September 2011 - The Planning Has Started!!!

[L-Harper]

Hi everybody! I am so excited to say that we will be going Sept. 9-18!! We have BLT booked! I am guilty to say that I spent income tax return already (Homeschooling the girls is not cheap!) but I have a plan...I will save tickets, quick dining and train before its time. Even if I have to go to the pawn shop for a few things!! And there is craigslist, I told you I have a plan. Plus, I will be watching my dear friend's DD for extra cash. There I said it I feel sooo much better now Oh and the heat/air has not been turned on in a week
So it will be my husband, son, two daughters and me!! Happy planning everyone!

Welcome to our group! I have you added to the first post I feel like you with paying for Disney. We are not taking any money from our regular budget. All of our money has to be "found" money. I have an Etsy shop that is paying for most of it, but I've also been selling stuff on Craigslist, saving all of our change (which I'm surprised with how much we already have just doing that), all of our pop cans, birthday money... Good luck to you!

 

[MamaJessie]

LHarper - what do you make for etsy?

I love going to the disney store. I have my $20 off $40 coupon from pre ordering Tangled and walked around the store planning purchases for when I can use it. Now just to decide which bathing suit/towel/sunglasses/flip flop combos for the littles. I know DS will want the Phineas and Ferb so he is easy, and my oldest is too hard to buy stuff like that for. The littles just had so many cute choices between Minnie and all the princesses. Decisions, decisions ....

 

[MamaJessie]

has anyone been to disneyworld.com lately? I logged on last night and it said "Soon you will be here" with a pic of POR and a countdown in the right hand corner of how many days I have left. It was enough to make me happy!

 

[MamaJessie]

http://www.disunplugged.com/2011/02/24/first-ever-character-meet-fastpass-coming-to-magic-kingdom/

This also made me happy. I've never used fastpasses as I go during slow times but I have never visited a character in the park because I have no patience to waste oodles of time, so this trip I'll have two new experiences

I will now stop bombarding the thread and go grocery shop.

 

[Smile4Me]

Since we decided to stay at Port Orleans: Riverside, I've been checking in on portorleans.org to see how the progress on the room refurbishments are going on both of the resorts, with the hope that they'd finish French Quarter early and be moved on to Riverside with parts done before we get there! And as luck would have it they are finishing early, and its estimated they will have the mansions done by Thanksgiving and the alligator bayou done by next spring....which is great! Sooo here is what I'm having a hard time with today planners: Right now we just have a standard room reserved, and I was planning to request an Alligator Bayou section close to the food court. I sorta wanted to upgrade to a King bed, but we decided to save the money ($200) to buy one for ourselves at home (which we did), because we'll get more use out of it. Now that we have a king bed...downgrading to double beds doesn't seem really appealing for vacation. So should I just go ahead and upgrade to the king, or wait and hope that some of the Mansion section will be done by the time they've upgrade to queen beds there and request we get a refurbed room in the Mansion section instead ?? What would you do?

 

[basketkat]

has anyone been to disneyworld.com lately? I logged on last night and it said "Soon you will be here" with a pic of POR and a countdown in the right hand corner of how many days I have left. It was enough to make me happy!

Yes! How fun!!!!

 

[disneydreamin247]

has anyone been to disneyworld.com lately? I logged on last night and it said "Soon you will be here" with a pic of POR and a countdown in the right hand corner of how many days I have left. It was enough to make me happy!

Mine shows 2...GF and Poly because I have a problem with making up my mind.

Hi everybody! I am so excited to say that we will be going Sept. 9-18!! We have BLT booked! I am guilty to say that I spent income tax return already (Homeschooling the girls is not cheap!) but I have a plan...I will save tickets, quick dining and train before its time. Even if I have to go to the pawn shop for a few things!! And there is craigslist, I told you I have a plan. Plus, I will be watching my dear friend's DD for extra cash. There I said it I feel sooo much better now Oh and the heat/air has not been turned on in a week
So it will be my husband, son, two daughters and me!! Happy planning everyone!

Have you tried a reward program? They can be a little time consuming but it's good free money! I've done over $210 from the 1st of January and it's all going to be spending cash for our trip, which is a few hundred less I have to "save" out of my salary.

You know what... disneystore.com needs a Wish List! I keep finding clothes on there that I want to buy for our trip, but I'm not buying them yet. If they had a Wish List, it would make life so much easier!

I really miss the days of $5 Disney Store tees. I'd like to tell them what to do with their "organic" tees.

 

[mayfam2010]

Well, no worries about my travel agent question the other day! I emailed him about it, and he emailed back with the restaurants he was planning on booking for us, and it was the EXACT SAME LIST as mine, except for 1! I'm so glad! So he's going to do it for us, which is a nice bonus, AND if it goes well we'll get reservations everywhere we want! YAY!

Only one decision left to make... one more restaurant, probably in the Magic Kingdom because we're not dong park hopper and we'll probably be there our last day! Some suggestions I've received: Crystal Palace, Tony's Town Square, San Angel Inn (not in MK, but we could make it work??).... Any other suggestions for MK Restaurants?

Oh, and here is where we're going to try for:
1. Cinderella's Royal Table
2. Ohana
3. Chef Mickey's
4. Sci Fi
5. Coral Reef

Suggestions?

 

[L-Harper]

LHarper - what do you make for etsy?

I love going to the disney store. I have my $20 off $40 coupon from pre ordering Tangled and walked around the store planning purchases for when I can use it. Now just to decide which bathing suit/towel/sunglasses/flip flop combos for the littles. I know DS will want the Phineas and Ferb so he is easy, and my oldest is too hard to buy stuff like that for. The littles just had so many cute choices between Minnie and all the princesses. Decisions, decisions ....

I make custom paper party invitations and decorations.

has anyone been to disneyworld.com lately? I logged on last night and it said "Soon you will be here" with a pic of POR and a countdown in the right hand corner of how many days I have left. It was enough to make me happy!

Yes! I love it! It was a great addition to their site!

Well, no worries about my travel agent question the other day! I emailed him about it, and he emailed back with the restaurants he was planning on booking for us, and it was the EXACT SAME LIST as mine, except for 1! I'm so glad! So he's going to do it for us, which is a nice bonus, AND if it goes well we'll get reservations everywhere we want! YAY!

Only one decision left to make... one more restaurant, probably in the Magic Kingdom because we're not dong park hopper and we'll probably be there our last day! Some suggestions I've received: Crystal Palace, Tony's Town Square, San Angel Inn (not in MK, but we could make it work??).... Any other suggestions for MK Restaurants?

Oh, and here is where we're going to try for:
1. Cinderella's Royal Table
2. Ohana
3. Chef Mickey's
4. Sci Fi
5. Coral Reef

Suggestions?

YAY! If you don't have park hoppers and want to be in MK for the day then San Angel Inn won't work since its in Epcot. I have Crystal Palace on my list for a dinner. Unfortunately I can't give you any real advice.

 

[DisneyLifer87]

So, my DH is not exactly a Disney freak, but he entertains my obsession and enjoys our trips. Today we ran a few errands (being that we both had the day off) and as we wander Target for a few essentials (toothpaste, etc.) he says, "Wow, they have swim trunks on sale. I should look at some for the trip. And I could use some tees, too. You should look for some new sandals..."

Bless his heart. I had to remind him that we have 6 months and most summer clothes aren't even out yet! But, overall, it made me smile to see him showing some of that excitement that he hides oh so well.

 

[E&As Mom]

Wow!!! I had a lot of pages to catch up on! However, I love to see everyone's excitement about planning their Disney vacation. It so helps to know that I'm not crazy for being excited about a trip that is still more than 6 months away. But my whole family is like this... we have the countdown on our home computer, so we LOVE being able to see it every morning. And I logged onto the main Disney World site today, and saw that countdown in the upper corner. Great added feature!

I don't have anything new to add... still have 10 days until I can make our ADRs. We know the "where" part of our ADRs, but we haven't circled the time part of it. On the days that we do breakfast (which will be 3 of them... Cape May, Akershus [sp?], and 1900 Park Fare), we usually try to do a later breakfast time (around 9:30 or 10), so that it's more like a brunch. That way, we can push off a CS dinner until 5 or 6, maybe grabbing an ice cream treat or a snack in between.

I can't stand to go into the Disney Store this time of year. It's not because I don't love it... it's because I always see stuff for the girls that I know I can't buy yet!!! But, we always buy 2 or 3 new shirts for them each year (and I can usually find one I like too, as well as 1 for DH).

It's almost Friday! Yay!! Just means another day to check off the calendar!

 

[BorkBorkBork]

I booked our flights today! I was discouraged from what I was finding on the airline websites & Expedia so I called Disney--I got the exact same flight for $140 less total! Came in under budget on flights so I'm sure I'll be able to find somewhere else to spend that money...

Has anyone else had conflicting responses when asking the phone CMs about when you can make your ADRs? I've been told March 18th (6 months out) twice and March 22nd (180 days out) twice. I'm guessing the 22nd is the correct date but I think that's weird. Wouldn't their system just tell them exactly when we can make our ADRs?

 

[pinkle]

has anyone been to disneyworld.com lately? I logged on last night and it said "Soon you will be here" with a pic of POR and a countdown in the right hand corner of how many days I have left. It was enough to make me happy!

Me Too I LOVE IT

 

[DisneyLifer87]

I booked our flights today! I was discouraged from what I was finding on the airline websites & Expedia so I called Disney--I got the exact same flight for $140 less total! Came in under budget on flights so I'm sure I'll be able to find somewhere else to spend that money...

Has anyone else had conflicting responses when asking the phone CMs about when you can make your ADRs? I've been told March 18th (6 months out) twice and March 22nd (180 days out) twice. I'm guessing the 22nd is the correct date but I think that's weird. Wouldn't their system just tell them exactly when we can make our ADRs?

I see you're from WI.. I'm your neighbor in MN

Mind if I ask what airline you're booking through and how much you got them through Disney? I'm wondering if Disney has similar cheaper rates out of MSP because expedia's $390 on Delta is killing me.

 

[BorkBorkBork]

I see you're from WI.. I'm your neighbor in MN

Mind if I ask what airline you're booking through and how much you got them through Disney? I'm wondering if Disney has similar cheaper rates out of MSP because expedia's $390 on Delta is killing me.

Hey neighbor! I booked Airtran through Disney at $198 RT per person, for $395.80 total. Nonstop flights and the right times of the day too so I wanted to jump on that! On Airtran's site and Expedia the total was $540. Southwest was going to be over $500 too. When I booked our package through Disney way back in August, the CM suggested to call them to see what deals they had at the time when I was looking for flights. Good luck! I hope you can get some deals too! I am glad to have the flights taken care of.

 

[Smile4Me]

Hey neighbor! I booked Airtran through Disney at $198 RT per person, for $395.80 total. Nonstop flights and the right times of the day too so I wanted to jump on that! On Airtran's site and Expedia the total was $540. Southwest was going to be over $500 too. When I booked our package through Disney way back in August, the CM suggested to call them to see what deals they had at the time when I was looking for flights. Good luck! I hope you can get some deals too! I am glad to have the flights taken care of.

Hey fellow Wisconsinite! Thanks for the tip, I have been planning on booking through AirTran (waiting for October dates)..I'll have to check through Disney to see how it compares!

I also just noticed when I bring up my reservation on disneyworld.com that the date its giving me to make my reservation is March 28th....but shouldn't it be March 24th (6 months out)? Confused.

 

[MissLiz]

It will be exactly 180 days from your check-in date, so that may be where the discrepancy is.

We check-in on 9/16 and our ADR day is 3/20.

Good luck!

 

[Smile4Me]

It will be exactly 180 days from your check-in date, so that may be where the discrepancy is.

We check-in on 9/16 and our ADR day is 3/20.

Good luck!

Gotcha! Thanks! Not a numbers person at all! Any thoughts on the post I made about our bed situation at POR?

 

[sjs314]

You can use the dining calculator at this link to find out what your 180 day is for making ADR's

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/pscalc/dispscalc.html

 

[L-Harper]

You can use the dining calculator at this link to find out what your 180 day is for making ADR's

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/pscalc/dispscalc.html

This is how I figured mine out.