Going Back! The 2nd Time's Gotta Be Even Better Than The 1st, right? - A Sept PTR

[trickiwoo]

I've been planning this trip for awhile now, but I didn't want to start a PTR until I'd booked my trip!

Well, I booked it this morning! I'm going to Disney World!!!!!


Details:

POFQ
September 5-10
FREE DINING!!!!


Table Of Contents:

Introductions
How Our Trip Came To Be
I'm Back!
Booking Our Trip!
ADRs!
Cameras!
Lenses!
Camera Bags!
First Mickey Mail!
Wishes Dessert Party
Vacation Time Approved!
Dining Plans
Updates
Flying!
Updates... With Hamster Photos!
My Apartment
Thinking About Packing And Luggage
Let's Talk Snacks!
Changing Plans... Again!
Purses!
I've Got My Camera Bag
DME Troubles!
Scrapbook
One Month!!!!!!!
List Of Firsts!
Food, Drinks, Snacks & Desserts
Childhood Disney Photos
Hot Diggity Dog!
New Shoes!
Last Minute Disney Panic!!!!!

 

[trickiwoo]

Who's Going:

Me

Otherwise known as Lindsay! I'm 24 years old and I live in NC. I work as a dog walker and pet sitter, and I also do a bit of freelance photography on the side. Animals and photography are my life! I'm very passionate about both! (If you want to know more about my photography, I'm on deviantART and Flickr) When I'm not working or taking pictures, I'm usually volunteering with various animal rescue organizations and shelters! I'm a Disney fantatic! I grew up in Southern California and went to Disneyland all the time! I took my first trip to WDW last September, and now I'm totally hooked!


The Boyfriend

Otherwise known aas Chris! He's 25 years old and also lives in NC. He works as a software developer and makes video games in his spare time. He lived in Florida for awhile growing up and visited WDW often.

We went to WDW together last September and had an absolute blast! We had such a good time... we're going back again this September!

We've been dating for 4 years. We actually went to the same high school and were in the same graduating class, but never once met the whole time we were there! We met in college and immediately hit it off and have been together ever since! And now we're taking the next step and moving in together the end of this month!



Who's Staying At Home:

Our dog Rosie! She's a 3 year old mix breed. We adopted her in 2008 from a local rescue. She is the funniest little dog and fills our life with entertainment!

My hamster Ziggy Stardust. He's a 2 month old Russian Campbell's Dwarf. I adopted him a few weeks ago from a local small animal rescue. He is super sweet and friendly!


The Boyfriend's mom is nice enough to sit for our furbabies when we go to WDW! We'll miss them horribly, but we know they're in good hands!

Coming soon... pre pre-trip planning!

 

[trickiwoo]

I have to leave for work soon, so lets hope I can make this quick!

So how the planning started...

Well, we went to WDW last September. It was my very first time at WDW, so we wanted to cram as much into the trip as we could. It was a lot of fun... but pretty exhausting. We talked about how our next trip would be more relaxing... maybe upgrade to a fancier resort and spend more time at the resort and less time in the parks. I didn't think The Boyfriend was at all interested in going again in 2010... so I thought we'd probably go back in a couple years.

Then in March I got a free QSDP pin in my e-mail for summer dates. I have no desire at all to visit WDW in the summer, but I was excited to get a pin! I told The Boyfriend about it and he was like, "What's free dining?" So I explained it all to him and he said, "Well, if they offer free dining again in the fall, I'd like to do that!"

I immediately jumped into planning mode! I joined the mass of DISers eagerly awaiting FD announcements! I kept The Boyfriend up to date on all current rumors regarding FD. The Boyfriend thought I was crazy... but he did get a little swept up in WDW planning. And after awhile it came to the point where if FD wasn't offered, we still probably would have gone. But our official plan was to wait for fall offers to be announced. If FD was offered, book! If something else was offered, we'd discuss it and see if it was worth taking advantage of.

The wait for FD seemed to last forever!!! After awhile we started looking into going to Universal Studios instead. I've never been to US. The Boyfriend used to go all the time as a kid and loved it. And we both like Harry Potter, so we were excited about that new attraction. But then it all came down to transportation. We looked at the prices of renting a car and had to factor in the cost of parking. Plus, when we're on vacation we like to drink a lot!

And if we were driving, we couldn't drink! (Well, one of us couldn't! But what fun is that to be the only one drinking???) So we started looking at the costs of taxis and shuttles. And really it was all just a big hassle! A hassle we wouldn't have to worry about at WDW...

So it was decided! WDW it was! Now we just had to wait for FD...

 

[trickiwoo]

Don't worry! I'm still here! And I'm still going to WDW!!!

Sorry I've been gone for so long! I got really sick. Then I got better, but didn't have a lot of free time because I was busy catching up on everything I didn't do while I was sick. Then once I got all caught up, I got sick AGAIN! Then right after I started feeling better, I moved!

And now a month later, I'm back!

I'm still settling into my new apartment. All the furniture is moved and arranged. Now I'm just unpacking boxes!

We signed the lease on Sunday the 23rd and the first night we slept here was Thursday the 27th. So we've actually been staying here for almost a week now!

Rosie actually adjusted to the move a lot better than we thought she would! She seems to really like the place. It's much bigger than where she was living before, so I think she really likes having all the extra room to run around in! Plus this apartment has more windows than her previous apartment, and she loves that! She doesn't really like the stairs though! But I'm sure with time she'll get used to them!

Haha, I don't even think Ziggy knows he moved. But he's doing fine in the new apartment as well!

As for other pets... I plan on getting a pet betta fish sometime in the near future. And I plan on fostering some small animals starting in a couple weeks! And I'm thinking about getting a second dog after I get back from WDW!

If anyone is curious, here is the floorplan to my new apartment:

Bedroom 2 is where we sleep since it has a bathroom attached. And Bedroom 1 we are using as an office!

After everything is unpacked and all the boxes have been cleared out, I'll take some pictures and post them for you all to see!

And now, back to more PTR stuff...

 

[trickiwoo]

While we were waiting for FD, we had to make our plans! What days did we want to stay? How long did we want to stay for? Which resort to stay at? So many decisions! And The Boyfriend was so not helpful! I'd ask his opinion and he'd just say, "Whatever you want..."

On our last trip we arrived on a Sunday, did one park each day from Monday-Thursday then flew home Friday. That seemed to work very well and we avoided the parks on the weekend when they're busier. And we avoided staying in the hotel on the weekend when the prices went up. So we decided to do that again.

Last year we went the second week of September. There were hardly any crowds at all! It was fantastic! But while we were there a cast member told me that the week before we arrived it was significantly less crowded. So for this trip we decided to try the very first week in September!

So our plans were to arrive on Sunday the 5th, spend that first day at DTD. Then do a park Monday, a park Tuesday, a park Wednesday and a park Thursday. And then fly home on Friday the 10th!

As for where to stay... well, last year I REALLY wanted to stay at Pop. But when I went to make our reservations Pop was all booked up, so we ended up staying at ASMu. We really enjoyed it, but while we were there we discussed wanting to try a moderate on our next trip.

So I researched all the mods, and POFQ interested me the most. The Boyfriend said that would work fine with him.

We also looked at the prices for staying at a value and saw that we could save a lot. Plus I still really wanted to check out Pop! So we went back and forth and back and forth between Pop and POFQ! Ultimately, we decided to go with POFQ.


Now that we had our plans all figured out, we just had to keep on waiting for Free Dining...

During the wait for FD, I was very active here on the DIS! I checked the FD rumor boards every morning from my cell phone before I even got out of bed!

Finally, FD was announced for visa holders! Since I don't have a Disney visa, I had to wait for the General Public, but I didn't care! Free Dining was coming!!!

The morning of May 3rd I set my alarm for 6 am! I had the WDW reservations phone number programmed in my cell phone and I was ready to go! Luckily I decided to check the DIS before calling! Someone had posted that Free Dining was available with online booking! I HATE talking on the phone and prefer to do things online when I can! Plus, it would save cell phone minutes! So I rushed to the nearest computer and booked my trip! It was so fast and easy! It took just a couple minutes and I got everything I wanted!

After I booked, I got on the DIS and saw people were on the phone waiting on hold for extremely long periods of time! I'm so glad I booked online!

We're going to Disney with Free Dining!!!!!!!!!!

Coming up soon... making plans and ADRs!

 

[trickiwoo]

So before making my ADRs, I had to figure out what days I wanted to go to what parks!

HS was the first park I decided on. Last year we didn't get to see Fantasmic and I really wanted to see it! Fantasmic was only showing the Thursday we'd be there, so that was easy. HS on Thursday.

As for the other parks... well, last year we did each park on days that EMHs were for that park. And we learned that we don't really take advantage of EMHs. We're not morning people, so it's difficult for us to get to the parks in time for morning EMHs. And by the time evening/night EMHs roll around, we've already done everything we wanted to do in the parks at least once and are ready to go home. So this year we decided to avoid EMHs completely and NOT visit any park on a day that it has EMHs. Maybe the crowds will be less because the majority of people will be going to parks with EMHs? I guess we'll see!

So it ended up working out that Monday we'd go to Epcot

Tuesday we'd go to Animal Kingdom

And Wednesday we'd do Magic Kingdom

(And as I already mentioned, Thursday would be Hollywood Studios)

After our days were set, I made ADRs for:

Monday: Coral Reef for lunch
Tuesday: Yak and Yeti for lunch, Kona Cafe for dinner
Wednesday: The Wave for dinner
Thursday: Sci-Fi for lunch

Everything is new for us except Sci-Fi! We ate there last year and LOVED it! We couldn't go to WDW without going back!

So yup, I had no trouble getting the ADRs I wanted! This is our first time doing the dining plan, and I'm very excited about it!

Last year when we went it was my first time at WDW so we tried to cram in as much as we could. Since it's been less than a year since we've been there, we don't really feel we need to do EVERYTHING in the parks. So our plan is to spend less time in the parks and mainly do things we missed last year and our absolute favorite things. And then spend more time eating, drinking, hanging out at our resort, and going to DTD. So yeah, it's going to be a pretty different vacation than last time we went. And I'm hoping I'll enjoy it even more!!!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Hi There! You guys make a cute couple! Your BF makes video games on the side? How cool is that! Me and DH like to play videogames LOL.

Great PTR! Nice ADR choices. We're going around the same time, Sept 3-8th for free dining too! We were close to staying at PQFQ but chose Contemporary just for the convenience. I would like to stay at PQFQ one day though!

Congrats on the moving in! I would love a 2 bedroom apt, but we live in NYC, in the heart of manhattan where the cost of real estate is extortion.

Looking forward to more!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Just wanted to mention your photography is lovely!
What camera do you use? I am a freelance photographer too, mostly portraits and weddings. I have not brought a DSLR to Disney though because it's usually too heavy, but I may do so this year.

 

[PirateKate]

Hello, I have been enjoying your PTR. POFQ is one of my favorite resorts, and not just for the beignets. I hope you guys like it too. I think the plan of avoiding Extra Magic Hour parks is a good one. We try to do that too, but sometimes, we are unable to avoid the lure of the evening Magic Hours. Of course, now that we have kids, those days are mostly gone.

 

[aprilisis]

Hey!!! I just found your PTR. I'm going to go back & read.

 

[Cafeen]

Poking my head in to say I'm reading along . Looks like you got a good set of plans going.

 

[trickiwoo]

Hi There! You guys make a cute couple! Your BF makes video games on the side? How cool is that! Me and DH like to play videogames LOL.

Aww! Thank you! Hehe, we like to play video games too! That's actually how we spent our first date! Yeah, after he graduated from college he and a friend of his started a company where they made video games full time. But he wasn't making enough money doing that so he had to get a "real" job. But making video games is what he loves doing and what he's passionate about. And hopefully one day it's what he'll be able to do full time! His friend still has the company and is still making games though. He makes games for the iPhone which is pretty cool!

Great PTR! Nice ADR choices. We're going around the same time, Sept 3-8th for free dining too! We were close to staying at PQFQ but chose Contemporary just for the convenience. I would like to stay at PQFQ one day though!

Oh, I absolutely adore the Contemporary! I would love to stay there! Maybe next year! Last year we did a value, this year we're doing a moderate, so it would only make sense that next year we'd do a deluxe!

Congrats on the moving in! I would love a 2 bedroom apt, but we live in NYC, in the heart of manhattan where the cost of real estate is extortion.

Looking forward to more!

A friend of ours just moved to Manhattan! She asked us what she was paying for rent and when we told her, she was like, "Okay, more than double that and that's what I pay for a studio apartment."

 

[trickiwoo]

Just wanted to mention your photography is lovely!
What camera do you use? I am a freelance photographer too, mostly portraits and weddings. I have not brought a DSLR to Disney though because it's usually too heavy, but I may do so this year.

Awww! Thank you so much! I actually own like 20 cameras! But most of those are Lomos. (http://www.lomography.com if you have no idea what I'm talking about!) The camera I use the most though is a Nikon D300. I also have never brought a DSLR to Disney and I was actually planning on making a PTR update about just that!

 

[trickiwoo]

Hello, I have been enjoying your PTR. POFQ is one of my favorite resorts, and not just for the beignets. I hope you guys like it too. I think the plan of avoiding Extra Magic Hour parks is a good one. We try to do that too, but sometimes, we are unable to avoid the lure of the evening Magic Hours. Of course, now that we have kids, those days are mostly gone.

Thank you! Oh, I cannot wait to try a beignet! Maybe sometime in the future we'd want to spend our evenings enjoying EMHs... but for now we enjoy spending our evenings at DTD!

 

[trickiwoo]

I hope everyone is doing well! Anyone have any exciting plans this weekend? I'm dog sitting for one of my favorite clients this weekend, so I'm looking forward to that!

Last week I was pet sitting for two different families that were BOTH in Disney World! When I found out they were going to WDW, I really wanted to ask them if they were staying on-site and if so, what resort and if they'd made any ADRs and what parks they were visiting, but I didn't want to seem like a crazy person so I refrained.


So as I mentioned in my intro, I'm a photographer. Last time I went to WDW I didn't want to bring my DSLR. It was my very first time going, and I wanted to spend my time going on rides and doing things and not taking pictures. Plus, I wanted to travel as light as possible. So I just brought along a little point and shoot that I kept in my pocket. And it worked out great. There were a few times I wished I'd had my DSLR, but for the most part I was fine just using a P&S.

And then I came home and looked at everyone's WDW photos online and decided that next time I go, I'm bringing a DSLR!

I own three DSLRs.

I have a Nikon D70

It was the first DSLR I ever bought. For awhile it was my main camera, now I use it as a back-up camera.


I have a Nikon D300

It's my main camera. I use it more than any other camera I own. It's everything I could ever want or need in a camera and I don't see myself upgrading to anything else anytime soon!


And then I have a Nikon D50

This camera I've converted to shoot infrared.


Originally I planned on bring my D70 to WDW... that way if something happened to it, I wouldn't be as devastated as I would be if something happened to my D300. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to have my D300 with me at WDW. It's faster, it shoots better in low light, and it works better with my Lensbaby. So I'm about 99% sure that I'll be bringing my D300.

I also originally did NOT plan on bringing my IR D50. But then I was online looking at photos of POFQ, and all I could think about was the gorgeous IR photos I could take! So now I'm thinking of bringing my D50 just to shoot around the resort. I don't plan on bringing it into the parks. One DSLR is going to be enough to lug around... two is too much!

 

[trickiwoo]

Once I decided what cameras to bring... I needed to chose what lenses to bring! I wanted to bring as few as possible!

Well, the #1 reason I wanted to bring a DSLR to WDW is because I wanted to bring my Lensbaby! A Lensbaby is a special effect lens that makes part of your photo in focus, and blurs everything else. I wrote an article about Lensbabies if you're interested in learning more!

I actually own two Lensbabies! I have the Lensbaby 3G

And the Lensbaby Composer

I wasn't sure which one I was going to bring... and then the marketing director at Lensbabies sent me a free fisheye optic as a thank you for running an online Lensbabies club. The fisheye optic only works with the Composer. So I think I might bring the Composer since it would be pretty cool to have a fisheye lens at WDW!

So my plan was to ONLY bring my Lensbaby to WDW. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I'd want to have a telephoto lens at Animal Kingdom. So I decided to also bring along my Sigma 28-300

I'll probably ONLY use it at AK and use just my Lensbaby everywhere else. That way I'm not constantly switching lenses! Oh, and I'll probably also use the 28-300 with my infrared camera.

 

[trickiwoo]

Before I go to WDW, I need to get a new camera bag!

Currently the camera bags I own are...

The Tamrac Adventure 7

And the even larger and heavier Tamrac Adventure 9

The Adventure 9 is sooooo heavy! I really only use it when I need to go somewhere and bring my camera AND my laptop. Since I'm not bringing my laptop to WDW, the Adventure 9 is staying at home!

The Adventure 7 is the camera bag I use the most. It has plenty of space and carries everything I need... but it's big and bulky and heavy and no fun to wear when it's hot.

So I'm looking to get something smaller. I'm looking at something like this:

It's the Tamrac Velocity series. (Haha! If we've learned one thing about me today it's that as far as brands go I like Nikons, Lensbabies and Tamracs!) I'm thinking either the Velocity 6x or 7x. I'm not sure if the 6x would be too small for my camera... Sometime before September I'm going to go to the camera store at look at them in person.

Ugh, this means I have to go through the bag check area at the entrance to all the parks! I really enjoyed skipping that last year! Oh well, it will be worth it to have a DSLR with me!


Oh, I also own multiple Lomo cameras... I have a Holga, a couple Dianas, and some other various Lomos. (What are Lomos and Lomography? Check out their website) I'd like to at least bring one of them along. I guess I'll have to see what (if anything) I can fit in my Velocity bag.

But I'd like to bring my Holga

Or one of my Dianas... perhaps the one that glows in the dark?

Okay... enough camera talk for now. I gotta go clean and pack before leaving for work!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Awww! Thank you so much! I actually own like 20 cameras! But most of those are Lomos. (http://www.lomography.com if you have no idea what I'm talking about!) The camera I use the most though is a Nikon D300. I also have never brought a DSLR to Disney and I was actually planning on making a PTR update about just that!

20 Cameras!! Nuts! I have 2 dslrs, both canons, and I have 2 Holga's - one 35mm and the other 120. I have 2 point and shoots but one is retired. I am thinking about taking the plunge into Panasonic Lumix GF1 - the micro 4/3s camera that is a cross between dslr and p & s. Too bad the body and the lens costs as much as a dslr, but it's nice and small!

 

[aprilisis]

ok- so far your plans look great! I am SO jealous of your DSLR Cameras. I'm trying to save up for the Canon rebel xt1i. Thank you SO much for posting the used camera sites! I still wish I was there at the same time you're there. Are you SURE you don't want to wait a month???!!?? Hahaha I just wish we could be there at the same time! Someday!

 

[trickiwoo]

20 Cameras!! Nuts! I have 2 dslrs, both canons, and I have 2 Holga's - one 35mm and the other 120. I have 2 point and shoots but one is retired. I am thinking about taking the plunge into Panasonic Lumix GF1 - the micro 4/3s camera that is a cross between dslr and p & s. Too bad the body and the lens costs as much as a dslr, but it's nice and small!

Neat! Besides my DLSRs and Lomos I have a Canon Rebel 35mm SLR. And I have a bunch of point and shoot 35mm cameras that friends and family have just given me when they bought digital cameras. And then I have a bunch of point and shoot digital cameras... but the one I use the most is a Sony T70. Eventually I'd like to get an underwater P&S and one of those Sony P&Ss that have the Panorama Sweep mode.