest mid-day.

The monorail will definitely come in handy for that afternoon break!

 

[blairbear]

Hi Courtney I just read over your PTR so far. I can't wait to read more!

 

[therussells08]

I love your Day 1 plans! Crystal Palace and Sci Fi are two of our favorite restaurants!

I think your pool break sounds like a great idea. John and I spent a lot of time on our Disneymoon relaxing by the pool. It was so hot (we got married June 28, 2008 so we were in Disney during the 4th of July) so the pool was just what we needed!

I love going to DHS at night! That park is great anytime of day, but at night it's extra special in my opinion!

 

[JMat]

Great info I know Im a late addition, but I'm subbing to keep up!

Congratulations & Im excited to keep reading

 

[blessedmom4]

Thanks! I feel better now...and not like a stalker

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Courtney already knows I am a stalker. (I AM just kidding ). I am living vicariously through her, she is having the wedding I would have if we got married again!

Courtney, looking forward to MORE when you have time!!!

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Your first day plans sound perfect! Especially the early morning ADR at The Crystal Palace - the best way to start off a day, IMO!!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Hi Courtney I just read over your PTR so far. I can't wait to read more!

Thanks so much for joining in! More coming up in minute!

I love your Day 1 plans! Crystal Palace and Sci Fi are two of our favorite restaurants!

I think your pool break sounds like a great idea. John and I spent a lot of time on our Disneymoon relaxing by the pool. It was so hot (we got married June 28, 2008 so we were in Disney during the 4th of July) so the pool was just what we needed!

I love going to DHS at night! That park is great anytime of day, but at night it's extra special in my opinion!

Thanks! I have a feeling we are going to be spending lots of time at the Poly pool. I think I have that scheduled in for almost every day. It's been a long time since I went to Disney in the summer, so I have a feeling the heat is going to be a little bit of a shock!

Great info I know Im a late addition, but I'm subbing to keep up!

Congratulations & Im excited to keep reading

Thanks for subscribing! I'm glad to have you reading along!

Courtney already knows I am a stalker. (I AM just kidding ). I am living vicariously through her, she is having the wedding I would have if we got married again!

Courtney, looking forward to MORE when you have time!!!

I have been so bad at updating this week - I'm working on one right now, though!

Your first day plans sound perfect! Especially the early morning ADR at The Crystal Palace - the best way to start off a day, IMO!!

I can't wait for our CP breakfast. It's definitely a favorite of ours!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

A FEW TRIP UPDATES

Since it's been over a week since I updated, I have a couple of trip related changes to share! Thankfully, they are all good one's!

First, in looking over our itinerary for the millionth time, I decided that I wanted to change our final day's plans. As I had it, we would be spending three days at MK. Now, while I love MK, I'm just not sure that we need that much time there. I really do think we're going to be able to accomplish everything that we want to do there in the other two days. I mostly scheduled our final day there because I really love spending my last day at MK.

Currently, I only have one DHS day (and a little time after our Sci-Fi ADR) and one AK day planned. While we don't need another full DHS day, I can definitely see us spending more time at AK. However, none of our DHS time include an early morning to give us the opportunity to ride TSM.

I tried to decide what was the best option, and then I decided not to decide! I figured that last day can be our open day - open as opposed to free because I'm sure we'll want to go to some park since it is the last day. Who knows, we might end up at MK after all. AK is having morning extra magic hours so we might could even spend some time at AK and then rush over to DHS for a ride on TSM. I guess you'll just have to wait until the TR to find out!

Moving on, I was also able to book the Wishes dessert party!

I am really excited about this. We're be doing the party about half-way through our trip and I think it's something we will really look forward to. I can't wait for the great view of Wishes (in a seat!) and to sample all of those yummy desserts.

I also called last week to see if there was a PIN code attached to my name (I've heard of some people having luck with this), but sadly there wasn't. I was told that I could go ahead and add the DDP, though. I thought this was strange because the original CM said that I had to have an AP discount before adding the DDP. And trust me, there was no discount in the price I was quoted! I decided to go ahead and add it..although there is more on that to come.

And finally, the discounts for our dates were finally announced yesterday. If you remember back at the beginning of the PTR I debated over buying AP's (which we obviously chose to do) not just for the tickets themselves but for the room discount. I knew that 11 nights at the Poly during non-value season was going to be pretty expensive, so I was really hoping for a 40% off discount, but more so expecting a 30%. Well, the new discount (which is a GP, not AP) is 30% off deluxe resorts except for the Poly!

The Poly discount ended up being 25% (which is still good news, I guess). I called this morning to add the discount which is saving us about $1300 on the room (if I calculated correctly). Of course in doing this, I was told I had to remove the DDP. So I did, and I ran some more calculations and found that we might actually save money just using the TiW for all meals rather than the DDP - I'm thinking about $200-$300. I want to spend some more time on that though.

And as though you haven't heard me ramble about my trip enough, I have a funny little story about the CM I dealt with this morning. This was definitely a case where I knew way more than she did. For the most part, I just try to play dumb when calling the reservation center. Like when they tell me to be sure to book my ADR's I just say, "oh, ok". But this time, I had to assert my Disney knowledge! I asked her to note on the reservation that I wanted to request a specific longhouse at the Poly since (I assume) my original request would be deleted with the original reservation. The CM said that she would add that I wanted a long room.

I then tried to explain that I wasn't wanting a particular room type, I wanted a particular longhouse. She said she would request that I be put in a long house. I said no, they are all longhouses. She then proceeds to ask if there is a particular number I want to request. I try to explain that the longhouses have names, not numbers. I tell her to please add the I would like Tokelau on my reservation. She says she will request Pokelau for me. Finally I just spelled it our for her....

Sorry this post was so long and picture-less! If you've made it this far - thanks!

 

[disneybarbie]

Hi Courtney!

lol loved the last post... there is so much calculating & planning to think through for Disney vacations isn't there! shame you didn't get to speak to a particularly knowledgable CM today .. it is strange that Poly & AKL are 25% off while other Deluxes are 30%.. wonder what made them do that.

My TA asked if we'd considered the dining plan, but for us - TiW works out saving us more.. we don't eat a big lunch most days & the TiW takes a discount off cocktails/wine too, and includes 18% gratuity

ooh which night is your Dessert Party? we have one booked for June 26th! really looking forward to it.. particularly to see the 'Magic, Memories & You' before Wishes!


11 weeks to go


Emma x

 

[klacey1]

We usually like to leave our last day free, too. Who knows now what you'll feel like repeating?
Yay for the dessert party! I REALLY want to do this, but since we're shelling out over $200 to go to Universal one day during our trip, DBF feels like we should limit the extra spending. Can't wait to hear your review of it, though!!
Sorry you couldn't get more of a discount at the Poly but $1300 is still good!

 

[blessedmom4]

Courtney, Considering the CM you spoke to was completely clueless, maybe you could call back and speak with a CM who MIGHT be able to throw some magic your way since this is such an incredibly SPECIAL LOONNNNNNG (house...) occasion! I don't know how that works since I have never stayed on property, just a thought...I LOVE that you are doing the Wishes party that sounds like SO much fun!!!!

 

[Joyciemc]

Very exciting about the dessert party! I think it sounds like a great way to watch Wishes!

Your clueless CM was pretty funny... at least she wanted to help- just couldn't figure out how!

So the discount you got isn't the AP rate? Is there any chance there will be an AP discount announced for your dates? Maybe it'll be better than the one you've got now... at least you got some money off, though!

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Oh my, what a clueless CM. I hate it when I get someone like that. So very frustrating!

Yay for getting the dessert party!! I would like to book it for our next trip. I'm all about some sweets!

That stinks that Poly is only 25% off. Wonder why they did that? Oh well, at least you were able to save some money!

 

[Jennifer48]

I think your idea is great for having a 'free' day the last day. Who knows, you might not want to leave your room

That poor CM. I kinda feel bad for her. You'd think Disney would give them sheets on all the resorts and such for backup.

 

[blairbear]

Your CM story about the looooonnnnng Houses had me laughing so hard that I had to share the story with DH. I agree with the others who said you may want to call back to get another CM, just to make sure. I am glad that you were able to save that much on your room at the Poly.

Yay for getting the Wishes Dessert party. I have always wanted to do this so I am excited to hear your report on it.

I think that leaving your last day open is a great plan. I find that our free/open days are some of the most fun that we usually have.

 

[Nermel9]

Yay, I'm so happy you booked the Wishes dessert party, it's so much fun!

OMG I can't believe the CM you talked to! The next time you call, you should make sure she got that request right! When I was going to stay at the Beach Club for this October trip, the whole week that I had it booked, I requested a full balcony, and the CM told me none of the rooms there have full balconies. I had to politely tell her that about half of the rooms DO have full balconies, and that I had one when I stayed there last year! She thanked me for telling her, and said that was one of the resorts she has never seen in person! They should really hire DIS'ers to answer the phones for Disney World!

 

[lilpapsgirl]

I am so excited for you!! I can't believe it is only 2 months away. I hope you get everything you want as far as your room goes. I would try calling back to speak with a more knowledgable CM and just to make sure the last CM noted your requests. I usually never to the DDP because my husband and I usually don't eat all the food that comes with the DDP. So we end up saving when we just buy what we know we are going to eat. I think the TiW card is a great idea and will work out just the way you want it to. I can not wait to read your Trip report. I just know that you and Miguel are going to have the best time.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

You know that nobody watches Wishes from their seats at the Dessert Party right??? Just don't want you to be disappointed. Here is the part of my TR about it

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=35169189&postcount=311


Funny Story about the CM! Let's make it a little more obvious that those folks are not in Orlando

I will keep my fingers crossed for an AP rate for you that is better than 25%. By the way, have you been following the Disney Rumor boards? Latest this week is that Poly is being virtually torn down in 2012 for a complete re-do. How lucky that you are staying there for your honeymoon because who knows when it will be re-opened.

 

[Mrs T 2009]

The other day when I called, the CM I had was a rambler. I spent 20 mintues on the phone with him just listening to him babble on about how many days we would be there and that it wouldn't be enough time to see everything (although we will be there 9 days!) and then he tried getting me to up the tickets to 10days (even though we wouldn't even be IN florida that day!) uggh!!!!!
Anyways.... We were going to do a DDP, but then my hubby realized we would save money by getting the TiW card instead. So many changes, but that's what happens!!!
Two more months to go!!!! I'm so excited for you