Krystal's Fall pre-trip/trip report

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Mon, 07/22/2013 - 19:32

KrystalT

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Krystal's Fall pre-trip/trip report

Hello all, I'm so excited about our upcoming trip that I just couldn't put off starting my pre trip/ trip report any longer

I am headed to Orlando Sept 25th through October 5th. I will be traveling with my husband,brother, and cousin. We all went on a trip to Universal Orlando, Sea World and the beach in 2011 then last year my husband planned a four day trip to Universal for Halloween Horror Nights for my birthday we all went on as well. This year we are going to Universal for the first 4 days again attending HHN (I love horror!!!) then spending the rest of our time at DISNEY!!!! We were originally supposed to check out on the 4th BUT we decided to take an early return flight on Saturday getting us a whole extra at WDW and saving us 36.00 a piece on our return flight cost.

Our flight leaves at 6am! That is sooo early but I just couldn't wait another hour to be out of PA, we live about 40 minutes outside of Pittsburgh.

We usually stay at the Holiday Inn Express right outside of Universals main entrance because as an AGM my hubby gets a discount and rooms are only 59.00 a night but this time I talked him into staying onsite so we have two rooms booked at Loews Royal Pacific.

We will be renting a car and a few weeks ago I noticed a promotion on Dollars website that allowed us to add the extra day, upgrade to an SUV and save $150 on the rental cost!! Hellllllo extra spending money!

We booked a flight on Airtran via Southwest and I didn't realize we wouldn't be allowed to pick our seats or buy the early bird check in so me being a nervous flyer I'm even more nervous that I'm going to get stuck in a middle seat between two complete strangers

We will check into Art of Animation in a Cars family suite on Sunday 9/29. I really can't wait to be back at Disney, my parents took my brother and I for a visit back in 2000 and it was just the greatest trip. I'll be celebrating my birthday while in the World (Oct. 3) and I'm excited to get my birthday button.

More to come..

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Mon, 07/22/2013 - 21:31

Allie

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How exciting! Do you have any ADRs made? Anything you're especially looking forward to?

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January 2020 Trip Report - Riviera Resort
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October 2018 Trip Report - Contemporary Resort
July 2018 - All Star Movies
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Nov 2017 Trip Report - Boardwalk Villas
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Tue, 07/23/2013 - 01:05

JMUDukz

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Woohoo!! Lots to look forward to!! And way to go on the bargain hunting!!

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Tue, 07/23/2013 - 01:38

disneydoc

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I'm excited right there with you! I am an Oct baby too, but can't come till November.

So yes, what do you plan to do - and especially EAT - while there?

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Tue, 07/23/2013 - 04:43

JeffC

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Yay!!! We're excited for you!! Isn't celebrating your birthday at the World the best?! Woo hoo!!

Tue, 07/23/2013 - 15:45

KrystalT

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We do have some ADRs planned

9/29-Nothing big planned maybe Hoping to get a ride on the railroad since it is to be closed the rest of our visit
9/30-lunch adr at Sci-fi drive in
10/1-breakfast at Crystal Palace 8:20 adr hoping to get some pictures of a less crowed main street and castle
10/2-lunch ressie at Chefs de France 12:20 had an adr at BOG this night for dinner but had to cancel for DFB dessert party
10/3-Yachtsman adr for dinner
10/4-O'hana adr for dinner

I'm really looking forward to riding ToT again it was one of my faves and to doing some Disney shopping. I've decided to splurge a bit and get a new Dooney and Burke this is the one I picked out!

Preview	Attachment	Size
	purse.jpg	93.06 KB

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Tue, 07/23/2013 - 15:49

KrystalT

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My new luggage came yesterday!! 5 pieces all in this pattern, I can't wait to start packing it up. I also found a cute pair of jammie pants at Wal-mart to take with me too

Preview	Attachment	Size
	20130723_092117.jpeg	592.16 KB
	20130723_092157.jpeg	497.64 KB

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Wed, 07/24/2013 - 01:39

JoAnn C

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Your trip will be here before you know it.

I've never flown Airtran but you will have assigned seats. If you bought your tickets together, I'm guessing they will be together. If you prefer an aisle seat, you can pay extra for it (got to love the added fees airlines charge these days).

Where do you live? I live in CT but am from SW PA. My parents are about 30 miles south of Pittsburgh. Sorry if we've had this conversation before but there are days where I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached.

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Wed, 07/24/2013 - 01:41

Magic Mirror

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Love the purse you picked out!

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Wed, 07/24/2013 - 15:35

KrystalT

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JoAnn C wrote:

Your trip will be here before you know it.

I've never flown Airtran but you will have assigned seats. If you bought your tickets together, I'm guessing they will be together. If you prefer an aisle seat, you can pay extra for it (got to love the added fees airlines charge these days).

Where do you live? I live in CT but am from SW PA. My parents are about 30 miles south of Pittsburgh. Sorry if we've had this conversation before but there are days where I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached.

We are in Monaca

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Wed, 07/24/2013 - 20:51

PirateGirl

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Krystal I live in Charleroi 25 miles south of Pittsburgh!

Wed, 07/24/2013 - 21:39

Skunk

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JoAnn C wrote:

I've never flown Airtran but you will have assigned seats. If you bought your tickets together, I'm guessing they will be together. If you prefer an aisle seat, you can pay extra for it (got to love the added fees airlines charge these days).

My understanding of booking A Southwest flight that is operated by Airtran, is that you are not assigned a seat until you check in online or at the airport, but at least you don't have to pay for bags. This is what the Southwest confirmation reads:

Don't forget to check in for your flight( 24 hours in advance on southwest.com, your mobile device, at the AirTran Ticket Counter, or Airport Kiosk.
AirTran has assigned seating. Advanced seat assignments are not available. Customers who purchase an AirTran segment on Southwest channels will be assigned a seat at the time of check in.
Once you check in, you will not be able to change your seat until arrival at the airport.

Wed, 07/24/2013 - 22:32

KrystalT

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PirateGirl wrote:

Krystal I live in Charleroi 25 miles south of Pittsburgh!

What a coincidence that we live so close and will be there at the same time How are you handling the wait? We are almost at the two month mark and I'm getting antsy watching those days tick by ...

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Wed, 07/24/2013 - 23:57

JoAnn C

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Skunk wrote:

JoAnn C wrote:
I've never flown Airtran but you will have assigned seats. If you bought your tickets together, I'm guessing they will be together. If you prefer an aisle seat, you can pay extra for it (got to love the added fees airlines charge these days).

My understanding of booking A Southwest flight that is operated by Airtran, is that you are not assigned a seat until you check in online or at the airport, but at least you don't have to pay for bags. This is what the Southwest confirmation reads:

Don't forget to check in for your flight( 24 hours in advance on southwest.com, your mobile device, at the AirTran Ticket Counter, or Airport Kiosk.
AirTran has assigned seating. Advanced seat assignments are not available. Customers who purchase an AirTran segment on Southwest channels will be assigned a seat at the time of check in.
Once you check in, you will not be able to change your seat until arrival at the airport.

Thanks for the additional information.

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Thu, 07/25/2013 - 00:00

PirateGirl

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I am not handling it very well. I go on the Disney website everyday to check my itinerary and my reservations. It truly is an obsession with me! But that is the beauty of being a Disneyphile. How are you handling it?

Thu, 07/25/2013 - 16:30

KrystalT

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PirateGirl wrote:

I am not handling it very well. I go on the Disney website everyday to check my itinerary and my reservations. It truly is an obsession with me! But that is the beauty of being a Disneyphile. How are you handling it?

HaHa That's the same thing I do everyday! I work from home so I have my laptop open all day while I'm taking phone calls just browsing the Disney site and reading trip reports to put me in a Disney frame of mind Ticker says today down to two months!!

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Fri, 07/26/2013 - 00:59

Julie

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My friend from Pittsburgh just flew down 2 weeks ago. She flew Spirit Airlines out of Latrobe and paid less than $200 a person for direct flight to Orlando. I've heard bad things about Spirit but she didn't have any problems at all.

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Fri, 07/26/2013 - 10:08

JoAnn C

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Julie wrote:

My friend from Pittsburgh just flew down 2 weeks ago. She flew Spirit Airlines out of Latrobe and paid less than $200 a person for direct flight to Orlando. I've heard bad things about Spirit but she didn't have any problems at all.

I looked at Spirit for my mom when we go in November. The flight times didn't work out. I know a couple of people who have flew on Spirit and didn't have any issues.

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Fri, 07/26/2013 - 17:38

KrystalT

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Last year I had some issues with tendonitis in my wrist and my physical therapist had just used Spirit to travel to Orlando, she told me that there weren't any big issues but that she wouldn't fly with them again that the customer service was just lax.

We paid the remaining balance on our room and tickets today! One day closer!!

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Fri, 07/26/2013 - 22:48

PirateGirl

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There is nothing better than making that final payment.

Fri, 07/26/2013 - 22:50

JoAnn C

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time to celebrate!

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Thu, 08/01/2013 - 14:09

KrystalT

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PirateGirl wrote:

There is nothing better than making that final payment.

Couldn't agree more! And today I can say that our vacation is officially next month

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Thu, 08/01/2013 - 15:48

KanineKrunchies

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KrystalT wrote:

I'm really looking forward to riding ToT again it was one of my faves and to doing some Disney shopping. I've decided to splurge a bit and get a new Dooney and Burke this is the one I picked out!

SO jealous. I saw that when I was browsing stores and I want it so bad : )

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Thu, 08/22/2013 - 14:12

KrystalT

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Customized our magic bands a few days ago now I was just making our fastpass+ picks and saw that Peter Pan's Flight will be closed our entire trip I was really looking forward to trying it as I loved the movie when I was younger.

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Fri, 08/23/2013 - 00:36

JanJ

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Love the Dooney and Bourke you've picked out - I don't think I will buy one when I am there in early September, but I will definitely be looking at them. Have a great trip and look forward to your TR once you get back.

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Wed, 08/28/2013 - 14:46

KrystalT

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Only 30 days until we leave for Orlando and only a few more days until Disney! After putting in our fastpass+ selections our days in the World look this:

9/29 Checking into Art of Animation Cars suite
Relax at the pool then head to MK for a ride on the train and my hubby's and cousin's first sighting of the castle Can't
wait! After getting a dole whip and exploring Magic Kingdom for a bit we are going to Hollywood Studios for extra magic hours
and have TSM fastpassed along with TOT and Rockin Rollercoaster

9/30 Heading to Hollywood studios this morning have fastpasses set up for TSM TOT and Muppets. We also have a lunch reservation for Sci Fi today at 12:30. My brother is big on cars so we will prob be seeing Lights,Motors,Action at some point and I'm looking forward to getting a carrot cake cookie! Not sure what we will be doing for dinner this night and after done at the Studios we might go for a swim then over to MK for extra magic hours or to bed early since tomorrow will be an early day

10/1 Today is Magic Kingdom all day! We have a breakfast adr for 8:20AM at Crystal Palace so we are planning on getting to the park early to get some good pictures on Main Street and of the castle. We have fastpasses set up for BTMR Little Mermaid and Haunted Mansion. We all love fireworks so looking forward to Wishes!

10/2 Epcot today. We weren't sure what to set our fastpasses for this day so we did Soarin, Test Track, and Mission Space for right now. We have a lunch adr for chefs de france and really looking forward to eating and drinking in World Showcase since food and wine will be going on for dinner. I had an adr for BOG tonight at 8 BUT hubby got us tickets to the DFB dessert party so I had to part with the reservation (which was harder than it should have been haha)

10/3 My Birthday! Today will be Animal Kingdom we fastpassed Everest which was not built yet last time I was there so looking forward to trying it! We have a reservation for Yachtsman today at 5:40 for dinner not sure we want to keep it or go to Shula's I was looking at their menu and it looks pretty good, anyone have an opinion of which is the better of the two??After dinner taking a walk through DTD shopping at World of Disney

10/4 No plans as far as parks go maybe back to MK if we didn't get to do everything we wanted to we have a reservation for Ohana tonight for dinner but I snagged one for Cali Grill this morning so we might be ditching Ohana but we haven't decided that yet either.

10/5 Check out day Plane leaves at 8am

Hubby just got a new camera a Red Nikon D3200 which means I inherit our old camera an Olympus Pen and I picked up a waterproof camcorder from Panasonic that we are excited to use, we are both photo junkies and love taking pictures

Starting to pack up my new luggage and waiting..

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Mon, 08/26/2013 - 17:20

Mandy

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That sounds wonderful! Route 66 is a great place stay! The whole gang is there waiting for you! Make sure to check out the Big Blue Pool while you are on vacation.

Tue, 08/27/2013 - 15:52

Kristen K.

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Horrah! Sounds like so much fun - I love hearing about the Magic Bands and Fastpass+ it's exciting!

Tue, 08/27/2013 - 16:35

Allie

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Sounds great! Those are the 3 rides I would have fastpassed at Epcot too so I think those are good choices! Can't wait for all the pictures!

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Wed, 08/28/2013 - 03:51

MeganLeigh

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All the details of your trip makes me so excited for mine!(57 days to go!!)
Just a friendly suggestion...if you're not sure what to do on the 4th, if I was you I'd go back to Epcot. I'm going for F&WF unfortunately for just one day, and I'm freaking out because I want to do everything and I know I won't be able to. Between the park stuff and F&WF stuff, I feel like I'd need like 3 or 4 days to get it all in!

Wed, 08/28/2013 - 11:40

MrHub

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MeganLeigh wrote:

All the details of your trip makes me so excited for mine!(57 days to go!!)
Just a friendly suggestion...if you're not sure what to do on the 4th, if I was you I'd go back to Epcot. I'm going for F&WF unfortunately for just one day, and I'm freaking out because I want to do everything and I know I won't be able to. Between the park stuff and F&WF stuff, I feel like I'd need like 3 or 4 days to get it all in!

Megan, you are not going to be able to do it all in one day, don't even try or you will be miserable! That's the one thing we tell everyone.

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