The "No Time Like the Present" PTR: Jan. 8- Jan. 16 2010 About This Page:

[mdobereiner]

Hi! Welcome to my "There is no time like the present" PTR. I have never written a TR, let alone a PTR but I think I'm driving DH nuts talking about Disney, so I think this is a great outlet (because let's face it, I'm ready to go now!)

Here are the 5 Ws:

The Who:
Me (Mel), age: I'll never tell! I love vacations to WDW. My first trip was with my mom and grandparents in 1988 (nope, still not telling you how old I was then!) DH and I have been 2 times together with DS (2007 and 2008.) In addition to Disney, I love NYC (seems like we are always there!) and Dave Matthews (yes, really, I love him that much!) If you asked anyone who knows me what makes me happy, they would almost certainly tell you DMB, NYC and Disney!

DH (Allen), age: Old enough to have grey hair! I would say he loves Disney as much as me, although he wouldn't admit it openly! He went countless times growing up. When I say "let's go to WDW", he tries to put up a fight, but really I know he's excited to go! I think the thing he loves the most about these trips are that they are so stress-free! We both have demanding and stressful jobs, and it is awesome to be able to do a one-stop shop like Disney where EVERYTHING is taken care of.

DS (Ty), age: 8. He's an awesome kid (I know, I'm biased because I'm his mom, but really he is!) He has many interests (including DMB, he went to his first show this summer and got to see them at the Today show in June!) He LOVES sports and plays hockey. He is a very cautious child though, we had to trick him into getting on Splash Mountain last year! He swears he is trying some new rides during our next trip.

DN (Abby), age: 6 (turing 7 on Chirstmas Day!) She lives with us full time (I often refer to them both as my children because it's easier.) My sister is finishing school and so we offered to take care of DN. We take her everywhere with us, and her first trip to WDW was last year. She loves to sing and dance, she's always bopping around. She loves the Princesses but secretly! She refuses to wear anything with a Princess on it to school. She's full of spunk and basically has no fear!

Additional Players: We will have the grandparents joining us for the first part of our trip. DH's Mom and Stepdad live in FL, so they are driving in for 4 days. My Mom and Stepdad are flying in from TN for 4 days as well, and my sister (mother to DN) will also be coming while our Mom is there. That's a total of 9 people for the first 4-5 days of the trip. We are really excited, and I think we will have a great time and make wonderful memories.

The When:
Currently we are scheduled to leave Friday, Jan. 8th and return on Saturday, Jan. 16. Originally we talked about going for 12 days, but then last month we found out that we were expecting, and we realized that we didn't want to burn that many vacation days. Unfortunately that pregnancy ended unexpectedly, BUT we are hoping to be expecting again very soon so we are going to go ahead and stick with a slightly shorter trip. One change we are probably going to make though is flying in Thursday, Jan. 7th on a late flight as opposed to an early morning on Friday, Jan. 8th.

The Where:
Duh, WDW! More specifically, we are currently booked at POP for the entire length of the stay, but this is likely to also change. We anticipate some promotion being released for the dates we will be there, and historically they have been hotel discounts. If that happens, we will likely upgrade for at least a portion of our stay. Originally we planned on staying at AKL, however when the grandparents decided to come, everyone agreed that we would go with a Value (not sure why now, maybe we thought we wouldn't be spending much time in the room?) In any event, we figured it would be easier to upgrade our reservation rather than downgrade (again, can't remember my logic but I swear I had some!) I've heard wonderful things about POP and have been curious to stay there, so if nothing changes, I'm ok with that.

The Why:
Originally this trip was to celebrate DN's 7th Birthday (we took DS for his 7th Birthday.) With her actual birthday being on Chirstmas Day (and no way I would be there during that peak time), we decided to go with January. Although it's a little later, it's most definitely a celebration for her. Other than that, I really don't need a reason except I am going through withdrawl since our trip last year!

The What:
Coming Soon! ADRs, Touring Plans, Extra Magic, etc. I have BIG plans for the trip. Unofficially, I feel responsible for ensuring that everyone has a great trip. Luckily I'm a total Type A and have a pretty good idea of what's going on and how to add in the extra magic!

[Colexis Mom]

Great start Mel!

[Cam22]

Great start!

[bsblady01]

I hope that you and your family have a magical time at the world

[Nicole626Stitch]

Sounds good so far! Here is to a wonderful time at WDW!

[DawnK]

great so far hae an awesome trip

[mcc0313]

Great start, can't wait to hear more.

[chezp]

Great start!

[B.M.]

Great start!

[vfair]

Great start. Looking forward to hearing all your plans.

[mdobereiner]

*Update 9/28*

Woohoo, got some more planning accomplished!

Resort Change:
With the announcement of the Buy 4, Get 7 deal, we will be making a change to a moderate instead of POP. I am torn about it just because I've heard some really wonderful reviews and it looks like a lot fun, but it's a better deal for us to move up to a moderate. We are debating between CBR and POFQ. We will be making a decision tonight and calling and changing our reservation tomorrow. With this deal, it is costing us a total of $40 for our entire 8 night stay to move to a moderate. I can tell DH is still attached to AKL, so maybe I'll get a PIN code that makes moving to AKL work (free dining, free dining, come on free dining!)

Cast Change:
Our cast might be changing as well, but nothing has been decided for sure. My mom and her husband are considering a relocation, which obviously would take priority. That is still up in the air, so we aren't quite sure if they will be able to make it or not. At this point, my plan is to go ahead and make our ADRs to include them, and I can change them if need be. Luckily we are going during a low peak time, so even if they decide at the last minute, they should be able to make it work.

ADRs:
Now onto ADRs. Our day is October 10th, and I think I've got a pretty good idea of what I will book:

-Friday 8th- Dinner at 1900 Park Fare
-Saturday 9th- Planning on Grand Gathering but this may change if my mom and her husband don't come since we won't have enough people in our party.
-Sunday 10th- Breakfast at Akershus Royal Banquet Breakfast, Dinner at Le Ceiler
-Monday 11th- Dinner at Chef Mickeys
-Tuesday 12th- Breakfast at Cape May's
-Wednesday 13th- Dinner at Sci-fi
-Thursday 14th- Breakfast at O'Hanas
-Friday 15th- Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern
-Saturday 16th- Breakfast at Chef Mickeys as our departure day tradition

I'm thinking of substituting dinner at Yak and Yeti on the 9th if our Grand Gathering doesn't work out.

That's it for now! Up next: booking flights and planning *extra magic*!

Mel

[Colexis Mom]

Congrats on upgrading to a moderate! Your dining plans look great!

[Cam22]

Congrats on the resort upgrade! Your ADR choices are great, too!

[mdobereiner]

*Update 9/29*

The Where:
We officially changed to POR (I thought it was between CBR and POFQ but POR came out ahead!) I still can't believe that it only added $40 to our entire trip, can't pass up deals like that! I can tell that DH is really starting to get excited (he usually doesn't get excited until we are within days of leaving!) He had to examine POR, POFQ and CBR in the passporter last night.

The When:
Made a change here too! I'm booking flights this week, and I found a good direct flight leaving on the 7th (we wouldn't get in until about 10pm). When I called to change our resort, the wonderful CM I was speaking with suggested we extend the reservation now and then we can always move it back if we decide against the flight on the 7th. Done and done! So as of now, we are booking for a 10 day/ 9 night stay.

Mel

[chezp]

Congrats on the resort upgrade. Nice ADR choices.