Returning to our Happy Place: Pre-trip report - UPDATED 09/08 - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Old 03-24-2012, 10:31 PM   #16
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Glad you were able to get POP with free dining!
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Old 03-25-2012, 09:02 AM   #17
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Congrats on being able to go back, and to get Pop with free dining!
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Old 03-25-2012, 09:09 AM   #18
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Getting excited for your trip already. We've always wanted to go in Mid September but late August/early September is the closest we've come. I hear that is a perfect time to go. Anxious to see how it goes!

Brent
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Old 03-25-2012, 02:42 PM   #19
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Congrats on pop and free dining.
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Old 03-25-2012, 04:23 PM   #20
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Congrats on getting free dining and Pop!
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Old 03-25-2012, 05:24 PM   #21
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Yay!! We just stayed at POP and we loved it!!! Glad you got the resort you wanted
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Old 03-26-2012, 12:38 AM   #22
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more please
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Old 03-26-2012, 09:01 PM   #23
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Glad you were able to get POP with free dining!
Thanks Cam!

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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom View Post
Congrats on being able to go back, and to get Pop with free dining!
Thanks! We are pretty excited!

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Originally Posted by Disdadnmi View Post
Getting excited for your trip already. We've always wanted to go in Mid September but late August/early September is the closest we've come. I hear that is a perfect time to go. Anxious to see how it goes!

Brent
Our first trip was late August/Early September and it was great. We just decided to go a little later than that this year because 1) I really wanted it closer to our birthdays and 2) I really want to go to the MNSSHP.
Glad you are following along. I always enjoy reading your Trip reports.

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Congrats on pop and free dining.
Thanks! Glad you are following along!

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Congrats on getting free dining and Pop!
Thanks so much!!

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Yay!! We just stayed at POP and we loved it!!! Glad you got the resort you wanted
Thanks! I just found your trip report too! We really love POP too. We don't get to spend much time there since we tend to go from open to close at the parks!

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more please
Coming right up! Glad to have you along!
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Old 03-26-2012, 09:11 PM   #24
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Driving or Flying?


Now that we knew our dates and knew that we would be on the Dining plan (upgraded to table service plan) we needed to decide on transportation. We have made two previous family trips to WDW. On our first trip we left Louisiana around 3:30 am and drove to Gainsville. We got a hotel room there, drove around the campus of the University of Florida and had dinner. The next morning we got up early and drove the last 2 hours to make it to WDW. Once we drove that last leg of the trip Scott felt like he really could have driven the rest of the way the day before. So on our second trip, we decided to do it a little differently. We left home at around 6pm after work and Scott wanted to drive the whole way. We drove through the night and made it to WDW around 7:30 am. We went straight to the parks and started our vacation. By the 3rd day we were exhausted!
This year things are different. Abby is starting Kindergarten and we will be pulling her out of school. We are also going to the beach this summer so we are trying to miss as little work as possible while maximizing our Disney time. We also put all of our costs down on paper and the difference between driving (including gas, lodging and meals on the way, miles put on the car -this would be the 3rd trip to WDW, 1400 miles round trip) and flying is only about $200. When Scott and I talked about it his response was, “How much is your time worth?” I agreed and so this year we are FLYING!!
We booked a direct flight last week with Southwest airlines out of New Orleans. For 3 people plus the early bird check in, it was $910.00. I am not sure if this is a good price or not but it’s done and we are excited to be flying this year. We live about 2 hours from New Oreleans, so we will be leaving after work on Monday Sept 17th at about 6pm to avoid the Baton Rouge traffic. We will be staying at an airport hotel in N.O. and will be leaving the car parked there for Free.
We are very excited to be flying….it will be a first time flying for Abby and I. At some point before our trip, we will go to our local airport (2o minutes away) and let her see how all of the security procedures work as this was recommended by some great PP’s here. Hopefully this will make things go smoothly when we are there and she will be prepared for the whole process.

Up Next:
Planning our ADRs.
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Old 03-26-2012, 09:54 PM   #25
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Congrats on the flights!
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Old 03-27-2012, 10:15 AM   #26
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Congrats on the flights! That sounds like a good price to me, plus you will have so much more time for your vaccation by skipping the drive. We usually take an 18 hour drive to WDW from NJ, but this year we're going to fly. I'm super excited about all the extra time we will have for Disney!
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Old 03-28-2012, 09:06 PM   #27
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Congrats on the flights!
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Congrats on the flights! That sounds like a good price to me, plus you will have so much more time for your vaccation by skipping the drive. We usually take an 18 hour drive to WDW from NJ, but this year we're going to fly. I'm super excited about all the extra time we will have for Disney!
Thanks you guys! I checked today and our flight from New Orleans to Orlando has gone up by $58 for each ticket! I am so glad I bought them when I did!
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Old 03-28-2012, 09:17 PM   #28
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Sorry no big update tonight. We have had a crazy week! A good family friend finally lost her battle to cancer on Monday night and then Abby woke up in middle of the night crying with ear pain. We haven't had an ear infection in a long time but I decided not to play around with it and took her in to see the doctor on Tuesday. Not only did she have an ear infection but she also has bronchitis!! She had just really started to have a little cough so I felt like a terrible mom when the doctor said that! My poor baby! The ear seems to be better but the cough is actually sounding worse. She has never had bronchitis so I am not sure exactly what to expect and how to tell if it is getting worse. Anyone have any experience with this?

On a more happy and Disneyish note...I pre-ordered the photo pass CD. I am going to try to get as many magic shots as possible this trip. I'll try to share some of the ones we have gotten in the past in my next update and maybe you guys can help me see which ones we haven't gotten yet.

I also ordered this today:


I know lots of you have this. I can't wait for it to come in. Maybe it will help us get excited about our trip!

Hopefully I can get a planning update tomorrow with our ADR plans!
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Old 03-28-2012, 09:43 PM   #29
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I'm so sorry about your friend.
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Old 03-29-2012, 07:13 AM   #30
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Sorry for your loss! And pixies for Abby! DD had bronchitis once, but she went thru the 10 days regiment of meds, it still didn't clear up (fever came back, cough never went away), so they switched meds and in another 10 days it was finally gone!
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