Yo Ho Yo Ho A Pirate's Life for We Halloween *2012* PTR has begun!

[TheColtonsMom]

Looking forward to it!

I knew my Aussie buddy would pop back up LOl

Yay!!

Glad I didn't lose you with all the waiting!

Hooray for the Halloween PTR.....hoping our trips collide!!!! They should if we could ever get the go ahead to start the planning......this is gonna be a fun ride!!!

I so hope our trips collide...you know Colton says Addy is cute LOL

This should be fun to read your Halloween PTR. That reminds me that I need to do my Memorial Day PTR when I go to DL in late May.

You better not take my procrastinating as an example Memorial Day is getting close!

 

[DizNee Luver]

I so hope our trips collide...you know Colton says Addy is cute LOL

Guess I better let Addy see Colton's picture......maybe we have a LVE connection going.......

 

[TheColtonsMom]

So when we left off we were on the Super Shuttle headed for SNA. We were the only passengers so the ride was speedy and we had no trouble at security once again all went smooth as silk and we were in the air on our way to Denver. As soon as we ate our warm chocolate chip cookies we were all fast asleep!

Upon arrival in Denver we found out from family that the road from Billings (our final destination by air) to Malta (home) was closed due to impassable snow so I started hunting around for a hotel in Billings as it was likely we were going to end up stuck there overnight.

We hit our favorite Denver Airport eatery and picked up our smothered fries for the next leg of our trip and headed for our gate.

It was hurry up and wait time. Turns out we were in Denver for their very first snowfall of the year. Our take off time passed and was bumped 3x before they made an announcement that due to weather conditions in both Denver and Billings the TSA would not let our plane take off at it's current weight for safety reasons. They then asked for volunteers who were willing to get bumped to a flight the next morning in return for a hotel room.

Now I had not been having much luck finding a hotel in Billings since everyone there was snowed in so we decided to volunteer to stay in Denver overnight and let the airline pick up our hotel...we were not going to get home tonight anyway we were going to end up stuck in Billings paying for our own hotel.

They pulled our luggage off the plane (after much grumbling from the baggage handlers union that once it was on the plane it was staying on the plane) and headed to the ticketing counter downstairs to get our Hotel Vouchers and catch our shuttle to the Hotel.

 

[mvf-m11c]

You better not take my procrastinating as an example Memorial Day is getting close!

Since I have time today, I might start on it. I just can't wait to get to Memorial Day weekend.

 

[smile4stamps]

I'm here too!!!

Too bad you didn't get Airline Vouchers and a Hotel Voucher! That would have been nice!

Sorry you were stuck in Denver for the night but sounds like it worked out.

 

[TheColtonsMom]

So when we hit the ticket counter to get our vouchers much to our surprise not only did they have vouchers for the hotel and shuttle they also had vouchers for 3 meals lunch, dinner & breakfast as well as $200 per person vouchers for our next flight super bonus!

So we hit the food court and picked up lunch...and dinner as we did not plan on leaving the hotel once we got there in this type of weather.

Hopped on the shuttle...with a bunch of other bumped people and went to our hotel to check in. They put us up at the Fairfield Inn which was lovely. their staff knew we were coming and got the whole crowd checked in and on their way to their rooms in what seemed like seconds. We walked by the Indoor pool on the way to our room and colton wanted to go swimming so we headed to our room and changed into our suits. We had the pool all to ourselves and we happily paddled about and watched the snowstorm rage outside. It was really beautiful and Colton was very excited about the opposites on either side of the glass... cold/hot snow/water in/out..he as always keeps us laughing.

After a couple hours at the pool we headed back to the room and ate dinner and crashed... I for one was suddenly exhausted. I cannot imagine why? It was about 1130-pm and other than a nap in the Anabella Lobby and a nap on the plane from SNA to Denver we had been awake for almost 2 days straight.

 

[smile4stamps]

Looks like I spoke to soon!

Congrats on the Vouchers for airlines! And not even knowing about it when you offered to be bumped!

Oh my on the crashing... I would have crashed long before that! I don't think the pool would have been in the cards for me!

 

[kaoden39]

Oh wow. Not bad for the vouchers at all. At that point I would be wanting to get home.

 

[TheColtonsMom]

Looks like I spoke to soon!

Congrats on the Vouchers for airlines! And not even knowing about it when you offered to be bumped!

Oh my on the crashing... I would have crashed long before that! I don't think the pool would have been in the cards for me!

I saw you mention airline credit and started to answer you then decided the next post would cover it. I fully admit even exhausted my spoiled boy does usually get his way when it is something reasonable and really the dip in the pool was very relaxing so after all the emotional letdown of leaving DLR it actually sounded like a nice idea in my exhausted brain since it killed off any energy Colton might have been harboring to try and keep me awake any longer.

Oh wow. Not bad for the vouchers at all. At that point I would be wanting to get home.

I was so ready to be home in my own bed back when we were in the Anabella lobby waiting for Super Shuttle to be honest. The delay really was not in my agenda but if we had to either A) Get a hotel in Billings on our dime or B) Get a Hotel in Denver on the Airlines I was happy to let the Airline pay and the little voucher bump for our October trip was just a bonus.

 

[TheColtonsMom]

Now I will finish this up later instead of tonight as the mood in my house and in many across our nation tonight is one that does not lend itself to me ending this TR on a high note if I wrote it now.

My love goes out to all the citizens of the USA on this night especially those in service to our country overseas who were before tonight and still are in the line of fire and to those who lost loved ones on 9/11 I hope you feel closure and peace...my prayers are with you all. God Bless. Never Forget.

 

[deejdigsdis]

Now I will finish this up later instead of tonight as the mood in my house and in many across our nation tonight is one that does not lend itself to me ending this TR on a high note if I wrote it now.

My love goes out to all the citizens of the USA on this night especially those in service to our country overseas who were before tonight and still are in the line of fire and to those who lost loved ones on 9/11 I hope you feel closure and peace...my prayers are with you all. God Bless. Never Forget.

Well said Sherri. I wasn't up to adding to my TR tonight either. I will comment on your update tomorrow.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Old Chinese curse. May you live in exciting times.

Momentous moment.

Thanks for sharing to date.

 

[skiingfast]

So how did the dining plan work out? Did I miss the analysis?

 

[deejdigsdis]

Yay for the bonus vouchers! Very worth the bump in the long run, I'm sure. Swimming during a raging snowstorm sounds fun. (As long as you're warm and cozy on the inside!)

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

I loved your trip report!! I'm glad that your son was chosen for the Jedi Academy on your first day. That's awesome!!

 

[TheColtonsMom]

We woke up refreshed and hit the breakfast buffet in the lobby while we waited for our shuttle back to the airport. Nothing special but Brant & I got some toast, fruit & coffee and Colton got cereal.

When we arrived at the airport we used our breakfast voucher to get some stuff to munch on the plane and HOPEFULLY on our drive back to Malta once we made it to Billings. Then we headed off to do security.

Well as you may remember Brant was using an expired version of his DL and we had not had any problems with it going through security until NOW. I can now tell everyone what is involved in the "extra security measures" TSA uses if your ID is not up to par. They called over a supervisor who held Brants license and asked him questions about the information it contained. Meanwhile another supervisor pulled me aside and had me go through my purse for other things to quiz him with..they used info from my checkbook & Colton's birth certificate to further quiz Brant. (when they asked him our bank account # I thought he would swallow his tounge..he did not know but the agent laughed and said my husband wouldn't know that one either) Then we were off to the gate.

 

[TheColtonsMom]

Our flight was on time and the flight to Billings was uneventful.

When we arrived in Billings Montana we collected our luggage and trudged through the snow to find our white Suburban under a whole lot of white snow. This took longer than you would think since in the row and area we left ours there were now 6 White Chevy Suburbans that had all been sitting there long enough to be completely buried in the cold white stuff. After brushing off some bumpers we discovered 3 of said Suburbans had Phillips County Permanant plates and No Buffalo Monument bumper stickers and since we had just gotten our permanant plates in November I could not remember our plate #(after a certain model year you can buy permanant plates in Montana and never have to pay registration fees on that vehicle again). If you will recall it was a beautiful day when we left Billings to head for anaheim and to avoid hauling them around airports and during hotel changes etc we had left behind our big coats, gloves, hats & snow boots INSIDE the Suburban and now it was COLD! Our hands were frozen from brushing snow off bumpers and we had nothing but hoodies for warmth. So we started brushing snow off windows until we recognized our stuff in our car then proceeded to de-ice the door locks. I think before our next winter trip the Suburban needs to be painted Magenta!

Once inside Brant turned the key and NOTHING the battery had died due to the severe cold while we were gone. Now Billings Airport Long Term Parking has a truck on call for jump starts as this is not a one time deal it happens OFTEN in the frozen North. The guy was at lunch! At 10 in the morning! So we stowed the luggage in the car, donned our snow gear and trudged BACK to the terminal to thaw out and wait. While waiting we checked the road conditions (road open but recommended for necessary travel only) called my neice who was taking care of our dogs and my Mother & Sister to let them know what was going on. We headed back out to LTP at 11 and found out we were 5th in line to get the truck so I took Colton back to the terminal AGAIN and Brant said he would call when he was headed for the pick up zone.

It was noon before we FINALLY headed out of the Airport! We stopped by Mc Donalds and grabbed lunch to go we really needed to get going so that whatever hazards were in our path home we would hopefully hit them all in the remaining daylight hours. At this point I just wanted to be home snuggling with one of the dogs and relaxing.

 

[TheColtonsMom]

We caravaned home with another friend who had been stuck in Billings for 2 days at a motel. and our normal 3 1/2 hour drive took us nearly 7 hours due to VERY icy conditions in the Missouri River Breaks with lots of us pulling & pushing our friends car up hills as she had no 4 wheel drive. In addition to the ice there was also lots of blowing snow which caused patches where visibility was nearly 0 and we crawled along at 5-10 miles per hour.

We passed the 7 hours discussing our favorite parts of our trip and when we would be going again. After much discussion of new ride openings we knew if we waited for all of the things we wanted to see to be finished we sould not be returning until late 2012. So we discussed 2 trips one fall 2011 for ST2 & LM and one fall 2012 for Carsland. I piped up and said that if we bought APs I could go on the Diva's trip...well they were not letting me get away with that. So Halloween this year, February I will join the Divas while the boys have some guy time and once the other Divas go home I will rejoin my family for 2 or 3 more days Then we will round out our AP year with a last hurrah and the opening of Carsland in late summer early fall 2012.

We even made tentative plans to take our first ever journey to WDW or our first Disney Cruise in 2013.... If we can tear ourselves away from our beloved Disneyland for a year...but one thing I do know it will NEVER be 8 years again as I now have an entire family of Disneytragics! Next converting the Grandkids!

All In All it was a trip of laughter a trip of tears...a trip of hopes and a trip of fears...there was so much that we shared that it's time we're aware we're a Disney family after all!

Thanks for sharing it with us and stay tuned for Dining Plan Analysis, Afterthoughts...And the all important Halloween PTR!!!

 

[smile4stamps]

Sherri.... I thought by now you would know your alphabet!

 

[TheColtonsMom]

We used the dining plan at Christmas due to circumstances I went into earlier in the TR. So here is the much awaited analysis of how this worked for us.

It took some planning and alot of menu reading to make sure we used every dime. I spent hours going over menus and prices, I got on a first name basis with a couple of people at Disney Dining getting specifics on voucher amounts, checking restaurant prices etc. We finally determined that we would use the Premium Character voucher for GK since other than GK & Ariel's all the other character meals would end up with us losing money on the voucher, We also decided doing some other character breakfasts would make it easy for us to use full value on our larger meal vouchers without doing menu acrobatics to get close to our voucher amounts. Thus the first time we ever did a character meal this trip we ended up doing 4 of them.

We did find out if we had not wanted a character meal the Premium character voucher could also have been used in any restaurant for example we could have used it at BB the dollar value of the voucher/s is what is important NOT what it says it is for. Thus we all 3 ate ate Bengal BBQ using just 2 adult meal vouchers but our Blue Bayou experience cost us 2 adult meal vouchers 2 childs vouchers and a snack voucher (but I did have the priciest entree the surf & turf) We all got Ice Cream by ROA for two snack vouchers and 50 cents cash. So the important thing is not to pay attention to the designations ie snack,meal etc just use whatever hits closest to your total bill.

We did do BB and 4 character meals using our dinner vouchers as this turned out to be the best way to NEVER go under our largest voucher amounts. The 1 premium character meal voucher went to GK and the regular meal tickets covered the other three. We were never under the $ figure on the voucher and we used some of the $5 snack vouchers and 1 extra childs meal ticket to make up the over difference at BB. Several times we were able to get 3 CS meals or snacks using only 2 vouchers and if we were getting snacks and we were slightly under we usually bought a bottle of water and stashed it in the backpack for later paying a little out of pocket so we could not lose the under money. When we ate at TP grill in DCA we had "extra" money on our vouchers and bought one of their kid's snack packs (cheese, crackers etc) and saved it for snacks while watching Fantasmic the next day. Total out of pocket for overages while dining or snacking & tips (at TS if you are under you can designate the difference as tip) was $22.50 for 4 1/2 days.

It was very nice to know the money in our pockets was all designated for souvineers and fun..the food was prepaid.
It can work and we did not lose a dime but you have to be very aware. Plan your meals as best you can..we did deviate a bit but not much.

Use of the Dining Plan did mean we ate at more TS restaurants than usual and sometimes bought things like the "extra" water bottles etc that we likely would not have bought otherwise. We also made a lot more PS than usual as we did not want to end up having to think on our feet too much after so much research went into our plan.

As we did this last trip with the dining plan our plan for the next trip was always to put the $ value of the dining plan on a DGC for our next trip to see if we did better or worse that way so I did ask around who did/did not take gift cards. Inside the parks and hotels (excluding DTD) all the restaurants accepted DGC and the only snack cart that did not was the ice cream vendor near ROA as he did not have a cc machine (did not ask if this was normal or if it was temporary but I should have I guess) all the other snack carts accepted them.

The dining plan IS NOT accepted by restaurants or snack vendors in DTD neither is the DGC so plan accordingly if you want to eat in DTD.

Both are accepted at every establishment that sells FOOD in DL, DCA, DLH, PPH & GCH. Be aware anything like candied apples, tigger tails etc IS NOT FOOD it is MERCHANDISE therefore it is not covered by the dining plan but is covered by a DGC.

As I said before our next trip we are putting the $ value of the Dining Plan on a DGC. This is an experiment to see what we actually spend on food & snacks when we are not restricted by the amounts on the vouchers. It could be more, It could be less time will tell. Whichever one turns out to be the better value for my family will be the one we use after this as I do like having the food pre-paid before the trip..it worls well for us but we really do not eat in DTD and I know alot of people do so be aware neither option will cover DTD dining or snacking.

I do think Disney needs to make the vouchers a better value..give you some boost for pre-payment..even a 10% discount would be nice. I am sure many more people would use the plan and it would not be so much work to make sure that snack that was 50 cents less than the voucher didn't compound over the length of your stay to end up losing you money.

Well that's my 2 cents on the dining plan...any questions?