September TR... UPDATED on July 11th, 2009--FINAL DAY POSTED.

[Raecheal]

Hello.. Let me introduce myself.. I'm Racheal. New to the site, and for the last couple of days i've been here reading non-stop.

I'm turning 23 this coming november and I work in the legal field for the city we live in after a long 5 years of College and University. (i still dont' know if its worth all the debt) My boyfriend, dbf, D, is turning 27 this coming november. This September will be my third trip to Walt Disney World, same with him! The first one at the age of 9...the second one as an adult.... we went for our birthdays in November 2006... and finally the third trip this coming september. I am so excited!!

We finally agreed to go (I have been bugging him since we got back in dec. 06) in mid-June. Woo hooo I try not to take it personally, but Dbf doesn't get too exicted over things and he's also extremely cautious with his money...but i worked my magic hehe and we agreed! Only on one condition. The condition that he wouldn't have to do anything (he planned our whole last trip minute to minute, i just packed my suitcase) and that i would plan the entire trip. ENTIRE TRIP....Hotel reservations, dining reservations, which park on which date, transportation, packing, $$$, flight and all misc. things such as electronics:new memory card, rain gear, tours and anything that my romantic heart desired. cheer2:

I'm def. excited to get some advice, meet some new people and share some of our adventures at Disney. I"ve been spending the last 2 weeks, planning, calling WDW and planning. Till the next post...

(I"m not too sure how to post pictures. (it would be great if someone could help me)

 

[MomofCKJ]

Hi! I'm happy to sign on and read about your adventure! Sounds great to be able to plan it all yourself! You are certainly at the right place to learn all there is to know!

For pictures, do you host on Photobucket? I find that the best place. I host there and then click the icon that looks like a little picture of mountains. It will open a pop up to enter in the direct link to the picture which you get from Photobucket. It is quite easy and then once you submit your post the pics will show up.

Allyson

 

[Raecheal]

Hi.. thanks for getting back to me. That was fast. No, i do not host on photobucket but I've just signed up and i'm excited to share some photos. I"m not that great with online things.. but i'm def. learning. Thanks for the help.

 

[Raecheal]

Alright.. Apparently i'm not allowed to post some pics until i have posted so many comments. That shouldn't be a problem..Anyhooo i'll continue along...

After finally getting the A-okay to our third trip to WDW from Dbf. I decided on the month of September. I guess with work, vacation time, weather and making sure we had enough time to save up, it seemed that from Tues. September 22 to the 29th was our week. I chose these dates prior to doing any research, I was just too excited. I was excited for the both of us.

Almost immediatey I booked our hotel at POP. Having previously been there, I decided to stick to what was formilar and no matter what anybody says; We both equally absolutey LOVED this hotel which much shock. (Let me explain, All my life, i've stayed in 4+ star hotels. No i'm not a snob. Having previously worked the front desk at a hotel in Canada I know absolutely all the gross things that go on in hotels.. or this specific one. When originally booking our WDW trip in November '06 I was hesistant about staying in a value resort over a deluxe....we debated over the hotel up until the last minute. Being a student at the time, Dan planning and mostly his $$$...Value won!!! Along with our AAA discount; we ended up getting the hotel for a great price. Since our stay at POP, my whole opinion over hotels have changed. )

I do have a tendencies to jump off topic.. lol So far, Pop is booked. Since then i have purchased unofficial guides, reading online talking with friends who have recently gone to wdw and i still dont understand the 'free dining'. It was never mentioned when i was booking the hotel in june, and it woud have been something i would have loved to get. Can i still get it? or is it too late?

 

[Raecheal]

Can hopefuly get some photos up now..
Graduation

Some fav's from our last trip

bibbidi-bobbidi-boo

 

[natale1980]

That's too bad about the free dinning.
I guess you would have had to ask about it, and start your vacation on the 20th. I believe it is too late to book it now.
But now that you are on the Dis, you will learn how to take advantage of all sorts of stuff!

-nat

 

[Raecheal]

NObody seems to be reading or replying.. but i absolutely love to share my planning.. i think you'll notice how organized i am once you seen our itenerary. soon to come

The other morning i woke up, and there was a tiny mickey on our bedroom.. Dbf claims it was the magic of Disney that sent him..

Considering I booked the hotel first without hesistation, at POP with the AAA rate.. the thought never crossed my mind that i wouldn't be able to get a flight (at a cheap rate departing from Canada) on those days.
After spending the last 2 weeks looking for airfare... the cheapest i could find and was happy with was under 500 there and back including Travel Insurance. In '06 we paid 400.00 and samething there and back with travel insurance, so 500 each was not that bad. It still kills me tho, that you can fly to the states cheaper than to fly in canada.

Well the good news was that we are now departing Monday and leaving the following monday. which means i just scored us an extra FULL day at disney (no travelling) It ended up cheaper to get a hotel for monday night then to book our flights the tuesday.

Bad news.... POP wasn't available for the monday night. I was shocked, still a tab bit shock.. so i started to look at all of our options.. staying at another hotel, getting a hotel near the airport... etc, etc. Panic set in..

After calling for two days, at 7am.... We got our monday night, seperate reservations but having to change rooms is the least of our concerns as long as we are in the same hotel... and dont have the stress of switching hotels, checking-in/out. This way we can fully enjoy all day tuesday at a park. woo hooo

so far so good.. i think. I've got us a flight, hotel. and currently working on dinning and which park on which day. I've also got some tours booked.. till next post..

 

[Raecheal]

we i absolutely love photos. Here's a couple more shots from our previous trip. (So sorry they are so big, i dont know how to make them smaller)

 

[the4princesses]

Hi Welcome to the DIS!!
We will be at POP Sept. 3-10th with free dining!!
Can't wait!!
So you live in CANADA!!

DO YOU LIKE LIVING THERE??
My 3 girls would love to vist someday!!

So did you get the free dining, I was a little confused???

We went to POP Sept. 2007 with free dining!!
We Loved it !! That's why we are going back this Sept.
We will fly for $63.00 one way!!
Did I read right, it is going to cost you $500.00???
That's alot of money!!

I'm going to keep reading your post!!
Have a wonderful night!!
Kathy

 

[MousekaMaddi]

hi, glad u are writing, keep the pix coming too

 

[Raecheal]

Hi Welcome to the DIS!!
We will be at POP Sept. 3-10th with free dining!!
Can't wait!!
So you live in CANADA!!

DO YOU LIKE LIVING THERE??
My 3 girls would love to vist someday!!

So did you get the free dining, I was a little confused???

We went to POP Sept. 2007 with free dining!!
We Loved it !! That's why we are going back this Sept.
We will fly for $63.00 one way!!
Did I read right, it is going to cost you $500.00???
That's alot of money!!

I'm going to keep reading your post!!
Have a wonderful night!!
Kathy

Hey...nice to meet you Kathy!! Wow. How exciting your trip is coming up... dont you just love pop?

Free dining... no i didn't get it, i even got Dbf to call this week and ask about it but no such like.. and i booked our hotel in JUNE. I dont know what i did wrong : confused: How did you manage to get the free dining? That would have saved us soooo much money

Yep, It's costing us for flight there and back plus travel insurance 500 EACH. We looked for days and couldn't find anything cheaper. At this point, i'm just going to stick with the 500, i've stopped looking because if i find anything cheaper i'll be upset. Although, it takes about 41/2 hours to fly there it takes 1 hour and your looking at a cost of about 150 for one way. It's so expensive to fly in Canada... 63.00 one way.. THATS A DEAL!! Sometimes, Occasionally... lol i see deals for like 80 dollars to toronto from ottawa, but by the time they add up taxes etc, it comes out to about 150-220 anyways..no real deal there!!

I love where i live.....its beautifu (surprisingly super clean) you have three girls... how old are there?

Racheal

 

[Raecheal]

That's too bad about the free dinning.
I guess you would have had to ask about it, and start your vacation on the 20th. I believe it is too late to book it now.
But now that you are on the Dis, you will learn how to take advantage of all sorts of stuff!

-nat

You look absolutely beautiful in the picture with the baby in signature. I am so sad about the dinning : ( i wish i would have known about that sooner.. i still dont fully understand how that worked out. anyhoo I am def.. learning alot from dis

 

[Raecheal]

After Flight, Hotel... I have the most exciting part left of planning..our itenerary.
So far here is what i have... in wayy more detail on my word document.

Monday, Day 1- Arrival
AM: Work 8-12
NOON: Packing/last minute preparations
PM: Airport 2pm
Arriving 9:45pm at MCO
Disney Magical Express Bus booked

B: At Home
L: At Work
D: At airport/hotel

Tuesday Day 2- Epcot/Animal Kingdom
AM: Segway tour at Epcot
Future World only
NOON:1130-2:00 Nap/Lunch back at Hotel
PM: Animal Kingdom

B: At hotel
L: At hotel
D: At Hotel (ADR?)

Wednesday Day 3- MGM

Thursday Day 4 Typhoon Lagoon/Downtown Disney or Magic Kingdom (Depending on weather)

B: to be determined depending on park
L: to be determined depending on park
D: to be determined depending on park

Friday Day 5- Epcot

AM: Any Future World Rides missed
NOON: Aqua Seas Tour
PM: World Showcase Only
International Food and Wine Festival
Reflections

B: At Hotel
L: At Park (Samples from Festival)
D: ADR= Rose and Crown

Saturday Day 6- Typhoon Lagoon/Downtown Disney or Magic Kingdom (Depending on weather) (which ever one we didn't visit on Thursday)

Sunday Day 7- Animal Kingdom

Am: Animal Kingdom
PM: The "not-so-scary Halloween Party" Magic Kingdom

B: ADR=Donald's Safari Breakfast Tusker House
L: At Park
D: At Hotel or ADR at Magic Kingdom

Monday, Day 8 ( OPEN )
AM: Any park/Activity that we'd like to re-visit
PMacking
Departing 4pm from MCO





As you can see, i still have a couple more details. i.e. ADR to make. I've been trying to get into the Disney Spirit of ALoha no such luck.. I've been calling, and calling..

 

[Raecheal]

Hey.. so i thought i'd add in a couple of more photos from our previous trip. I love photos.. we took over 400 photos and everyday we took our camcorder. We have soo much footage of the parks and us being silly.
Totally off topic, but i must share. I'm enjoying a piece of homemade icecream cake a coworker made..mmMMmm... its just so hard to eat healthy all the time. I've recently lost close to 30 pounds, i'd like to lose realistically another 20 before disney but i dont see that happening. I really need to get back into my exercise/healthy mode.. however; i've never have eaten homemade icecream cake. it is delicious... how sweet of her.. I always crave ice cream.. its my ultimate fav.
anyhooo here are a couple of pictures...

A couple more fav.

Hope you enjoyed!!

 

[MomofCKJ]

Great pics! Nice to put faces to the names!

Too bad you missed out on Free Dining. But a trip to Disney is still a trip to Disney right?! Your itinerary looks like a lot of fun! I bet MNSSHP will be a blast!

I just switched my August ressie over to Pop. I was at ASMu. I loved Pop the last time we stayed there so I was happy to move the ressie over!

Allyson

 

[Raecheal]

well iv'e been reading the dis and it seems like alot of people are looking for reservations they were not able to get in the up coming months. I may talk with Dbf tonight (although he's asked for a couple of days without hearing about disney) I think i'm starting to stress him out. How can you be stressed out when it comes to WDW? Honestly.

I'm trying to make our trip more relaxing. Last november we were at the parks before their opened up until after their closed. Everything was planned minute by minute and i can honestly say we did every single ride, show etc., at each and every park. I've never felt so rushed and busy in my entire life... so obviously this time around were going to only visit the rides and shows we MAY have missed, are new or really enjoyed. I hoping this will allow our trip to feel more relaxed and give us the opportunity to really enjoy the moment and able to soak in the magic of Disney. YAY!!

Don't get me wrong he planned a great trip full of fun, but i think we both agree this second time around as adults only trip will be much more relazed.

Its July... i'm obviously time to start saving for the trip in order to meet our budget for the trip.
This is where we are at so far:


Racheal's Disney--September 2008 Estimated Cost

Tuesday, September 23rd to Monday, September 29th

Flight/Insurance 557.00
Hotel 268.00 CAA Discount
Park Ticket 335.00
Extra Activities 385.00 Aqua Tour/Segway
Food 315.00
Souvenir's 50.00 Racheal ONLY..
Misc. 50.00 Tips/Cabs/Extra fees
Total $1,960.00

Dbf's Disney--September 2008 Estimated Cost
Tuesday, September 23rd to Monday, September 29th
Flight/Insurance 557.00
Hotel 268.00 CAA Discount6
Park Ticket 335.00
Food 315.00
Souvenir's 30.00
Misc. 50.00 Tips/Cabs/Extra fees
Total $1,555.00

TOTAL FOR DISNEY TRIP $3,515.00


Can somebody please tell me how you go about getting FREE-DINNNING? I do not understand... Would love know? was it a code? they offered it when you booked your room? an email?

 

[Raecheal]

Great pics! Nice to put faces to the names!

Too bad you missed out on Free Dining. But a trip to Disney is still a trip to Disney right?! Your itinerary looks like a lot of fun! I bet MNSSHP will be a blast!

I just switched my August ressie over to Pop. I was at ASMu. I loved Pop the last time we stayed there so I was happy to move the ressie over!

Allyson

Good choice, POP is great. Dbf doesn't want to go to MNSSHP, have you gone?

 

[Raecheal]

This is totally but

Earlier this year, I had an interview for the Disney International work program. We drove the hour and half to get there and at the very last minute I chickened out . We turned around and drove home. That whole ride home, I really regretted my decision, and in my mind agreed that if we took a trip to WDW it would make up for the missed interview. I haven't really thought about it until today. I guess, I am so excited to be back at Disney ..

 

[Disney Brat]

Hi there!! I just found you! Your plans sound great so far!! Now I will try to explain the Free Dining...During the slower time of mid august through mid to late Sept disney offered free dining to guests. THey offered a code that was to be quoted when booking. There was only a select amount of rooms available for the free dining. To take advantage of the free dining, guests also had to buy at least aone day pass to the parks. I believe the cut off for applying the code to ressies was the end of June. I hope that makes sense...

Can't wait to read more!!

 

[Disneychix]

Hello!

You're trip looks great so far. We will be there the exact same dates but this year we are staying at POFQ. We stayed at POP last year and really liked it. Need a bit more room this year with DS and grandma too!

In addition to what Disney Brat said about Free Dining, the cutoff date was arriving in WDW on Sept 20th.

What type of tickets did you get? Also, are you talking in Canadian $$ or American? Your prices seem a bit high but it might just be the exchange?

Also, are you taking DME from the airport?

CAn't wait to hear more...