Pretrip Report: This is an addiction!

[annaaidan99]

I'll open this report by informing you that we actually already went to WDW in February. It was our first trip as a family, and DH and I had not been since we were kids. We planned that trip as though we would never travel again. I say we, but it was actually me, and I justified a goodly amount of the cost of that trip with that very reasoning. It just might be another decade or so before we can swing this again, honey!

We had a swell trip, except that midway through, we both were becoming depressed that HALF our trip was over. We only had a few more days, and it got worse as the trip progressed. I was also aware that, despite my considerable planning, there were some things that could have been better. I felt we overspent on our resort- which was the WL- considering we only saw it very early in the morning, and very late at night. Don't get me wrong- it was breathtaking. But still. I digress. In short, we wanted to go back- and we were still there.

Fast forward to June. We had accepted we were not going back till probably late next year. It just wasn't in the cards. I was researching "other" vacation possibilities, and we just weren't talking about Disney. And then, there I was- minding my own business, and the free dining thing came up. Well, I didn't say anything to DH at first. I mean, we had gone a little overboard on the last trip. Most "trips of a lifetime" don't happen twice in one year. I went on to other business. But this kept milling around in my mind. So, I got on Disney's website, and played with some dates...

DH was building a fence in the backyard. I went out to check on his progress, and casually mentioned that it would only be $1500 to go to Pop for 10 days with the dining plan. We spent over $4000 for our February trip, so this was pretty good. I had his attention. I reasoned that we could drive this time, as airfare had been $800 of our trip last time. It is only a ten hour drive. He was hooked. I was excited again. We picked our dates. Fun!! Called his parents. They were coming too! And his sister and nieces!! Could I book everyone? And their ADRs? Sure!!

Then the panic came...it took me a year to plan our February trip. Now I had less than two months. And it was free dining and I had no ADRs. Can it be done? Yes!! Thankfully, I learned on our last trip that 7:00 was way too late for us to be eating dinner. My DS (6 at the time) was falling asleep before dessert every night. I had no problem getting 5 and 5:30 times anywhere. I cannot describe the feeling of total accomplishment that comes with getting that out of the way. Success!

So we were going to drive, right? I mean, we only live ten hours away. No sense in spending all crazy on airline tickets. We were all in agreement here. No one was especially thrilled, or anything- but we all nodded in unison that flying was out of the question. And so it was. Until...well, I was just minding my own business on this board, and saw that Southwest had $49 one way from New Orleans to Orlando. Again, I put this out of my mind. Crazy spending on airline tickets was not part of the plan. But, this too was milling about in my mind for some time. At least fifteen minutes. So, I got on the website....

DH was in a meeting at work and would not answer my phone calls.
So, I text messaged him. I figured, why not throw it out there. $350 for the three of us round trip. He responds " To Disney?" No! I was thinking we could randomly fly somewhere, just to buy a ticket. Of course Disney!! He called me after the meeting, to discuss this twist of fate. We would, of course, have to present this option to the rest of the travelers, who had solemnly nodded that flying was out of the question. Strangely, all of them were overwhelmingly in favor of NOT driving ten hours. We were now flying!!

So here we are, just about two weeks away. I am happy to report that I have also convinced my husband, in much the same manner as above (I believe he was washing a car) that we should go to MNSSHP and actually dress up. We will be there on September 15- maybe I will see some of you. I thank you all for your infinite wisdom- can't wait to tell you all about the trip.

 

[Shane6294]

Wow What a coincidence. My family is going to be staying at POP with DDP Sept 16-23 and are flying out on a Southwest ding fare from New Orleans. We were planning on driving but couldn't pass up the ding. There are eleven of us. Maybe we'll get to see you.

 

[annaaidan99]

Hope to see you! That fare was way too good to pass up. Too bad the going home flight is at 6:30 am!! But, we'll be in New Orleans by 8:00, and we plan to spend the day at the zoo/aquarium since we have annual passes there. A little something to sort of look forward too, rather than going straight home.

 

[Michelle2]

We will be there a day after you! I am so excited, and have never done the dining plan before, let alone for free! We always used to do the restaraunts very sparingly! LOL
We will be an all adult ladies group--me, DMom, 2 Dsisters, and Dcousin. It will be all of their first trip to WDW, so they have no clue what they are in for!! I think the closeness is finally starting to sink in and everyone (besides me, the planner) is starting to get excited. Hope you have a great trip!!

 

[Glendamax]

Congrats on your trip! I'm sorry that I got my Airtran Tix early, because now the pricehas dropped. But, it's just another lesson learned! Next time I'll do better!

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[annaaidan99]

I just realized I didn't tell you our trip dates- September 8 thru the 17th. Seven days was just not long enough last time...we'll see if you can actually be there long enough.

Our flight out is at 8:30 ish, which is awesome. The flight home is unfortunately at 6:30am. No way around that, I'm afraid. But- I'll take it over driving any day!

Michele2- we did pay for the dining plan last trip, and it was awesome! I loved the TS every night, I loved picking the restaurants. The saving money was not as important a benefit to us as having everything prepaid. It was really relaxing to not even look at menu prices, or worry about having enough money on any given day. I will absolutely get this every time.

 

[Glendamax]

Anna - I arrive the same day at 2:40p What time does your flight arrive? Maybe we'll see each other at the airport!

 

[allysmom1218]

We went to WDW in April for our DD 2nd birthday. This was suppose to be our trip of a lifetime until guess what? FREE DINING!!!! Now we are also going on 9/8 to 9/16 at Pop. I was really glad to hear your comments about the WL because I have wanted to upgrade our reservations to a mod or deluxe but I just can't justify to myself the price difference considering the amount of time that you DON"T spend in the room. We stayed at ASMO on our last trip and really enjoyed it but thought we would try a different one for this trip. We will also be attending the MNSSHP on 9/15. We are taking my older DS this trip with us and the price difference between April and Sept. is unbelievable because of the free dining. It was just way tooo goood to pass up. My DH usually will go along with whatever I want to do consider I handle all the finances for our house, he just does all the work and hands me the paycheck. ( boy do I have him trained right!!) Maybe we will see each other either at Pop or at the party. I hope you will enjoy your trip as much as I hope I will. We're are you ADRS? I wouldn't be surprised if we won't be at some of the same places!!!!!
ONLY 14 DAYS LEFT UNTIL OUR NEXT TRIP TO WDW!!!!!!

 

[annaaidan99]

Our ADR's are:

Sept 8- Alfredo's 5:15 (Missed this one last time)
Sept 9- Coral Reef 5:20 (Missed this one, too)
Sept 10- San Angel Inn 5:30 (Loved this one last time- did it the last nite.)
Sept 11- Sci Fi Inn- 4:05pm (My son's favorite)
Sept 12- Concourse Steakhouse 1:30pm (Doing lunch on our full MK day)
Sept 13- Rose and Crown 6:20pm (Another new one)
Sept 14- Garden Grill 5:30pm (Never been here either)
Sept 15- LeCellier 4:50pm (Our favorite from last time)
Sept 16 Chefs de France- 5:10pm (New for us)

As you can see, we are trying a lot of new ones, even though we liked everything we ate last time.

FYI: Choices last time: LeCellier, Sci Fi, 'Ohana, Teppanyaki, Artist Point, WCC, and San Angel. We are repeating our most favorites this time, plus hoping for some new contenders.


allysmom1218-

I was really glad to hear your comments about the WL because I have wanted to upgrade our reservations to a mod or deluxe but I just can't justify to myself the price difference considering the amount of time that you DON"T spend in the room.

This was key for us. I will not say that there is NO justification for the deluxe. The hotel was fabulous. The rooms were good, too- not too much bigger than Pop, though- which surprised me. I learned on this trip that we are truly park commando types. We don't really relax in the hotel much. If you do, then this might be different. I only have one child, who is now seven- he doesn't really take up much space. The one thing that got me- just a bit- was the full size/queen size bed thing. DH and I have a queen at home, so of course, the full seemed small. Not unbearable, but definitely smaller.

Pop actually exceeded my expectations by a long shot. I was expecting just a place to sleep. Bed. TV. Shower. I was not expecting it to be so nice.
We arrived there at about 11:00pm, and were weary from traveling. Checkin was a breeze, of course, as it was so late. We were heading for our room, which was in the '70's the first time. My son and I took in the grounds at night, which are actually quite magical. He spun slowly around, and told me "Mom, I love Disney World." So, I have no problem staying here. I will, however, stay at the WL again someday.

Anna - I arrive the same day at 2:40p What time does your flight arrive? Maybe we'll see each other at the airport!

Our plane will land before 10:30!! Tired or not, we will be storming Epcot!

 

[Glendamax]

Our plane will land before 10:30!! Tired or not, we will be storming Epcot!

I'll be at EPCOT that night for Illuminations!

 

[annaaidan99]

Hope to see you there! Epcot is my favorite park- can you tell by the ADRs? I could stay there the whole time and be perfectly happy. I have never been there for EMH, however, so we will see what that is like.

Getting excited! This week, we ordered and received:

1. Our MNSSHP tickets for 9/15
2. Our costumes for MNSHHP
3. Some modifications for said costume for myself (it was shorter than I thought)
4. A new digital camera (it was HIGH time. Soon, my posts will have PICS!)

Now kind of just waiting. Nervous about tropical storm... Last year was the pits, was hoping not to deal with it this year!

 

[Glendamax]

Now kind of just waiting. Nervous about tropical storm... Last year was the pits, was hoping not to deal with it this year!

I hope you won't have to deal with the storms too, but think of it his way, at least you went in February, and you're planning on going back next year. My trip in September will be my only vacation of the year. So I'm REALLY praying that it turns out okay.

 

[annaaidan99]

You're right!

I am sure we will be fine for our trip. We picked such good dates!

 

[Shane6294]

I am not sure if you have seen that there is a dis meets party going on at the POP on Sept 16 and 20th. It was started by Lbelle. If you are interested she has a thread under the dismeets section and under the resorts section-countdowns. I seems to be quite a motley crew of disers staying there at that time.

 

[Glendamax]

I am not sure if you have seen that there is a dis meets party going on at the POP on Sept 16 and 20th.

HEY! You mean they are doing this even though I won't be there?! Who do they think they are!

 

[annaaidan99]

Okay, the fun part of the planning is kind of done now. We're down to the nitty gritty details that I really don't like so much. The stuff directly related to the vacation is all fine and good- I now have our parking place booked and paid for already at the Park & Fly, got car service squared away, double checked my ADR's, twice. Last time, we did have a screwed up ADR, which almost killed me- but it was just me, DH, and DS. I can't imagine what I would do if I had a screwed up ADR with all these people who are coming with us- I'm supposed to be really competent, you know? I think that part is stressing me a bit.

The details I don't like are those incidental things that can drive you mad. For instance, the animals. I have more than my share. And the logistics of pet-leaving is complicated. I would love to delegate this, but alas. Not in the cards.

The supercharged pre-company clean-up has no business coinciding with a supercharged packing frenzy. I have a hard time doing both. We have never had company BEFORE we left for a trip. I keep my house pretty clean, but I obsess over company. Especially "never seen the house before" company. And super-especially "never seen the house before guests who are my MIL". Typically, I would take a full day off before the arrivals come. I send my kid and my husband somewhere else. I put the myriad animals OUT. And I scrub in places where daylight never sees. I reorganize bathrooms. I clean out closets- even OUR closet. I clean out under beds, behind sofas, underneath any moveable structure. And then I seal the house off from any traffic until company has arrived. This time, no such luck. Due to the fact I am extending vacation time with my days off, I have no days off until September 8, the day we leave. No matter how much cleaning I do ahead of time, with my crew, it pretty much self destructs by the next day. I planned on cutting out early the Thursday before we leave- and doing a modified version of above. But now I have a meeting in Lafayette- I won't be home till after guests arrive.

So...this means, superclean Wednesday, and trust DH to keep it that way!
I wish it was possible to take prevacation vacations!!

 

[Glendamax]

I scrub in places where daylight never sees. I reorganize bathrooms. I clean out closets- even OUR closet. I clean out under beds, behind sofas, underneath any moveable structure. And then I seal the house off from any traffic until company has arrived.
So...this means, superclean Wednesday, and trust DH to keep it that way!
I wish it was possible to take prevacation vacations!!

OMG! Can you PLEASE come to my house! I've already done a pre-clean, so that when I do the pre-trip clean, I won't be starting from scratch! But in case you have the need to do more, please feel free to stop by!

OH! We're leaving on the same day, which means like you, I HAVE to come home everyday after work and try to do SOMETHING! Or, I'll be leaving my house in a huge mess! The things we do for DISNEY!

 

[annaaidan99]

The sad thing is it will be all for naught...due to our solution for the animals. My big baby, a 90 lb mutt named Duke- I call him Poofoo- will be staying with my mother along with the new kitten that adopted us. (Kitten eats WAY too much to be left with food for any period of time). Elvis and Lady, the two Katrina dogs, will be staying here with Jenny, my brother's dog who is living here temporarily until my brother can find a house in Austin. Felix and Milo, the two cats who do not eat until their bellies explode, will also stay here. My folks live about a mile away, so dad has agreed to come let dogs out for the day- unless it is torrential rain, and let them in and feed them at night. This has worked well before, but they do shed all over the house. I sweep hair in the am and pm, and every day there is more. The longest we have attempted that arrangement before was five days, and all was great- except my house was super-fuzzy when I got home. There is also a ferret, but he is fine in his cage. So, there will also be an extensive post cleaning!

 

[annaaidan99]

It is getting down to the wire, and believe it or not, I'm not packed yet. Not even a little bit. I'm a little surprised myself. As I said, the cleaning thing was getting in the way of the packing- but as it turns out, it got a little more involved than that.

This past Friday, I started feeling a little unwell. This was disconcerting, as I have no time off till the trip. By Friday evening, I was extremely unwell- full on fever, sore throat, chills, you name it. My brother came in from Austin that day, too, unannounced- so my cleaning fit had to start a lot earlier than planned. I crawled home from work around 7:30pm, doped myself up with Day-Quil, and attacked my house. DH helped, thank God. 9:30pm, brother is in town, at my folks- but I have no strength to go visit. I collapse in the bed and attempt to sleep, with the assistance of Thera-flu. My throat was too sore, I could not get comfortable, and slept a few hours before going to work at 7:00 am on Saturday. I worked, again fueled by Day-Quil, until 6:30pm. Dinner with parents and brother, then a get together at my house- in bed by midnight. Slept pretty well. My son was with his grandparents this weekend, so I did not have any parenting responsibilities, at least.

I worked Sunday and picked DS up around 6pm, and had dinner with my brother. Evening was uneventful- except that I got to change my flight home from 6:35 am till 11:00am!! This is awesome- I wasn't sure how that was going to work- this rocks! I was feeling better, still doped up on Day-Quil, but feeling more normal. The rest on Saturday night helped, I'm sure. Went to bed around eleven. Woke about 1 AM to the sound of puking. It was my son, who threw up all over his completely sparkling clean room. I mean, the curtains, the bedspread, the floor, the sheets, the walls, himself- you name it. I had been very proud of our early efforts to get house ready to go- and well, you can imagine. He had several sequels that night, I stayed with him to ensure he made it to the toilet, which he did.

This morning, he is fine, I'm back to feeling like crap again. But I will pack tonight- the suitcases are out- we will do it. And I will NOT still be sick, I know it.

I am off to do some last minute shopping, and to attempt to make this bedroom sparkle again.

 

[BeckWhy]

I just want to say I am totally with you! We (my boyfriend and I) are going Sept 9th - 15th! See you there! Anyways, I'm attempting to clean my room (I still live with my parents) and it will not be a problem to keep clean. I also have for my plans to clean my boyfriend's apartment. I did it two weeks ago and started again last night. It normally doesn't take me long to clean, but within a couple of days, the place is trashed again! HAHA. I'm just hoping that cleaning his apartment will take up enough time because I am getting so anxious!

Anyways, sorry for rambling! HAVE A GREAT TIME!