Goin' Down the Bayou, a PTR ~ November 1-10 - Page 3 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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I just love how you went from almost not going at all, to now going, staying On property AND for 9 lovely nights!!!!!!!! That is a terrific start!!
We had similar issues with our flights for Sep, ours was more of the flight times, but we had to add another day as well..................whoopsie
It's amazing how the Disney planning is always going on even before we leave the Disney Bubble. Awesome for scoring such a great deal at POR, we have never stayed there either, I am so hooked on the Poly, but have also read great things about it. And what way to make it even more magical than staying on property is having your friend their too. I am also having the same dilemma with airfare, the prices on Friday 11/9 are insane and I have also checked the option of leaving the 8th, it is also a lot cheaper for us, even with the extra night.
I have to be honest, that sometimes I am plotting a new trip in my mind before we even leave on the one we are planning I just can't help myself! Airfare prices are just crazy right now, but of course with doing the Disney math I can justify spending the money we saved by flying in early on another night at the hotel!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Linnynad
I just love how you went from almost not going at all, to now going, staying On property AND for 9 lovely nights!!!!!!!! That is a terrific start!!
We had similar issues with our flights for Sep, ours was more of the flight times, but we had to add another day as well..................whoopsie
Can't wait to talk FOOD!!
Go big, or go home, right? I did forget to mention in my earlier post that we had also gotten a good surprise when we did our taxes in January and we were going to get a bigger refund than expected, so that extra cash really did help in making our decision to go a lot easier!
And, hey, getting a cheaper flight and adding an extra night in Disney, works for me!
A little late, but I am joining in. We are also going to WDW in November, but will be arriving on the day you leave. We are also from NJ (we live by the Shore), but decided to avoid Jersey week by going a week later.
We love POR although we have not stayed in the renovated rooms yet. You will love the beautiful landscaping and the boat to DTD.
Looking forward to your next update about food!
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Congrats on booking POR! I've stayed twice now in the mansions section, the first time in the Magnolia Bend section. It is beautiful! I'm sure you'll love it!
Congrats on the flights and extra day too!
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we will be in the world the same time as you are. we will be in the world from oct 27th to nov 10th we are staying at art of animation
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Congrats on getting a good deal. I'm considering the Auto train for my next visit to the world in a few years - no real planning at this point. Wow 9 nights that is a nice visit. how many actual school days will the kids miss?
A little late, but I am joining in. We are also going to WDW in November, but will be arriving on the day you leave. We are also from NJ (we live by the Shore), but decided to avoid Jersey week by going a week later.
We love POR although we have not stayed in the renovated rooms yet. You will love the beautiful landscaping and the boat to DTD.
Looking forward to your next update about food!
November is my favorite time to go, have you been in November before? Hope you have a great trip! We are so excited about POR!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lazanya
Congrats on booking POR! I've stayed twice now in the mansions section, the first time in the Magnolia Bend section. It is beautiful! I'm sure you'll love it!
Congrats on the flights and extra day too!
Thanks! I'm so excited
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
Your planning went just like mine. First, excited about going, then not going, then going & staying on-site. Glad you were able to get a good deal!
It always ends up like that. We get home and I say we are going to hold off on another trip for a couple of years, but I always change my mind. DH has a lot to do with that though, his dad passed away young and he doesn't like to put things off since you don't know what the future holds.
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Originally Posted by lauriep
Woo-hoo! What a little (a lot!) of planning will do. A nice, long, on-site trip coming up!
Yes, a nice, long trip! It will be wonderful I'm thinking that we might not ever go back to the Marriot VC after this though!
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Congrats on POR!
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by taylan1
Congratulations on POR! You will love it there. It is a beautiful resort and I love their food court there.
Thank you! I can't wait to see POR in person!
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Originally Posted by Cam22
Congrats on POR!
Thanks, Cam!
Quote:
Originally Posted by bsblady01
we will be in the world the same time as you are. we will be in the world from oct 27th to nov 10th we are staying at art of animation
Hope you have a great trip!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
Congrats on getting a good deal. I'm considering the Auto train for my next visit to the world in a few years - no real planning at this point. Wow 9 nights that is a nice visit. how many actual school days will the kids miss?
Well, now, here's the kicker! For the last 7+ years our district (Edison) has been closed for the entire week of election day, so with our plan of leaving after school on Thursday the girls would have only missed school on Friday 11/2. The 2012-2013 school calendar was approved and released back in March and guess what? They took the full week away from us! At that point I hadn't booked our airfare, and considered changing our plans, but ultimately decided against that. So, they are going to miss 3 1/2 days now (Election day is a half day and school is closed on Thurs/Fri for the teachers convention). Still not bad for a 9 night trip!
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Ok, so let’s talk food! Like many of you, I’m sure, it’s a big part of our Disney trips, but if you read my last PTR/TR you’ll know that we don’t usually make a ton of ADRs. Well, things are about to change! Staying off property we were never able to take advantage of the DP, but now add that to the list of perks we can use! I’m hoping that things end up like last year and they extend the Fall Free Dining offer through December. I don’t know if my TA has some insider info or not, but she seems VERY confident that they will. Fingers crossed! I made my dining plans based on us having free dining, so we’ve got lots of TS meals booked. I still have not decided what we are going to do should we not get free dining, whether we pay OOP for everything or just pay for the DP . All I know is that it is going to be really hard deciding which meals need to go , since if we are going to go OOP I will not keep all of the TS meals I booked.
Now, my original 180 day mark was Sunday, 5/6, which was perfect. I could get up early, get everything booked and head back to bed for a lazy Sunday morning. Well, adding the extra night pushed the mark back a day to Saturday, 5/5, which was Kaeli’s First Holy Communion day. I contemplated just letting the TA make my ADRs, but honestly I just had a really hard time giving up the control , so I made a plan to get myself up early and shower before logging on to the computer at 6AM. I would have plenty of time to get the reservations made, get myself dressed and get Kaeli ready to head over to church at 8:45. Perfect! Until the online system would not recognize my confirmation number . I knew I would be cutting it close to getting ready on time if I had to wait until the phone lines opened up at 7, and then who knows if I would be on hold for a while, and I started to panic (and regretting my decision to not let my TA handle this!). I went upstairs and started getting dressed, and then I woke Chris to tell him that I needed some help. I printed out a list of everything I wanted and shortly before 7 he was on the line with Disney Dining . I hovered for a few minutes, but then realized that was silly and I needed to go get ready! About a half an hour later Chris came back upstairs, happy to tell me that he had gotten every single meal I had requested
So, here’s what we’ve got:
Friday 11/2 – Dinner at Chef Mickey’s as requested by the girls (a first for us, we’ve only ever done breakfast here)
Saturday 11/3 – Lunch at Mama Melrose (another first!)
Sunday 11/4 – An early breakfast (8:05am-for that early park entry) at CRT, a special request of Kaeli’s
- Dinner at Crystal Palace
Monday 11/5 – Lunch at Coral Reef, another request of the girls
Tuesday 11/6 – Tusker House Breakfast (yet another first!)
Wednesday 11/7 – CMC Seafood Buffet, as chosen by Chris. When he saw the menu he wanted to know why it was never an option before. He LOVES seafood!
Thursday 11/8 – Dinner at Garden Grill (this meal will be shared with my friend, her DH and DD)
Friday 11/9 – no ADRs, we'll just hit whatever CS places that suits us
Saturday 11/10 – Lunch at TRex, another request of the girls.
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At that point I hadn't booked our airfare, and considered changing our plans, but ultimately decided against that. So, they are going to miss 3 1/2 days now (Election day is a half day and school is closed on Thurs/Fri for the teachers convention). Still not bad for a 9 night trip!
. All I know is that it is going to be really hard deciding which meals need to go 
, since if we are going to go OOP I will not keep all of the TS meals I booked. 
, so I made a plan to get myself up early and shower before logging on to the computer at 6AM. I would have plenty of time to get the reservations made, get myself dressed and get Kaeli ready to head over to church at 8:45. Perfect! Until the online system would not recognize my confirmation number 
. I knew I would be cutting it close to getting ready on time if I had to wait until the phone lines opened up at 7, and then who knows if I would be on hold for a while, and I started to panic (and regretting my decision to not let my TA handle this!). I went upstairs and started getting dressed, and then I woke Chris to tell him that I needed some help. I printed out a list of everything I wanted and shortly before 7 he was on the line with Disney Dining 
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