Mom's buying so we're flying TR About This Page:

[taylan1]

I really liked your final thoughts. I was especially interested in your comparison between using the DDP and not using it. I am debating that same issue for our trip in 2013. I love the way you write and I love your honesty in the good and bad parts of a trip. I look forward to your next adventure whenever that may be.

[coffeechef]

Thank you for writing your trip report. I always enjoy your trips and I have to say miss not hearing about the train portion this year.. though the suspense of how you would all do on the plane was fun waiting for. I knew you could do it.
I laughed when you talked about falling asleep in COP.. I have done that too. If I am tired I nod off in the Theater type settings. I LOVE COP and all the other shows, but when you get comfy in that seat.... well happens. Abby with the Characters are just adorable and I am glad to see she enjoys them. I leave shortly for Dinsey and plan to say bye to SWSA too, not that i would really miss it all that much and I look forward to the Diamond mine. You certainly had some ups and downs this trip, but it still was a great trip with a lot of fun times. I look forward to your future trips too, perhaps we will be there at the same time one day.

[ilovedisney247]

Thanks for writing and for sharing your final thoughts so honestly. The DDP is constantly debated in my house. We are huge advocates of the TiW card, but on our last trip we probably would have done better with the DxDP. We talk about it every year before our first trip and we're still debating what is going to work better for us this year. We don't really need the TiW card for our first trip this year and it might save us more money to to the DxDp for our second trip.

Good luck planning 2013!

[PrincessSharon]

Great finish, Darlene. I've found that the best way to make your trip better is to learn from your mistakes. Judging by your summary, you've done that, so come 2013, things will be better! Thanks for sharing your TR with us!

[Sunshine Family]

Originally Posted by CinderAbby

And although what I showed seems really cut and dried, it is and it isn’t . Not having the dining plan meant we ordered things differently than we would have had we gone with the dining plan. Getting the DDP meant we would get everything the plan paid for - meal, desserts, drinks. Going OOP meant we didn’t order any desserts with any of the counter service meals. We also didn’t get any drinks whenever we ate at the food court, we only used our mugs. There really are so many variables that could change those numbers that for us, it ends up being that no matter which way we go - DDP or OOP - we don’t "lose" anything. We work with what we have and make the best use of it .

This is a total gem. We have had the DDP vs OOP debate in our house (well, really, it's me debating with myself.) And I've come to the same conclusions as you - it depends. I happen to be a big dessert person. When traveling for work, I'll order the extra tequila shot for my co-worker, and he orders the other chocolate dessert and we swap If I was paying for all those CS, would I get a dessert each time? I don't know.

I do know that your PRT has inspired me to really take a closer look at our eating habits. I'll have my little notebook with me for the Sept trip, and I'll be recording what I ate and when I ordered extra food because it was included as well as the prices. I know I can do cheaper than the DDP, Stitch and I both grew up poor. But do I want to eat like that at Disney? What is the middle ground for me? Anyway, thank you again for your summary of DDP vs OOP. It's feeding right in my investigations for my family

Originally Posted by CinderAbby

As for the time of flights, we liked the afternoon one coming home, it was late enough that we didn’t have to be up super early in the morning but it was early enough that we weren’t getting home really late at night and being super tired. The morning flight I don’t know about. Part of me liked getting into Disney as early as we did but part of me wonders if we should do an afternoon one so 1) we can sleep later and maybe drive ourselves to the airport and 2) purposely make it difficult time wise to get into a park that night forcing us to find something else to do our first day.

Pin trading. Abby told me she enjoyed the pin trading. I did too even though we didn’t do too much of it. Thanks to several PPer members (you know who you are) we had some pins to trade. Abby could have had more but she really liked a bunch of the ones sent to us and ended up with only a few left to trade. That was okay IMO because we didn’t go with an overwhelming amount. As it was, I did have to encourage Abby to look at the CM’s and their pins so it worked out well as a start. When all her pins were traded away, she was fine with it but Abby did say she wants me to get her more pins that we can trade for the next time .

One thing to keep in mind: the later in the day of the flight, the more likely that it can be delayed or canceled. Which, if your travels are flexible, isn't a big deal. But if you have something to do the next day (like work) then earlier can be better.

Originally Posted by CinderAbby

The final results of all of Abby's pins.

　
　
I LOVE the Figment mouse-eared hat!!! That's one of the things I collect (ear hats) and I haven't see that one before.
　

[CinderAbby]

Originally Posted by Cheeser

I know how hard it is to stay Disney happy when you've had a bad trip. Our March 2011 trip was a doozy. But the only thing I can do is plan another and hope that this time is better. Glad you made it home safely and I look forward to another TR in the future...hopefully 2013 as you previously planned.

Thank you so much. I'm glad you read along and enjoyed it and if I had my way, I'd be doing a TR much sooner than 2013. If I can't then I can't. It's still a long ways off and who knows what will happen between now and then.

Originally Posted by saibot0001

Thanks for sharing your final thoughts. I enjoyed reading your entire TR up until the very last post! The more I think about it, the more I agree with you on the dining plan. I think either way would work for our family too. We would just order a little differently if we were not on it (actually, we would order the way we normally eat...no desserts at the counter service and we would probably share dessert or an appetizer at theTS and we would probably bring our water bottles in to drink with lunch). We would probably come out about the same. I think we will probably end up going OOP on any trip that we could not get free dining for primarily b/c we do have a picky 10 year old who does not eat too much and I don't think that alone would be worth it. So maybe one day we will see, but we are enjoying the free dining that we have on our last 2 trips! Totally worth it!
I'm sad that your TR is over, now I need to find another one to try to keep up with. I can't keep up with more than 2 at a time because it takes too much of my time and plus, I would end up confusing myself reading more than a couple at one time. Oh...I do have one question....how many pennies did you end up with on this last trip?

I'm glad that you enjoyed my TR and got something out of it to think about. Sometimes that's what we all need - just someone else's perspective to make us think about something. I'm sad too that my TR is over but now I have time to check out the other ones. And I'm like you, I can't read too many at one time because then I don't know who did what and when.

As far as the pennies, we did and we didn't end up with a lot. We got 79 from Sea World and only 33 from Disney. We could have had more had I only checked Presscoins.com the day before we left as they added more then too . I'll post a picture later of what we got.

Originally Posted by shnewell

Thanks for writing a great TR, Darlene! I enjoyed experiencing your vacation with you! You have a great writing style.

Interesting on the DDP vs. OOP comparison. Our trip this year will be the first time we've gone w/o the dining plan in several years. DH is hesitant about this because he just likes to have everything pre-paid so we don't have to worry about it during our vacation. But, we have APs this year, so we are getting a Tables in Wonderland card which, in the end, I think will save us more $$. So, in the meantime, I'm tracking how much money I save using grocery coupons and such and putting that money aside in a savings account. Before our trip, I'll load up some Disney gift cards with the money and we'll use those to pay for meals.

I think that with each trip you have to look at the current DDP prices and perks and then decide whether it makes sense for you based on your family's current eating habits. I think we are also a family that can make it work either way.

I'm sorry that your trip wasn't necessarily all that you had hoped. But I'm glad that you're focusing on the positive parts and looking forward to a 2013 trip! Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

Thanks so much for reading along. I'm glad you enjoyed it. This was our first time in years without the dining plan so it was interesting for us as well. I still consider our meals "prepaid" though because like you, I save up the money and put it aside but instead of using gift cards, I put everything on my Disney Visa Card. The bill comes in and gets paid off and I earn a bunch more points for my next vacation in the process. But you are right. With all the yearly changes now to the DDP, you do have to stop and look and see what you get versus what you pay. If I didn't focus on the positive of this trip, there wouldn't be any more in the future but writing everything down, it was easy to see we did have so many good moments to focus on.

Originally Posted by mommapants

Great wrap up and final thoughts. sorry this TR is coming to an end, I've enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing it all with us.

Could you post a photo of all the pressed pennies??

I just got a bunch of pins on eBay just for Evan to trade. 25 pins for 18.00 and free shipping (my very first eBay purchase).

Love the dining costs comparison. Since you can save money paying OOP then you need to check out next trip if Disney will be offering discounts on the room? 20%, 30% even 40% can save you even more.

I'm glad you've enjoyed my TR. I will post a picture of my pennies - as soon as I take one . Way to go on the pins. I haven't started looking yet as I'm afraid that any pins I might get I'll misplace between now and then so I'll look a lot closer to our next vacation. And thanks for the tip on the room discounts. I never thought to look for one of those in the future. Hopefully they'll have something when it's time to start looking.

Originally Posted by WeLuvTheWorld

Great wrap up and discussion about the DDP vs OOP.

The picture of Abby with Tinkerbell in her hand is so cute. I love the expression on her face.

Did you end up with the whole set of pins (the square ones)? It looks like Abby did really well her 1st time at pin trading.

Thanks again for the great TR!

Thank you for reading along. I hope you've enjoyed it. For the set of pins, yes we did end up with the whole set - they're in one of the pictures in my summary post (at the top of the picture). She did do well with her pins - some she kept, some she traded, some she already had from some Fairy Godmailers - so she has a "respectible" amount of them. And she wants more . We'll worry about that as it gets closer to a vacation though.

Originally Posted by sophierushmom

Actually we could be because Orlando is on the list of possibilities for my husband. However the Army is not always very quick with their assignments so we will not know until sometime in November exactly where we are going next just know that we are moving at the end of the school year. I actually enjoy the moving so it really is something to look forward to and when we do find out our location I will be doing major research on houses, schools and all those other important life things! So I wouldn’t have time to plan a trip anyway or at least that is what I keep telling myself!

I'll keep my fingers crossed that you get to Orlando. Sorry it will take so long to hear though. And unless you're a pro at doing all that research, I'm sure it will fill your time enough that you won't miss Disney (too much that is ) Good luck though with it.

[CinderAbby]

Originally Posted by goofysdtr

Well, I've spent the better part of the last week catching up on your PTR & TR. Thanks so much for sharing it with us, Darlene--the good and the bad! I feel your pain on the time 'til your next trip. It'll be almost two years since our last trip by the time we get back. Your TR has helped give me a dose of the magic in between. Thanks! I know it seems like forever right now, but I'm sure both of our trips will be here before we know it.

Thanks Heidi. I'm glad you've enjoyed my TR and that it was a little pick me up while waiting for your trip. It does seem like forever but time just goes so quickly that it probably will be here before I know it. I just hope I'm ready for it.

Originally Posted by taylan1

I really liked your final thoughts. I was especially interested in your comparison between using the DDP and not using it. I am debating that same issue for our trip in 2013. I love the way you write and I love your honesty in the good and bad parts of a trip. I look forward to your next adventure whenever that may be.

Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it and will wait for me to write something else up.

Originally Posted by coffeechef

Thank you for writing your trip report. I always enjoy your trips and I have to say miss not hearing about the train portion this year.. though the suspense of how you would all do on the plane was fun waiting for. I knew you could do it.
I laughed when you talked about falling asleep in COP.. I have done that too. If I am tired I nod off in the Theater type settings. I LOVE COP and all the other shows, but when you get comfy in that seat.... well happens. Abby with the Characters are just adorable and I am glad to see she enjoys them. I leave shortly for Dinsey and plan to say bye to SWSA too, not that i would really miss it all that much and I look forward to the Diamond mine. You certainly had some ups and downs this trip, but it still was a great trip with a lot of fun times. I look forward to your future trips too, perhaps we will be there at the same time one day.

Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed my TR but sorry I didn't have the train to report on. As it stands right now, I'm not sure that I'll have the train to report on ever again. Part of me is but the other part is about getting there so quickly. And I have to admit, I'd rather this "well happens" than the other thing we know that happens that ryhmes with hit . Considering how Abby was originally with the characters, I'm so glad she loves them now. That alone is worth the cost of all the character meals we do. I rarely do them for the food (but that does help ) Enjoy your trip to Disney and ride Snow White at least once for us. And if we are ever there at the same time, don't be shy - come on over and say hello because chances are if you don't, I'll walk right by you (I could do it to my own mother at Disney )

Originally Posted by ilovedisney247

Thanks for writing and for sharing your final thoughts so honestly. The DDP is constantly debated in my house. We are huge advocates of the TiW card, but on our last trip we probably would have done better with the DxDP. We talk about it every year before our first trip and we're still debating what is going to work better for us this year. We don't really need the TiW card for our first trip this year and it might save us more money to to the DxDp for our second trip.

Good luck planning 2013!

Thanks. I'm glad you've enjoyed my TR. Good luck deciding on DxDP versus the TiW card. We're not (nor will we ever be) AP holders so the TiW card won't be an option for us. And if Lenny is now telling me the DDP is too much food, we won't be doing the DxDP either since it's even more food. And thanks for the good luck. I think I might need it.

Originally Posted by PrincessSharon

Great finish, Darlene. I've found that the best way to make your trip better is to learn from your mistakes. Judging by your summary, you've done that, so come 2013, things will be better! Thanks for sharing your TR with us!

Thanks Sharon. Learning from our mistakes helps with everything - vacations and daily life. Just some of us take a little bit more time to learn (you would think I would have learned after the last time Lenny had a meltdown at mini golf ). To make sure some of the things I put in my summary DO acutally make it to my 2013 trip, I've acutally started writing up a very, very rough draft of our itinerary (I know, it's sad, itsn't it ) And thank you for joining me on my TR. Now I'm off to join you on yours.

Originally Posted by Sunshine Family

This is a total gem. We have had the DDP vs OOP debate in our house (well, really, it's me debating with myself.) And I've come to the same conclusions as you - it depends. I happen to be a big dessert person. When traveling for work, I'll order the extra tequila shot for my co-worker, and he orders the other chocolate dessert and we swap If I was paying for all those CS, would I get a dessert each time? I don't know.

I do know that your PRT has inspired me to really take a closer look at our eating habits. I'll have my little notebook with me for the Sept trip, and I'll be recording what I ate and when I ordered extra food because it was included as well as the prices. I know I can do cheaper than the DDP, Stitch and I both grew up poor. But do I want to eat like that at Disney? What is the middle ground for me? Anyway, thank you again for your summary of DDP vs OOP. It's feeding right in my investigations for my family

One thing to keep in mind: the later in the day of the flight, the more likely that it can be delayed or canceled. Which, if your travels are flexible, isn't a big deal. But if you have something to do the next day (like work) then earlier can be better.

I LOVE the Figment mouse-eared hat!!! That's one of the things I collect (ear hats) and I haven't see that one before.

　

Thanks Tink. I'm glad you read along and are getting some helpful info out of my TR. I try to include helpful info because I don't look at my TR as something just to tell you guys what I did. It's also to get some info out there and possibly answer those questions we didn't even realize we had yet. And for those questions we do know we have, what I write I hope can help someone make a decision. Hopefully it helps you decide for your upcoming trips.

I didn't know that about the flights - thanks for telling me about it. I'm not too sure we'd have a lot to worry about because of that though as we would do an early afternoon flight again and I can't really see those being cancelled or delayed unless it's due to weather. If that's what you meant, then I'm just a little slow . And if that happens, for us coming home it's not a big deal because I always have Lenny take off an extra day or two to "recover" from vacation before he goes back to work. I work for the school so it's always a while before I have to go back.

Thanks about the pin. Abby got that one from one of our fellow PP'ers (thanks again) so I have no idea where it originally came from. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful about it.

[Sunshine Family]

Originally Posted by CinderAbby

I didn't know that about the flights - thanks for telling me about it. I'm not too sure we'd have a lot to worry about because of that though as we would do an early afternoon flight again and I can't really see those being cancelled or delayed unless it's due to weather. If that's what you meant, then I'm just a little slow . And if that happens, for us coming home it's not a big deal because I always have Lenny take off an extra day or two to "recover" from vacation before he goes back to work. I work for the school so it's always a while before I have to go back.
.

Mechanical or weather related. Or just traffic (although that seems to be more of a NYC, Chicago problem than a Boston problem.) They just schedule too many planes to leave/arrive at the same time and it's just congestion.

Good that you have a day in reserve

DB and I have both traveled for work, so we've seen flight delays. Sometimes they're manageable. Sometimes, they're not. Once, it was a cancellation. So to get home to NJ from Seattle, I flew via Houston. Took me almost 24 hours to get home from that trip.

[CinderAbby]

although that seems to be more of a NYC, Chicago problem than a Boston problem.

I hate going into Boston for anything so I acutally use TF Green in Rhode Island. There's all of 23 gates so I don't think they over load them.

So to get home to NJ from Seattle, I flew via Houston. Took me almost 24 hours to get home from that trip.

OMG! I probably wouldn't have flown again after something like that. That is a little TOO much time.

[lazanya]

Great wrap up! Thanks for sharing your TR Darlene!

[tinker_me_happy]

Well I finally got to finish reading! I love reading your Trip Reports...the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly! I think you sounded like an old Flying PRO the way you described going through security on your way home!
My husband SWORE he would NEVER go back after "the sour taste" left in his mouth after his first trip in 2008 and we are going away in just a few short weeks (just the 2 of us!! ) for his THIRD trip!
Don't worry... 2013 will be here before you know it!

[triddle67]

Thank you for sharing your trip with us. I appreciated the DDP comparison to. I know we ended up wasting a bunch of snacks because we would eat the CS desserts for snacks, or not get desserts at all. My DH pretty much decided that if and when we get back to WDW we would do it with the DDP.

[aprild]

Thank you so much for sharing your trip Darlene. Even with the bumps and grouchies it sounds like a nice vacation. The pictures of Abby show just how much fun she had.

[truenancy]

Great report! I do love the honest TRs. I re-read mine recently, and realized that I was often irritated with DH (certainly more than I remember now). So the memories will fade to a rosy glow, but you'll be prepared with a different perspective in 2013. Write down the notes now (no mini golf!), and stick to them!

Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us - it was a joy!

[elisa1006]

Great wrap up. Thanks for sharing your trip! You gave such detailed accounts it feels as though I was there with you.

Very interesting break down on the ddp/oop. Your right, when not on the ddp you do order differently, therefore you save money. But like you said, had you ordered everything you would have with the plan, then it'd cost you more money. I too see it working both ways. Another thing that has me going back and forth while thinking ahead for our next trip, is my oldest is charged for an adult. Making the ddp more costly. But without it, she can order off the kids menu! That's a big difference there in cost. Anyhow, that part of the planning I love.

See you around the boards until your next tr!