The 5 trips of My "Disney Free Year" - A Mermaid, A Buzz, A Boat and A Steak - 7/8

[not_Joanna_eggs]

I think your ADR choices sound great! We really love Kouzzina for dinner, it is definitely Greek food, but I'm sure that you will find items that you will enjoy! There's a really great variety of options.

I've always wanted to try GFC for not-breakfast, I've seen they have a little adorable dessert sampler (sadly, that does not appear on the breakfast menu!).

Ohh glad to know you like Kouzzina. I'm very much on the fence about it, but I'm sure I'll find something.

I think it is such a tragedy that it isn't socially acceptable to have dessert with breakfast. I mean really!

You pictures from Alaska are awesome!!! I hope I am able to make it there sometime in the future!!

I am so excited for your upcoming trips!! I love living vicariously through you.

Thanks! I hope you make it to Alaska someday. It is so gorgeous!

I'm excited about my trips too! Glad you enjoy "coming along" with me

 

[portobello_rd]

i just wanted to tell you that last night i thought of you. My husband and i are rewatching Disney movies before our trip in September. Last night we watched the first Rescuers AND the Rescuers Down Under. When "NOT JOANNAS EGGS" line came up i laughed. Silly.
and btw, that Rescuers is a bajillion times better than the 70s snooze of the original Rescuers. I mean, I like it.....kinda... but its so 70s!
and thats my story!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

i just wanted to tell you that last night i thought of you. My husband and i are rewatching Disney movies before our trip in September. Last night we watched the first Rescuers AND the Rescuers Down Under. When "NOT JOANNAS EGGS" line came up i laughed. Silly.
and btw, that Rescuers is a bajillion times better than the 70s snooze of the original Rescuers. I mean, I like it.....kinda... but its so 70s!
and thats my story!

Yay for Rescuers Down Under. Really any movie that pairs Bob Newheart and Eva Gabor is top-notch in my book Plus any movie that has a character with my name as an inept villain is by default my favorite ever.

Also, did you know.... (According to the always correct Wikipedia ) That the Rescuers actually came in between the Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast? I had no idea, I always thought those two were back to back. Belle and Ariel are like everywhere - where's Bianca??

I wish the Rescuers got some in-park love. It's almost as egregious as the lack of love for the Emperor's New Groove, but don't get me started on that

I like the idea of rewatching some old Disney movies. DH didn't watch a lot of Disney movies as a child. I think it might be fun to get him into some of the 80's-tastic movies like the Great Mouse Detective and Oliver and Co. I think you just gave me a plan for next weekend

I was just telling DH this, and he informed me he's never seen the Emperor's New Groove. It's like I don't even know him This situation must be remedied immediately!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Never seen the Emperor's New Groove?! I love that movie! Kronk is my favorite.

"Hey.....look what I can do."

I just realized that you'll be there the same time as my parents. Too bad I'm not tagging along on this trip with them.

 

[portobello_rd]

OH EM GEE! never seen emporers new groove? what the HECK!?!?!?!
Yzma, put your hands in the air!

You need to be careful with watching old movies though. they were really great in my memory, but some of those old ones....
yikes!
like the great mouse detective- used to love it....now after a rewatch.....eh. not so much
have to get thru pocahontas and fox in the hound, lion king and Bolt and i think we got thru all of the animated movies in the last 6 months!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Never seen the Emperor's New Groove?! I love that movie! Kronk is my favorite.

"Hey.....look what I can do."

I just realized that you'll be there the same time as my parents. Too bad I'm not tagging along on this trip with them.

Right??? I am so re-evaluating my marriage right now

I'm partial to "Sharp rocks at the bottom? Bring it on."

Kronk is my favorite too!

Man, that would have been cool! Maybe you can fit in their suitcase?? It just dawned on my how did you get a room at OKW for them??? I tried and they told me there were only 2 bedrooms available. Grrrr. Tell them I have resort envy

OH EM GEE! never seen emporers new groove? what the HECK!?!?!?!
Yzma, put your hands in the air!

You need to be careful with watching old movies though. they were really great in my memory, but some of those old ones....
yikes!
like the great mouse detective- used to love it....now after a rewatch.....eh. not so much
have to get thru pocahontas and fox in the hound, lion king and Bolt and i think we got thru all of the animated movies in the last 6 months!

Yeah. Apparently he lives in a cave or something. Then again, his favorite animated Disney movie is Treasure Planet, so what does that say??

I told him that we would be watching it on the way to Disney. He didn't look happy, he has no idea the awesomeness that he is about to endure!

I can see that. I feel that way about many things from the 80s. Like I remember how awesome the Wonder Years was, but I tried to get through an episode a couple weeks ago, and I made it about 10 minutes! But I still think that it would be fun to rewatch all the movies. I've very intrigued. I think we might take on the 50 animated movies as a winter project. I haven't seen some of the classics in a really long time.

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

I have a Conundrum of epic proportions. Because of the vouchers, we can’t take the flight out I was planning on… BUT… we could take a flight after work on Thursday.

Yep, I am considering adding on a day!

The downsides:

• The flight would be out of Chicago, which adds about 2 hrs onto the getting to the airport, which means I’d have to leave work a little (like an hour) early.
• We would have to get a room different room for 1 night (though there’s a promotion that values are $69 a night Sun-Thurs, so it’s not a deal breaker…)
• It would give us 1 full day where we don’t have park tickets.

The upsides:

• Um…it’s one more full day in Disney!
• This flight is direct, the alternative is not.
• Did I mention it is one more full day in Disney?

I’m seriously torn. I’m not really concerned about taking a couple extra hours off. And the price difference between the 2 flights is more than $70, so really it is just the inconvenience of having to stay at a value resort for a night.

My big problem is flying out of O’Hare sucks. I hate O’Hare. I like my little Milwaukee airport. If this was the 6:30 flight from MKE to MCO (and BTW this flight exists on airtran), we would not be having this conversation. It would be booked, done and done.

But the stupid vouchers are on United, because they fly to Vancouver. But united pretty much only flies out of Chicago, so I’m stuck.

We’ll see what DH says when he gets home, but more importantly what do you think? Is an extra day (knowing that it will not be a park day) worth braving the 7th circle of hell that is O’Hare + Chicago rush hour traffic?

 

[onelilspark]

I'd fly down the night before.

I went to Valpo for college and used to fly out of Midway and O'Hare all the time (I once missed a flight out of Midway by 5 minutes because it took 4 hours to get to the airport...should have only taken an hour!) So I totally get that you hate O'Hare. It is the devil. I love my little Rochester (NY) airport. I can show up an hour before an international flight and be totally fine...BUT...

I think there's a lot less that can go wrong on direct flights and if you're delayed, you don't have to worry about a connection. And if you miss a flight out of O'Hare, there's 10 billion more you can get on.

Have you thought about trying for a room at one of the hotels around the airport? You can take the shuttle to it and then take it back the next morning to get ME down to Disney. (Or try Priceline for the Hyatt right there in the airport?)

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I definitely vote for go down the night before. I am always all for a direct flight, plus I'd stay at a value for one night to get the extra day there! I don't know what the traffic is like around there (sounds pretty awful), but maybe if you can get there a bit early then you'd be good!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Ugh. I hate conundrums.

I would go down the night before. I've done the one night at a value resort thing, and it's really not so bad.

 

[Caretames1]

Direct flight! Stay in a cheap hotel night before, and add a day to Disney!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

I'd fly down the night before.

I went to Valpo for college and used to fly out of Midway and O'Hare all the time (I once missed a flight out of Midway by 5 minutes because it took 4 hours to get to the airport...should have only taken an hour!) So I totally get that you hate O'Hare. It is the devil. I love my little Rochester (NY) airport. I can show up an hour before an international flight and be totally fine...BUT...

I think there's a lot less that can go wrong on direct flights and if you're delayed, you don't have to worry about a connection. And if you miss a flight out of O'Hare, there's 10 billion more you can get on.

Have you thought about trying for a room at one of the hotels around the airport? You can take the shuttle to it and then take it back the next morning to get ME down to Disney. (Or try Priceline for the Hyatt right there in the airport?)

I definitely vote for go down the night before. I am always all for a direct flight, plus I'd stay at a value for one night to get the extra day there! I don't know what the traffic is like around there (sounds pretty awful), but maybe if you can get there a bit early then you'd be good!

Ugh. I hate conundrums.

I would go down the night before. I've done the one night at a value resort thing, and it's really not so bad.

Direct flight! Stay in a cheap hotel night before, and add a day to Disney!

Thanks everyone for your input. When I told DH that you all thought we should do it, he was like "yeah, because you're getting a totally impartial view on a Disney message board"

But....

We talked about it anyway, and I had him sold until I mentioned O’Hare. He reminded me that last time I flew through O’Hare, I had a 7:30 flight, and I left work at 3 and we made it there a little after 6:30.

Oh yeah. Guess that wouldn’t work, we’d have to take a 1Ž2 day. Which I really didn’t want to do since it would be unpaid, but it is nearly impossible for DH to do since he’s the master of “just a few more minutes” Plus this was supposed to be a “no days off work” trip, and we already were both taking 1.

Well crud. I think DH could see how crushed I was, so then he said what I thought was the exact worst thing ever. “why don’t we just use the vouchers to go visit Panic in November?”

“And cancel Disney??” I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, this is NOT what I was intending to happen.

“No, not cancel. We have enough points to get one FF ticket on AirTran, so it would be a wash that way, and then we can go Thursday night and leave later on Monday. The times for these vouchers really suck to Orlando, the timing is much better to Boston.”

I was really confused for a minute. Did Mr. “I don’t want to go to Disney” actually just suggest adding not only a whole day on the front but essentially 3/4 of a day on the back end too. I wiped my tears, took a deep breath and looked at him.

“Yeah, I guess we could do that”

So I went and looked at the flights, there’s a 7pm flight down there, and a 6 pm flight back. Which give us more than a day longer to play! AND… by doing that, the flight we would have to pay for (either way, we’d have to pay for 1 ticket) was about $200cheaper! Not to mention the bonus trip to go visit Panic!

So it was a win-win, way to go DH. I was so wrapped into using the vouchers I never even thought of it. But now that DH did, I couldn’t be happier!!!

But, as I’m sure you know, a slight change in the plan means you must revaluate the entire plan and change just about everything.

 

[Caretames1]

Thanks everyone for your input. When I told DH that you all thought we should do it, he was like "yeah, because you're getting a totally impartial view on a Disney message board" :

That's becuse we're partial to Disney

But, as I’m sure you know, a slight change in the plan means you must revaluate the entire plan and change just about everything.

Of course! Plans! Oh, how I love to plan

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

That's becuse we're partial to Disney



Of course! Plans! Oh, how I love to plan

Really, I don't see why he thought you all wouldn't be objective

As much as I love to plan, I love to re-plan

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

So… Here’s the new plan:

Thursday:

Late flight, DH will pick me up from work, and we’ll head straight to the MILWAUKEE airport. Our flight gets in to MCO around 10:30pm.

We discussed just staying near the airport, and catching the ME the next day. But we decided that we’d rather just deal with the “getting there” all at once, and a stay at a Value for one night wouldn’t kill us. And $70 isn’t an awful price. If our only option was a deluxe for like $240, then we’d be having a different discussion.

When I went to book, only the All Star Sports resort had the $69 rooms left. The other 4 only had preferred rooms for $86 which isn’t awful, but since the cheaper rate was still available somewhere, I went for it.

I figure we’ll get there around midnight, so we’ll just get in and crash.

Friday:

So what are we going to do with our full bonus day? If you’ve been reading my reports, you have a pretty good clue as to what DH’s response will be… SLEEP.

Which is fine, but it is another reason we’re sticking with Disney. I feel totally safe wandering around Disney, since I have some bearings and can navigate around with relative ease on my own. Take me out of Disney, and I’m totally lost!

So I’ll wander, take pictures and pick up some breakfast while DH sleeps.

Once DH wakes up, we will check out and head over to Saratoga Springs. Despite all the times that I’ve graciously checked in really late, I never seem to be able to get into our rooms early, so we’ll probably just drop off our bags and head over to Downtown Disney.

I don’t have a real plan here. Maybe just wander around. I could spend like 3 hours just in the Art of Disney! If it is operating, maybe we’ll check out Characters in Flight. DH’s grandma did it on our wedding trip, and she’s still talking about it!

For lunch I’m hoping to FINALLY make to Earl of Sandwich. I’ve read such good things, I think it will be fun to try.

After lunch, if our room is ready, we’ll head over to check in. If it isn’t ready we’ll keep wandering.

I promised DH we would take this trip nice and easy, especially Friday. He always complains that with the short trips he doesn’t have time to unwind and relax, and then I push him too much in the parks. This leads to fights and not-so-magical moments.. so, I am going to try my hardest Friday to just relax hang out at Downtown Disney and the pool.

We have early-ish ADRs at Yacbtsman, which is our only repeat-ADR for the entire trip. I just couldn’t figure out what to replace it with – maybe because I’ve been dreaming about going back to the Yachtsman for like an entire year! But if anyone has any yummy suggestions, I’m all ears!

Wishes is at 9, so I’m hoping to grab some dessert and make our way over to the Poly beach to watch the fireworks.

I can’t imagine a better end to any day than cuddling on the beach of my favorite resort with my DH, eating a piece of chocolate peanut butter cake from the boardwalk bakery, enjoying a “glass” of milk and watching Wishes!

 

[onelilspark]

Thanks everyone for your input. When I told DH that you all thought we should do it, he was like "yeah, because you're getting a totally impartial view on a Disney message board"

But....

We talked about it anyway, and I had him sold until I mentioned O’Hare. He reminded me that last time I flew through O’Hare, I had a 7:30 flight, and I left work at 3 and we made it there a little after 6:30.

Oh yeah. Guess that wouldn’t work, we’d have to take a 1Ž2 day. Which I really didn’t want to do since it would be unpaid, but it is nearly impossible for DH to do since he’s the master of “just a few more minutes” Plus this was supposed to be a “no days off work” trip, and we already were both taking 1.

Well crud. I think DH could see how crushed I was, so then he said what I thought was the exact worst thing ever. “why don’t we just use the vouchers to go visit Panic in November?”

“And cancel Disney??” I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, this is NOT what I was intending to happen.

“No, not cancel. We have enough points to get one FF ticket on AirTran, so it would be a wash that way, and then we can go Thursday night and leave later on Monday. The times for these vouchers really suck to Orlando, the timing is much better to Boston.”

I was really confused for a minute. Did Mr. “I don’t want to go to Disney” actually just suggest adding not only a whole day on the front but essentially 3/4 of a day on the back end too. I wiped my tears, took a deep breath and looked at him.

“Yeah, I guess we could do that”

So I went and looked at the flights, there’s a 7pm flight down there, and a 6 pm flight back. Which give us more than a day longer to play! AND… by doing that, the flight we would have to pay for (either way, we’d have to pay for 1 ticket) was about $200cheaper! Not to mention the bonus trip to go visit Panic!

So it was a win-win, way to go DH. I was so wrapped into using the vouchers I never even thought of it. But now that DH did, I couldn’t be happier!!!

But, as I’m sure you know, a slight change in the plan means you must revaluate the entire plan and change just about everything.

That sounds like a conversation that could be held in my house!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Well that outcome doesn't sound bad at all! Go DH for good thinking!

I think your revised plan sounds like a good idea! $69 really doesn't sound bad, and you will be at a Disney resort!

 

[Caretames1]

I want to do your first day! I really just want time to wander DTD, but your at Disney...the parks are a calling!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

That sounds like a conversation that could be held in my house!

Why do the man-folk pretend not to like Disney. In the end they're just big Disney softies too!

Well that outcome doesn't sound bad at all! Go DH for good thinking!

I think your revised plan sounds like a good idea! $69 really doesn't sound bad, and you will be at a Disney resort!

Not bad at all. DH talks tough, but he's just as badly bitten by the Disney bug as I am!

That was our thinking. For $70, we're AT Disney already so we can just focus on relaxing on Friday.

I want to do your first day! I really just want time to wander DTD, but your at Disney...the parks are a calling!

We (okay, I) are always the same way. It is so hard to stay away from the parks, especially when you have an AP or other type of ticket just burning in your pocket. I'm hoping we can resist the temptation since we have limited tickets.

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

I am starting to think DH is much more of a Dinsey fan than he lets on.

Exhibit A. I ask where the no-expire passes are to make sure we haven't lost them. "They're with the other important documents."
"What other important documents?"
"You know, passports, birth certificates, social security cards..."
Because it's logical that "Disney admissions" is the next thing in that sentence

Exhibit B. DH and I were talking over lunch, and I was telling him the plan, and he turns to em and says "How much is it to upgrade the room to a Mod?" So I looked, and it's about $85, but it would give us a king bed.

He was like "I think we should upgrade don't you?"

Who is this man, and what has he done with DH? I was like "Well we could stay at POR-FQ and then just take a boat over to SSR so it would be convenient. Plus, benigets are yummy, but then again, It is only for 12 hrs, so that's a lot of money for just that."

"I'll think about it, but I think we should do it."

Um... What just happened here?? We went from we're going to make this trip as cheap as possible, to let's add ADRs, to let's add another day, to let's upgrade our hotel room, and none of these changes have been my idea!

Let it be known, I will no longer accept being called the sole Disney-fanatic in this household.

The prosecution rests.


So anyway, we haven't pulled the trigger on upgrading to POR yet, but I know DH, and I know it's going to happen. We'll probably give Disney a call tomorrow and make the change. I'm leaning towards FQ for the sole reason of benigets. So basically if someone has a reason pro or con any of the Mods, I'm all ears.

This change really doesn't change our plans for day 1 except make it easier to get from one resort to the other and make breakfast more deep-fried.

Give him another week, we'll be staying at the Grand Floridian