Did Somebody Say Free Dining? - Sept 2014 at Beach Club **FP+ and Touring Plans**

[jiminykrikkit]

Yes they had a list of outdoor movies they were showing throughout the week. This was another thing we didn't get to do. They also have horse drawn carriages, renting bikes (and those 2-4 person bikes, not sure what they are called), taking the boat to DTD, fishing, etc. There is really a lot to do but we were so busy in the parks we didn't get to take advantage of any of it.

Fishing sounds so fun! We did the boat to DTD last time, and plan to do that again. Thanks for the list!

Hi Kristan! My roomie in college was the only other person I've seen spell it that way, so I knew I'd like you right away!

We'll be there in September, too but arriving on the 13th! Your plans sound awesome and it's so cool you got a BOG ressie! I didn't schedule one because I was afraid my crew wouldn't like the food choices, but I'm hoping we can do lunch there on one of our MK days!

Looking forward to joining along!

Welcome! I love "finding" other people with their name spelled the same as mine. There aren't a lot of us! Your roommate is the third other person I know of (one is Kristan Cunningham - a TV home dec show host, the other is some chick I stumbled across on Pinterest LOL).

I have a couple of picky eaters in my group (my parents), but they're usually happy with steak & fries, which BOG has, so I'm crossing my fingers!

 

[KelleyK75]

Fishing sounds so fun! We did the boat to DTD last time, and plan to do that again. Thanks for the list!

You're welcome! The fishing did look fun. Especially when you are in that "Riverside" mood.

 

[dreamit]

It's been a while since I last updated, but nothing has happened!

Today I called to add the Memory Maker to my reservation. We think it is worth it for us, because we really like those ride pics, but never buy them because wow, they are pricey.

I also added Crystal Palace breakfast at 805 am before the park opens to our MK day. Just for fun.

And I requested a ground floor room at POR since we'll have a stroller. I just happened to read somewhere (can't remember now!) that not all the buildings have elevators.

Now I'm off to research cabs for transportation to our early morning ADRs. Hoping they're inexpensive and lots faster than the buses. We only have two mornings to worry about, so it shouldn't be a deal breaker!

Our trip is a few weeks after yours, and I'm enjoying reading your plans. Did you apply the "free memory maker" discount to your reservation? It also includes a room discount.

 

[jiminykrikkit]

Our trip is a few weeks after yours, and I'm enjoying reading your plans. Did you apply the "free memory maker" discount to your reservation? It also includes a room discount.

Welcome! We actually didn't apply the discount. We'll be adding free dining when it's announced, so we have to do an undiscounted package. I asked the CM on the phone if they'd be able to add the free dining on the Memory Maker package and she said no, that I should just wait until free dining and call back to apply that. It's a bigger savings for us to get free dining (we prefer to have the dining plan whether it's free or not) than it is to get the free MM and the discount.

 

[jiminykrikkit]

I just had the best idea, and I'm excited so I'm going to share.

We'll be doing MNSSHP on our son's 4th birthday. I've been trying to figure out costumes. It hit me.

THE FANTASTIC FOUR.

Okay, so there are 5 of us, and I don't think anyone is going to want to dress up as Thing. But I think it'll still be really fun.

There are lots of shirts already on the market (also easy to DIY), and I can just do an iron-on thing for the back to say something about it being LT's Fantastic Fourth Birthday.

Easy, comfortable costumes that also work for our special celebration.

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Super cute costume idea for MNSSHP!

 

[jiminykrikkit]

Super cute costume idea for MNSSHP!

Thanks!

 

[jiminykrikkit]

So I have been obsessed with Polyvore lately. I love creating outfits on there. I've recently purged most of my clothes, and I own 50-75 items of clothing now (for all seasons and occasions). I'm still paring down my shoes! I'm finding it so much easier to get dressed and feel put together now. And my room is staying cleaner without clothes I've thrown around after not liking something I put on.

What does this have to do with Disney? Well, I've created a little capsule wardrobe to help me figure out what to pack. Not that it's hard, but like I said, I'm obsessed. Everything you see here I already own, with a few exceptions. My Mickey shirt is different, but I couldn't find a suitable pic of the one I own (mine is a heathered light blue background). I don't actually have a Mickey baseball cap yet, but I plan to purchase one when we get there (I'll bring my other cap just in case though). And I don't actually have a pin lanyard yet, but I'm thinking about getting into it this year. We'll see.

My wardrobing choices are pretty simple and plain (in my everyday life as well), but that's just my style, plus it makes it so much easier to mix and match. Those dresses and the skirt are tech material that is wicking and protects from the sun. They're super comfy too. Perfect for the parks. I also have a pair of convertible grey rip-stop pants. I may wear those for travelling (cold on airplanes!), and then zip the bottoms off when we're in the parks. I forgot to add them to the pic.

 

[dreamit]

Welcome! We actually didn't apply the discount. We'll be adding free dining when it's announced, so we have to do an undiscounted package. I asked the CM on the phone if they'd be able to add the free dining on the Memory Maker package and she said no, that I should just wait until free dining and call back to apply that. It's a bigger savings for us to get free dining (we prefer to have the dining plan whether it's free or not) than it is to get the free MM and the discount.

And I thought I was an obsessive planner-lol-I love your wardrobe planning! I also love the costume idea for MNSSHP. I'm still trying to figure out both a family costume idea AND how I'll get dh to go along with the idea of wearing a costume. He's pretty accommodating, but I'm not sure if this will fly with him.

You're correct that you can't add the free dining on the MM package; however, it at least gives you a discount should free dining not come out. I booked with the mm package, but will just switch out the reservation if free dining comes along for my arrival date (fingers crossed ). It's something to think about.

 

[jiminykrikkit]

Hurray! Free dining for Disney Visa card holders has been announced for our dates. POR and POFQ are excluded so we will need to pick a different resort.

We're going to have to pick between CBR and CSR. I was looking forward to staying at POR, the grounds look really pretty and I love that it's a boat ride away from DTD.

CBR Pros
Close to Epcot
Neat pool
Possibility of Pirate Rooms (not sure my kid will care enough for the added expense though)

CBR Cons
Really ugly standard rooms (sorry, just my opinion!)
Not so good bus service according to some Dis users
Double beds & no king bed available for our stay dates (parents want King bed)
Possible refurb happening during our stay?

CSR Pros
Pretty rooms
Pepper Market
Bigger rooms
Queen beds

CSR Cons
Far away by AK
No kings available for our stay

It's looking like CSR, mostly because of the bed situation. We will definitely do better with 2 queens instead of 2 doubles. According to the website, my parents are out of luck for a king bed no matter which one we choose.

 

[jiminykrikkit]

Well, we made a decision and it was neither CSR nor CBR. Instead we're staying at Beach Club! Super excited. I loved Boardwalk when we stayed there last year (it is my fave resort so far, and we're on a mission to try them all at least once). I loved being able to just walk to Epcot. Excited to try Beach Club and Storm Along Bay.

So now we have a new resort and added free dining. It was super easy to do on the phone. Just called and said I had a Disney Visa and wanted to add free dining to my reservation, and change resorts. All I had to do was make a $200 payment with the Disney Visa since I didn't use it initially when I paid the deposit. It was a 10 minute phone call, including the amount of time I spend on hold (seconds).

Sorry to anyone that was following along for a POR PTR. I totally understand if you unsub because of the resort change. Off to go change my siggy now!

 

[Team Bunch]

Love your outfits and wish they were mine . We have to change our resort for free dining as well, so sad.

 

[jiminykrikkit]

Love your outfits and wish they were mine . We have to change our resort for free dining as well, so sad.

Thanks! Which resort are you thinking of changing to? We would have done CSR if we didn't decide to go deluxe.

 

[Team Bunch]

We ended up changing to two connecting rooms at pop. Thinking of calling in to see if we have a pin under our name as I have seen others get it this way.

 

[jiminykrikkit]

Wow, it sure has been a super long time since I've posted last. To be honest, I find it easier to not obsess and over plan when I step away from the boards. Plus I think the waiting time passes faster when I'm not thinking about it every day!

So since I last updated, we've changed to Beach Club (Standard Room, Garden View), so I'll be editing the main title of this thread to reflect that.

I've been trying to buy MNSSHP tickets online since they were released but it wouldn't ever let me. I even paid the balance of our trip online and it took the card for that, but it would never process the MNSSHP ticket order. I finally called yesterday and even the CM couldn't get the card to go through. There is plenty of available balance so it wasn't an issue of being maxed out or whatever. So strange that Disney wouldn't accept my Disney Visa for MNSSHP tickets. I put them on the Amex instead and it went right through. Just wish I could have gotten the Disney points for that purchase to use in our souvenir budget. Checking my Disney Visa account online showed that Disney DID actually charge my card for the MNSSHP tickets, and then refunded the charge. No idea why, but that's so weird. But the tickets are purchased so that's that.

While I had the CM on the phone, I did some ADR rearranging. For the Tuesday that we are there for LT's bday, the same day as the MNSSHP, we had a very early ADR at Chef Mickey's. I decided to cancel that since we'd have such a long day. We will do Chef Mickey's the morning we leave instead. And 9 AM breakfast at Cape May that morning so we can get off to a leisurely start. I had already planned on doing Epcot Future World before the party so our new location at Beach Club makes it more convenient and virtually no travel time after breakfast.

Then, to celebrate LT's bday before the party, we have 2 ADRs at Beaches & Cream. 2 ADRs because they don't seem to take ADRs for a party of 5, so I had to make one for 3 and one for 2. They are about 30 mins apart, but my plan is to arrive early for the first one and let them know we'd like to wait so we can all be seated together. I hope that works. The idea is to get the kitchen sink to celebrate LT's bday. I know he'll just LOVE that.

Then we'll head back to Beach Club for some down time or nap time before heading out to MK for the party.

Whew! So that's it for my update. If anyone is still with me, thanks for reading!

 

[jiminykrikkit]

Whew, I can't believe we're less than 60 days out already.

Tuesday 7/8 was FP+ day. I actually FORGOT about it until Disney sent me an email in the afternoon telling me it was FP+ day! Still, I was able to get everything we wanted (no A&E for us, but it was there if we wanted it).

Of course my weird over-planning brain then had to take those FPs and schedule the day around them. Which is exactly opposite of what I wanted to do.

So I planned all the days in Touring Plans and everything looks pretty good. No waits more than 15 minutes on anything! My idea is to have the day planned but not tell my party, so they don't feel like we are obligated to do anything. And then I'll just steer everyone in the direction that we "should" be going, which I'm usually the one doing that anyways. If someone doesn't want to do what I suggest, that's okay. I set up the plans so we're not criss crossing everywhere. We're basically doing a land at a time, so the order of the rides will make sense to everyone.

And the plans really only matter on our DHS day. For some reason, that day is jam-packed and we aren't going to make it to everything as it is. We do have resort breaks scheduled each day, so maybe if LT falls asleep in the stroller we can fit more in. But if not, I am totally cool with taking him back to the resort (which is super close) on my own while everyone else gets in some extra park time.

Is anyone interested in seeing our plans and FP+s?? If so I'll post them, but I'm not sure anyone is left out there reading this so...

I guess the only things left to wait for are Magic Bands, DME tags, and of course DISNEY DAY!

 

[hokieinpa]

Still checking in and I would like to see your plans! Just starting to plan each day for our trip so I love reading over other touring plans - especially plans for BOYS!

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Would like to see your FP+ plans!

Our FP+ day is coming up on Tuesday and I'm getting nervous!

 

[jiminykrikkit]

Still checking in and I would like to see your plans! Just starting to plan each day for our trip so I love reading over other touring plans - especially plans for BOYS!

Would like to see your FP+ plans!

Our FP+ day is coming up on Tuesday and I'm getting nervous!

Thanks for sticking with me y'all! I'll get those plans up...I was hoping someone would ask because I spent a lot of time getting them right and want to show them to other people who care hahaha!

 

[jiminykrikkit]

Day 1 - Travel Day & MK

Land at MCO at 10:55 am.
DME to Beach Club.
Check in, drop carry-on bags at bell services.
Arrive in MK around 1 pm. Touring Tomorrowland and FoF Parade only (MK = crowd level 1 & closes at 7 pm for Night of Joy).

1:13 pm - Space Mountain. 4 minute wait (FP+)
1:30 pm - Stitch. 9 minute wait.
1:53 pm - Carousel of Progress. 5 minute wait.
2:20 pm - Buzz. 1 minute wait (FP+)
2:27 pm - People Mover. 0 minute wait.
2:45 pm - Festival of Fantasy Parade with snacks. (FP+)

Leave MK after parade and head to DTD for shopping.
6:45 pm ADR at Raglan Road.
Depending on how we're feeling, might hop into Epcot in the evening.

Disclaimer: we probably won't worry too much about being at attractions right at the minute we're supposed to be. Our touring plan is more for the order of rides, walking at a relaxed pace. On TP, after adding in what we want to do, I "optimize" the first go round to see what they suggest, then I move things around to make sense for us and "evaluate" from there on out until I get it looking like I want.