Welcome, Foolish Mortals...to an October 2011 PTR! *Trip Report link is up, pg 71!!*

[DisneyFirefly]

Well, my computer is currently in the shop I'm using my mom's laptop right now (which is actually my old one with a new hard drive), since I'm working on their taxes.

 

[sjs314]

Yippie another TR Count me in!!!

 

[PixieMama]

Popping in to say hi! Enjoyed your beginning and looking forward to more.

My family (me, DH, and our 2 DDs) has been to WDW twice... once in 2007 and then in 2010. 3 years between trips! And we weren't even planning on going last year, it just sort of happened, LOL!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I was so excited to see you had started your PTR! I am so ready to follow along with your planning again! I love the title that you chose!

 

[Stefy]

I'm in popcorn: Love Disney in Sept/Oct, Halloween is so much fun to celebrate at Disney

 

[MEK]

I kind of want to go during the summer, or a peak time, just to go to the parks late! MK til 3 in the mornings sounds awesome!

That is one cool thing about going in June or July. You can sleep late, hang by the pool in the afternoon, and THEN go into the MK at 4pm and still get at least 8 hours or more in there. It's a great way to not get annoyed by the heat and crowds.

 

[jenneth79]

That is one cool thing about going in June or July. You can sleep late, hang by the pool in the afternoon, and THEN go into the MK at 4pm and still get at least 8 hours or more in there. It's a great way to not get annoyed by the heat and crowds.

That is a great point that I haven't thought of before! We went a lot as a kid in the summer, but they weren't doing the extended hours back then. Maybe next year we'll brave the crowds so I can stay up late and party in the parks!

....of course by then I will be "too old to do that kind of thing anymore" and in bed by 10.

 

[Nermel9]

Well, my computer is currently in the shop I'm using my mom's laptop right now (which is actually my old one with a new hard drive), since I'm working on their taxes.

Well, ok, I suppose that's an acceptable excuse!

Yippie another TR Count me in!!!

Yay, so happy you're here!

Popping in to say hi! Enjoyed your beginning and looking forward to more.

My family (me, DH, and our 2 DDs) has been to WDW twice... once in 2007 and then in 2010. 3 years between trips! And we weren't even planning on going last year, it just sort of happened, LOL!

Thanks for stopping by!

Ugh, isn't waiting for trips the worst?? I don't think I could go 3 years with no Disney, I'd probably lose my mind!

I was so excited to see you had started your PTR! I am so ready to follow along with your planning again! I love the title that you chose!

Woo hoo, glad you made it over! I'm so happy you like the title, I had such a hard time with this one!

 

[Nermel9]

I'm in popcorn: Love Disney in Sept/Oct, Halloween is so much fun to celebrate at Disney

So glad you're here! I can't WAIT to be at Disney for Halloween, I know I'm going to love it!

That is one cool thing about going in June or July. You can sleep late, hang by the pool in the afternoon, and THEN go into the MK at 4pm and still get at least 8 hours or more in there. It's a great way to not get annoyed by the heat and crowds.

That sounds awesome! I hate the heat, but I can deal with crowds! I mean, I'd rather not, but I really want to go during a peak time to go to the parks late! And your way sounds awesome, just hang out at the pool all day and go to the parks at night! I like the parks at night better anyway, so that works out!

I'm thinking of an anniversary trip in May next year, but now, maybe I'll see if June might be better...who knows, this trip isn't definite, it's just being talked about for now, but that would be awesome!

That is a great point that I haven't thought of before! We went a lot as a kid in the summer, but they weren't doing the extended hours back then. Maybe next year we'll brave the crowds so I can stay up late and party in the parks!

....of course by then I will be "too old to do that kind of thing anymore" and in bed by 10.

Isn't that such a great idea, I so want to go during the summer or April vacation now! I always went during the summer when I was a kid too, but I don't remember staying very late, we stayed to watch the fireworks and that was it!

 

[Nermel9]

When, Where, and Why!

Ugh...so I just realized that I never left a spot for chapter links at the beginning of this PTR! So I guess I will just have to add them to my intro post as I go along! Anyway, I thought it was time to do my first update, so here we go!

First, the dates for this trip...Friday September 30-Saturday October 8! Originally Brandon said he didn't want to do a trip that long again, but...well, I guess he got sick of listening to me whine about how we wouldn't have enough time if we did Sunday to Saturday like he wanted, so he gave in!

I actually wanted to go later in the month, the 3rd of 4th week of October, but we ended up getting a fantastic pin code for room discounts, and the 2nd and 3rd weeks were blacked out, and the 4th week didn't cover all of the days. So the first week of October it is! I'm prepared for it to be hot, but I hope it's not too horrible...

Next...where are we staying? Well, if you read my TR from November, you will know that we are FINALLY staying at

I've wanted to stay here for a while, but the location always made me a little nervous...it's just so far from everything! But, we rent a car, so we don't rely on buses, and if I don't stay here now, I never will!

There was actually a brief period a couple of months ago where I changed our reservation to the Beach Club...! But Brandon talked me into changing back to AKL, after we had breakfast at Boma in November, he was kind of set on staying there, he really liked it! And I like it too, I really fell in love with the place, walking around after breakfast, it just looks so peaceful! And I think the rooms are beautiful!

We have a pool view booked

which I'm fine with, but I wouldn't say no to a Savanna room upgrade!

Finally...why are we going? Well, apparently, I can't go too long without a Disney trip in my future. I started asking Brandon if we could go in October while we were there this past November and I never got a straight answer, but I never got a NO either, so I took that as a good sign! We also played around with the idea of a short trip in May for our anniversary, then a weeklong trip in December to go to Disneyland, but that didn't last too long!

We picked October mainly for 2 reasons:

1. The Food and Wine festival!

We were lucky enough to be there for the last weekend of F&W in November and we loved it! There's no other time of the year in Disney that you can get a Parisian Cosmo slush!

2. Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!

We've been to WDW during the Christmas season twice, and it only makes sense to check out the Halloween party, finally! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't going to miss the World during the Holidays this year, but I have wanted to go to MNSSHP for a while, so why not! I can't wait to see Hallowishes, the villains, and hopefully dress up! I keep hearing that MNSSHP is better than the Christmas party, so I'm excited to compare the two!

I know this trip is still really far away, but with the combination of AKL, MNSSHP and the Food and Wine festival, I'm already so excited for it, I can't wait to try all of these new things! I don't know how I'm gonna make it til October!

Up next...my weight loss plans for my trip (and life in general, really!)

(pics borrowed from allears.net, and a couple are mine from Food and Wine!)

 

[PixieMama]

Ugh, isn't waiting for trips the worst?? I don't think I could go 3 years with no Disney, I'd probably lose my mind!

Well, my DH would disagree, LOL! After our first family trip, I was ready to go back! DH thinks "there are other places to vacation than just Disney World!"

I'm actually going back in September with my mom, sister, and sis's BFF (adults only! ) but I hope our next family trip will be in 2013. I really want to go back once the Fantasyland expansion is finished. So hopefully since that will be 3 years since our last trip, DH will be ok with it!

 

[PixieMama]

Our first trip was Sunday to Saturday, with those 2 days being travel days. So really we just had 5 days in the parks. The second trip, we actually drove down most of the way Saturday and spent the night in a hotel. This way we were able to drive the rest of the way Sunday, check in, get our park tickets and go! We were able to get to Epcot just before lunch. It was really nice having the extra time, even though it was just about half a day. Long story short, I'm hoping the next trip we can go for 8 or 9 days.

Both of our trips have been in October. Yes, it was hot, but nothing too unbearable IMHO. And it didn't rain once on either trip.

We've eaten at Boma once during each of our trips... the 1st time, as soon as we walked into AKL, my DH was all, "Man, I really want to stay here!" (We've only stayed at ASMovies. AKL is a HUGE step up!) Hopefully we'll get a chance to stay there one day!

We did MNSSHP on our first trip... it was fun! Seeing all the characters dressed up for Halloween was cool. And the parade was also a favorite.

What are you thinking of dressing up as? Our DDs dressed in costume, but I knew there was no way I'd get DH to. I wore yellow capris and a blue tee layered over a red one... can you guess who I was supposed to be?

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

great details!!!!

You'll like AKL or not like it and not stay there again lol.

I went the 3rd week of Oct last year and it was in the low 90s high 80s so you can still get warm weather later in the month too!

Make sure to set aside pool time and lots of fruity drinks!

 

[MelMel11]

Count me in!!!

 

[dolfinjuls]

Hello there! We'll be there for the same dates...minus two days at the end. We'll be at AKV on the 30th, but then we're moving to Pop for the rest of our stay. So maybe we'll cross paths at some point! I'm excited for Food & Wine as well! I was in Disney after you last year and after food & wine was over but they still had that cosmo slush! Yum!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Wait, you are back to AKL now?! YAY!!!!!! I promise, you will like it!

 

[Pixiedust530]

Count me in! When I first came to the DIS I lurked over on your TR, which was part of my motivation to sart a PTR for my October trip! I can't wait to read more about your trip. I love reading all the PTRs of people going in October! I think it's going to be fantastic!

 

[MickeyNicki]

They had the Parisian Cosmo in Feb....I think they are going to try and keep that one around.....

 

[TanzUnited99]

Yay on staying at AKL - it looks great

 

[jenneth79]

Sounds like AKL will be great! Can't wait to hear what you think about it!