September 2011 - The Planning Has Started!!!

[mickeymouseclubhouse]

to the new September travelers!

I have had several Dismeets at the bus stops in the mornings. They are just quick hi and how are you, but its fun! I saw on the TGM forums that they designed a pin for their vacation month to wear to the parks. It seemed like a fun idea, since only people from this thread would have them most likely.

I won $600 today! I ordered our Universal tickets and have enough left for lunch at Margaritaville while we are there too.

Nice!!

 

[MamaJessie]

Woohoo!!

What a great idea!!! I have a friend who makes pins. (Not like Disney pins, but the circle kind that has the safety type pin on the back, if that makes sense) She sells through Etsy and they are like $1 per pin plus shipping. I could talk to her and see if she'd make a custom pin for us! Who would be interested?

I am interested!

Anyone know if Sundays are worse than Thursdays or vice versa?

I am curious about this myself.

 

[mickeymouseclubhouse]

We are flying to MCO on Sunday September 4, 2011 from AZ. We are booked to stay at Coronado Springs until the 16th. My kids are excited about the main pool (they liked the pics of this moderate resort pool better than the others). We had originally planned on staying at PopCentury, hope I'm making the right choice.

I am taking my daughters (11 & 10) for their 1st visit. Although I've been to WDW, way back in 1974 & 1983, so much has changed that it will feel the like 1st time for me too, besides this will be my 1st time as an adult.

We are celebrating our birthdays there and are sooo excited! I really want our WDW vacation to be truly special for them!

I want to budget our money wisely and am still not sure if we should do the quick service dining plan, any suggestions, pro, con, otherwise? I’ve read good reviews of the Garden Grocer, which could save us on water and snacks.

I am also not sure how many days I should buy tickets for visiting the four parks and maybe one of the water parks. I figure during our stay we have enough time to relax at the pool, visit Downtown Disney, maybe visit Typhoon Lagoon and at least once at least three of the parks.

I’ve also been learning about the hidden mickeys and the pin trading which might be fun for the kids.

So, I would appreciate any helpful tips and ideas that will make this DisneyWorld vacation the Best I can possibly make it for my kids. Thanks!

I think some of it depends on you and your daughters preferences. Do you enjoy doing a lot of sit down type meals or would your girls rather spend more time enjoying the parks? The regular dining plan is great and we have had it on the last 4 trips but your schedule is somewhat dictated by your ADR's...always having to stop what you may be doing to get to your next meal. Your girls are older (11 and 10) so they may not be interested in so many character meals and may enjoy the bigger rides, shows, etc. and the flexibility that the QS dining plan would offer...when you're hungry just find a place to eat And you could plan 1 or 2 special meals if you wanted. Just something else to think about

I love Pop Century....having stayed there 3/4 trips. I have never stayed at Coronado Springs but it is high on our list to try! The pool there looks awesome and I'm sure your girls would love the slide, hot tub, etc. The Value pools have no slides. At Coronado, a fridge comes with the room so you could order groceries from garden grocer to save some $$. At the Values you have to pay extra for the fridge (either $10 or $15/night. Not sure the exact price) Finally, since you have such a long stay you may enjoy the more relaxing feel of Coronado after all your fun in the parks vs. Pop's bright, bubbly atmosphere. It's a tough decision! Good luck in whichever you choose but either way will be great!

 

[mickeymouseclubhouse]

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?

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!

This sounds like a fun idea!

 

[mickeymouseclubhouse]

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!

I agree!

I like the detailed rationale of easywdw.com and you can't beat free
I also enjoy touringplans

 

[jbmom]

I'm in for the pins! It would be fun!

 

[KELLY]

I'm just watching my ticker go down. LOL I'm sure no one would object.

 

[L-Harper]

So, my idea for the pins really won't work. They are only 1" pins so we need to think of something that doesn't have a ton of font and surely not our screen names. What design ideas do you guys have?

 

[jbmom]

So, my idea for the pins really won't work. They are only 1" pins so we need to think of something that doesn't have a ton of font and surely not our screen names. What design ideas do you guys have?

I think someone designed the ones for TGM on wackybuttons.com

 

[lemonsours]

What a great idea!!! I have a friend who makes pins. (Not like Disney pins, but the circle kind that has the safety type pin on the back, if that makes sense) She sells through Etsy and they are like $1 per pin plus shipping. I could talk to her and see if she'd make a custom pin for us! Who would be interested?

I definitely am in!

We are flying to MCO on Sunday September 4, 2011 from AZ. We are booked to stay at Coronado Springs until the 16th. My kids are excited about the main pool (they liked the pics of this moderate resort pool better than the others). We had originally planned on staying at PopCentury, hope I'm making the right choice.

I am taking my daughters (11 & 10) for their 1st visit. Although I've been to WDW, way back in 1974 & 1983, so much has changed that it will feel the like 1st time for me too, besides this will be my 1st time as an adult.

We are celebrating our birthdays there and are sooo excited! I really want our WDW vacation to be truly special for them!

Congratulations and welcome! I hope you have a wonderful trip! I agree with what everyone has said so far, and having stayed at Coronado Springs I can say you won't be missing all that much. The pool is what we initially fell in love with too, but in reality it is mostly just looks and not all that much different than the regular pool. The resort is pretty spread out, too. It's not that we didn't like it, it was just okay.

Hey y'all!
My whole family has been down and out this weekend with some sort of stomach virus. I hate being sick! Ugh! We are all pretty much on the mend now...I think.

We were well enough to go over ADRs today, so that was nice. DH brought up maybe doing the Fantasmic Dinner Package, but I don't know if I even want to try it.

Hope you are all feeling better! I have been getting a lot of the guidebooks out of the library, and while most are pretty outdated for being 2011 editions, I did read one suggestion which we are considering.

We had pretty much nixed Fantasmic due to the wait times, but they suggested picking up a QS dinner and bringing it with you while to eat while you are waiting, then you can have your desserts as you are waiting for the theater to empty. So now we are considering it again, but still unsure.

I can't decide about doing the Fantasmic Pkg either, DH says it is up to me he could care less about seeing Fantasmic. What I am thinking of doing is to make an early lunch ADR for the Fantasmic Pkg, then return to the resort until 2 hrs or so before Fantasmic is scheduled to go get our seats. We will have dinner at the resort maybe ? before heading over. I just know I can not deal with the crowds at DHS to spend anytime there on a Fantasmic Day since the crowds are so bad.

Anyone know if Sundays are worse than Thursdays or vice versa?

Your ADR's look good. I plan on doing Via Napoli for lunch our first day as it stands now.

I would def be interested in knowing if one day is worse than the other!

 

[Caretames1]

Hello September travelers!

Just popping in to check the ticker before heading out to update the PreTrip. Here's a question... does anyone prefer touringplans, TGM, or Ridemax? I'm trying to decide which to try out.

I subcribe to Touring Plans, I like that they have a moblie app (lines) that is easy to use and free unlike mobile magic.
And chat live from WDW!

 

[tukogirl]

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?

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!

Since it's small maybe just screenname and hot pink mickey on a lime background? Just throwin out ideas here

I'm just watching my ticker go down. LOL I'm sure no one would object.

Not at all! I'm afraid if I had a ticker I'd be looking at it like 4 times a day and obsessing, so I think I will wait a while before I actually add one

6 hours until I can make ADRS!!!!!

 

[lesabrowning]

6 hours until I can make ADRS!!!!! [/QUOTE]

Me too!!!! Will you be staying up or waking up early?

(being ADR obsessed from California is rough!)

 

[tukogirl]

6 hours until I can make ADRS!!!!!

Me too!!!! Will you be staying up or waking up early?

(being ADR obsessed from California is rough!)[/QUOTE]

haha, yes it is rough!

I'm going to bed now. Have the alarm set for 2:35 so I can get ready lol.

Best of luck to you! Hope you get everything you want

 

[MikellaCinderella]

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

 

[MikellaCinderella]

So, my idea for the pins really won't work. They are only 1" pins so we need to think of something that doesn't have a ton of font and surely not our screen names. What design ideas do you guys have?

I love your idea!! We need something with our screen names on it so we can recognize each other. I bet we can find someone to do larger pins.

 

[MikellaCinderella]

WTG on winning $600!

I can't decide about doing the Fantasmic Pkg either, DH says it is up to me he could care less about seeing Fantasmic. What I am thinking of doing is to make an early lunch ADR for the Fantasmic Pkg, then return to the resort until 2 hrs or so before Fantasmic is scheduled to go get our seats. We will have dinner at the resort maybe ? before heading over. I just know I can not deal with the crowds at DHS to spend anytime there on a Fantasmic Day since the crowds are so bad.

Anyone know if Sundays are worse than Thursdays or vice versa?

Your ADR's look good. I plan on doing Via Napoli for lunch our first day as it stands now.

I might be mistaken, but I don't think you can book an early lunch ADR for the Fantasmic Dinner package. I recall being told that it had to be AFTER 4pm when I booked ours last May. I won't be booking it again this year. We had to wait in a line just as long as the regular line for entry to Fantasmic. It's just a "different" long line. LOL! Then, they seated all of us way over on the right side of the theatre. There were actually BETTER seats available in the center section of the ampitheatre if we would've entered with the main crowd. We saw Fantasmic on the first Saturday of May last year. The DHS crowd was definitely hoppin' and the temp was in the 90's! Soooo glad we didn't plan to do much that day besides hit a couple rides/shows we didn't have time to do earlier in the week and then watch Fantasmic. We didn't get to DHS until about 2pm that day......FP's for Toy Story Mania?!? .....forget about it....they were LONG GONE! lol. ...and the wait time was 90 minutes! We rode it once earlier in the week, but my daughter really wanted to ride it again....however, she was 4 and not gonna tolerate a 90 min wait!

 

[MikellaCinderella]

WTG on winning $600!

I can't decide about doing the Fantasmic Pkg either, DH says it is up to me he could care less about seeing Fantasmic. What I am thinking of doing is to make an early lunch ADR for the Fantasmic Pkg, then return to the resort until 2 hrs or so before Fantasmic is scheduled to go get our seats. We will have dinner at the resort maybe ? before heading over. I just know I can not deal with the crowds at DHS to spend anytime there on a Fantasmic Day since the crowds are so bad.

Anyone know if Sundays are worse than Thursdays or vice versa?

Your ADR's look good. I plan on doing Via Napoli for lunch our first day as it stands now.

I might be mistaken, but I don't think you can book an early lunch ADR for the Fantasmic Dinner package. I recall being told that it had to be AFTER 4pm when I booked ours last May. I won't be booking it again this year. We had to wait in a line just as long as the regular line for entry to Fantasmic. It's just a "different" long line. LOL! Then, they seated all of us way over on the right side of the theatre. There were actually BETTER seats available in the center section of the ampitheatre if we would've entered with the main crowd. We saw Fantasmic on the first Saturday of May last year. The DHS crowd was definitely hoppin' and the temp was in the 90's! Soooo glad we didn't plan to do much that day besides hit a couple rides/shows we didn't have time to do earlier in the week and then watch Fantasmic. We didn't get to DHS until about 2pm that day......FP's for Toy Story Mania?!? .....forget about it....they were LONG GONE! lol. ...and the wait time was 90 minutes! We rode it once earlier in the week, but my daughter really wanted to ride it again....however, she was 4 and not gonna tolerate a 90 min wait!

 

[youcansmellit]

This seems like way to much food. I'm thinking the deluxe dining plan might be crazy. The ones with an asterisk i have not decided on. My wife thinks its funny how stressed I get. Some of the times are going to change. I only have five days to get this all together. Let me know if I'm making a huge mistake with any of this.

 

[MikellaCinderella]

This seems like way to much food. I'm thinking the deluxe dining plan might be crazy. The ones with an asterisk i have not decided on. My wife thinks its funny how stressed I get. Some of the times are going to change. I only have five days to get this all together. Let me know if I'm making a huge mistake with any of this.

LOL, yes....the deluxe DP is a lot of food!! We love it though! Some of those restaurants are on your schedule a couple times. Are you planning to eat at some of them more than once, or you just aren't sure which day/time yet? Looks like some good food!

I wish Disney had a dining plan that included two QS meals and 1 TS, plus snack. That would be perfect for us!