WDW 2008 Pre and Post Trip Report Trip Reports & Member Reviews Discuss WDW 2008 Pre and Post Trip Report in the Vacation Planning forums; I thought about it. But, I'm thinking of going into investing here soon. Thanks Bety!...

[WDWtraveler46]

I thought about it. But, I'm thinking of going into investing here soon.

Thanks Bety!

[WDWtraveler46]

Well, Southwest finally announces it's airfare prices. Still more expensive than what I paid, but I still saved money. Of course, now some of the airlines are having a fare war, but they are keeping it high.

I'm still glad I got the airfare when I did.

Different subject, Belle is bummed. Because of the new baggage allowances, she can only check in one bag. She needs two for her shoes and her crown. Continental will allow the extra bag at no charge because we purchased the tickets early. Air Tran is the one that is being a stickler. Looks like we are going to need to pay a bit extra to bring the bags with the goodies home.

[WDWtraveler46]

I was trying to think of one or two "extra" things to do while on our WDW trip. On our last trip, I surprised Belle with a carriage ride through Port Orleans. It made her feel like the princess that she is. But, I need to think of something else.

I know that we get that discount for the Sea Racers with our package, which I would like to use. It looked like fun when we saw some people on the river in route to Downtown Disney. Probably do that on our "free day." But, what else? We are also already going to go to the mini-putt on our day of arrival to save one day on our park passes. I would love to do a fireworks cruise, but for the two of us would be too expensive. A tour would be nice, but I'm afraid that the one I would want to go on, the "Keys to the Kingdom" would eat up our "free day" time. I am considering the Horseback Riding at Fort Wilderness. It's 45 minutes, we can go in the morning, and I haven't been riding since I was a kid. I don't think Belle has ever been. We'll see.

If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to make it. Don't want to go too expensive like a couple of hundred per person, but $150 for both of us would be ok. I'll be asking the TA as well to see what she suggests.

Please feel free to help.

[bety]

I always think its fun to spend a day (or half a day) riding around and visiting some of the resorts that I'm too poor to stay at
It's a nice way to get your Disney fix out of the parks.

[tigger_03]

Sounds like you've got a good vacation planned. We were lucky enough to snag the free dining as well. It saved us several hundred dollars even though we had to upgrade to a different room (same resort).

I need to call to reconfirm our reservations for dining. Thanks for the tip. I had planned to call back anyway just to make sure everything was still set.

I think that horseback riding at Ft. Wilderness would be fun. DH and I love riding (we've got the horses to prove it) but I feel kind of silly paying for it when we can ride at home anytime. The carriage ride at PO sounds really nice. We are thinking about doing that one night. Or even the wagon ride at FW. We also plan to go look at some of the other resorts so maybe you could plan to do that one day as well.

[WDWtraveler46]

I was going through today to check airfare, just to see if I am still saving money or not. Here is what I found-

Same Airlines, same flights, if I bought it now - $762.00
Southwest Airlines - $754.00
Delta - $729.00

Still saving money!!!!!!

[WDWtraveler46]

Originally Posted by bety

I always think its fun to spend a day (or half a day) riding around and visiting some of the resorts that I'm too poor to stay at
It's a nice way to get your Disney fix out of the parks.

That's a good idea Bety. In the past, we have gone to a couple of different resorts, mostly to eat. For this trip, we are already planning on going to Fort Wilderness for the dinner show and the Grand Floridian to eat at the cafe there.

Thanks Bety.

[WDWtraveler46]

Originally Posted by tigger_03

Sounds like you've got a good vacation planned. We were lucky enough to snag the free dining as well. It saved us several hundred dollars even though we had to upgrade to a different room (same resort).

I need to call to reconfirm our reservations for dining. Thanks for the tip. I had planned to call back anyway just to make sure everything was still set.

I think that horseback riding at Ft. Wilderness would be fun. DH and I love riding (we've got the horses to prove it) but I feel kind of silly paying for it when we can ride at home anytime. The carriage ride at PO sounds really nice. We are thinking about doing that one night. Or even the wagon ride at FW. We also plan to go look at some of the other resorts so maybe you could plan to do that one day as well.

Sorry you had to upgrade your room to get the deal. I requested a standard room, figuring that we only need a room to sleep and shower. Why spend the extra money on a view of the pool when we aren't going to be there to enjoy it. But I understand you had to in order to get the DDP. At least you did save money.

Definitely call and confirm your ADR's. I don't know who had made the mistake on my ADR, but I'm glad I did check it.

The carriage ride at POFQ/Riverside was nice. We would do it again if we were staying there this time, but we want to do something else. If you do go, make sure to take your camera!!! There is not a photopass photographer, but after the ride the driver was nice enough to take several pictures of Belle and I inside the carriage and with Travis the horse. Even though you have horses and ride, it's just a real nice, relaxing ride through POFQ and along the river. Oh, and make a reservation in advance. You will need to give a credit card as a guarantee, but it doesn't get charged when you make the reservation. We did the carriage ride before going to a nice dinner at Jiko. Belle and I had a real romantic evening thanks to the Disney magic.

Enjoy your trip and thanks for the reply tigger_03.

[WDWtraveler46]

Please keep your suggestions coming as to what else to do. The TA sent me a link to another website on romantic things to do at WDW. Nothing really peaked my interest.

[tigger_03]

Originally Posted by WDWtraveler46

Sorry you had to upgrade your room to get the deal. I requested a standard room, figuring that we only need a room to sleep and shower. Why spend the extra money on a view of the pool when we aren't going to be there to enjoy it. But I understand you had to in order to get the DDP. At least you did save money.

Definitely call and confirm your ADR's. I don't know who had made the mistake on my ADR, but I'm glad I did check it.

The carriage ride at POFQ/Riverside was nice. We would do it again if we were staying there this time, but we want to do something else. If you do go, make sure to take your camera!!! There is not a photopass photographer, but after the ride the driver was nice enough to take several pictures of Belle and I inside the carriage and with Travis the horse. Even though you have horses and ride, it's just a real nice, relaxing ride through POFQ and along the river. Oh, and make a reservation in advance. You will need to give a credit card as a guarantee, but it doesn't get charged when you make the reservation. We did the carriage ride before going to a nice dinner at Jiko. Belle and I had a real romantic evening thanks to the Disney magic.

Enjoy your trip and thanks for the reply tigger_03.

You're welcome. It ended up saving us several hundred dollars so we aren't sorry. I might have been more disappointed had we had to switch resorts...that might have been a tougher decision to make. When I heard that we were saving $$$ I didn't have a problem upgrading.

The carriage ride through POFQ/R does definitely peek my interest. DH and I love New Orleans and miss it terribly (we used to live an hour from there and would often go there on Saturdays). We don't go anywhere without our camera. I hate to take a guess as to how many pictures we will take this time. Last time for a 3 day trip we came back with about 10 rolls of pictures (maybe more). We will be taking our laptop to transfer the pictures to each day so we have empty cds to go to the parks with (and we have 3 cards already). I also know that we will be purchasing the PhotoPass CD as well.

I found out that they don't actually charge your card until the day of the event/you arrive so I was glad to hear that. I just don't know if we will end up going on the carriage ride or not. We'll have a total of 5 people (DH, myself, 2 kids and my mom) and I heard that only 4 can ride in it. Though the kids are small they could easily ride on our laps (DS isn't old enough to even has his own ticket this year).

We haven't been for 5 years so this is definitely going to be a very welcome trip. I don't think I can wait another 5 years to go back though. I don't think DD would allow it either. We will probably have a hard enough time getting her away from Disney as it is now.

I think once the kids are both old enough we will be going on the horseback riding at Ft. Wilderness.

[WDWtraveler46]

The TA just sent to me that the tickets for Mickey's Not-so-Scary Halloween Party are on sale. Belle and I were thinking that this may be our "extra" thing and it does work out that it is within our budget for the "extra" thing. Not only that, but it falls right on our free day.

I read the reviews on allears.net and have a couple of questions. Maybe you guys can help me out? Normally, how long is the party? Would you suggest that two adults get dressed up in a costume? When you went, did you feel that you got your money worth?

[tigger_03]

Sorry, can't help you out with MNSSHP. It sounds like it would be fun though. Dressing up could be really fun. I'd probably do it if we were going and I'd probably be able to convience DH to dress up as well. At least a little bit.

I was hoping that there would be a P&PP when we were there but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. I thought that our DD would really enjoy that being she is into everything princess related.

Hopefully another person could answer your questions regarding MNSSHP.

[WDWtraveler46]

Hey tigger_03,

I heard somewhere that Disney wasn't going to have the Pirate & Princess Party after this spring. Don't take my word as gospel because I could be very well (and I do hope) wrong. I think Belle would enjoy the P&PPty as well.

We are talking about costumes, but the bad thing is that we need to worry about packing it in our luggage. We are already having a hard time trying to fit everything in 2 suitcases a piece. (Airtran is going to charge us $20 extra for a second bag, Continental is going to allow us to bring two bags at no extra charge because we bought the tickets early.)

Thanks for thinking of me.

[tigger_03]

Originally Posted by WDWtraveler46

Hey tigger_03,

I heard somewhere that Disney wasn't going to have the Pirate & Princess Party after this spring. Don't take my word as gospel because I could be very well (and I do hope) wrong. I think Belle would enjoy the P&PPty as well.

We are talking about costumes, but the bad thing is that we need to worry about packing it in our luggage. We are already having a hard time trying to fit everything in 2 suitcases a piece. (Airtran is going to charge us $20 extra for a second bag, Continental is going to allow us to bring two bags at no extra charge because we bought the tickets early.)

Thanks for thinking of me.

Well, that would be a disappointment if they don't have them again after this year. Maybe they will have something else if they don't bring those back.

I understand about not being able to fit everything into the number of suitcases allowed. I don't think we'd be able to fit everything in one suitcase apiece for us either. That's one reason we aren't flying but getting everything packed into our van isn't going to be easy either. Especially considering that we are now probably going to be taking at least one of our strollers (due to the price increase for the rentals). I hate to take our big huge stroller but the umbrella one has no bag or place for a cup. I've even considered buying a double stroller and saw one that really peaked my interest. It folds very flat (more than our current big big stroller which is just a single) and should last us at least another two years if not longer. It would be at least $50 cheaper than doing the rental plus we'd get to keep it. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Maybe you find something once you are at the parks to wear or just maybe do masks (do they even still make those for Halloween or did I just date myself? ).

[mini-V]

I think it's more creative to bring costumes that appear to be costumes, but aren't so much...like a sparkly top, glitzy sandals and a tiara can be a princess costume and you don't have to have all the "fabric" to deal with when trying to get on rides. You can be festive without having to be fully decked out. Those that dress in full costume either brought little to wear the rest of their trip (if flying), live locally, or drove to FL and could afford the room in the car for an extra bag of 1-night clothes.