WDW Commando Club

[Ginny]

I am definitely a Disney Commando........raising a Disney Commando Olympian!! We have been lovingly indulged and supported by DH and DS (23) who go along for the ride but love to see us happy!! One caveat: I better schedule fishing one morning of every trip!!

We get to the parks an hour early, the words "rope drop" are magic to our ears and there is no better exercise than weaving down Main Street to Fantasyland to enjoy Early Entry (okay.....EMH)! Then, after experiencing that little bit of heaven....., continue our efforts by making the sweep around to Tomorrowland before heading to Crystal Palace to make good use of the calorie cushion we just created by our "commando walk."

I joined the DIS in February of 1999 - I know it says August but the DIS upgraded or maybe it kind of crashed (due to it's peerless popularity) in the summer of 99 and I had to start over! We had planned our first family vacation in 10 years and decided on WDW and a new offering back then........a Disney Cruise! Well, 11 years, multiple DCL and WDW adventures later..............we are heading "home" to celebrate DD's 16th Birthday. And, we are taking her three closest friends with us! Her dream: To be in the MK when the clock strikes 12!

For our very special 16th Birthday Celebration: The Excel spreadsheet for the 6 days is complete, color-coded and confirmation #'s noted: all ADR's made (all first choices), special excursions arranged AND, I didn't forget the Fishing Trip!!

DD has briefed her friends (who seem to enjoy our lunacy)......."no sleeping in, this is WDW.....you can sleep in your next life. We will be there well before the parks open.......it may be dark but you will thank me later." I'm guessing I know where she's heard that speech before..........


But, the highlight of this trip...........so far: I had a big event at work during our "Ressie" week and I couldn't make the 0700 calls or On-line Ressies for three "critical" days - so......... DH juggled the computer and telephones to make sure that we got what we needed for all meals for those days................not to mention our Illuminations Cruise (quite a feat for a "novice!") I noticed the sense of pride and a huge twinkle in his eye....I'm thinking we may have another Disney Commando in the making.

Thanks so much for letting me share our fun. The DIS is and always has been a wonderful gift!!

Ginny

 

[adsrtw]

Love your comments Ginny!

 

[TaraBara]

Tonite I PM'd a DisBoard friend, She is the holder of what IMO is the WDW Bible, I 'm not promising anything, I invited her to our thread, or she might say it's ok for me to give you the info, or we might not hear anything at all, any way is fine I respect her hard work and privacy so I won't do anything without her blessing As far as I know out of our 88 members, besides myself only 2 others know of what I am refering to (I could be wrong) This could change alot of your plans in a more fullfilling positive way

If you get the "go ahead", I would love to receive this information.

We have just under three weeks to go. We have our ADRs all set, park days figured out, and we finished typing up our itinerary last night. Honestly, I'm not sure how we are going to manage it all, but we are quite determined. We have either early morning ADRs or rope drop planned for every morning. This is going to be a nightmare for me because I'm a late morning sleeper, but I insist on trying to do it all!!!

Now we just have to finalize our touring plan! I'm so excited that we are getting so close!

 

[Disney Commando]

I am definitely a Disney Commando........raising a Disney Commando Olympian!! We have been lovingly indulged and supported by DH and DS (23) who go along for the ride but love to see us happy!! One caveat: I better schedule fishing one morning of every trip!!

We get to the parks an hour early, the words "rope drop" are magic to our ears and there is no better exercise than weaving down Main Street to Fantasyland to enjoy Early Entry (okay.....EMH)! Then, after experiencing that little bit of heaven....., continue our efforts by making the sweep around to Tomorrowland before heading to Crystal Palace to make good use of the calorie cushion we just created by our "commando walk."

I joined the DIS in February of 1999 - I know it says August but the DIS upgraded or maybe it kind of crashed (due to it's peerless popularity) in the summer of 99 and I had to start over! We had planned our first family vacation in 10 years and decided on WDW and a new offering back then........a Disney Cruise! Well, 11 years, multiple DCL and WDW adventures later..............we are heading "home" to celebrate DD's 16th Birthday. And, we are taking her three closest friends with us! Her dream: To be in the MK when the clock strikes 12!

For our very special 16th Birthday Celebration: The Excel spreadsheet for the 6 days is complete, color-coded and confirmation #'s noted: all ADR's made (all first choices), special excursions arranged AND, I didn't forget the Fishing Trip!!

DD has briefed her friends (who seem to enjoy our lunacy)......."no sleeping in, this is WDW.....you can sleep in your next life. We will be there well before the parks open.......it may be dark but you will thank me later." I'm guessing I know where she's heard that speech before..........


But, the highlight of this trip...........so far: I had a big event at work during our "Ressie" week and I couldn't make the 0700 calls or On-line Ressies for three "critical" days - so......... DH juggled the computer and telephones to make sure that we got what we needed for all meals for those days................not to mention our Illuminations Cruise (quite a feat for a "novice!") I noticed the sense of pride and a huge twinkle in his eye....I'm thinking we may have another Disney Commando in the making.

Thanks so much for letting me share our fun. The DIS is and always has been a wonderful gift!!

Ginny

You are member #90. What a awesome 16th B-day, looks like you have trained her well

 

[Disney Commando]

Does anyone else do this, or I'm I really crazy

On a TS do you order the most expensive thing on the menu, seems like I get steak or prime rib everynight

QS I usally get ribs, but since you can only get them at like 3 places, usally go for the top dollar item

Snacks, This one I need to work on, this year I won't be there during the F&W fest, (found they were the best deals), I did find that the Giant pretzel in Germany is included on the snack plan, (1 will fill all 3 of us) besides the normal stuff (ice cream, soda, water, popcorn, fruit) Does anyone know of other items that a snack credit will work on that is a good deal

I know alot of you got the free DP they are offering, Oh yeah I get to pay this trip, we have one of those blackout weeks
But if you got it for free or if you have to pay, do you try to beat the system , dollar wise and eat like King or Queen

Now of course when I stay off site, I use my Disney Visa points and go on the cheap, You can order a double cheeseburger and ask for a extra bun, it will cost a extra $1, but it will save 7 or 8 bucks, and if they have a fixin bar

I guess what I'm looking for is, If you get the DP, do you Commandotize it and how. And if you pay as you go, what tips do you have to get the best value for the least $$$.

 

[adsrtw]

This is my first time on a dining plan, so I have no clue how it will really turn out for us. I do have to admit that we are eating places that I wouldn't if I hadn't pre-paid for the plan. We were on the regular plan, but I upgraded to DxDP because I love Jiko, had HDDR booked, and found a CRT ADR. I know the food isn't great at Cindy's, but I have always wanted to dine at the castle. Before I go on, I have to explain that I have Dom Perignon taste on a Schlitz budget. With that type of taste, I am pre-disposed to gravitate toward the more expensive items. I have every intention of having the filet at LeCellier and probably the surf and turf at Narcoossee's.

As far as snacks go, I know the Dole Whip Float is still available. When we traveled into the CS in France, we saw a ton of items that would be a snack. I can't say for sure, but I believe a quiche was even included. Seemed like a good value to me. Also, Staring Rolls has quite a few options. I'm still checking out dining reviews to see what others buy with their credits.

Here are some links that I found:

Snack pics - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1850418

Confirmed Snacks - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2381706

 

[Disney Commando]

This is my first time on a dining plan, so I have no clue how it will really turn out for us. I do have to admit that we are eating places that I wouldn't if I hadn't pre-paid for the plan. We were on the regular plan, but I upgraded to DxDP because I love Jiko, had HDDR booked, and found a CRT ADR. I know the food isn't great at Cindy's, but I have always wanted to dine at the castle. Before I go on, I have to explain that I have Dom Perignon taste on a Schlitz budget. With that type of taste, I am pre-disposed to gravitate toward the more expensive items. I have every intention of having the filet at LeCellier and probably the surf and turf at Narcoossee's.

As far as snacks go, I know the Dole Whip Float is still available. When we traveled into the CS in France, we saw a ton of items that would be a snack. I can't say for sure, but I believe a quiche was even included. Seemed like a good value to me. Also, Staring Rolls has quite a few options. I'm still checking out dining reviews to see what others buy with their credits.

Here are some links that I found:

Snack pics - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1850418

Confirmed Snacks - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2381706

Nice Job, I'm impressed, someone's been doing their homework I can't believe I've never seen these threads.

I would like to offer you a position of Posts and Links of Interest Coordinator, if you would like to do it and are able to keep it updated, just make the next post titled - Post & Links Of Interest and put those 2 links on it (reverse the order) I'll included it on the 1st post, hopefully we can get a Commando one stop shopping post started

 

[Disney Commando]

If you get the "go ahead", I would love to receive this information.

We have just under three weeks to go. We have our ADRs all set, park days figured out, and we finished typing up our itinerary last night. Honestly, I'm not sure how we are going to manage it all, but we are quite determined. We have either early morning ADRs or rope drop planned for every morning. This is going to be a nightmare for me because I'm a late morning sleeper, but I insist on trying to do it all!!!

Now we just have to finalize our touring plan! I'm so excited that we are getting so close!

I like to see everyone get it from the source, make's it alittle more challenging, but some Pixie Dust will be coming your way

 

[stitchywoman]

All available dining plan snacks are posted in a thread. I have found that when all of the toppings and snacks at make your own at goofy's are allowed this is a good use of the snack credit. I have heard that they are cutting back on which ones are allowed though. If you enjoy sweets the Kringla Bakery in Norway or the patisserie in France are a good use at epcot. We LOVe the Kaki gori in the japan pavilion during hot days. If you enjoy funnel cake you can get it in MK for a snack credit....it goes on from there....hahahaha...can you tell I know my snacks? I have a print out of all of them with the ones we want to get highlighted. Nothing under 3 dollars gets a snack credit unless we have a surplus. We also have a tendency to ask for water as one of our desserts so we can take it with it. We have also done the cheese platters at the signature restaurants instead of one of the desserts.

That being said, yes I tend to look at the meals and get the most expensive items. I even pick which restaurants by the prices of the food they have.... It seems like if I can enjoy food I can't afford back home that I might as well. We got free dining and then upgraded to Deluxe dining and can't WAIT....

We will definitely ask for the tall waiter at CRT. We actually really enjoyed it when we were there last time and found the food to be pretty good.

 

[stitchywoman]

Stitchy, We will also be at POR from Aug 15- 21st! (and we are also celebrating our anniversary too!) We love POR!!!

That is so awesome. We should meet up atleast to say hi....maybe get a drink or see the musician at POR.....7 days....yay! what time do you guys get in?

 

[adsrtw]

Nice Job, I'm impressed, someone's been doing their homework I can't believe I've never seen these threads.

I would like to offer you a position of Posts and Links of Interest Coordinator, if you would like to do it and are able to keep it updated, just make the next post titled - Post & Links Of Interest and put those 2 links on it (reverse the order) I'll included it on the 1st post, hopefully we can get a Commando one stop shopping post started

Sounds like a plan. Will take a look around after work.

 

[3smithboys]

That is so awesome. We should meet up atleast to say hi....maybe get a drink or see the musician at POR.....7 days....yay! what time do you guys get in?

That sounds great! We are planning on spending a lot of afternoons at the pool to beat the heat! POR has a nice pool...

We are leaving Philly on Friday night and driving down....it takes us about 17 hrs to do the drive. We are staying in Orlando the night before so we can rest and get ready to start "commando" on Sunday morning!

We wanted to make sure that we would be ready for MK rope drop.... So our plan is to get to POR for 7:30 am on the 15th and check in - and pick up our tickets. We are then heading to MK for RD. (We will just get to our room later!) Commandos don't care about unpacking! We are coming back at lunchtime after eating at Chef Mickey's for a swim/rest so we can unpack then... we also have a late ressie at Ohana that night.

The rest of the days we are at these parks -

16th - Epcot am and pm with an afternoon break back at POR - dinner at Garden Grill at Epcot - staying for Illuminations - it's also our anniversary!

17th - Blizzard Beach - we have never been to any of the WDW water parks before so we are excited to try them....then we have a dinner ADR at Teppen Edo - haven't been here before either

18th - MK day - am and pm here with a break at POR in the afternoon - have a dinner ADR at Liberty Tree. We like the food here, but we liked it better when they had characters!!! Oh well, it's free! The time was good and the location was convenient!

19th - AK - going to hit our favorites here and get out by lunchtime....here is where commando planning is being a little laid back (so unlike me...) we are either having a midday swim/rest THEN DD/Disney Quest or going straight to DD/Disney Quest for the afternoon and then hang out at the resort for the evening...hmmm..... not sure when DQ would be less busy????

20th - Typhoon Lagoon

and then we will see how exhausted we are this evening....but since we have not gone into a park...we can pick Epcot or MK ....probably let kids pick... but we also have to pack and not go to bed too late!

21st - finally HS is green!!! so we are spending our last day with lunch at Mama Melrose before we have to start our drive back....No commando drive back though - we do stop for the night!

 

[3smithboys]

Does anyone else do this, or I'm I really crazy

On a TS do you order the most expensive thing on the menu, seems like I get steak or prime rib everynight

QS I usally get ribs, but since you can only get them at like 3 places, usally go for the top dollar item

Snacks, This one I need to work on, this year I won't be there during the F&W fest, (found they were the best deals), I did find that the Giant pretzel in Germany is included on the snack plan, (1 will fill all 3 of us) besides the normal stuff (ice cream, soda, water, popcorn, fruit) Does anyone know of other items that a snack credit will work on that is a good deal

I know alot of you got the free DP they are offering, Oh yeah I get to pay this trip, we have one of those blackout weeks
But if you got it for free or if you have to pay, do you try to beat the system , dollar wise and eat like King or Queen

Now of course when I stay off site, I use my Disney Visa points and go on the cheap, You can order a double cheeseburger and ask for a extra bun, it will cost a extra $1, but it will save 7 or 8 bucks, and if they have a fixin bar

I guess what I'm looking for is, If you get the DP, do you Commandotize it and how. And if you pay as you go, what tips do you have to get the best value for the least $$$.

I saw that the snack link was posted already so good that everyone got that... I use that a lot while at WDW... We tend to make sure that we are using our snack credits "wisely" and not waste them on cheap things....

Goofy's Candy Co has changed a lot since 2 years ago. Many things used to be included on the DDP, when when we went back in Dec hardly any of the make your own treats were included - they took almost all of them off of the DDP. You can still get candy/treats, but not too many make your own items.

Another thing if you have kids who are on the dining plan - when you are at CS places there are a few that don't have kids menus so they get the same meals as adults - Casey's, Main Street Bakery, Boulangerie Patisserie are the ones I can think of right now...so they can order the same meal. It's great because for instance at Main Street Bakery a child is able to get a breakfast sandwich, pastry, and a drink just like an adult. So you could either share a meal if they are not a big eater or get them a decent sized meal for a change! (Allears.net has all of the menus on their site as well.)

 

[Riverhill]

I have meals planned. I have already started running ridemax for similar park days. I will have printed itineraries for every day, with a mini laminated copy for all the adults in the party. While I definitely love sitting on a bench and watching the magic occur, this is a scheduled "ice cream, soda, or other snack" break. I go every other year and absolutely love seeing everything I can each trip.

My DD(15) says I am a commando Diser. I too have printed itineraries. However, I have not laminated them YET!. This will happen once I have color coded them better to reflect EMH for each day.

I claim that the only reason I have to be a uber-planner is because the family members I travel with would just wonder around in circles trying to decided what to do next and end up wasting the entire vacation. I am training my DD to be my heir apparent.

 

[Disney Commando]

My DD(15) says I am a commando Diser. I too have printed itineraries. However, I have not laminated them YET!. This will happen once I have color coded them better to reflect EMH for each day.

I claim that the only reason I have to be a uber-planner is because the family members I travel with would just wonder around in circles trying to decided what to do next and end up wasting the entire vacation. I am training my DD to be my heir apparent.

You are member #91. As Commando's we are the type of people that make things happen

 

[moviefreak00]

I had NO idea that there were other commandos out there!! I felt so alone until I discovered this board! I'm amazed that there are others like me and happy to see it!! Just thought I'd share my happiness!!

 

[Disney Commando]

I had NO idea that there were other commandos out there!! I felt so alone until I discovered this board! I'm amazed that there are others like me and happy to see it!! Just thought I'd share my happiness!!

You are member #92. Everyday we gaining IMO some really great Commando planners, I'm sure you heard the saying - You snooze you lose Well there's none of that here

Do you have a trip in the works

 

[moviefreak00]

You are member #92. Everyday we gaining IMO some really great Commando planners, I'm sure you heard the saying - You snooze you lose Well there's none of that here

Do you have a trip in the works

Yes actually, we are leaving for Disney a month from today! It's been a couple of years since my last trip, but I've been to Disney many times and love to plan ahead and have everything ready beforehand We're staying at Pop Century with the free Dining Plan, really looking forward to it!

 

[adsrtw]

Good morning! I was able to do no Disney planning last night and I am lost. Had an employee issue that I had to investigate. I hate situations like this - I'm pretty relaxed in that area. No micro-managing here, but this was tough.

 

[3smithboys]

Good morning! I was able to do no Disney planning last night and I am lost. Had an employee issue that I had to investigate. I hate situations like this - I'm pretty relaxed in that area. No micro-managing here, but this was tough.

What part is giving you the most trouble? When are you going again? I would be more than happy to help...