September 2011 - The Planning Has Started!!!

[lesabrowning]

My family and I will be taking our first trip to WDW September 10-17. We were originally staying at CBR but changed to POP. We are staying under the kids stay and play free promotion (we had originally booked CBR under free dining) but after looking at price comparisons it made more since to get deluxe dining and stay at POP.

I called this morning and made my ADRs. Most of them are character dining since my DD will be 7 and DS is 5.

Congrats on getting your ADRs booked. My youngest is nearly 9 and she still loves character dining... would do every meal with characters if she got to pick!

 

[KELLY]

My family and I will be taking our first trip to WDW September 10-17. We were originally staying at CBR but changed to POP. We are staying under the kids stay and play free promotion (we had originally booked CBR under free dining) but after looking at price comparisons it made more since to get deluxe dining and stay at POP.

I called this morning and made my ADRs. Most of them are character dining since my DD will be 7 and DS is 5.

You could have kept your FD at CBR and just changed you resort to POP. You just had to ask for guest services when you called since the promo ended. Unless there were no rooms under FD left when you called.

I know Fd would save us another 355.00 over the kids free promo. I'm still hoping the re-release it. Since I was duh and thought we weren't going this year.

 

[L-Harper]

My family and I will be taking our first trip to WDW September 10-17. We were originally staying at CBR but changed to POP. We are staying under the kids stay and play free promotion (we had originally booked CBR under free dining) but after looking at price comparisons it made more since to get deluxe dining and stay at POP.

I called this morning and made my ADRs. Most of them are character dining since my DD will be 7 and DS is 5.

to our group! I have you added to the first page!

 

[pinkle]

None of those actually. Try easywdw.com! From what I've seen their crowd days match up with what TGM and touring plans both say. The best part is that their website is FREE!

Thanks!! i printed out my calender...now to check if my ADR plans coincide!

So I talked to my friend who makes the buttons/pins and she said she'd make a custom design for us! The pins will be right around $3 including shipping and it's all done through Etsy. How do we want them to look?

That sounds fun!!!

I'm thinking something like a pink (since all of us here are girls or we can do some other color) Mickey head with DIS across the top between the ears with our screen name on the Mickey head. Other than that, I'm completely out of ideas. haha We can have it look however we want! We could even come up with a cool name for our group and put that on the pins. Suggestions needed!

Gosh, I don't log on for a little over 24 hours and I'm 5 pages behind already!!!

Busy, busy, busy!!!!

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

You could have kept your FD at CBR and just changed you resort to POP. You just had to ask for guest services when you called since the promo ended. Unless there were no rooms under FD left when you called.

I know Fd would save us another 355.00 over the kids free promo. I'm still hoping the re-release it. Since I was duh and thought we weren't going this year.

ME TOO! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for another release of free dining!

 

[heatherbynum]

2 weeks until I can book my ADR then before you know it, September will be here. YAY!!!

 

[oateoateo]

September 10-16 at the WL. Second trip. Celebrating our 15 year wedding anniversary with our 6 (soon to be 7) year old DD. SHE HAS NO IDEA! I booked all reservations for dining and events this morning. I CANNOT STOP SMILING!!

 

[L-Harper]

September 10-16 at the WL. Second trip. Celebrating our 15 year wedding anniversary with our 6 (soon to be 7) year old DD. SHE HAS NO IDEA! I booked all reservations for dining and events this morning. I CANNOT STOP SMILING!!

YAY!!! to our group! I have you added to the first post! What reservations did you make? We like to know details! Do you plan on telling your DD before the trip or will it be a complete surprise?

 

[stephielela]

We did the DxDP in December. I think if you plan on eating at a lot of Signature dining places (2 credits) or if you are ok with using some of your dining credits for QS meals, then DxDP during F&W festival is a must do, since you can use snack credits at the kiosks (right?). We found for our family it was too much food during a busy season because it took too much time away from the parks, and since the parks were crowded... we got less done. We seriously spent up to 2 hours at many meals, and some days we had 3 meals! We ended up canceling a few ADRS and using our extra credits to get DS2 meals, but we still ended up with 4 or 5 meal credits leftover that we weren't able to use. Of course in a slower season, it's easier since there are fewer and shorter lines. The problem is the DDP is just so much less stuff, no app, no mug, only 1 snack... it's just not the right configuration at least for our family (unless of course it's free, then we'll take it ) For me and DS we are on the QSDP (for free) and for our situation it works much better to do that and pay OOP for a couple TS meals. I have now experienced all 3 plans, and I will say since the DDP becomes less and less of a value every year, I probably won't ever pay for that plan again.

Another note on the DxDP is that when we added up all the food costs, we probably would have saved a little money even if we had paid the full amount (we upgraded from FD) but we also would have ordered less if we had been paying OOP and we probably would have wasted less food... so unless you really are going to eat a 3 course meal at EVERY meal, you might just want to consider paying OOP for your meals.

 

[oateoateo]

Our schedule is as follows:

9/10--Fulton's Crab House for an early dinner, followed by Cirque du Soliel
9/11--Bf at Hollywood and Vine. Grand One Yacht dinner and fireworks cruise (to celebrate 15 years!)
9/12--California Grille Dinner
9/13--1900 Park Fare for BF and Dinner (lots of characters to meet!)
9/14--Luau at the Polynesian for dinner
9/15--CP BF and CRT Dinner

That's all for now. Since we are staying at the WL, we will probably fill in BFs there, but wanted to book as much as possible (without over-scheduling) to take advantage of the dining plan.

We are literally waiting until we pull up to the resort to tell our DD. My head will likely explode between now and then!

 

[ajworthy]

I am getting really excited. We're booked for CSR Sept 18-23. I have already emailed my travel agent what I want for ADRs.

1900 Park Fare, Via Napoli, Tusker House, Ohana's, and Hollywood & Vine for the Fantasmic Dinner Package (although I'm second guessing myself on this one for some reason).

I wish the days would go by faster so we could be there.

 

[L-Harper]

I am getting really excited. We're booked for CSR Sept 18-23. I have already emailed my travel agent what I want for ADRs.

1900 Park Fare, Via Napoli, Tusker House, Ohana's, and Hollywood & Vine for the Fantasmic Dinner Package (although I'm second guessing myself on this one for some reason).

I wish the days would go by faster so we could be there.

to our group! I have you added to the first post!

 

[basketkat]

The buttons sound fun!!!


I'm so excited everyone is getting all of their ADR's....come on 13 days...go by faster!!! Ha!!!

 

[disneydreamin247]

We did the DxDP in December. I think if you plan on eating at a lot of Signature dining places (2 credits) or if you are ok with using some of your dining credits for QS meals, then DxDP during F&W festival is a must do, since you can use snack credits at the kiosks (right?). We found for our family it was too much food during a busy season because it took too much time away from the parks, and since the parks were crowded... we got less done. We seriously spent up to 2 hours at many meals, and some days we had 3 meals! We ended up canceling a few ADRS and using our extra credits to get DS2 meals, but we still ended up with 4 or 5 meal credits leftover that we weren't able to use. Of course in a slower season, it's easier since there are fewer and shorter lines. The problem is the DDP is just so much less stuff, no app, no mug, only 1 snack... it's just not the right configuration at least for our family (unless of course it's free, then we'll take it ) For me and DS we are on the QSDP (for free) and for our situation it works much better to do that and pay OOP for a couple TS meals. I have now experienced all 3 plans, and I will say since the DDP becomes less and less of a value every year, I probably won't ever pay for that plan again.

Another note on the DxDP is that when we added up all the food costs, we probably would have saved a little money even if we had paid the full amount (we upgraded from FD) but we also would have ordered less if we had been paying OOP and we probably would have wasted less food... so unless you really are going to eat a 3 course meal at EVERY meal, you might just want to consider paying OOP for your meals.

I found we were booking meals I'd otherwise have no interest in and I was ordering apps I wouldn't normally get. I also had to scrap meals I would normally enjoy because they didn't financially fit. Maybe for a shorter portion of a split stay, but we did it for 6 nights and it didn't work.

 

[tukogirl]

Got up early, used the online system and got everything I wanted! Yeah!

Ohana dinner
The Wave breakfast

Congrats! You got a lot of great places, and too cool for getting good times!

My family and I will be taking our first trip to WDW September 10-17. We were originally staying at CBR but changed to POP. We are staying under the kids stay and play free promotion (we had originally booked CBR under free dining) but after looking at price comparisons it made more since to get deluxe dining and stay at POP.

I called this morning and made my ADRs. Most of them are character dining since my DD will be 7 and DS is 5.

yay! Congratulations. We will be the same week as you! We get to pop on the 9th and then switch to CS from the 10-17th.

September 10-16 at the WL. Second trip. Celebrating our 15 year wedding anniversary with our 6 (soon to be 7) year old DD. SHE HAS NO IDEA! I booked all reservations for dining and events this morning. I CANNOT STOP SMILING!!

Congratulations. How neat, a surprise trip! We booked ADRS this morning also, too much fun!

After having problems with the WDW dining reservations system online for an hour I finally gave up and called when they opened. I got everything I wanted right when I wanted or very close to it.

9/10 Chef Mickeys
9/11 Yak N Yeti, Raglan Road
9/12 Le Cellier, Cape May Cafe
9/13 Ohana
9/14 Whispering Canyon Cafe
9/15 Biergarten
9/16 Raglan Road

 

[oateoateo]

After having problems with the WDW dining reservations system online for an hour I finally gave up and called when they opened. I got everything I wanted right when I wanted or very close to it.

9/10 Chef Mickeys
9/11 Yak N Yeti, Raglan Road
9/12 Le Cellier, Cape May Cafe
9/13 Ohana
9/14 Whispering Canyon Cafe
9/15 Biergarten
9/16 Raglan Road[/QUOTE]

Glad to hear I wasn't the only one! I thought I had outsmarted Disney and had five different browsers open with some of our reservations set up and ready to click in, and tried that for 20 minutes to no avail. I guess Disney prevents people from doing that (smart, but irritating this morning). After much work, I got all but two items reserved, and then called in. Of your picks, we have only been to Chef Mickeys. The food was okay, but the experience was great. Hope to head to Whispering Canyon during our stay for BF, and will likely stop by teh Biergarten while in Epcot. Really...6 months to wait...NO FAIR!

 

[oateoateo]

After having problems with the WDW dining reservations system online for an hour I finally gave up and called when they opened. I got everything I wanted right when I wanted or very close to it.

9/10 Chef Mickeys
9/11 Yak N Yeti, Raglan Road
9/12 Le Cellier, Cape May Cafe
9/13 Ohana
9/14 Whispering Canyon Cafe
9/15 Biergarten
9/16 Raglan Road

Glad to hear I wasn't the only one! I thought I had outsmarted Disney and had five different browsers open with some of our reservations set up and ready to click in, and tried that for 20 minutes to no avail. I guess Disney prevents people from doing that (smart, but irritating this morning). After much work, I got all but two items reserved, and then called in. Of your picks, we have only been to Chef Mickeys. The food was okay, but the experience was great. Hope to head to Whispering Canyon during our stay for BF, and will likely stop by the Biergarten while in Epcot. Really...6 months to wait...NO FAIR!

 

[WDW 2011]

Wow, I've been doing alot reading on DIS! Thanks to all the DIS family for all the helpful info!

Change in plans, here's the deal, we are now booked at Pop Century. Still staying on property September 4-16.

We are also doing the QS dining plan. This we be our 1st time trying a dining plan (1st for everything @ WDW). I thought I'd start slow & easy. Besides I don't know how to time & plan ADRs so that I wouldn't be stressed out about making/missing our reservations.

Btw, I'd be interested in buying a button too. It sounds like a fun idea. Oh, I also read a little on another thread about decorating the window, out side door, & interior of your room. I thought that might be fun for the kids since we're celebrating birthdays. Does anyone know if Pop would care as long as I'm careful?

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

Wow, I've been doing alot reading on DIS! Thanks to all the DIS family for all the helpful info!

Change in plans, here's the deal, we are now booked at Pop Century. Still staying on property September 4-16.

We are also doing the QS dining plan. This we be our 1st time trying a dining plan (1st for everything @ WDW). I thought I'd start slow & easy. Besides I don't know how to time & plan ADRs so that I wouldn't be stressed out about making/missing our reservations.

Btw, I'd be interested in buying a button too. It sounds like a fun idea. Oh, I also read a little on another thread about decorating the window, out side door, & interior of your room. I thought that might be fun for the kids since we're celebrating birthdays. Does anyone know if Pop would care as long as I'm careful?

As long as you are careful, Pop doesn't mind! Most people use window clings to decorate the windows, and then use removable poster gum, poster tape, or magnets to decorate other areas. We usually go to Disney during December and it's fun to see guests decorate their windows with Christmas lights. Have fun planning your decorations!

 

[WDW 2011]

As long as you are careful, Pop doesn't mind! Most people use window clings to decorate the windows, and then use removable poster gum, poster tape, or magnets to decorate other areas. We usually go to Disney during December and it's fun to see guests decorate their windows with Christmas lights. Have fun planning your decorations!

Thanks I appreciate the info. It's gonna be fun making the room alittle extra special for the kids.