From Certifiably Insane to Shockingly Lucid: 10/20 - TR Link Posted, We're Back!!!

[annnewjerz]

Originally Posted by KathyRN137

Awesome! I love how you set the trap!




Those HM pins are amazing! I love my pins, too...




That is so good to hear... I don't know why, but I'm a bit apprehensive about making my ADRs online. I'm glad you got what you wanted... who cares if its the same restaurant... it's your birthday so eat where you want to!!

It won't be long now!


Kathy

Hi Kathy!

When do you get to make ADRs?? It should be coming up within the next week or so, right? I was apprehensive at first also. So worried it would be confusing, slow, hard to do.....something, but it wasn't any of those things! It was honestly one of the best bits of Disney planning I've done yet and I'm so happy to be done doing it for the first time.

I actually even did a "test" to see how hard my ADRs for our December trip will be. I went through in October (which I know, not really an accurate guage) and for the days that were open to be booked, I tried to get all of my ADRs on the day of the week and time that I would want them in December. I got ALL of them within 10 minutes of the ADR time I wanted---I'm so excited and hope it's that easy once my 90+10 for December comes along.

[annnewjerz]

So I have a bit of a predicament. As any of you readers know, when we go to The World in October, I am taking advantage of the "Get in Free on Your Birthday" promotion that they have going right now. As a result, we purchased DH a one-day base ticket so he could get into the parks with me.

My original plan was to go to the MK. It's my favorite park, I was able to get an ADR at The Plaza, I would get a chance to practice my photography in the MK for our December trip, the park is open until 11:00 (the latest of all the parks that day)---all in all it just seemed like the best choice.

Well today, a co-worker who is more of a Disney nut than I am came over and told me he thought we should do Epcot on my birthday since we'd be going MNSSHP the following day. The Food & Wine Fest is going on still I believe and he said since we had never been to the F&W Fest he would highly recommend it.

So I need opinions, what do I do? We have two Epcot days scheduled for our trip in December and there are only a handful of attractions that I would like to see there. The park closes at 9:00 but I would still have about 8 hours of park time to pass in a park that I don't think would really keep us entertained for 8 straight hours. BUT the Food & Wine Fest always looked like a lot of fun.

What would you all do? Magic Kingdom or Epcot for our one non-MNSSHP park day?

[WrightFamily06]

Just joining in here after the great camera advice you gave me over on WillowBelle's TR . I decided to check out your PTR 's and you have some great plans for this one , gonna eventually get over and checkout your December one also I would have picked the Wave for my Birthday meal but the Plaza also sounds like a nice choice I think you should spend a day at Epcot during this trip , that way you get to be at two parks not just one on your trip ! I couldn't go and just go to one park ! LOL By the way I also have a brother named Chris , what a small world . LOL Or a very popular name ! LOL Can't wait to hear more about your plans !

[scoot241]

I've never been to F&W or MNSSHP. If I were to choose just on the parks, I'd choose MK. But if F&W was involved, I might have to go check it out.

There's also plenty to photograph in EPCOT, if you want to look at it from that angle. There's Spaceship Earth, a giant ball I could see from Canada, another large golf ball object I could see through the thing in the lake in China (or was that Japan?). Oh, there's also a large ball you can see from Mexico. Strange thing about EPCOT, there's lots of large golf-ball like objects.

Seriously, I'm having a tough time choosing too. I think I would lean toward checking out F&W. If it turns out that it's something you don't really care for, you'll know you never have to make arrangements for it again.

Just my six cents (I know, more than you asked for).

[annnewjerz]

Originally Posted by WrightFamily06

Just joining in here after the great camera advice you gave me over on WillowBelle's TR . I decided to check out your PTR 's and you have some great plans for this one , gonna eventually get over and checkout your December one also

Hi! Welcome!

I would have picked the Wave for my Birthday meal but the Plaza also sounds like a nice choice

I was leaning towards The Wave for my birthday meal (a little more special) but decided to skip it because we are on a budget. It was either The Wave for birthday dinner, or a one-day park pass for my DH to join me at a park of my choosing on my birthday. I think I picked the right one.

Originally Posted by scoot241

I've never been to F&W or MNSSHP. If I were to choose just on the parks, I'd choose MK. But if F&W was involved, I might have to go check it out.

There's also plenty to photograph in EPCOT, if you want to look at it from that angle. There's Spaceship Earth, a giant ball I could see from Canada, another large golf ball object I could see through the thing in the lake in China (or was that Japan?). Oh, there's also a large ball you can see from Mexico. Strange thing about EPCOT, there's lots of large golf-ball like objects.

Seriously, I'm having a tough time choosing too. I think I would lean toward checking out F&W. If it turns out that it's something you don't really care for, you'll know you never have to make arrangements for it again.

Just my six cents (I know, more than you asked for).

Thank you for the input. All six cents are appreciated! The Food part of Food & Wine Fest interests me, but DH and I are not really drinkers and while I am really looking forward to going to Epcot from a photographic standpoint, we will have two whole days there in December.

In the MK, there is lots to shoot along with a bunch of rides I enjoy----so I'm thinking if I go in October to MK and get some of the rides out of the way, I'll be more likely to really go at a relaxed pace around the MK during our December trip, if that makes any sense.

I'm confusing myself at this point!!

[WrightFamily06]

Originally Posted by annnewjerz

Hi! Welcome!

I was leaning towards The Wave for my birthday meal (a little more special) but decided to skip it because we are on a budget. It was either The Wave for birthday dinner, or a one-day park pass for my DH to join me at a park of my choosing on my birthday. I think I picked the right one. :thumbsup

Thanks so much

I totally agree with the more special part for the Wave but going with the Plaza for budget reasons make sense also ! Sounds like you made the right choice when it came down to it though especially if it meant DH getting a pass or not . LOL

[KathyRN137]

Originally Posted by annnewjerz

Hi Kathy!

When do you get to make ADRs?? It should be coming up within the next week or so, right? I was apprehensive at first also. So worried it would be confusing, slow, hard to do.....something, but it wasn't any of those things! It was honestly one of the best bits of Disney planning I've done yet and I'm so happy to be done doing it for the first time.

That's my only fear... that it might be s-l-o-w! Glad to hear of your good experience!

I make mine on August 1st!

Originally Posted by annnewjerz

Hi! Welcome!
In the MK, there is lots to shoot along with a bunch of rides I enjoy----so I'm thinking if I go in October to MK and get some of the rides out of the way, I'll be more likely to really go at a relaxed pace around the MK during our December trip, if that makes any sense.

I'm confusing myself at this point!!

That reasoning doesn't sound confusing to me. If you have another day at the MK you can really enjoy all the special party stuff at MNSSHP instead of feeling like you need to squeeze in a ton of rides.

Kathy

[annnewjerz]

So I have a little update for everyone!

I had been a little bummed last week about the December Free Dining offer. We had been in September 07 during free dining and while we still had a GREAT time, I was worried that with us doing the Deluxe DDP in December, if free dining was offered we may have trouble getting all of our ressies---even though we don't have anything crazy like Le Cellier or CRT.

Well I'm over it, a trip to The World in December is bound to be great, no matter what discounts are offered.

So with that being said, I decided to embark on making sure everything is in order for our October trip. I hadn't yet seen a Fall Room Only Discount code released and decided to pop onto Mousesavers.com to see if there were any and guess what? THERE WERE

Now we are only staying at a value in December, so it's really not much of a savings, but for this budget trip---every little bit helps!

With the 29% code for values, we are now paying $155-ish for 2 nights in a standard room at POP rather than the $201 we were paying before. This made DH happy, cause like I said, every little bit helps

[WrightFamily06]

Congrats on getting a discount on your room stay !
Everyone just loves a discount ! I know I do !

[annnewjerz]

Originally Posted by WrightFamily06

Congrats on getting a discount on your room stay !
Everyone just loves a discount ! I know I do !

Looking for deals/sales and saving money in general is a hobby of mine. It has gotten to the point where DH is a little annoyed by it. The checking SW for cheaper flights everyday, the "I'm not buying this purse for $100! I can get it at TJ Maxx in 2 months for $40", the "Go to this gas station, it's .03 cheaper than the one across the street!!"

What can I say? I guess I just understand the value of a dollar. Scoring such good deals is what allowed us to take vacation this year, after all.

[Villainess]

Glad you were able to save some $. I feel the same way - go to Marshalls in a month and it will be there.

[annnewjerz]

I've been a very very bad girl---and did something so out of character for me.

As you guys know, our trip in December is our week-long not many expenses spared Disney trip. Because of this, our trip in October was on a strict budget and was just a quick trip to celebrate my birthday and go to MNSSHP.

Well, I couldn't shake the idea of upgrading to a Moderate. It was only $50 more than my original pre-room only code room at POP cost, and since we will be spending a good bit of time at the resort (a day and a halfish) I figured it might be nice to have a step-up from a value resort.

This is SO UNLIKE ME. Every trip we have taken, I've scouted out the cheapest hotel options and in 2007 when we went to Disney I was fine staying a whole week at the All-Star Resorts and now?? Now I couldn't even make myself stay at POP for two nights!

What's happening to me? I know that going to the Boardwalk this year is a bad idea. It has completely changed my view of where we should stay. Before I was of the mindset that I should stay at a value because it would just be a place to sleep---totally Disney commando! Now, I'm actually thinking about spending time at the resort we pick. I don't even know myself anymore.

So, with all of this in mind and some poking around on the Resorts Board I looked into which Moderate I would like best. It was between Port Orleans French Quarter and Coronado Springs. Both seemed like nice places for adults to stay.

The pros of POFQ were the food court (mmmmm, beignets) and the boat to DTD. The cons was the general theme of the resort---wasn't really into the drama masks, the look of the rooms that much or the dragon/lizard pool.

The pros of CSR were the renovated rooms, the queen beds, the fitness center and the Dig Site pool---but the food court and large resort size just seemed "meh."

So, after going back and forth, I decided on CSR. The larger resort size isn't of much issue since we are two healthy young adults, the food court isn't really an issue either since we will only need to find something for breakfast at the resort, after that we have plans for lunch/dinner elsewhere.

That was a very long winded way of saying........


WE UPGRADED TO CSR!

I'm hoping it'll be a nice surprise for DH. The other day I threw out a hypothetical "Would you be okay with a value, or would you like to upgrade?" and he said he was fine with a value---but I think if he CSR was only $50 out of our budget, he would have picked it in a heartbeat.

[scoot241]

I stayed at CSR in 2004 and it was wonderful. I think you'll really enjoy it. I found that the size of the resort made it very relaxing; everyone is spread out fairly well, and the main pool is not close to any of the rooms, so the noise from the pool won't be bothering anyone. It's a beautiful resort too and you should be able to get some nice pictures.

[KathyRN137]

Originally Posted by annnewjerz

This is SO UNLIKE ME. Every trip we have taken, I've scouted out the cheapest hotel options and in 2007 when we went to Disney I was fine staying a whole week at the All-Star Resorts and now?? Now I couldn't even make myself stay at POP for two nights!


What's happening to me?

You've simply caught a virus, dear.
Some call it "Resort Creep," others call it "Upgraditis!"

Congrats on CSR... I just know you'll love it!!


Kathy

[annnewjerz]

Originally Posted by KathyRN137

You've simply caught a virus, dear.
Some call it "Resort Creep," others call it "Upgraditis!"

Congrats on CSR... I just know you'll love it!!


Kathy

Oh no. This sounds bad. Is there any treatment? Will I ever be able to stay at a Value again?!

DH will not be thrilled to hear about it. The most recent expensive condition I've contracted is called "NAS" or "Nikon Acquisition Syndrome"---it causes spontaneous camera lens purchases, excessive drooling at tripods, etc. and is veeeery costly.