Tricks, Treats, Toddler, Food & Wine. An October 2011 Pre-Trip Report.

[stephielela]

I think the CP reunion sounds awesome! I unfortunately didn't even realize there was a CP until I was a senior. If I had known earlier, I know I would have applied!

Jack and I are going 9/26-10/1, pretty much the same dates as last year. If something good gets released for October (free dining) I will probably switch to after my vacation time rolls over (10/20) but we will see.

 

[hardingk]

It would be a blast, they are a great group of friends!!

We could always do the beach later in the trip if we decide too. I am also thinking a disney cruise is in our future in the next year or two after this trip, so he would see it then too!

it is so hard getting everyone together, especially now with jobs, kids and commitments. but so worth it!

I am going to look at adding BLT now.

wow, this is my 3999 post- almost to 4k!!!!

4000 posts!! WOW! I have a long way to go. I do more reading then posting!!

Let me know how you do adding on the night at BLT. I just added Wednesday night on at POP. I was thinking we would fly late Wednesday night and sleep there and take our time thursday rather then get up early on Thursday and fly. Thursday and Friday Kathryn doesn't have schooll bc of the Jewish holidays, so I figured we would take advantage of it!!

 

[JoyMouse]

Wow! Great plans so far! I wish I had been able to do the CP. I bet it was awesome!

 

[exwdwcm]

What a great way to start your vacation! Sounds like it will be a lot of fun

I am sure it will! hopefully everyone can make it out! We might just have to let Will do the kids club one night!

I think the CP reunion sounds awesome! I unfortunately didn't even realize there was a CP until I was a senior. If I had known earlier, I know I would have applied!

Jack and I are going 9/26-10/1, pretty much the same dates as last year. If something good gets released for October (free dining) I will probably switch to after my vacation time rolls over (10/20) but we will see.

I know, I only found out about it when i was a junior- a guy that i did my summer internship with had done the program, so i looked into it. not sure how i had missed it before since they did presentations at our school. so glad i managed to get in last minute. i literally had only ONE class left to graduate. i came back from the program, took that one class and graduated.

did you guys enjoy that time frame last year? how was the weather? how were crowds?

4000 posts!! WOW! I have a long way to go. I do more reading then posting!!

Let me know how you do adding on the night at BLT. I just added Wednesday night on at POP. I was thinking we would fly late Wednesday night and sleep there and take our time thursday rather then get up early on Thursday and fly. Thursday and Friday Kathryn doesn't have schooll bc of the Jewish holidays, so I figured we would take advantage of it!!

i have been so busy at work, i haven't got around to adding a night, but will hopefully have time to try tomorrow!

i think coming in on wednesday is a great idea. i bet flights are cheaper too if you fly on the weekday, probably more so tuesday/wednesday than other days? yeah on the holidays, definitely take advantage!!

Wow! Great plans so far! I wish I had been able to do the CP. I bet it was awesome!

it was one of the best and most memorable experiences of my life. don't get me wrong, it was hard work too, but i created long lasting friendships and experienced what the 'insides' of disney are like. It did NOT ruin the magic for me to see backstage, it made it just 100X more amazing.

 

[exwdwcm]

Finally- some fun pictures!

It's been crazy at work lately, working a lot, no time to DIS. bummer! About to head into a 4 hour training we (marketing) are giving sales. So I thought I would pop in and post a few pics I took.

Although the trip is like 8 months away, I do have my disney box already piling up with stuff. I keep a green plastic bin in my closet that i use to put all my disney trip stuff in. I keep my pin lanyard, old pins, other misc leftover trip items in there. I also put in new items as I buy them- toiletries, toys etc.

So here are a few items I recently bought- a few toys for Will and some tolietries!

and here is my pin lanyard- i don't trade these pins, but like to wear them from time to time.

I also found this great halloween shirt - on clearance for $5 at Walmart! DIS lime green no less. It is an XL, but appears to be a fitted shirt and a cheap one, so I know it will shrink to where it fits me!

I also have some little wristbands from prior trips that i can write our phone # on and put on William in case he gets lost!

We also have our trip savings going too. Now of course our room is 'paid for', we have annual passes and TIW. So we only really money for our meals, snacks and souvies. I have the airline vouchers that we can hopefully use for flights and we will put rental car on my disney visa. So we put spare change into this cute bank (i found at wal-green's as an easter 'basket' with goodies inside last April!). Maybe we can have like at least $100-$200 from that.

We also have about $150 in disney visa rewards dollars already this year. I put all my DVC dues on it last month and we also made a huge payment on DVC on it in January using DH's bonus. So that generated a lot of dollars for us. We will use all of that for food/souvies.

So I've been too crazy busy at work to call DVC to add that first night, but hopefully i can find time to do it this week. Poor William is sick- he started running a fever sunday night and I stayed home yesterday am with him and DH stayed home in the afternonn. DH is home again with him today. He even passed out in his playroom last night---it suddenly got quiet and i found this:

oh and here is something cool my fellow DISers might appreciate. My Uncle sent me his old mickey mouse club ears that he had stored away in his shed (yeah they are dirty, covered in hair!). Very cool- i haven't checked how much they are worth, but not like i am selling them anyways.

 

[eecteacher82]

Ok....not sure how I missed that you had started a PTR...but I'm here now! I can't wait to follow along with your planning! We are still debating about when to take our "big" trip of the year, but it's looking like the end of October is the front runner as of now.

 

[Tinkermom76]

I collect stuff for my Disney box all year round, anytime I see something I might use while I'm there!

Love those ears, I wouldn't sell them either!

Poor Will, don't you hate when the kids are sick

 

[Aburns8]

Very cool pics! We are lucky and are going in a couple of months in addition to going in October. Thanks for sharing!

 

[exwdwcm]

Ok....not sure how I missed that you had started a PTR...but I'm here now! I can't wait to follow along with your planning! We are still debating about when to take our "big" trip of the year, but it's looking like the end of October is the front runner as of now.

lol- welcome! Yeah for your big annual trip. Any ideas on where you want to stay this time?

I collect stuff for my Disney box all year round, anytime I see something I might use while I'm there!

Love those ears, I wouldn't sell them either!

Poor Will, don't you hate when the kids are sick

It's crazy how packed the disney box gets by trip time!

Very cool pics! We are lucky and are going in a couple of months in addition to going in October. Thanks for sharing!

so green with envy- but hope you have a great time on your trip in a few months- where are you staying?

 

[Aburns8]

so green with envy- but hope you have a great time on your trip in a few months- where are you staying?

We are staying at Port Orleans Riverside. We haven't even made our reservations for October yet. I am waiting until May to do it.

 

[eecteacher82]

lol- welcome! Yeah for your big annual trip. Any ideas on where you want to stay this time?

Nope, no idea on where to stay! We are staying at POR next week, so I guess we will see how that goes! I personally wouldn't mind one bit staying at POP again, just to have more money to spend there!

 

[stephielela]

did you guys enjoy that time frame last year? how was the weather? how were crowds?

We loved that time of year so much we are going the exact same time this year! The crowds were super low, and according to touring plans there is almost no day above a 2 at this point... The weather was great, it was too chilly to swim in the morning or when the sun went down (not that it stopped us) but the days were lenty warm, but not too hot or humid.

Although the trip is like 8 months away, I do have my disney box already piling up with stuff. I keep a green plastic bin in my closet that i use to put all my disney trip stuff in. I keep my pin lanyard, old pins, other misc leftover trip items in there. I also put in new items as I buy them- toiletries, toys etc.

I love buying stuff for our trips, anyitme I see something I grab it. The $1 section at Target is my favorite place to find stuff! I actually have stuff left over from our last trip!

 

[mousescrapper]

Hi found you over on the "official Oct thread" and my DH & I will be down the same week (16-20th) at BLT too (our home resort too)

it will be fun to read along w/ your plans and see what you have instore for your trip!

ours is for our anniversary...think it is very nice (for the most part) your trip is just for your little family and lots of wishes for your pregancy wish

You have a lot of details already worked out and stuff kuddos to you!

I think you have decided to add a night on at BLT and I really think that is the way to go too...we did a 1 night split stay just this past Nov 1 night at POP and then at BLT for the remainder...but it was tough not getting setted into our room till late and our luggage being transfered from POP didn't quite work as I hoped. Can you just add the night to your existing ressie then and won't have to change rooms?

Love your Disney box and savings jar too...we do the same

looking forward to reading along and hopefully we can work out a Dismeet at BLT

Scrappie (Julie)

 

[exwdwcm]

We are staying at Port Orleans Riverside. We haven't even made our reservations for October yet. I am waiting until May to do it.

awesome- i love POR, it is my favorite mod!!! So where are you hoping for October? Are you waiting on possible discounts first to see what kind of deals they will offer? hopefully something great.

Nope, no idea on where to stay! We are staying at POR next week, so I guess we will see how that goes! I personally wouldn't mind one bit staying at POP again, just to have more money to spend there!

yeah- hope you are having a blast at POR!!!!

We loved that time of year so much we are going the exact same time this year! The crowds were super low, and according to touring plans there is almost no day above a 2 at this point... The weather was great, it was too chilly to swim in the morning or when the sun went down (not that it stopped us) but the days were lenty warm, but not too hot or humid.

I love buying stuff for our trips, anyitme I see something I grab it. The $1 section at Target is my favorite place to find stuff! I actually have stuff left over from our last trip!

wow, thanks for sharing, i am even more excited now! yes, the $1 section at Target is bad, very bad! i know, i have some stuff i never used last trip too- including some ponchos and glow sticks!

Hi found you over on the "official Oct thread" and my DH & I will be down the same week (16-20th) at BLT too (our home resort too)

it will be fun to read along w/ your plans and see what you have instore for your trip!

ours is for our anniversary...think it is very nice (for the most part) your trip is just for your little family and lots of wishes for your pregancy wish

You have a lot of details already worked out and stuff kuddos to you!

I think you have decided to add a night on at BLT and I really think that is the way to go too...we did a 1 night split stay just this past Nov 1 night at POP and then at BLT for the remainder...but it was tough not getting setted into our room till late and our luggage being transfered from POP didn't quite work as I hoped. Can you just add the night to your existing ressie then and won't have to change rooms?

Love your Disney box and savings jar too...we do the same

looking forward to reading along and hopefully we can work out a Dismeet at BLT

Scrappie (Julie)

oh yeah, welcome! so glad to hear we made the right decision on just adding a night at BLT. i even considered POP, since we've never stayed there, but you are right, i am sure it would be a pain for just one night to move.

i'd love to meet up in Oct at BLT- have you visited the TOW lounge? Maybe we could meet there for fireworks one night?

 

[exwdwcm]

UPDATE

Well i finally got around to doing it- i got a night added on at BLT!!! I just got the confirmation from DVC. I had a hard time finding where to request the additional night online, but finally found it. It's funny, one of their surveys popped up as I was trying to find it and i had to answer that it wasn't exactly user friendly. Disney needs some major help online. Anyhow- all you can do on the DVC site is 'request a reservation', you can't actually book one online yet. They say that is coming, but who knows when. Well i got my confirmation that they added a night for me!

It was so fun to see it say 8 nights!!! Even though the first night we will get in super late, still fun! On our 2009 Dec trip, we did this, we arrived about 8:30pm. We got our car, headed to the hotel and had a late dinner at the QS place and then to bed. We were tired getting in that late, but it worked out well. We were able to start the day fresh and well rested.

so i am looking forward to our new plan- arriving on Friday 10/14! I think i am going to wait to book our flights a bit. I usually book them very early. But I think I will wait and see if my old CP roomies are going to make it in or not. If they are, i might take an earlier flight. DH won't take earlier since he doesn't want to miss more work beyond the week we are already taking off. Which I understand. But i figured Will and I could go in earlier on our own. The problem would be though, i'd have to manage all the luggage, stroller and car seat and junk by myself and that would be hard. Plus I'd have to make a trip back to the airport to get Alan. I guess he could take ME though. anyhow- ideally we will all fly out together, but i figured i will keep my options open for a while and not book just yet since AA makes it really difficult to change your flights (hello $150 change fee!).

So anyhow- it is official now- 10/14-10/22!!!

 

[Tinkermom76]

Tracy and I decided to do the same thing, add the Friday night and arrive later and I think it works out perfect to start the day fresh. It is also nice that we will have one more TS credit for our trip which is the 2nd one needed for CRT!!!

 

[hardingk]

I love buying stuff for our trips, anyitme I see something I grab it. The $1 section at Target is my favorite place to find stuff! I actually have stuff left over from our last trip!

I LOVE the $1 bins at Target!! Sometimes they have some really great stuff! I have found a lot of neat princess stuff for dd there!

 

[stephielela]

UPDATE

The problem would be though, i'd have to manage all the luggage, stroller and car seat and junk by myself and that would be hard. Plus I'd have to make a trip back to the airport to get Alan. I guess he could take ME though. anyhow- ideally we will all fly out together, but i figured i will keep my options open for a while and not book just yet since AA makes it really difficult to change your flights (hello $150 change fee!).

So anyhow- it is official now- 10/14-10/22!!!

It is hard to haul all the stuff and a kid by yourself! I always pack as light as possible and do curbside check in when it's just me and Jack. I also leave the carseat at home, since I never rent a car when it's just us. I know they make backpacks that can hold a carseat, but that sounds complicated...

Tracy and I decided to do the same thing, add the Friday night and arrive later and I think it works out perfect to start the day fresh. It is also nice that we will have one more TS credit for our trip which is the 2nd one needed for CRT!!!

We are doing the same thing, getting in the night before we originally planned. After last years weather/napping/MNSSHP combination, I figured it would be better to get in just in time for dinner and bed, and then sleep in and relax the day before our MNSSHP. And it really is nice to get the extra meal credits!

I LOVE the $1 bins at Target!! Sometimes they have some really great stuff! I have found a lot of neat princess stuff for dd there!

It's addictive over there, but so is Target in general. They have tons of princess and Tink stuff, but I don't think Jack would appreciate it as much Luckily they have had a lot of Toy Story stuff in the past and I am sure with Cars coming out this summer, there will be plenty of cool stuff to buy!

 

[mousescrapper]

i'd love to meet up in Oct at BLT- have you visited the TOW lounge? Maybe we could meet there for fireworks one night?

we did go up there once during our trip, it was quite impressive I for sure want to do it again...we'll have to pick a night as we firm up plans closer

UPDATE

Well i finally got around to doing it- i got a night added on at BLT!!! I just got the confirmation from DVC.

good for you...so glad it worked out well

 

[hardingk]

UPDATE

Well i finally got around to doing it- i got a night added on at BLT!!! It is official now- 10/14-10/22!!!

Congrats! That is awesome!!

I am still waiting for Jetblue to extend their schedule so I can look at flights and come up with a plan for our trip.