Waving from Chicagoland

22 posts / 0 new

Mon, 10/13/2014 - 16:04

HizMinnie2015

Offline

Joined: 10/13/2014

Posts: 13

Waving from Chicagoland

Hello and good morning; My name is Alicia & my Fiance Martyne is around here somewhere. We are newer to Disney and WDW for Grown Ups.

Let's see.. I have 4 grown children from a previous relationship and then 7 grandchildren. He has no children. We have been together for 7 yrs but are going to actually get married in August 2015; and then a 8 day trip to WDW October 24th-31st 2015 for a vacation/honeymoon/get away.

We are excited to be here and be able to meet new people, hopefully some in our area!

__________________

Mon, 10/13/2014 - 16:12

Allie

Offline

Joined: 06/26/2012

Posts: 5477

Hi and and congrats on the upcoming nuptials! Do you know where you're going to be staying for your honeymoon? I love Walt Disney World in October!

__________________

Find Me On Facebook

January 2020 Trip Report - Riviera Resort
June 2019 Trip Report - Caribbean Beach & Saratoga Springs
October 2018 Trip Report - Contemporary Resort
July 2018 - All Star Movies
April 2018 Trip Report - Art of Animation
Jan 2018 Trip Report - Port Orleans Riverside and Animal Kingdom Lodge
Nov 2017 Trip Report - Boardwalk Villas
Feb 2017 Trip Report - Port Orleans French Quarter
Apr 2016 Trip Report - Pop Century
Dec 2015 Trip Report - All Star Sports & Saratoga Springs
Sept 2014 Trip Report - Coronado Springs
Oct 2012 Trip Report - Caribbean Beach Resort

Mon, 10/13/2014 - 17:45

Kristen K.

Offline

Joined: 09/01/2011

Posts: 23803

Hello from Rockford, and welcome to the forums!
Congrats on your impending nuptials and Disney trip!

Do you have any plans or reservations made yet?

Mon, 10/13/2014 - 18:04

HizMinnie2015

Offline

Joined: 10/13/2014

Posts: 13

We booked in September for Oct 24-31, 2015. We are staying at Pop Century... Hoping for a free Dining plan We have started looking for restaurants and the fastpass stuff.

I can't get him really excited yet as its still so far off. We have been together for so long, i almost feel like this is just a "2 of us" get away lol. I am excited to see all I can see and be in the parks; he is more relaxed and chilled would rather sleep til noon type of guy on vacation.

Hoping to work my magic and get him to come across to my side lol

__________________

Mon, 10/13/2014 - 18:43

oHIo

Offline

Joined: 10/04/2014

Posts: 844

and Pop Century is a lot of fun with lots of energy! You are picking one of the best times of the year to go to WDW. It's not too crowded and not unbearably hot. Best of all is the Food & Wine Festival at EPCOT and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. You have lots of time to plan and get excited. Don't forget to make your dining reservations at the 180 day mark. Reservations at the most popular restaurants can disappear very quickly!!

P.S. You might want to tell your grandkids where you went after you return home, otherwise they may climb in your suitcase to go with you!

Mon, 10/13/2014 - 18:57

HizMinnie2015

Offline

Joined: 10/13/2014

Posts: 13

I have told my children, who are all in their mid to early 20's and they are worse than the grandkids lol... they all want to go. ugh. We are not big wine drinkers so actually the F&W festival doesn't hold much appeal for us. I have been scouring through menus and trying to figure out which ones we would like to visit. We both have a haphazard list of attractions and shows once we get to the fastpass day...

My only concern is the Dining discount. I've seen it in the past for the week we are there however it starts on Sunday, not saturday. And if we check in a day earlier then it won't apply to us, and we really need that discount if one comes out. How do I get around being there a day early?

__________________

Mon, 10/13/2014 - 19:11

Vettelover

Offline

Joined: 03/28/2009

Posts: 4658

Hi! Alicia and to our happy group. on your upcoming Wedding and DisneyMoon. You will Pop Century, we haven't stayed there since we purchased DVC. (DVC was the best move we ever did.)

__________________

Mon, 10/13/2014 - 19:17

HizMinnie2015

Offline

Joined: 10/13/2014

Posts: 13

Vettelover wrote:

Hi! Alicia and to our happy group. on your upcoming Wedding and DisneyMoon. You will Pop Century, we haven't stayed there since we purchased DVC. (DVC was the best move we ever did.)

DVC is a dream for me; don't know that financially we could ever make that happen. Would love to though especially being a younger set of grandparents, it would be ideal with the g-kids as they grow up.

__________________

Mon, 10/13/2014 - 23:17

amy1989

Offline

Joined: 12/30/2013

Posts: 1404

__________________

Amy Roberts Create your badge

Mon, 10/13/2014 - 23:27

Kristen K.

Offline

Joined: 09/01/2011

Posts: 23803

HizMinnie2015 wrote:

We are not big wine drinkers so actually the F&W festival doesn't hold much appeal for us.

Just thought I would toss in my two cents here. Even though it is called Food & Wine Festival, there are many other fun beverages, craft beers, cocktails, and non-alcoholic refreshers to consume as well! Don't let the word wine turn you off because the festival is so much more than that!

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 01:07

JoAnn C

Offline

Joined: 05/20/2011

Posts: 6757

Hi and welcome! Congratulations on your upcoming wedding.

One suggestion is to book a room only for Saturday and start the package with room, tickets and dining on Sunday.

__________________

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:18

Allie

Offline

Joined: 06/26/2012

Posts: 5477

JoAnn C wrote:

Hi and welcome! Congratulations on your upcoming wedding.

One suggestion is to book a room only for Saturday and start the package with room, tickets and dining on Sunday.

I was just going to say this. Otherwise, hold off on booking airfare until the discounts have been announced. We had the exact same thing happen to us for our Aug 30th - Sept 5th trip. The free dining discount came out and it started Aug 31st. We hadn't booked our airfare yet so we just called Disney and shifted our trip to Aug 31st - Sept 6th instead with no issues.

__________________

Find Me On Facebook

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 15:32

alicemouse

Offline

Joined: 10/22/2013

Posts: 2832

Kristen K. wrote:

HizMinnie2015 wrote:
We are not big wine drinkers so actually the F&W festival doesn't hold much appeal for us.

Here, here! We're not big drinkers (although from this particular trip report you might think otherwise), but we did F&W solely for the food. I loved being able to get small portions so that we could taste so many more things than we would ever have the chance to try by choosing a restaurant.

__________________

Be good at something. It makes you valuable. Have something to bring to the table because that will make you more welcome. --Randy Pausch

Find me on Facebook

Trip Reports:
December 2013: 10th Anniversary, 1st DVC Stay | April 2014: Birthday on the Boardwalk | May 2014: Star Wars Weekend, Navigating WDW with a wheelchair | August 2014: Villains Unleashed | September/October 2014: MNSSHP, F&W, Tower of Terror 10-miler | March/April 2015: Disneyland and California Coastal Cruise | November 2015: Wine & Dine Half, Food & Wine, 1st Disney Cruise | February 2016: Presidential Classic Gymnastics Meet | March 2016: "Work" Trip, Tours, F&G Festival | April 2016: Conference at Disneyland | Fall 2016: Festive Fall Fun | January 2017: Festival of the Arts | May 2017: AbD Backstage Magic | July 2017: AbD San Francisco | Sorry I had to give up doing trip reports. Too many time commitments right now.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:43

JMed

Offline

Joined: 02/16/2014

Posts: 3849

We added one day to our trip... Free dining ends on Nov 1. We were arriving on the 2nd. As long as you get in on that first day, you are good. We added Saturday the 1st and we have it our entire week!

__________________

"I do not like the cone of shame."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."

"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

Jennifer Huotari | Create Your Badge

The Huotari's Disney Adventures | Promote Your Page Too

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:59

HizMinnie2015

Offline

Joined: 10/13/2014

Posts: 13

We are going next yr and the FD is not out yet for then... I'm thinking we are going to have to move our days ome day back so that we qualify for the free dining plan.

__________________

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 00:35

JeffC

Offline

Joined: 09/12/2010

Posts: 4704

A big hello and welcome from the west coast!

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 18:22

HizMinnie2015

Offline

Joined: 10/13/2014

Posts: 13

Hello to everybody!!!

After a long call with Disney last night; i figured out that a 7 day package (that hopefully would fall in the Free Dining week of October 2015) plus one night hotel only is going to basically cost us the same as an 8 day all inclusive package. So with that being said, we are thinking that we will just move the trip out by one day to October 25th - Nov 1st. We won't make any real changes until May 2015 or so... Free Dining was announced this year around that time.

Whew... 1st time planning stinks but is so very exciting!

__________________

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 18:25

HizMinnie2015

Offline

Joined: 10/13/2014

Posts: 13

alicemouse wrote:

Kristen K. wrote:
HizMinnie2015 wrote:
We are not big wine drinkers so actually the F&W festival doesn't hold much appeal for us.

We are drinkers, just not wine or beer drinkers... We plan on walking through the F&W festival, but most of the food doesn't look like something I'd want to spend money to try... we are more of the geeky kind so really Epcot Innovations is where we want to be, more than the world showcase.

__________________

Primary links

Secondary links

Waving from Chicagoland