The Holy Cow I Leave in Less Than Two Weeks Pre-Trip Report

[Trinity524]

Hello All!

Welcome to my pre-trip report!

I am a little nervous as this is my first trip report; however, as most of you know, Disney is the land of dreams and I am dreaming of this pre-trip report helping me get through to next Saturday (9/18) as quickly as possible. I have to put the date in because since Saturday I thought I was allowed to say I am going to Disney next Saturday but atlas, everyone thought I meant this Saturday. Hello, if it was this Saturday, I would just say Saturday.... *sigh* There goes my obligatory rant! Either way, I am super excited about this trip!

Here is the cast of characters:

Me (Annie) and my Super Awesome Hubby (John). This pic was from the last time we were in Disney...

And the man, the dream, the legend.. my darling two year old son, Jack

Now, a little about us...

First up me... I am 33 and native to New York City, moved to Palm Coast Florida in 1995, moved to Jacksonville, FL in 1997 and my job moved me out to San Antonio, TX in 2006. I love to travel and everything Disney. I plan obsessively for 9 months out of the year. We go every September so as soon as the holidays are over, it's back to planning. Here is a picture of me from March in the Bahamas.

My DH is 29 (why yes I am a cradle robber, thanks for asking) and he used to pretend he didn't like Disney until one year I suggested we not go and he nearly fell out. DH is originally from Baltimore or Bawlmer if you are from there, moved to Jacksonville in 1990 and married his princess (me) in 2006. He likes thrill rides. the pool and Lapu Lapu's (sp) from the Polynesian. Here is a picture of John.

Ladies back off... he's mine!

And then there is Jack. Truth is, I am just the pod that had him. He and DH are BFF and I am normally good for boo boo's and when he's sick. He's 100 percent all boy. He will be 3 this November and has been to Disney twice, three time including the time he was in utero. He loves ANYTHING Toy Story, Stitch and Cars. His favorite characters are Buzz Lightyear and Booty... That's right Booty... it's what he calls Woody. His favorite movie as a baby was Pinocchio. He calls him Pino (pee-no). Here is a picture of my stinky-bean.

AW! But this is a more recent picture of them together...

That is what I get every time I ask for a nice picture... Oh well... boy will be boys.

Next post... where are we staying? How long? Dining Plan or No Dining Plan, Free or to pay?!?! The world must know!

 

[gray2402]

reading!!!

(Psst, I am a cradle robber too! haha)

 

[Trinity524]

reading!!!

(Psst, I am a cradle robber too! haha)

My first reader! I saw that... it might be my favorite thing about you . So excited! Can't believe it's almost time!

 

[Trinity524]

We are staying at Pop Century this year in a preferred room. 2008 we stayed at Pop, so last year we thought we would do it up big and stayed at the Poly. Yeah, I wasn’t too impressed with the price, quality of the room or the service. With that being said, different strokes for different folks and we are back to Pop. We will be staying 9/18-9/26 and this is the first year that I will not be renting a car. So, what do I love about Pop? From the moment that you arrive there it's all Disney all the time. I love the cafeteria; I love the gift shop and LOVE the pool. I love that if my two year old has a tantrum that I get looks of sympathy from other mothers instead of the death. Not that Mr. Perfect ever has a tantrum (yeah right) but I feel more at home there. More my kind of peeps! We are so happy to be going back.

Now... about this having no car situation. Last year, I lost my rental keys on a car that I moved exactly 1 time to go to Wal-Mart. It ended up costing me 600 dollars just to get the car towed and the extra day at a hotel not in Disney because missed my flight as well. I swore that was it. No more car! I just don't want that stress. Now that the date is coming closer, you know I am freaking out. What if ... what if... blah blah, blah. I guess my biggest concern is what if I want to go somewhere and due to the fact that I won't have a car seat, I can't go somewhere? Argh, I even annoy myself sometimes.

We bounced back from last year's free dining, so even though we are at Pop, we got the regular free dining. So next up, where will we be dining?

 

[Trinity524]

Yummy! This will be our third time with Free Dining. With the way that my boys eat, it's the only way to go! Here is where we will be dining!

Mama Melrose-Fantasmic
CRT-oop-breakfast
Chef Mickey's
Coral Reef
Tusker House
Ohana
Chef's De France
Crystal Palace

Thoughts? We have eaten at CRT, Chef Mickeys, Tusker House, Ohana's and Crystal Palace. We thought they were awesome enough to come back to and wanted to try something new with the Fantasmic package, Coral Reef, and Chef's De France.

Next post...What I have bought in preparation for this Disney trip... (Hope the DH isn't reading this, lol)

 

[KELLY]

So in. We leave in a little over 2 weeks checking in 9/24 to 10/3. Yes we love pop for the same reasons. It sort of feels like home. We use to do mods and deluxes but once we stayed at pop. We were trying to figure out why we spent all the extra money. My girls 2 and 5 love pop also.

We book bounceback as well. But when the QSDP came out we switched. We are keeping 3 adr's but want to kind of keep adr free this year. We are already booked for next year but we may upgade the plan if we don't care for the QSDP. But we really think it will work out for us.

Our adr's
T-rex
Garden Grill
Akershus or Crystal Palace need to pick one asap. My older dd love princess but wanted t-rex instead. She told me to pick CP so her sister could see pooh. I thought it was so sweet. But now I feel bad cancling one.

 

[topdog]

I am sure you'll enjoy the free dining at Disney. Great choice!

In less than 2 weeks. I envy you.

 

[Trinity524]

So in. We leave in a little over 2 weeks checking in 9/24 to 10/3. Yes we love pop for the same reasons. It sort of feels like home. We use to do mods and deluxes but once we stayed at pop. We were trying to figure out why we spent all the extra money. My girls 2 and 5 love pop also.

We book bounceback as well. But when the QSDP came out we switched. We are keeping 3 adr's but want to kind of keep adr free this year. We are already booked for next year but we may upgade the plan if we don't care for the QSDP. But we really think it will work out for us.

Our adr's
T-rex
Garden Grill
Akershus or Crystal Palace need to pick one asap. My older dd love princess but wanted t-rex instead. She told me to pick CP so her sister could see pooh. I thought it was so sweet. But now I feel bad cancling one.

Wecolme Kelly!

Last year we ate at T-rex and loved it! Crystal Palace is well worth it when you are in Magic Kingdom and you have a hungry brood. We ate CP in 2008 and missed it in 2009. Def ready to go back! It looks like our trip will overlap by a few days! Hope to see you by the pool!

 

[Trinity524]

I am sure you'll enjoy the free dining at Disney. Great choice!

In less than 2 weeks. I envy you.

Hey Topdog! I love your trip reports and so excited to see your December trip pics! And you above all people should know all about that free dining with all that Deluxe dining you do! Welcome!

 

[Trinity524]

So I was given 100 dollars from my mother for my birthday in May and I was waiting to buy something awesome with it Disney style! Here was my purchase!

I love it! It's a carry-on bag from disney.com. I saw it a few weeks ago and my mind kept going back to it. Finally DH told me to order it and stop obsessing... well you don't have to tell me twice!

In addition, I bought two organic T's from Disney.com. I like them because they are breathable. Here is one:

I have to say that these T's look a bit big. I bought L but I think they are more like XL. I want to be comfy, so no worries here!


and for MNSSHP:

I bought this for my little one:

as well as this for DH with Goofy (his fav character):

These are the only things "Disney" I really bought. I still have a muppet T-shirt for DS that I bought last year. I am a bargain shopper, so minus the luggage, I normally wait for really good sales. I wish I had a character store near me!

Next up... Tomorrow I can check in online, so a full review of that will follow! 10 days when I wake up!

 

[Wolfy6688]

Ok..you're my first official post on this site, EVER! (I'm a Passporter). I found your link through the thread about POP's refurbs.

We'll be at POP the same time as you! Arriving 9/18, leaving 9/27. We only rented a car once in 2008 and it just wasn't worth it, even without having to spend all that extra money on a tow

I usually am a cradle robber in relationships, except this time, DBF is the cradle robber. He's 37 and I'm 25

We booked bounceback from last year too, so we also have the regular dining plan.

I'm loving your TR - your purchases are awesome!

Almost time!!!

 

[__disneygirl]

Yay, you leave so soon!!! I'm jealous. Loving your TR.

I'm shocked you didn't like the Poly. It is one of my favorite places to go, but we have never stayed there. I totally agree with you though - POP is our favorite by far. We like to resort hop and so even though we have tried some new ones, we ALWAYS end up at Pop for part of our trip. We've never not been back ever since the first time. I agree with you on the vibe. While places like the Poly and Beach Club are beautiful and we love to visit, when I'm at Disney World, I want all Disney all the time and Pop is just so obviously DISNEY, it's all around you. On our next trip we are making it an all-Pop trip and I'm so excited!!

Your boys are so cute! Can't wait for more.

 

[BabyEeyore]

We will be at WDW the 22nd-24th. We'll be staying at POFQ but have always stayed at Pop in the past. LOVE it there!

 

[Trinity524]

Ok..you're my first official post on this site, EVER! (I'm a Passporter). I found your link through the thread about POP's refurbs.

We'll be at POP the same time as you! Arriving 9/18, leaving 9/27. We only rented a car once in 2008 and it just wasn't worth it, even without having to spend all that extra money on a tow

I usually am a cradle robber in relationships, except this time, DBF is the cradle robber. He's 37 and I'm 25

We booked bounceback from last year too, so we also have the regular dining plan.

I'm loving your TR - your purchases are awesome!

Almost time!!!

Welcome to the boards! Your first post! I am so honored! You will be there the same exact time as me! Only one day longer...and that makes me super jealous!

Cradle Robbers Unite!

So glad you said that about renting a car. I am starting to have panic attacks about it. DH told me last night that the worst that happens is that we rent a car through priceline half way through. He can go back to the airport and get it. That does put my mind as ease!

Where are you eating?

Thanks for the purchase shout out!

 

[Trinity524]

Yay, you leave so soon!!! I'm jealous. Loving your TR.

I'm shocked you didn't like the Poly. It is one of my favorite places to go, but we have never stayed there. I totally agree with you though - POP is our favorite by far. We like to resort hop and so even though we have tried some new ones, we ALWAYS end up at Pop for part of our trip. We've never not been back ever since the first time. I agree with you on the vibe. While places like the Poly and Beach Club are beautiful and we love to visit, when I'm at Disney World, I want all Disney all the time and Pop is just so obviously DISNEY, it's all around you. On our next trip we are making it an all-Pop trip and I'm so excited!!

Your boys are so cute! Can't wait for more.

Welcome! I did like Poly, but for $400 a night, it wasn't worth it. We ate dinner there in 2008 at Ohana's and had one of the most romantic dinners of my life. We walked the grounds and fell in love. Fast forward to the next year and I was so excited to go there. First room- dirty... way dirty... and I am not Martha Stewart. Moved us to another room and it too was so dirty I had to call management to my room to show the layers of grime. Manager acted as if I was asking him to clean it with his tongue. Gotta love the view, but I expected more. While Pop is small, it's clean and I'd rather pay 100 dollars (hello and free dining) a night for a small clean room than $400 for a view I could get by visiting.

Thanks! My boys are cute, but they are a hot mess. My hot mess though!
When are you coming back to Pop???

 

[Trinity524]

We will be at WDW the 22nd-24th. We'll be staying at POFQ but have always stayed at Pop in the past. LOVE it there!

I am very interested to see what you think about POFQ. Maybe when DH and I go by ourselves or when Jack is older, we will stay there. Looks terribly romantic So happy you are here for the ride.

 

[TyRy]

Great PTR and for ten days to go. We always rent a car as well, but my BFF and her family went last year and did not. They said they had zero problems with busses and it was nice not to have to worry about the car.

I should also add we always stayed at POFQ before we bought DVC and would go back there in an instant. It's charming, small, everything is close even if you are at the farthest building and just a really nice resort.

 

[Trinity524]

Hello All!

Just popping in with some more purchases. DH says it's not Disney that costs us money, but the purchases for Disney. I am a cheapy all year round for this so, he never goes on too much about it. This weekend I had to buy my DS some proper shoes for Disney. I am a stickler for good shoes on his feet and so I promptly went to Stride Rite. Now, this isn't to say that he can't wear other shoes, but for Disney, he needs proper support. I walked into Stride Rite and walked right over to the sales. With this, I swing my head around because I hear DS squealing in delight. (Who doesn't love that sound?) Anyway, I look over and there he is holding the ugliest pair of shoes I have ever seen in my life. It's some kind of Star Wars shoe and lights up. Let me just put this out there before I get flamed. I have never saw Star Wars, nor has my DH and definitely not DS... I have promised friends that when I have a free week in my life I will sit down and watch them all, but understand that this squeal is not out of recognition of the movie. Here is the ugly shoe:

OMG...HIDEOUS!!! DS puts on the shoe (which is a size 12 and he's a 9) and is just loving it. I am like and . Like every mother, the first thing I do is turn the shoe over to see how much this monstrosity is. $55! Oh heck no! Then the associate comes over and says, they are having a buy one, get one 1/2 off. Great. Now my child (notice no longer DS) won't take off the shoe. DH- still love him- tries to convince him to try on another shoe, and this is the only shoe my son will try on:

Is there a vomit emoticon? I guess this one is more fitting

So yes the other one is $55 as well. Only now they don't even have his size. I am literally wrestling the shoes off this child who won't try on any other pair of shoes and is literally acting like Stewart from Mad TV...

I give in. They are Stride Rite after all... so I order them to be shipped to my house and with my handy dandy $10 coupon, I pay $66 for two pair of ugly shoes. I can't win them all and I am not even going to try.

I also bought a funtainer for DS (12 ounce) and the adult version (18 ounce) for DH and me. They keep things cold up to 12 hours!

Here are their pics:

So cute for me!

Very masculine for DH

He's also in love with Batman.

Next up... my easy breezy Online Check in!!!

 

[Trinity524]

Great PTR and for ten days to go. We always rent a car as well, but my BFF and her family went last year and did not. They said they had zero problems with busses and it was nice not to have to worry about the car.

I should also add we always stayed at POFQ before we bought DVC and would go back there in an instant. It's charming, small, everything is close even if you are at the farthest building and just a really nice resort.

welcome!!!! Losing the keys nearly ruined my memories of vacation. Who has $600 on the last day of their vacation.... After gas, insurance and all that goes with a rental car, I am going to try the busses. One slight problem now. My Dad wants us to meet him at Medieval Times for dinner, only if I have no car seat, I can't use a taxi. I will have to discuss with DH tonight about possibilities.

POFQ just looks so pretty... and we love New Orleans. So perhaps one day we will make it happen!

 

[omghidanielle]

Yay! You leave a day before we do! How exciting!