Surprising our girls with MVMCP, Wishes dessert party & free dining 11/14-21 at Pop!

[winkers]

Why doesn't Kyle want to go? Did you drop him on his head when he was a baby?

 

[Sarilas]

Why doesn't Kyle want to go? Did you drop him on his head when he was a baby?

It's like I don't know him at ALL! I think he's just entering that phase where he wants some space. Being the only boy with three sisters means there's a lot of give on his part. The idea of being in a bachelor pad for a week sounds really, really good to him. I can dig it. I'm all about giving the kids the chance to make certain decisions on their own, and since he took the family trip with us in January I don't blame him for not wanting to go less than a year later. I don't underSTAND it, but I can dig it.

 

[Sarilas]

Jose and I spent today discussing the surprise portion of our trip. Namely, when and how to surprise the girls. We have a couple of different plans in the works, but all are pretty good. (If I do say so myself!)

Now we're trying to figure out where to stop for the night on the way down and the way back. I know that on the way back I'd like to get as far as Atlanta if it's at all possible, so as to be back in Nashville by 11 in order to return the rental car on time. UNLESS we decide to take Jose's new Honda Civic for a road trip, and then we'd have no time constraints to speak of. (And save a fortune on the 18 mpg minivans!) The only down side would be space. Two car seats and an 11 year old in the back... the little girls would be fine in their car seats, but will Tatiana be squished?! We're thinking of taking a test run to find out. There'd be no trouble with luggage; the trunk in his car is huge!

So the question is, to rent a mini van and have lots of room but less money and more time constraints, or take our own car, save money but have a tighter squeeze...

Decisions, decisions.

 

[Native NYer]

What about renting a full size car? It should be cheaper than the minivan and have more room for the three girls than the Civic.

 

[winkers]

she's still little, she can squeeze!

Jen's idea is good!

 

[Sarilas]

Yeah, I considered that but we tried the car seat thing out in the back of our Explorer and the room ended up being MORE in the Civic. Bizarre, I know. More leg room in the Explorer but less body space. We're planning on stopping every couple of hours to stretch our legs, and only driving 5 or 6 hours a day, so ultimately it comes down to Tatiana not having to be shoved against the car door by car seats.

We could rent something specifically aimed at back seat space (more of a mid size vehicle) but it will only be a miniscule difference, and then I'll be all irked at how we should have either just driven our own car and pocketed the difference or gone all out and gotten the mini van for the ultimate of room.

Have I mentioned my anxiety disorder? lol

 

[Lizzybear]

Sounds awesome, i'd love to visit during the Christmas period to see all the decorations... Maybe next trip If I ever get to take my mother again (she has health problems so a transatlantic flight will be tough for her, though hopefully not impossible) i'd love to take her to tea at the GF

 

[Sarilas]

Sounds awesome, i'd love to visit during the Christmas period to see all the decorations... Maybe next trip If I ever get to take my mother again (she has health problems so a transatlantic flight will be tough for her, though hopefully not impossible) i'd love to take her to tea at the GF

Hi! I am really excited by the GF tea. I didn't expect my husband to be up for it at all, but I really don't give him enough credit. He's got these girls wrapped around his finger and loves to see them in their element.

I understand about wanting to take your mom on the trip; I lost my mom to cancer in 2007, and will probably get teary if not break down completely during/after the tea. It was something she and I did together at home, and we never were able to visit the World together...

 

[jenjolt]

YAY!!! I'm here and ready to hear more and more about your plans!!! I'm doing fall this year and I'm so looking forward to Christmas at Disney in 2011...I will have quite a bit of time between trips from January 2010 until Nov 2011. I'm very excited to hear all about your November trip as I plan to take one in the future!!!! YAY!!!

Great start loving your plans so far!!

 

[Sarilas]

Well, another day, another change to our trip!

First and foremost, I think Jose is pretty convinced to drive the Honda to FL rather than rent the mini van. Money talks in a trip such as this! So we planned on driving about halfway (which appears to be Macon, GA), stay the night there and then drive on to Disney in the morning. That was until we learned that because we'll need a crib for Lexi, the kind of hotel we'll need will run us the same as another night at Disney. And since we're planning on driving down on a Saturday but not checking in to the hotel till Sunday, that got us to thinking... Drive halfway, spend the night trying to bite our tongues and not spill the beans about where we're actually headed for what equates to a full rack rate at ASMovies, OR... Or we could get up at the crack o' dawn (as we already planned to do), drive at a leisurely yet steady pace with planned stops every couple of hours and make it to Disney by bedtime on Saturday...

Guess which option we decided upon?


Here's our week at a glance!

Nov. 14: Drive to FL. Check in at ASMovies.

Nov. 15: Enjoy the pool and Downtown Disney. Dinner at Raglan Road.

Nov. 16: Epcot. Lunch at Le Cellier.

Nov. 17: Magic Kingdom. Dinner at 'Ohana.

Nov. 18: Epcot. Dinner at Biergarten.

Nov. 19: Animal Kingdom. Lunch at Tusker House. Garden View Lounge for afternoon tea. Dinner during MVMCP at Tony’s Town Square.

Nov. 20: Magic Kingdom. Dinner at The Wave.

Nov. 21: Check out of ASMovies. Possibly visit Epcot. Begin drive leisurely drive home.

Nov. 22: Finish driving home.



I like it!

I made the first few purchases for our trip this weekend too. Wanna see?

First things first. Snacks. Bribery. Munchies.

I bought an enormous bag of lollipops which I'll split for the visit down and the visit back.

Play phones.

The girls have about a bajillion of these all around the house, but new toys are new toys, and once we're in the car with the rest of us and our phones and laptops, they're going to want to mimic us. This is my fingers-crossed solution.

So is this.

Little blackboard type things that don't require chalk or crayons. Excellent.

Then there are these for MVMCP.

The girls won't always wear necklaces and bracelets, but they WILL hold these, which I'll string onto necklaces anyway.

Jose found these; he's such a pushover.

New nightgowns for Stasia and Lexi!

We got these as well; Maybe for tea at GF? We'll see.

And now I'm off to check on Kyle, Mr. I'm Too Grown Up For Disney World. It appears he has the flu. The piggy flu. H1N1. Oh joy.

 

[Sarilas]

YAY!!! I'm here and ready to hear more and more about your plans!!! I'm doing fall this year and I'm so looking forward to Christmas at Disney in 2011...I will have quite a bit of time between trips from January 2010 until Nov 2011. I'm very excited to hear all about your November trip as I plan to take one in the future!!!! YAY!!!

Great start loving your plans so far!!

Hurray! I can't wait to hear about your fall trip too! (Every trip is a good trip!)

 

[If U Had Wings]

Hope Kyle's feeling okay. I love your new goodies for the trip. It looks like you've got some great places to try on your list.

 

[Sarilas]

Hope Kyle's feeling okay. I love your new goodies for the trip. It looks like you've got some great places to try on your list.

I'm excited about the list; I thought about wandering further off the beaten path but I'm still such a newbie at knowing where everything is on the resort, keeping to the monorail line seemed to be easiest!

Kyle is way sick. It's the swine flu for sure. His temp was 102.2 this morning, but is controlled by over the counter meds. He's drinking cold fluids like it's going out of style, so as long as he keeps that up and doesn't get lethargic or dehydrated I won't worry. The virus mutates so fast that it's impossible for a doctor to do anything for the flu itself; all we can do is treat the symptoms.

It IS weird to see my ADHD teenager laid up in bed for days though. That is SO out of character for him.

 

[Marshay]

I'm here! Great PTR so far.

The DDP is so totally worth it for only $200 total more. You'll love it and you did score some great ressies, esp since the 90 day mark passed -- le Cellier, O'hana -- woo Hoo!!

Add me to the list of "I can't believe your 14 yo doesn't want to go to Disney!" I wonder if he'll sing a different tune after a few days...oh well, like you said, it'll be good for him to get away from the girls and be on his own for a bit.

And it's not like you're never going back again, right??

 

[All7OfUs]

Finally made it over, and am loving what I'm seeing so far!

Like others have said you really scored some great ADRs!!

I can totally relate to Kyle's 'tude. I have an 18 yr. son that went with us last time. Two whole days he opted to stay back at the Fort just to chill and swim. Boys just really need some space when they get older, I guess.

Your girls will really like ASMo, and if it keeps Jose happy, then that's definitely the route to take. Keep them happy, I say; do nothing to jeopardize any future forays onto Disney property!

Tea sounds fabulous! So girlie- yet, I hear many, many men enjoy the elegance of it as well.

WOW! You are from Nashville?? Where were you last April when we had our meet at Opryland Mall??!! My whole fam. lives in BGreen, KY, we could meet next Sept. before our trip, if you're up for it!!! I'll have to PM you!! That would be an awesome start to my trip!!

Last year, it took us 12 hours, in a whole bunch of driving rain, to get from Knoxville to Orlando. We were told it'd take 8- WHAT.A.JOKE! Not in a million years!

Okay, enough for now. Keep your updates coming!

 

[Sarilas]

I'm here! Great PTR so far.

The DDP is so totally worth it for only $200 total more. You'll love it and you did score some great ressies, esp since the 90 day mark passed -- le Cellier, O'hana -- woo Hoo!!

Add me to the list of "I can't believe your 14 yo doesn't want to go to Disney!" I wonder if he'll sing a different tune after a few days...oh well, like you said, it'll be good for him to get away from the girls and be on his own for a bit.

And it's not like you're never going back again, right??

Hello and hurray! lol I'm kind of shocked that we got some of the ressies we did; Le Cellier is and Tusker house are lunches, but we got everything else as dinners. I'm just looking forward to sitting down at a guaranteed time every day, rather than fighting through QS lines and searching for tables. Oh joy...

I know, I know... Kyle had a good time in January to be sure, but I think most of it was to make me happy. He is such a mama's boy, he'd do anything I asked him to. Even take pictures with princesses and teddy bears. He'll have a better time having the living room to himself to watch science fiction movies, staying up as late as he wants and eating junk food for a week straight. Oh to be a teen. lol

And we are definitely going back again! I think when we do go back I may look into renting DVC points since there are so many of us; having four kids kind of limits your choices without breaking the bank before you even get there!

Finally made it over, and am loving what I'm seeing so far!

Like others have said you really scored some great ADRs!!

I can totally relate to Kyle's 'tude. I have an 18 yr. son that went with us last time. Two whole days he opted to stay back at the Fort just to chill and swim. Boys just really need some space when they get older, I guess.

Your girls will really like ASMo, and if it keeps Jose happy, then that's definitely the route to take. Keep them happy, I say; do nothing to jeopardize any future forays onto Disney property!

Tea sounds fabulous! So girlie- yet, I hear many, many men enjoy the elegance of it as well.

WOW! You are from Nashville?? Where were you last April when we had our meet at Opryland Mall??!! My whole fam. lives in BGreen, KY, we could meet next Sept. before our trip, if you're up for it!!! I'll have to PM you!! That would be an awesome start to my trip!!

Last year, it took us 12 hours, in a whole bunch of driving rain, to get from Knoxville to Orlando. We were told it'd take 8- WHAT.A.JOKE! Not in a million years!

Okay, enough for now. Keep your updates coming!

Well hello and hurray to you, too! Thank you!

You feel my teenage angst, eh? Yeah, he'd rather just hang out at home this time around, but hopefully he'll at least want to come along for the ride next time.

And you're right about ASMo... I was just meh about the choice but I'm ultimately happy my DH wants to go at all! I mentioned the trip in passing and the next thing I know he's pricing it out! Can't beat that.

I was here in April, but I didn't know about the meet! Dang! I may be up your way before next September; my Dad really really really wants to see the Corvette factory and we keep putting it off; I've been here since 2005 and I've never been to Kentucky!

We were in Knoxville last May to go to Dollywood; that was the year the mountains killed my transmission!

 

[Marshay]

re: DVC -- I'm a believer!!

We just bought into DVC a few years ago and it has TOTALLY transformed the way we do Disney, how often we go, how much we enjoy it, etc.

I'd definitely look into renting points.

We were lucky...my DH switch jobs and had to liquidate his stock in the old company...we decided to purchase DVC with it -- best decision we ever made and it came right before the market crashed -- so it was a smart financial decision too!

 

[Sarilas]

You seriously did luck out by cashing out when you did! Man... We just took our first trip to the World this past January, and my husband is now hooked. DVC is totally on our short list of 'to do' items for the near future!

 

[Sarilas]

First and foremost, thank you all for asking about Kyle. He's holding steady with a temp of about 100.8 under medication... don't ask what it is when he wakes up in the morning after a night without medication.

Anastasia woke me up at 5:20 this morning to tell me her 'neck hurt'. Yep, she's got a sore throat. UGH. At least it looks like we'll get the swine flu out of the way before this winter, and better yet before our trip in November! I would be a nervous wreck worrying about it the whole time, and now at least they'll have immunity against the virus and can enjoy themselves. (Not that I won't be traveling with handi wipes, antibacterial gel, Lysol spray...)

But everyone's in bed now, lulled to sleep in a Nyquil haze so I can finally jump online long enough to tell you we got our MVMCP tickets today!

It's finally feeling real, friends... cause you know it doesn't feel that way till you start getting Disney mail, and here it is!

By the by, today is 65 days till Disney!

 

[Marshay]

Love those tickets!! I'd definitely use them in my scrapbook!!