Greetings from a Newcomer

Welcome aboard Millie!

This is the nicest, most "compact" group of Disney fans around.

In numbers we're small, but in knowledge we RULE!!

10?!?!? That's awesome! So jealous.

Welcome to the boards!

You now get to endure the ritual grilling of the new person about their upcoming plans. Where are you staying?

Hey Millie! Great to have you!

And thanks to MT for calling us "compact!" I don't think I've been "compact" for years!

Welcome to the boards.

I am sure you will feel at home here quickly, I know I did

I have to say, that I too am jealous . . what are you plans??

I need to live vicariously through others for a year or two

OK...I just LOVE to talk Disney!! So here goes...remember you all asked!

We're staying at PO Riverside...that's a surprise for my hubby. He thinks we're at Pop Century, which we both like very much. That said, we're celebrating his BD while we're there and we were fortunate to get in on the Buy 4, Get 3 Free promotion...so when I crunched the numbers it wasn't that much more to upgrade to PO...so it's a no brainer!! I have two words for him HOT TUB!! It's so nice to sink into the pool-side jacuzzi after a full day at the parks.

We also purchased the Table Service Dining plan so we'll be eating at all of our favorites that week. Ohana (8:00 pm ressie - so we'll see Wishes from our table), Boma (my fave), Whispering Canyon (just plain fun...not to mention great BBQ), Crystal Palace ( I LOVE Tigger!!!), and two new restaurants for us, Le Cellier and Citricos. We have a couple of other favorites that we won't be eating at this time, some of the decisions were hard, but we've always wanted to try Le Cellier and Citricos sounds wonderful!

We also have some great plans for the counter service choices - Flame Tree at AK, Yakitori House at Epcot, Wolfgang Puck Express at DTD (or Earl of Sandwich), Studio Catering at DHS and possibly Contempo Cafe at the Contemporary (quick hop on the monorail there and back from MK). We do have some other CS restaurants as backup plans depending on where we are in the parks when the hunger pangs strike...

We also purchased the PH, NE, WPFM options and upgraded to 10 day tix. Since we've been to WDW quite a few times, we're thinking we'll use 4 days of park admissions and a couple of the water park tix this trip. That will leave us enough admissions for at least two more trips!

We don't do the annual passes since we can ususally only make it down once per year due to work commitments and distance...we're in NC...and not as young as we used to be...the 12 hr drive are getting harder each year! So the 10 day NE works well for us, we can usually get 3 trips out of the 10 day tix.

We will also be visiting with friends while we're there. We lived in Orlando for a couple of years so it's tricky to squeeze it all in and still find time to relax. We have one day planned to just stay at the resort and relax by the pool, take a nap, ride bikes whatever!

DH is an elementary teacher and while we lived there he had a summer job as a Photopass Photographer so I guess you could call us "Disney Pros"!!

I think of us as Disney Commandos...not the "tear through the parks as fast as you can" type, but we tend to plan our time very well and we are usually in the parks from open 'til close...which will be intersting at MK, since the day we are there the park is open until 2:00 AM....love those Extra Magic Hours!! Fortunately the next day is a Typhoon Lagoon day and I'll be floating in an innertube for most of it!!

Whew!! It's going to be quite a trip, we're bring our "furbabies" this trip and keeping them at the TTC kennels so we'll be stopping in to check on them a couple of times a day too. I keep telling them they're going on vacation too...I don't think they'll quite see it that way

We are both SO looking forward to this trip. It's been an exhausting year for both of us at work...not complaining, we are very grateful to have good jobs but still this trip is very NEEDED to recharge our engines! I'm very lucky to have an understanding boss who has OK'd 3 weeks of vacation for me - I had to cancel a week in April due to the workload. I've never had a 3 week vacation before, it will be wonderful...strange...but wonderful.

Speaking of work, I guess I'd better get going and get some done! I'll be checking back a LOT this week in my "ramp-up" to Disney EXCITEMENT!! I'll be sure to post TRs, maybe even some while we're there...I CAN'T WAIT!!!!
WHOOHOO!!!
Millie

That's what I like to see. Trip details!

I love Le Cellier! How long ago did you get your ADR?

Oh and in my excitement I forgot to say:

On the ADR, I called early on the first day of the "window" and still could only get a 2:00 pm ressie at Le Cellier (Crystal Palace too). So on those days we'll flip-flop our dining. Have really nice "lunches" and then use the counter service for dinner.

We're also eating off-property on our first day there, saving a TS to put toward Citricos. Ditto for lunch so we'll have 1 TS and 2 CS "vouchers" for our loooonnng day at MK.

Ahh that's too bad. I was hoping maybe Le Cellier ADRs were getting plausible, doesn't sound like anything's changed, or maybe even gotten worse.

Does DH still enjoy photography? The most artistic photos thread in the photography forum is one of my favorites on here.

Hello, hello!!

Your plans sound fantastic! The restaurants are all my favorites

How many furbabies do you have?? Cats or dogs? They're excited to go on vacation, they just don't show it very well...

POR is such a wonderful resort. I've only stayed there once, but it was so relaxing. Will you be in Alligator Bayou or the Mansions??

We have 4 "furbabies", 2 kitties and 2 pups. The kitties are staying home with a sitter and the pups, a chihuhua (12 yrs) and mini doxie (5 yrs) are coming with us. They are good on road trips, I'm just feeling a little guilty about putting them in a kennel. They ususally have a sitter too, but our dog sitter retired and we haven't found someone else yet.

I requested the Mansions for proximity to the pool and food court but the Bayou would be OK too since we've never stayed there. We'll have our own vehicle this time so transportation isn't an issue, I just like to be in the "center" of the resort.

Can't wait for the beignets at POFQ either!!

Welcome to the boards Millie!

Your trip sounds perfect. Ideal dining choices I must say.

Your pets sound like quite a mix. Do the cats and dogs get along or do they just ignore each other? (or worse)

Thanks for all the warm welcomes everyone!


The furbabies get along pretty well. The oldest is our cat, Kittie, he's about 22 yrs old - he was a stray so we don't really know for sure...other than we've had him for 19 years and he was an adult when we found him...correction when he found US!!

The next oldest is Nippie, our chihuahua and she's probably the snarkiest....loves people, especially children (I know strange huh!!)...but other dogs must "mind their manners" around her.

Next is Reilly the Doxie, and he just a loveable, little Tank!! not too graceful but full of joy!

Last is Chloe, our most recent addition. A tortoise shell, domestic short-hair that someone abandoned in our complex. She of course found us and thought "jackpot"!! She actually walks along with me and the dogs on our morning walk. The neighbors think it's hysterical!!

You can see the "family" on Nippie's Dogster page...including our Millie who we lost last summer after 17 wonderful years. She LOVED her Minnie ears!!

http://www.dogster.com/dogs/803897

22? That's quite old for a cat isn't it? (I know it's an estimate but he's at least a bit older than 19)

The dogs are adorable. I love Dachshunds. I am dying to see a pic of the cat walking with the dogs.

Gasp! Chloe is just beautiful! (I can't help it...I'm a tortie cat person...)

Your furbabies are adorable!!!

Chloe reminds me of my first cat Sydney. I found her at a shelter and took her home hours before she was going to be put down, because no one wanted her. She was a tortise-shell (blue and pink if I remember correctly, she passed many years ago)

and if you breed your two dogs together you would get mine. My baby is some sort of chihuahua mix with the exact colorings as your doxie. I will have to see if I can find a picture online.

Your trip sounds amazing. I have always wanted to go to Le Cellier, but never seem to make plans far enough in advance to make ADR. Once the Disney bug hits, I generally plan to go ASAP. (when I can afford it, which I can not currently do . . OR I would be there now!!)

I can't wait to here your trip report and see some pictures!

I missed the pics of the cats. Good looking kitties!

I'm really looking forward to this trip. Probably more than any in recent memory. For lots of reasons...the resort, the dining and just getting away for awhile. The "outside" world ceases to exist while we're at WDW!!

That's the "magic" of Disney for us. Last year, we flew and took the Magical Express to our resort and when we set foot on Disney property we both just turned to each other and smiled...no words were necessary, we were home!

Hey where to you all get the cool avatars/pics? I'd love a Maleficent pic...my "alter ego"

Of all this boards strong suits, the built-in avatars are not one of them. (Hint Hint Brad) If you download a picture and can resize it you can upload it as your pic. Here's a good maleficient:
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n118/blue45luv/Maleficent.gif

welcome to the boards!

Thanks for the tip...OK, I REALLY need to go read some of the other threads. Any suggestions for good ones to read with an imminent trip to the world. I'll eventually make my way through all of them...but time is of the essence!!!

Millie

If you haven't checked out the advice sections (the non-forum part of the site), there's a lot of good info there. You might be particularly interested in planning for couples and several of the articles. In the forums here are some good threads:

Dining and Resort Comparison - Although you've got your plans pretty well locked down you could weigh in.
ZapperZ thread about the Animation Academy, if you haven't checked that out it sounds pretty darn fun.
The Superlatives Threads - can give you some fun ideas.

There's a thread on Citricos that might give you some insight.

I'll think of some more in a bit!

Ooh, I meant to mention this one too:

Obscure Disney Activities

Oh and you might want to go see Titanic - The Experience if you have a chance as we're hearing good things.

Great logic on the 10-day park hoppers! I never thought about it like that, but it's kind of like a mini-Annual Pass!

As for other threads you might like, I always like the threads with pictures of my favorite place on earth! Try trip reports, food photos, resort photos, and hidden mickeys

One particular one of the comparison threads:

Narcoossee's vs. Citricos has a lot of interesting information from Scott Joseph, who was the Orlando Sentinel's food critic until recently.

Mmmm! Narcoossees and Citricos!

Love the avatar Millie!

Thanks dsoup...she's my alter ego

I collect Malefecint and Tigger pins!!! Which my DH has great fun with!!

Fun! Have you been watching Zapperz' Museum of Pintiquities trip report? So fun!

Hiya, Millie! Welcome!
I'm so glad you've got a trip coming up so we can live vicariously through you!