sept 2010 PTR- -- because this is how we roll to disney:)

[deslynnpatterson]

thanks for joining my sept 2010 PTR!!! This will be my 2nd ever PTR!! Let me begin with introducing myself-- My name is Desiree I am a 29 year old-- from Pittsburgh PA! i am a healty eater-- and excercise every single day-- its my outlet to stress relief LOL. which along the way i will share healthy recipes and my getting fit for disney tips. I have been going to disney every year since my honeymoon in 2004-- and have become a HUGE fan of traveling in the world in SEPT-- i love the low crowds, hot weather, and maybe a free dinning offer? i cannot speak highly enough of traveling to disney this time of year! This year my trip is going to be a little different-- this is going to be a mother/daughter trip which will be my 2nd mother/daughter trip with my mom--- my mom is my best friend-- and loves to have a blast!! My mom normally joins us for our disney trip every year-- but this year due to a new job my husband cannot travel to the world this year-- but he didnt want me to miss getting my disney fix-- so my mom and I started planning away

Here is a picture of myself:

this was my first day in Magic kingdom from last years trip!

and here is a picture of my darling mom:

we have so much fun together and we are going to have a blast. So when is this fab trip taking place? It will be taking place Sept 9-18....and this year we are staying at our first moderate resort ever which is going to be.... Coronado Springs Resort-- i am beyond exciting to stay at a mod we have only ever stayed at values-- because we like to do for longer stays-- but kindly my job gave me a $1000 dollar bonus that i get to out toward my trip this year!!! so CSR here we come!!!

So what are the plans so far?
So far-- we have airline tickets booked, choose the places we want to eat, and decided were we are going each days at each parks-- which i will post this all later in the PTR-- but-- we didnt book ou trip yet-- why not? well-- because we are holding out for the hopes of free dinning-- we figured we are going regardless but want to wait to see if the offer will be out in the next few weeks-- and then book. So that means i am booking my ADRS the hard way I have to call each day and book one at a time since our trip is not booked yet-- but hey whatever works right? I will post more about the ADRS after they are all booked but so far i got one i wanted and that started today!!

I hope you will join my PTR journey--- this is going to be one exciting trip-- we have a lot planned and still planning a lot we love excitment in our lives-- and when my mom and I are together there is never a dull moment!!


up next---- flight times and why did we choose the times we did??

come on in everyone and join

 

[deslynnpatterson]

So last year when we were booking flights- we have a very hard time flinding a good deal and ended up spending a arm and a leg!! ugh but -- this year we did everything the smart way-- we booked out flights very early--- on Feb 1st we booked our flights through airtran -- i just happen to check the rates that day and saw-- 69 dollars each way!! I could not pass this deal up!! I called my mom up right away-- and told her the awesome deal and we decided to book our flights right away!! but we had a little hard time deciding about the flight times-- this is what we ended up choosing

we fly out of pittsburgh airport at 11:00am on Sept 9th and arrive at MCO at 1:21 PM-- this was the earliest flight we were able to get out of pgh for the cheapest rates-- so we figured this was our best bet-- and would still give us time to get checked in at the resort-- spend some time in the parts for the first day-- and get a nice dinner in

Our coming home flights were a little confusing-- they only at a 8am flight back to pittsburgh or a 8pm flight--- so after some thought we figured hey why not take the late flight home and we can spend half the day in the park on the day we leave so-- we are flying out of MCO at 8:06pm-- and land in PGH at 11:01pm--- which we fly home on sept 18th-- which is also my 6 year anniversary yikes! LOL so maybe i will get to see the hubby for the last hour of our actual anniversary and then the next day we could celebrate I felt bad booking the trip on the dates we did because of that but its just how the dates fell hubby is totally okay with it though!! and considering what i have been through this year-- its the least he can do ( more on that story later LOL) so we get about 9 in a half days in the parks!!! i am beyond excited. I am very excited about the good deal we got on our flights and cannot wait till we book our trip now

up next--- why did we choose CSR??? and how did most of my trip this year become free?

 

[deslynnpatterson]

good morning everyone I hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday morning i just got done with a really amazing workout and figured i would take a little break and update my PTR-- although nobody has commented yet don't be shy now LOL come and join the fun

This year before we choose a resort we relaly did a lot of research-- more than normal. At first we decided we would just go back to ASMU-- its cheap-- its fun-- it has the disney feel-- then we decided something different would be fun-- so we started looking at renting DVC points-- which seemed like a good idea-- and we decided to go with AK or BCV-- but after reading some more we werent sure if that was the right choice for us-- although it i take a short dec trip i might try renting points We always would overlook CSR-- but werent really interested in the other mods such as CBR, POR, POFQ--so one night my mom was up late doing disney reseach-- and called me the next morning and told me to check out the CSR pics and threads on the boards-- i thought to myself " ok sure mom but i dunno about this place" but after reading the reviews, and seeing pictures of the this place and all the amenties-- we totaly fell in love with this resort!! The new rennovated rooms look gorgeous-- with a nice modern feel! We love that it comes with a fridge, has a marina-- bikes-- walking/joggin trail-- a spa-- and for me i love that its the only mod that has a gym which most people would think-- I am nutts for working out on vacation and at disney-- they say " but you would be walking so much" but excercise if more of a stress relief for me-- i love how i feel after doing it-- and i want to get my cardio up--and i have came a LONG WAY with weight loss-- thats its just part of my daily routine Also we love that is has a spa and my mom and I might book a spa treatment. Also to top it off it has a night club right on property which is rix lounge and OMG this place is amazing!! well-- from the pics i saw at least -- we cannot wait to check it out! My mom is all about going to a night club with me She is a cool hip mom! so this resort is going to be awesome for us! i hope i am not dissapointed but how could i be? LOL

The other thing that i am very thankful for-- it free money seems to keep falling into my lap for this trip!!! my company is giving all employees a $1000 dollar bonus, and my company also has a rewards program were i can get gift cards-- and i already have enough points for a $200 dollar disney gift card which i hope i can get a $500 dollar one by Sept I also signed up for this program for my favorite store ever which is New york and company-- and the program will give me up to $120 dollars in gift cards for each receipt i send them for gas and groceries so i can get my clothes for my trip... we are hoping for free dinning-- and we can cheap airfare-- what more can a girl ask for?

Well I have to get ready for a baby shower brunch-- but wanted to include a few pics from last years trip enjoy!!

up next--my disney fitness plan....and the places we think we are going to eat at

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Hi I'm subbing.

I'm looking forward to your fitness tips. I have started to diet and have lost 10 pounds so far but I still have a long way to go. I'm interested in what you have to share.

We're state neighbors. I live in Ohio. My DH is from the Pitt area.

Our trips will cross. We are staying at WL from Sept 10 - Sept 20th.

One thing that I thought I'd mention. You can book your stay now, add on the dining plan and then call back if/when it becomes free. I know a TON of people that book that way so that they do not get closed out of the resort of their choice (we stayed at CSR last year). If, for some reason, dining does not become free, you can remove it from your ressie later. Just a suggestion.

Happy planning. I am looking forward to hearing about your plans.

 

[deslynnpatterson]

Hi I'm subbing.

I'm looking forward to your fitness tips. I have started to diet and have lost 10 pounds so far but I still have a long way to go. I'm interested in what you have to share.

We're state neighbors. I live in Ohio. My DH is from the Pitt area.

Our trips will cross. We are staying at WL from Sept 10 - Sept 20th.

One thing that I thought I'd mention. You can book your stay now, add on the dining plan and then call back if/when it becomes free. I know a TON of people that book that way so that they do not get closed out of the resort of their choice (we stayed at CSR last year). If, for some reason, dining does not become free, you can remove it from your ressie later. Just a suggestion.

Happy planning. I am looking forward to hearing about your plans.

welcome thats for joining!! thats awesome your DH is from the pitt area? Is he a steeler fan? LOL

I might go ahead and maybe book the trip-- we are doing on ADRS day by day to get what we want-- but it its making it difficult! As long as i can add on free dinning if offered Congrats so far on your weight loss plan I have been dieting for about 2 years on weight watchers-- now its more of a lifestyle change I have a lot of tips and recipes i could share. So tell me how did you like CSR when you stayed there last year? I hope we wont be dissapointed

Thanks for joining my PTR!!!

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Hi!

Yes, he is def a Steeler fan! You should see his SUV. And we live in Browns country so it's interesting, to say the least.

I am in Weight Watchers as well. I'm sort of worried about Disney and the whole eating healthy thing but I have six months to worry about it.

I did a TR last year (link below) if you want to see pictures of CSR, etc. We really didn't like it there to be honest. Our fav moderate is CBR. We wanted to try something new but it just wasn't for us. There are a ton of people though that love the resort so maybe we're just the odd ones out?

I'm looking forward to hearing more about your plans.

 

[baybemama]

I loved read your PTR so far! We're also going in September (16-22) and I'm bringing along my mother. And we had our honeymoon there in 2004 (April) as well. AND we got that same great deal on Airtran!

Can't wait to see your other posts!

 

[deslynnpatterson]

Hi!

Yes, he is def a Steeler fan! You should see his SUV. And we live in Browns country so it's interesting, to say the least.

I am in Weight Watchers as well. I'm sort of worried about Disney and the whole eating healthy thing but I have six months to worry about it.

I did a TR last year (link below) if you want to see pictures of CSR, etc. We really didn't like it there to be honest. Our fav moderate is CBR. We wanted to try something new but it just wasn't for us. There are a ton of people though that love the resort so maybe we're just the odd ones out?

I'm looking forward to hearing more about your plans.

oh no you live in Browns county i could just imagine how crazy that is LOL its great to met another fellow WW i love the diet-- and that you can have anything within reason and points I was worried last year about all the eating-- but did good-- i just made the healthier choices and ate at least some of each of my desserts but i think the walking helped I am going to check out your TR about CSR-- can i ask why you did not enjoy? We have never been there so going in blind lol any advice you could give would be great thanks so much

 

[deslynnpatterson]

I loved read your PTR so far! We're also going in September (16-22) and I'm bringing along my mother. And we had our honeymoon there in 2004 (April) as well. AND we got that same great deal on Airtran!

Can't wait to see your other posts!

welcome nice to met you i am glad you enjoing reading so far. our trips will cross by a few days we will be there till the 18th! What better place to celebrate a honeymoon but disney right? I got addicted in disney during my honeymoon in 2004 and have been back every year since! Oh i i loved that airtran deal!! They are great! that price was so exciting! I see you are staying at the boardwalk-- have you ever stayed there before? It looks like a awesome resort

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

I wanted to pop over and tell you that we enjoyed CSR. We were in Feb 2009in the Cabanas 8B - exactly where we requested. It was close to a bus stop and not far from the Dig Site. The room was small because it had two queen beds. Before we bought DVC, it was where I was considering booking this summer's trip. We've only been twice and the first time was the Poly so that is the only other property I can compare it to. The bus service was great.

Deb

 

[deslynnpatterson]

I wanted to pop over and tell you that we enjoyed CSR. We were in Feb 2009in the Cabanas 8B - exactly where we requested. It was close to a bus stop and not far from the Dig Site. The room was small because it had two queen beds. Before we bought DVC, it was where I was considering booking this summer's trip. We've only been twice and the first time was the Poly so that is the only other property I can compare it to. The bus service was great.

Deb

welcome thats so much for stopping by my PTR I am glad you enjoyed CSR!! I am looking forward to giving it a try! And it helps that you suggested a section to stay in because i was very clueless Did you happen to eat at Maya Grill when you were there? I heard a lot of mixed views on it. How do you like being a DVC member? Thats in my plans to become a member someday I am also glad to hear the bus service is good i have heard nothing but good things about the buses!! I can't wait!!

 

[deslynnpatterson]

i hope everyone had a great weekend And caught up on sleep from daylight savings! How dare they take a hour of our sleep away LOL The Sun is shinning today in good old Pittsburgh its about a high of 58-- and i keep thinking to myself-- after spring comes summer-- and then comes disney!!

I just wanted to talk a little about my fitness plans and diets. Back in April of 2008-- I remember looking at myself in the mirror and thinking I have finally had it with myself!! I was always really thin in high school-- then got married-- and was less active-- and decided i needed to do something about myself and this was the time. So.. i looked into weight watchers-- and starting counting points, learning a whole new way of preparing foods, tryed new recipes, and became a whole new person inside and out because of this! The weight loss gave me so much confidence and a new outlook on life I have been " dieting" for almost 2 years now.. however its now a lifestyle change! I will never go back to the old person i was, but i do allow myself junk food within reason, and also if i have a craving i don't fight the craving because later i would binge, so i give myself a little taste of what i am craving and it helps! Right now i currently allow myself 20 points a day for WW-- i do not attend meetings-- everything i do is on my own. I also just recently got really into working out! I got a treadmill for my birthday-- and ever since i got it i have been working out a hour a day-- everyday! It not only gives me a great workout but reliefs stress, and gives me so much more energy So this is my plan and i am sticking to it LOL i will continue to do this most everyday with counting my points and working out. So what do i eat when i go to disney? I eat whatever I want LOL within reason-- i work so hard every day all year long that i figure that i am going to treat myself during the 10 days of my trips. I will just work out during my trip, and do a lot of walking of course and when i get home from my trip i will get back on track!

Now i would like to share a delicious meal idea that i had today :
2 bags of baby spinach
1 onion
cherry tomotoes
minced garlic
spray butter
feta cheese

sautee the spinach, onion, and cut cherry tomotoes, in the spray butter ( love it has no calories) after the spinach is dark green and shrinks down remove, drain leftover water-- add 1/2 of feta cheese-- 1 cup is 2 points-- thats with adding a little more feta-- less feta would be about 1 point. I also cook instant mashed potatoes and add mix in the spinach its so good!

Here are a few healthy snack ideas I enjoy:
~ 100 calorie pack of baked cheetos
~ carrots for 2 tablespoons of Roasted red pepper hummus
~ Spicy black bean burgers from morning star
~ cut up fruit currently grapes and strawberries
~ new thomas bagel thins with pack of ww cream cheese
~yoplait yogurt

I will leave you with those healthy ideas for the day more to come throughout this PTR and also by writing this it will help keep me on track!


Here are a few pictures from my trip last year:

this is a picture of me on the poly beach last year-- my husband and i took our own professional pictures LOL more on that later

Here are my footprints in the sand
up next-- more healthy foods-- my ADRS that i got so far--- and how we took our own pics of the poly beach!!

 

[racefanof88]

Hey Desiree , I'm joining in . I didn't know you had started a PTR. Love it so far and the fitness/menu tips are going to work out good for me too .

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Thanks for the fitness tips and the recipe. I just hit my first 5% weight loss with WW this week!

You asked me earlier why we didn't really care for CSR. Let's start with the good stuff first.

The pool was awesome. While I am not a pool person, the rest of our group loved it. I enjoyed watching them swim and it really was a nice pool.

The check in was awesome. Since they have so many conventions there they seem to be better at getting people through the lines than some of the other resorts.

We drove so we didn't need to use Disney transportation. It was nice to be able to park the car rather close to our room.

The rooms were refurbished.

They have a laundry facility. First time ever that we used a laundry facility but it was very convenient to our room.

What we didn't like:

The Pepper Market. We were not thrilled with the menu and the variety was just okay. I know that the resort has a lot of conventions and it seems that they just were not creative when it came to their CS dining. I don't know how to explain it.....

Paying for package delivery. You have to pay $5 per package to pick up anything that you have delivered there. I've never had to do that at any resort before, including the Dolphin. I had sent a number of things ahead of time and some gifts and we had to pay $5 per package just to pick them up....and we had to walk to the business center to do it. We were not able to just get them from the lobby like you can do in other resorts.

My mom had a terrible experience with maintenance. Long story short (the long story is in my TR ) she had multiple people in and out of her room very late at night...all to fix the same thing. We were at the parks and she was upset and called me about it.

It's just too "brown." I know that the theme of the resort is the southwest, etc., but I just couldn't get the "Disney feel" from the resort.


Even though we didn't care for the resort, there are a lot of people that really love it. I think that every resort is worth trying and I am glad that we did give it a try.

Happy planning! Can't wait for more dieting tips!!!

 

[LaurLaur04]

A little off thread, but Willie Parker from the Steelers is from my hometown! He went to high school with my older sister What a small world! (Now I have that song in my head haha) Loving your PTR so far!!

 

[deslynnpatterson]

Hey Desiree , I'm joining in . I didn't know you had started a PTR. Love it so far and the fitness/menu tips are going to work out good for me too .

yippe Dana is here yeah i decided it was time to start a PTR So i will be stalking your PTR a lot more too i am back on the boards!!! I am glad you are enjoying the fitness tips

 

[deslynnpatterson]

A little off thread, but Willie Parker from the Steelers is from my hometown! He went to high school with my older sister What a small world! (Now I have that song in my head haha) Loving your PTR so far!!

welcome to my PTR thanks for stopping by!! Wow it really is a small world i love my steelers I wonder how willie was in high school? LOL! Now i am ready to go and ride its a small world

 

[deslynnpatterson]

Thanks for the fitness tips and the recipe. I just hit my first 5% weight loss with WW this week!

You asked me earlier why we didn't really care for CSR. Let's start with the good stuff first.

The pool was awesome. While I am not a pool person, the rest of our group loved it. I enjoyed watching them swim and it really was a nice pool.

The check in was awesome. Since they have so many conventions there they seem to be better at getting people through the lines than some of the other resorts.

We drove so we didn't need to use Disney transportation. It was nice to be able to park the car rather close to our room.

The rooms were refurbished.

They have a laundry facility. First time ever that we used a laundry facility but it was very convenient to our room.

What we didn't like:

The Pepper Market. We were not thrilled with the menu and the variety was just okay. I know that the resort has a lot of conventions and it seems that they just were not creative when it came to their CS dining. I don't know how to explain it.....

Paying for package delivery. You have to pay $5 per package to pick up anything that you have delivered there. I've never had to do that at any resort before, including the Dolphin. I had sent a number of things ahead of time and some gifts and we had to pay $5 per package just to pick them up....and we had to walk to the business center to do it. We were not able to just get them from the lobby like you can do in other resorts.

My mom had a terrible experience with maintenance. Long story short (the long story is in my TR ) she had multiple people in and out of her room very late at night...all to fix the same thing. We were at the parks and she was upset and called me about it.

It's just too "brown." I know that the theme of the resort is the southwest, etc., but I just couldn't get the "Disney feel" from the resort.


Even though we didn't care for the resort, there are a lot of people that really love it. I think that every resort is worth trying and I am glad that we did give it a try.

Happy planning! Can't wait for more dieting tips!!!

congrats on your weight loss so far Isnt it a great feeling? I feel so good when i accomplish my small goals! thanks for all the pros and cons on CSR-- i relaly appreciate it I think we are going to give it a try-- at least we can say we tryed it-- and if we dont like it we cany stay someplace else next year Did you happen to eat at Maya Grill when you were there? I am trying to get some reviews on maya. I am glad you enjoyed the fitness tips and recipes more will be coming for sure i hope you are having a great evening!

 

[deslynnpatterson]

okay this update is going to cover a lot First-- i want to cover the ADRS that we got so far-- I think i mentioned before how we do not have our vacation package booked yet-- we are holding out and waiting for free dinning So-- we are booking each ADR day by day-- so far we got everything we wanted times a little off-- but still pretty decent-- i wanted to share what we got so far-- I will let you know if its a place we never tried before and you can give your opinions on each place this is what we have so far:

9/9- Liberty Tree Tavern 6:30pm
9/10- LeCeller 8:10pm ( times a little later but had to take what would could get for this place)
9/11- 50's prime time 6:30pm
9/12- Crystal Palace 8:05am ( i just love the breakfast here)
9/12 Tonys 2:10pm ( new place never tried before)
9/13 Yak and Yeti 2:00pm ( new place never tried before )


so tomorrow i have to call and book another place which i will add to the list once booked

second part of this post--another recipe idea tonight for dinner i made stuffed peppers its a weight watchers recipe-- you get 4 green peppers and cut the peppers in half-- cook half a pound of group meat, 2 cups brown rice, 1 packet of taco seasoning-- stuff peppers which would make 8 with cutting the 4 in half-- put tomato sauce on top bake at 350 for about 30 mins..i make a side of mashed potatoes with it-- very good.

So i want to share a really good drink with everything-- its the new zero vitamin water! all flavors are so good i drink a bottle sometimes when working out to replenish the electrolytes.

now for the next part of the post-- how we took our own pics are poly we wanted to get professional pics at the poly however our camera seemed good enough we took out own last year here are a few from our 5 year anniversary trip...

i have more pics that i will share thoughout my PTR but i just wanted to show a few of what we did. It saved so much money and we got ordered larger pictures online-- just a trick if you are looking to save some money!

I just want to end this post by saying Happy St Patricks day

and happy 9 year dating anniversary for my hubby and I LOL we started dating in 2001 on St Patricks day must be the luck of the irish!

up next-- of course more fitness details-- the next ADRS i got-- plus more...

 

[deslynnpatterson]

would you choose the Plaza or Mama Melrose? We have been to mama's before good food-- not so good service-- what is everyone experience with the Plaza? thats so much