The I'm not very good at these but please read me PTR - Oct 24-Nov 1, 2009

[lvstitch]

I don’t seem to be very good at these but I’m gonna give it try. I think my humor and appreciation for things comes across like I’m rude and bragging…which I’m not but I love reading trip reports and meeting new people so I figured I’d try again.

A little about us:

Christine (me) 36 – loves all things Disney, planning vacations, Yankees Rule, Vodka snob and might have a little addiction to clothes, shoes and designer bags. Favorite Character: Stitch - I think he is most like me; loving and rambunctious…also cute and fluffy (however I am working on the fluffy part, been going to Weight Watchers for 3 weeks now). I love to have fun, drink and dance.

Joseph (DH) 39 – loves Yankees, Disney and making pizza. Favorite Character: he says its Goofy but I think it should be Grumpy because well that’s what he is 24/7. Loves to do nothing but watch Yankee games on his one day off a week.

The best way to describe Joey and I is to watch an episode of “King of Queens”. I swear the show it based on our lives.

We are originally from Long Island, NY; me from Lindenhurst and Joey from West Babylon. We have been together for 19 years. We moved to Vegas 10 years ago for the cheap housing, good jobs and amazing weather. We miss NY every day but don’t think we could ever deal with another NY winter so we are here to stay.

I am an Executive Assistant for the Water Authority and Joey runs our Café. Vegas has been really hit hard by the economy so business isn’t what it used to be. My job pretty much supports us both and Joey’s been working 14 hour days just to pay the café bills. We need this vacation bad!!!!!

We don’t have any kids. It’s not that we don’t want any, just that we have been “kinda” trying for 7 years without success. So far I have been OK with it. However, once I turned 36 I really started feeling my biological clock ticking (insert Marisa Tomei from My Cousin Vinny). Maybe one day we will go to the Dr. and see what’s wrong but with the financial situation we are in right now we think it’s good we don’t have any kids. We do however; have two fluffy ones that we love to death. Stitch and KC (short for Kelly Clarkson…DH chose it, he’s a big fan). I also like to say my shoes and bags are my children but I think that’s just to justify my addiction…that I might have.

Stitch

KC

We both grew up going to WDW and went on our first trip together in 1992, thus the full obsession was born. We went back again in 1993 and in 1994 we got married there. For our one year anniversary we were going to go to Hawaii but decided to stay at the Poly instead. After going 4 years in a row we decided to take a break from Disney. After moving Vegas we were in desperate need of a Disney fix so we went back in 2000 and it was a disaster. It was the first time we went on a budget and everything was terrible (I cried the whole first day). Now don’t get me wrong, I understand you can have an amazing time at Disney on a budget but not when you go unprepared. After that we had pretty much given up on WDW.

In January of 2002 we discovered Disneyland. Wow, was this place was great (except the Castle). It was only a 4 hour drive (so we could go on weekends) and it had all the WDW magic and more. I am a huge fan of Walt Disney and you can feel his presence there. We became annual pass holders and went about 6 times a year. I thought this would satisfy my Disney thrust but it only made it worse. In 2004 we decided to give WDW another try. We stayed in the Wilderness Lodge – Club Level and loved every minute of our short stay (only 5 days). Yay, WDW had redeemed itself.

Next we wanted to give DCL a try. We had never been on a cruise before so in 2005 we went on a 4-night and loved it. That’s it, we were hooked. We went back in 2007 and twice in 2008. We cruised with a bunch of amazing people all of which I met on the Disboards. Actually I met my best friends here. Having sailed every where DCL goes, it was time to take a trip back to WDW, which bring us to this PTR.

 

[lvstitch]

During our cruises in ‘05 and ‘07 we went to WDW before and after but only for a day or two. My suggestion is not to ever go to the parks after the cruise, they undo all the relaxation. So knowing before our cruise in ‘08 we would not be setting foot in any of the parks, I knew I would miss it too much and decided to book this trip. The two things I knew for sure, it had to be on the cheap side and it had to include things we have never done before. We had stayed in Pop (DH’s favorite hotel of all time) for a few days before but I just didn’t want to spend a week there. So we decided on POR. I love the grounds and the boat that takes you to DTD. Wasn’t sure about the food plan so decided against it at the time and couldn’t get airfare for several months. I went to a TA in August hoping she could get me a better (I really don’t know what I was thinking). She booked the trip (hotel and tickets) through Delta because they had better cancellation insurance. That done it was time to cruise. Before the cruise we did go to DTD to eat at T-Rex and man I missed the parks so much, I was really glad I had this trip booked.

Fast Forward to April ’09, while planning this trip I realized how little we have ever paid attention to dining. The only sit down meals we have ever done were Chef Mickey’s, Ohana (breakfast), 1900 Park Fare (brunch), Cinderella’s Castle (breakfast), Hoop De Doo and Alfredo’s. It was at that point I really started to consider the DDP. It would be a way for us do something different almost every day and also take it easy (I’m also trying to not go commando). After viewing many menus and creating a spreadsheet to make sure I got the most bang for my buck I decided before my 90+10 booking window for ADR’s had to be made I was going to get the basic DDP. Wow, that was stressful, I started reading the menus to my DH and telling him what he had to eat.

In June ’09, being on the Disboard pretty much every day, I knew Disney might be extending the Free Dining. I was so excited but now I had to decide what I wanted more; upgrade to a deluxe hotel or upgrade to DxDP. With all the stress I was going through with the DDP I decided on upgrading to DxDP. This way I would get to eat every where I wanted and didn’t have to force my DH to eat Filet every night.

Now here comes the crazy part. The day that they announce extending Free Dining for anuual passholders, I call my TA and let her know Disney Visa people will get the offer that Friday (that Sunday was my 90+10 for my ADRs). I make sure that I can book the Free Dining even though I’m booked through Delta. She said yep she checked and it wouldn’t be a problem. Well guess what, it was a problem. I called her at 9am on Friday morning to make sure she was on top of it. I was at her office by 10am and she told me nope I couldn’t get it….WHAT!!!!!! Ok, time to take control of this situation. I didn’t want to take the chance of booking all my TS meals and not being able to book the plan because it was sold out. I got on the phone with Disney and priced the whole trip, it was the same price + $500 to upgrade to DxDP so back I go to the TA and tell her since Delta has such a great cancellation policy to please cancel with them and rebook with Disney ASAP (while I sat there); which is exactly what she did. Crisis averted now I just had to go over my ADR’s one…or five more times before I booked them.