Gettin' our $ worth from those Premier Passes! April 2011 return to BLT

[emmysmommy]

Hey there fellow Dis planners!

Let me introduce myself - I'm Brenda - a satisfied WDW customer who can't stay away! My traveling partner is my 15 year old daughter, Em. My hubby unfortunately, hasn't been able to travel with us to WDW for the last 2 years due to work commitments. (Not to worry, we do get to away for shorter trips together.)

We just HAD to plan a return trip to WDW since we purchased the Premier annual passes when we were there last August!!! I think we are definitely getting the value out of them since we have been to Disneyland and/or California Adventure about 20 times since our return from WDW!!! (Of course, it doesn't hurt that we live about 20 min. from D-land.)

Our trip in August was a split stay - 3 nights at BLT and 7 nites at Beach Club Resort CL. I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY loved the BLT and 3 nights was not nearly long enough at that lovely resort. So..... I had only one hotel that I wanted to book for our return visit - BLT.

Using the passholder room only discount , we will be there during our daughter's Spring Break - April 8th - 16th. Unfortunately, there was only studio (lake view) rooms available but it will just be a girls' trip so that should be fine for the two of us. (We had a 1 bedroom theme park view last time which was Ahhhmazing!)

So as of today, we only have 78 days until our return trip.

Here we were in August!

Next Up: Let's talk dining plans!

 

[MousekaMaddi]

were waiting.......................

 

[emmysmommy]

were waiting.......................

You're funny!

I have to contemplate all the wonderful places to eat!!! That takes time!

 

[emmysmommy]

Now about those dining reservations.....
I have made a few... or more....actually, I currently have 18 ADRs for our 8 night trip. I'm slipping back into the abyss of too much food and not enough time to consume it!

Here's our list of ADRs:

Fri. 4/8:
dinner - anywhere in MK

Sat. 4/9:
breakfast - Kona Cafe (the best breakfast I had last time!)
lunch - Liberty Tree Tavern
dinner - no ADR

Sun. 4/10:
breakfast - no ADR
lunch - Chefs de France
dinner - Nine Dragons (new to us)

Mon. 4/11:
breakfast - 1900 Park Fare (a favorite!)
lunch - 50's PT Cafe
dinner - Coral Reef

Tues. 4/12:
breakfast - 'Ohana
lunch - Tutto Italia
dinner - no ADR

Wed. 4/13: My Birthday!!
breakfast - Crystal Palace (new to us)
lunch - Sci Fi Dine In
dinner - California Grill

Thurs. 4/14:
breakfast - Tusker House/Donald's Safari Breakfast (new to us)
lunch - no ADR
dinner - Teppan Edo

Fri. 4/15:
breakfast - Grand Floridian Cafe
lunch - Le Cellier (another favorite!)
dinner - Tony's Town Square

Sat. 4/16:
breakfast - The Wave
lunch - no ADR

Some of these ADRs will likely change since I would like to try Citricos or revisit Artist Point. Of course, when I read others' dining reviews, I'll want to try other places.... I'm too easily swayed by awesome pictures of delicious food!

We don't have a dining plan...I'm waiting to see how many dining reservations I'll end up with. I am considering purchasing a TIW card since based on my current estimates, it would be slightly cheaper than purchasing the deluxe dining plan. However, with the dining plan we would get the mugs (probably won't use much) and the snack credits. Hmmmmm... how many pounds do I want to gain on this trip??

Next Up: More trip planning and what I learned from past trips!

 

[klacey1]

Joining in! I loved your last dining review!

 

[emmysmommy]

Joining in! I loved your last dining review!

Why thank you!! Finishing my dining review caused me to crave going back to WDW to relive the good ole days!

 

[emmysmommy]

I failed! I didn't finish my last trip review....I really wanted to finish but simultaneously doing a dining review and a TR was too much. In the end, I finished the dining review since it was less interesting to read what my daughter and I actually did during the day. Not sure that it was all that interesting to share what we ate - but I did have some pretty good photos!!

So this time, I will do a dining review but I may just do a summary TR. It is too much work to document 9 days of Dis.

On to the reason I was going to post this update....Key things that I will be sure to include in my packing list for our upcoming trip:

1. Comfy walking shoes. I wore flip flops almost every day but after 9 days of wearing them, my right foot was swollen and hurt. When I switched to my running shoes, it resolved the problem.

2. Small backpack. I carried a tote bag most days but I wished that I had more of a backpack type bag. I carry a wallet-on-a-string when I go to Disneyland but I need a bigger bag when we go to WDW because I will have my bigger camera and case and a sweater or wrap for when we go into the air conditioned restaurants and attractions.

3. Pedometer. I thought it would be cool to see how far we walked everyday in the parks. I actually had a pedometer the first few days but...I lost it on day 4 or 5! Oops!

Ok, this is a short entry...sure wish I had more time to devote to my obsession but alas life is calling.

 

[blessedmom4]

TWENTY PLUS TIMES?!? That is so wonderful! I had to log on to say...That sounds like so much fun, as do your dining plans! Now I am hungry! Have a great trip! You get to go on my anniversary, I wish I was going too!

 

[emmysmommy]

TWENTY PLUS TIMES?!? That is so wonderful! I had to log on to say...That sounds like so much fun, as do your dining plans! Now I am hungry! Have a great trip! You get to go on my anniversary, I wish I was going too!

Hey there! Yes, we go at least once a week - sometimes for only dinner and a parade or fireworks and a few rides. That is the beauty of living so close to D-land!

So you were a spring bride! Nice.

 

[emmysmommy]

Quick dining update.....

We decided to have dinner at Citricos on the first full day at WDW. I'm looking forward to trying this restaurant. Now to find some dining reviews for this place.

I'm still leaving some dining gaps for several meals just for flexibility. Based on last trip, we couldn't use all of our dining credits (nor snack credits but hey.... we were also staying CL! Silly us!)

I'm thinking of trying Plaza Inn (? or is that a D-land place) since the turkey sandwich looks good. Any thoughts on this place? Any other good CS places in MK? (Other than Casey's Corner - blech!)

 

[emmysmommy]

It is still early and there is definitely time to grab some good deals on airfare but...the planner that I am, I like to have things settled and done.

I've been watching airfare for the major carriers from my home airport to MCO for some time. It seemed that nothing was dropping below $800 for two r/t tickets. One of the travel search sites returned an option of r/t air for $700 w/ taxes on Frontier airlines. Well.... why not. It's a plane. It's going to Orlando. It costs $20 per bag which is cheaper than a lot of other carriers. So..... I went ahead and purchased the tickets.

The other advantage to flying Frontier, I loved their flight schedules. I wanted to get to Florida late in the afternoon - we are flying from CA. None of the other airlines appeared to have arrivals before 6pm. This scheduled flight arrives at MCO at 4pm! We should have plenty of time to catch DME, get to BLT, check-in, and get to the parks for dinner before it is too late in the evening! (Last time we didn't get to eat dinner until late in the evening and we were withering away...well, we were very hungry!)

Now I have that marked off my "to-do" list! On to the next task...actually adding the dining plan to our reservation.

 

[emmysmommy]

I was thinking about an odd thing today....do I need a rain poncho in April at WDW?? I saw a cute rain poncho - peach colored with white polka dots in a cute little pouch - at Disneyland. I almost bought it but my daughter said that the rainfall in April averages less than 2". Ok, so maybe it is not necessary but what if......?? We still have our ponchos from last August. They don't take up a lot of room so why not throw them in the suitcase??

Ok, I'm done with odd thoughts for now!

 

[emmysmommy]

Part of trip planning for me is SHOPPING! There are just some things that I feel compelled to purchase for the trip! You know what I mean.....a new Dis T shirt, a new handbag, a better camera. Did I just say a better camera? Well, let me introduce you to my new little friend.....

Since I have not learned to be a better photographer I figured I'd just get a better camera and perhaps my photos would magically improve! We'll see how that theory works!

Now to take it for a spin and see if I can figure out what an f-stop is and an ISO setting.

 

[emmysmommy]

I was in the Chicago suburbs last week and lo and behold, I made my way to the Outlet Malls and found this place:

I purchased a few bags and a wristlet to bring on our upcoming WDW trip.

34 days until our trip ..... can't wait to be back at WDW!

 

[klacey1]

THere's a VB outlet about 2.5 hours away from us-- so fun just to browse around!

 

[emmysmommy]

Funny.... it took a VB shopping excursion to bring out a poster!! Just kidding.... Seriously though, I've seen the VB fans here. I didn't even know what a Vera bag was not that long ago! To think that my world was so small then!

Question of the day:
How hard should it be to add a dining plan onto my room only AP discount reservation?

Apparently, it is really, really, really, hard. Thus far, three Dis CM's have been unsuccessful. I suppose it has something to do with the fact that the booking window for the AP room only discount expired and no one can find the correct code to add dining onto my reservation.

I did get a very helpful CM that would add on the Deluxe Dining Plan for an additional $3,020!!! Uhhhh... you mean the Dlx DP cost over $1,500 per person for an 8 night stay??? I don't think so, no in this universe!

And how come each CM quoted me greater than $80 per person/nite? Why couldn't they error on the side of oops - we charged you only $40 pp/nite?

At this point, I just don't feel like bothering with this since the last CM I spoke with gave me an entirely different "package rate" with dining for my BLT reservation... the only problem was when she read it back to me she said that adding the dining to my Boardwalk Inn reservation.....WAIT a minute. I'm at BLT!!! Then we got disconnected. I'm sure it was coincidental! In any event, I don't want to chance them screwing up my current reservation since every time I call they "touch" it and want to "check" something in order to add the dining plan.

TIW sounds good enough for me about now.

 

[emmysmommy]

With a little less than 2 weeks before we begin our Girl's Getaway Part Deux - I think I have finalized our ADRs. No more tweeking and messing with them since it is just silliness at this point to try and move things around. Of course, in reality, we'll probably ditch some just due to timing and our mood.

So here's where we plan to eat:

Day 1 - WDW arrival in the late afternoon
Dinner: Probably we'll continue the tradition of Cosmic Rays

Day 2
Breakfast: Kona (love the pineapple macadamia pancakes!)
Lunch: LTT
Dinner: Citricos

Day 3
Breakfast: Akershus (is is seriously worth over $35 per person?)
Lunch: Chefs de France
Dinner: Anywhere in DTD although I'm craving EoS

Day 4
Breakfast: 1900 Park Fare
Lunch: Sci-Fi
Dinner: Coral Reef

Day 5
Breakfast: 'Ohana
Lunch: Tutto Italia
Dinner: La Hacienda de San Angel

Day 6 - My Birthday!
Breakfast: Crystal Palace
Lunch: 50's PT
Dinner: Cali Grill

Day 7
Breakfast: Tusker House/Donald's Safari Breakfast
Lunch: any counter service
Dinner: Teppan Edo

Day 8
Breakfast: Grand Floridian Cafe
Lunch: Le Cellier
Dinner: Tony's Townsquare

Day 9
Breakfast: The Wave
Lunch: Contemp Cafe

And sadly... we will then need to roll ourselves home!

We are not on the dining plan.... long story on that one (see prior post) but we will have the TIW card.

I will also need to factor in some drinks and snacks. In the past we had deluxe dining and CL so drinks and snacks were only an issue of how can we possibly use all of them?

Now to lose a few pounds before I pack it on with all of the food that I will allow myself to indulge in for this trip. I have guilt already and I haven't taken the first bite of a Mickey Krispy Treat or the ooey gooey toffee cake!!

 

[rachel09985]

Love the Vera Bradley purchases as well. I hope you will do a dining report this trip too! You probabaly are getting back around now or soon so I can't wait to read updates!

 

[teachermommy78]

Has the new dining review started? I just finished the last one!