YAY!!! First EVER Turkey Day @ WDW AND 12th Birthday- Pre-Trip Report

[ILUVDSNYWRLD]

Hi everyone I have been lurking for awhile and have finally decided to start posting This is obviously my first Pre-Trip Report so please be forgiving and feel free to help or ask questions.


Onto the introductions....

Me - 29 year old single mother. During the day I work as a QA Technician at a bakery supply plant --I know dangerous job for the waistline. I grew up in California and experienced Disneyland for the first, and only time when I was 10. Since then I have moved East and have fallen in Love with DisneyWorld. I was pregnant and didn't know it with my daughter when I took my first trip to DW in 1997 (Yes I was very young). As soon as she was born I vowed that when she was "old enough" and I could afford it we would visit every year, and thats excatly what we have done since she was 6 years old (2004). This year I became a DVC member and I am excited for the many Disney Vacations to come!!

DD11 - Is in 6th grade and loves riding horses & Totally loves Nick Jonas. She is super tall and super skinny (I was once skinny but now I live vicariously through her). She loves Princess Aurora but I don't think she has a favorite Disney Character. She is not big into thrill rides (I am). She just got into BTMR a couple trips ago. She tried EE last trip but didn't like it, I think she works herself up to much and then she can't enjoy it. Her fav ride is TT; least favorite ride SM. She doesn't know that the trip is confirmed, she still thinks I'm looking into going for her Birthday/Thanksgiving. I love surprising her!! I surprised her with Jonas Bro's concert tickets over the summer. This trip is the hardest surprise to keep though!

Here is a picture of us during Mickey's Magical Milestones Tour from our last trip back in Feb '09

Next up..Accomodations, Airfare, & ADR's

 

[ILUVDSNYWRLD]

Travel Dates

11/25/2009 - 11/29/2005

Tickets

It wasn't hard deciding on tickets because we are AP holders, so tickets were already checked off my list.

Accomodations
March 21, 2009
I put in a reservation request for our home resort AKV - Kidani, unfortunatley there was nothing available in Kidani but there was in Jambo. DD loves animals, she was a big reason that I chose AKV as our home resort, so I was glad I was able to book there, especially because we are celebrating her Bday!

Airline
March 21, 2009
After booking our dates I started searching for airfare. Normally I search for cheap airfare and plan our vacations around them. This time I had set dates and now needed to find the cheapest flights available. Now since our travel dates include a major holiday I wasn't to sure that cheap flights even existed. My fav airline when going to WDW is AirTran, I have never had a problem with them plus I can check in at resort and don't have to worry about lugging our bags - I always overpack. When I checked AirTran's website the flights were way to expensive plus I would have to pay for checked bags. So I went to my #2 airline, SouthWest. (They are only #2 cuz you can't check your bags at the resort) I LUV flying SouthWest the crew members are so nice and they are funny too. So I went on their website to check prices but their schedule for Nov wasn't out yet!! I had no idea what to do..Should I just book through AirTran?......Stay Tuned to see what happened...

 

[starrzone]

Congrats on your first TR! I love reading them and know that you'll have a great time writing, too

 

[ILUVDSNYWRLD]

Congrats on your first TR! I love reading them and know that you'll have a great time writing, too

Thanks sooo much!! I enjoy reading them too, it gives me something Disney to do when its cold and snowy here

 

[ILUVDSNYWRLD]

Airline cont...
I checked SouthWest everyday hoping that their schedule for the rest of the year would be out and everyday it still wasn't available. So then I would check AirTran to see if they had any cheap seats open up...no luck. Then I tried Jet Blue some people have good luck with cheap seats I never have but I figured I would check anyway..again no luck. Finally after 3 months of waiting SouthWest finally posted their schedule! And I got great prices especially since my flights were around the Thanksgiving holiday! Airfare incl. taxes and fees for the both of us came to $450.40 plus we won't have to pay for our checked baggage The flights I chose totally maximize the time we will be able to spend at WDW. We will land in Orlando at 10:05am our first day Wed 11/25 and we depart Orlando at 8:05am on our last day Sun 11/29. I will probably be very sleepy at work Monday but it will be worth it


So now I just had to wait until it was time to make my ADR's...oh boy I knew trying to get ADR's for Turkey Day was going to be a PITA!!

Note:
On our past trips I have had every intention of making a touring plan and sticking with it, but then I just love being spontaneous so I don't make touring plans..it has worked well for us...This time I think it may be different..I have no idea what to expect with crowds and whatnot so Im still deciding on wether or not to make a touring plan..any advice would be greatly appreciated

So while I was waiting for the 90 day mark to approach I started polling my daughter about where she would want to eat IF we go to WDW for her Birthday. This is what I got:
1. CRT - for Dinner on Birthday
2. Teppan Edo - whenever
3. Le Cellier - whenever (She Loves Steak)
4. CP
So then I asked where she would want to eat Thanksgiving Dinner she said IDK you decide...I immediatley thought Liberty Tree...but I didn't know if we would even be at MK on Thanksgiving or even be able to get in depending on crowds...and I still didn't have a plan...I didn't even know if we were going to do the dining plan...We did deluxe on our last trip and it was ALOT of food, it was nice to be able to go to resturants we have never been to before...I don't think we will do deluxe again..but never say never right

Flashforward to August......

ADR's

8/27/09 The first day I could call for ressies without a plan of attack I went online (at work) to see what I could get...

Day 1 (11/25) Teppan Edo for 4:40 pm I figured that was a good time since we would be landing early and prob have lunch at 12pm.

8/28/09 2nd day of ressies...

11/26/ 09 Turkey Day - So I was all geared up to go online to make Thanksgiving Dinner ressies, so at work again I went on the website and tried to start the process....there were so many people trying to get reservations that the system kept saying we are extremley busy please try again later...so I went on my break and immediatley dialed the reservation number....of course I only had a 15 min break and my hold time was estimated at 11 min...great I should have taken the day off lol! So the CM finally comes on and said how can I help you? I said I would like to try for ressies at Liberty Tree on 11/26 Thanksgiving Day I will take whatever time ...she said let's see.....yeah there is nothing available it is booked all day!! It was only 15 min after the ressie line opened...She was very nice and said that there was openings at Crystal Palace so I quickly jumped on that and took the reservation..I am still unsure I want to keep the reservation...I don't know what to do lol..

The Remainder of my ADR's so far are

11/28 (DD's Bday)

Breakfast- Crystal Palace she wanted to go to MK that day so I figured we would get there early cuz it's always so cool to be in the park when only a handful of people are there.

Dinner - CRT we both love the castle!!

11/29 Le Cellier for an early lunch on the day we leave

Now Im realizing we don't have any ressies for dinner on the 25th & nothing on the 27th....anyone have any suggestions??

 

[ILUVDSNYWRLD]

YAY 46 days and counting...Im super excited I just got very lucky and booked Thanksgiving Dinner at California Grill!!! I was just trying to see what I could get and it popped up haha, I changed some other things around too, I now have lunch booked at WCC on the day we arrive DD and I really enjoyed it the last time we went Im still trying to decide where to go for dinner on the 27th I want to do something at EPCOT or Yacht Club since Epcot has EMH that evening. Has anyone ever tried the Private In Room Dining at AKV? I think we are going to go with Deluxe Dining again even though I said I would never do it again, only because there are some resturants we want to try plus I booked CG and we also have CRT...still on the fence....