Less than 24 Hours now...THE LIST! Updated 12/4!

[kittylady1972]

WELCOME to our December 2009 Pre-Trip Report! Here are some quick links to get you around!



10/12: TO CRUISE OR NOT TO CRUISE
10/16: CRUISING UPDATE & WISH LIST
10/23: SIX MORE WEEKS!
10/26: 40 DAYS AND COUNTING!
10/30: FIVE MORE WEEKS!
11/03: STILL LOOKIN' FOR SOME PIXIE DUST PLEASE?
11/08: CHA-CHA-CHA-CHA-CHANGES OF COURSE
11/10: PAIN AND SUFFERING DESERVES GOOD FOOD
11/11: THE PLAN v2.0
11/12: WILL THEY STAY OR WILL THEY GO?
11/13: What to do, what do to? (I totally blame the RAT!)
11/17: THE PLAN v3.0: Trees, tales and more tails
11/18: Two Weeks Three Days For Our Five Plus Two More: THE FOOD!!
11/25: 10 MORE DAYS and a GREAT OFF-PROPERTY DINNER PLAN
12/2: 72 HOUR COUNTDOWN and Will they stay or will they go?
12/3: 48 Hours to Go: Party of Five: Alternate Plans?
12/3: We have a DECISION!
12/4: Less than 24 Hours Now: The LIST!


I figured with the countdown down to less than 2 months, it's time to gear up for our December 2009 Return to Walt Disney World. My siggy linky has our May 2009 Trip Report, which it appears I never quite finished. I am determined to finish this one though!

DATES: Dec. 5 thru Dec. 12th, 2009

CAST: The usual suspects...same as most of our trips: our family of five and my in-laws.


RESORT: Right now we are booked at a 2-bedroom Villa at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort. I am waitlisted for a 2-bedroom at Bay Lake Towers despite the fact that I called EXACTLY seven months before our trip...from the monorail on May 5th as we were on our LAST trip. I think the chances are pretty slim we'll get it as I'll need a standard view to use my DVC points and those are pretty few and far between. I'm still hoping for some magic though.


THE PLAN:

DAY 1: Arrival Day...our flight leaves at 7am, putting us in Orlando nice and early at 9:10am. Now my FIL will want to LEAVE for the airport I'm sure by 4:30am, even though we live only 15 minutes away. He like a good 2-hour window before the flight. With three kids to keep entertained in the airport, and not wanting to deal with them cranky, I will attempt for probably a 5am departure from our house which is still going to suck. Yet it will all seem better when we get to arrive early at Walt Disney World! Our plan for this day, since we probably will not be able to check into our room, will be to hit the Universal Studios parks... Yes, I said it...we will be doing a NON-Disney park, our first time with the kids. My in-laws (who are in their mid-60s) just LOVE thrill rides and have never been to the Universal Parks either. DH and I went about 6 years ago without kids and thought since the kids are old enough & tall enough to enjoy the majority of the rides there, we'll take them. Also, we already have APs to the Disney Parks, so we just have to shell out the $99 each for the the passes for these parks...still over $500...but hey it's almost Christmas. Maybe we can convince the kids that is their gift?

DAY 2: Our second Universal Day which is to be followed by dinner that night at the Cape May Cafe, where we will then walk over the dock there and hop on a boat for an Illuminations Cruise. This is a surprise for my in-laws. We did one of these back in Nov. 2007 and had invited the in-laws but they didn't make it. Long family story which I'll save you from but we know they will enjoy this.

DAY 3: I know it's sounds crazy, but I'd really like to try to make the early morning extra magic hour at Animal Kingdom this particular day. I have lunch scheduled at the Rainforest Cafe there...never tried it. Dinner that evening is at the California Grill where we hope to catch the 8pm Wishes and MAYBE hit the Magic Kingdom for Extra Magic Hour evening if I can convince the hubby to let me drag the kids out that late. This NEVER works out though. I'm always pushing for more park evenings and he wants early bedtimes to prevent cranky kids. Crazy man!

DAY 4: Hoping to hit the Magic Kingdom in the morning and do the Main Street Bakery for breakfast. We ate here last trip and are still thinking about those yummy pastries! I also have a lunch ressie at Tony's Town Square...another place we've NEVER eaten. Dinner is planned for Sci-Fi Dine-In that night and then checking out the Osborne Lights.

DAY 5: Early breakfast at Chef Mickey's - a family TRADITION. Ever since we first introduced our in-laws to the WORLD back in Sept/Oct of 1997, we always have a meal at CM and get a photo taken. Next plan is to ride the monorail to the other resorts and check out the Holiday decorations, specifically at the Grand Floridian which I hear is a must and which we did not do on our Nov. 2007 trip during the holiday fesitivities. I think we'll spend our park time at EPCOT this day. Lunch is another first time for us at Chef de France because I MUST SEE REMY! We have the Candlelight Processional Dinner Package this day also which is for a dinner at San Angel Inn (another FIRST) and then the 8:15pm show...looking forward to seeing Andy Garcia for that one!

DAY 6: Open day here...maybe return to Animal Kingdom in the morning? However I have a lunch ressie for Mama Melrose (another first!) and a diner at Tutto Italia that night. The lunch is rather late, so we may just do that and skip the dinner. We'll see.

DAY 7: Our last FULL day at the World.... and that means most likely spending the day at the Magic Kingdom. I must squeeze in lunch at Colmbia Harbour House....yummmm Clam Chowder! Dinner that evening is a favorite - the Kona Cafe. At some point we'll squeeze in packing for departure the next day I guess.

DAY 8: Last day...very sad. Lunch is planned for the Hollywood Brown Derby....yummmm Cobb Salad and my FIL LOVES the Grapefruit Cake! We'll probably do morning at Studios and possibly afternoon at EPCOT if we can squeeze it in. Flight leaves at 6:18pm, which means departing the parks by about 3:30pm to be safe and giving us time to gas up the rental and get through the airport.


So that's what I call PLAN A. PLAN B is similar...except I have a few other dining reservations. I know it's bad, but I have two or three different LUNCH ressies a few days. I figure if we don't make one, we can make the other one and I'll cancel those I know I won't make, probably that day or the day before. Basically I have two lunches at each of the following places: Tony's Town Square, Mama Melrose, Chef de France and the Brown Derby. I really want to try Tony's, Mama's and Chefs and I know without a ressie if I miss one I have no hope of eating there. My PLAN A appears pretty solid though but you never know.

 

[kittylady1972]

Just a little more information about our CAST:

Dina - (Age 37) Self-proclaimed Disneyholic and Tigger-lover.
Claim to fame: Introducing my husband AND his parents to Walt Disney World for the very first time...they are now officially hooked and the in-laws go with us on every family trip; I am the planner of the group, meticulously planning our dining reservations and the general touring plan for all of us

Frank - (Age 38, will be 39 for the trip) Devoted Husband of Dina, Thrillseeker and Kid-at-heart
Claim to fame: He has introduced the kids to many of the thrill rides for the first time as they've reached the minimum height limits and most of those introductions have been successful

Nicolas - (Age 9) - Mr. Impatient - "Another line??? I don't wanna wait!"
Claim to fame: He once was responsible for STOPPING the Snow White ride all on his own at age 5 but running out to the cars before he should have

Noelle - (Age 6, will be 7 for the trip) - The Princess of the family
Claim to fame: Only member of the family to have her first Walt Disney World visit before she could even walk - at age 11 months. Also the only one that LOVED the characters from the first time she met them, unlike the boys' first character experiences where they couldn't get far enough away from many of the characters. At age 14-months she walked right up to Genie of all people and hugged him without hesitation; she is REALLY hoping to get above the 44-inch mark for this upcoming visit to ride Space Mountain...it's going to be close!

Noah - (Age 5) - Train Lover
Claim to fame: Last trip in November 2007 we waited in the freakishly long line to meet Lightning and Mater and while waiting he fell asleep in my arms. I almost could not wake him up! When it came time for the meet-n-greet, he clung to me for dear life as I had the cast members take photos. As we left the park that day, he was disappointed that none of the Cars characters signed his t-shirt and I had to explain they HAD NO HANDS! During our May 2008 trip he was finally able to ride all of the 40-inch height requirement rides such as BTMRR, TOT and Splash Mountain! I think his favorite of all of them was Soarin'. To be honest, he'd be happy to just ride the train around the park as much as possible...I'm not even sure we rode it once during our last trip.

Frank Sr - (60-plus-ish) - Father of Frank, devoted Grandpa to the kids
Claim to fame: Speedster of the group; we know where Nicolas gets his impatience; he has been known to leave all of us in the dust walking around the parks; next to Dina, he's probably the one who looks forward to these trips more than anybody, kids included. He was the one who really wanted to return to see the parks decorated for the holidays again, so the main reason for two trips this year.

Lois - (60-plus-ish) - Wife of Frank Sr, Mother of Frank, devoted Grandma
Claim to fame: Breaking land speed records while renting her first scooter during our November 2007 Disney rip; she and Frank Sr. are thrill-seekers as well and as long as her recently-repaired hip are up for it, I know she and Frank Sr. will be hitting the thrill rides hard this time. During our May trip, she had just recently recovered from February hip replacement surgery so she avoided a few rides that she would have otherwise tried.

 

[kittylady1972]

So I was reading up about the Illuminations Cruise today and more and more I'm wondering...should we really do it? We did book this same cruise back in November of 2007 and we did enjoy it and it would be nice to introduce the in-laws to the experience, but the money we'd have to shell out for it is really weighing on my mind. Another thing I keep thinking about is the fact that we have booked the Candlelight Processional Dinner Package which is supposed to include preferred viewing for Illuminations...though nobody can say where that will be quite yet. We didn't catch Illuminations during our last trip and I'd really like to see it this time. Perhaps we'd be better served to just take advantage of that extra perk rather than paying out for the cruise?

Obviously this is not a decision I need to make right now because I have plenty of time to cancel it. It's just something for me to keep in mind. I think I'm finally done with my dining reservations and am going to do my best not to touch them any more. I've heard the Wishes Fireworks Cruise may be better...but it may be too late to book that one now and I'd have to discuss with the hubby, since he really wanted to do the Illuminations Cruise.

I guess I keep thinking about the money we may end up spending on dining this time, plus the fact that we'll shell out money for Universal Tickets, and when I think about how close to Christmas we'll be at that time AND the fact that my salary reduction takes effect this month so my paychecks will be much smaller until sometime next June...do I really need to add another big expense? We've just completed some major purchases at home in the last two months as well including new expensive shades for both boys' rooms, a new basement entry door, a new front door, new furniture for my oldest boy, a new dresser for my daughter, and all new family room furniture. We are taking advantage of the furniture store giving us about three years to pay for that stuff. The stuff from the hardware store will come due in January and March which is the end of that free financing period. AND my husband just bought a new car AND we are working on finally finishing off our basement.

So yeah, that $300+ for the cruise really does not sound like a good idea. Maybe we'll do it next time when more family are with us.

Our next trip after this will be sometime in 2011 if all goes well. See my SIL has married a true anti-Disney person who has told her that they are only allowed to do Disney every FIVE years, despite some of the great deals the parks have been offerring. I've sent them so many deals trying to convince him. No such luck...he won't budge on their 5-year rule. Since their last trip was in January of 2006, they can return in 2011 so we'll probably go back at that time with them.

My own parents usually join us for these trips as well and as of the spring they had already planned to join us for this December trip. Then they changed their mind unexpectedly...which really made me upset. The kids were looking forward to having both sets of grandparents with them for this trip! I couldn't really give them a good reason, but my parents are just not into the theme parks and rides like we are so it's no big shocker. My dad loves thrill rides...my mom does not. What's even funnier about that is that during our November 2007 trip, my daughter convinced her grandma (my mom) to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad...did I mention my mom does NOT do rides like that? She did survive it...barely...but won't ride it again. I'm pretty sure the trips I took to Disney as a child (about 3) she never rode that ride with me! The power of the grandchildren!

So saving the cruise for the next trip seems like a good plan for me, especially when I consider the other "extras" we are doing like Universal the the Candlelight Processional Dinner Package and some of other dining reservations. I just hope my husband is on board with this plan.

 

[kittylady1972]

I spoke to my husband this week and I think we are in agreement on cancelling the Illuminations Cruise. He understands my hesitation to spend an additional $360 when we will already be shelling out $500 for park tickets for Universal. We are still undecided on the dining plan but have plenty of time to think about that. We seem to have more table service reservations than the plan will handle anyway, and a few will be two credits. I don't think the dining plan will gain us much, as we tend to do very few counter service and just snack between a few bigger table service meals.

I do have a few things I hope to get accomplished on this trip. They are as follows:

MAGIC KINGDOM: Eat at Tony's Town Square for the first time, have the kids see Hall of Pres for the first time (and see it now with Obama there so it will be new for us too in a way), visit Tom Sawyer Island with Noah (I took Noelle and Nicolas over there on our May trip while Frank had taken Noah back to our hotel for a break), check out the new Space Mountain (of course!) and with any luck we'll be able to get the younger two kids on this one. They are very close to the height requirement right now...within an inch or two, so anything is possible. If the weather is good, we may even attempt to introduce the kids to the Treehouse there as well...since Aladdin's Carpets will be down for refurb (I just learned). I'm even sorta considering that Wishes Dessert Party as well...it looks just awesome for a dessert lover like myself but I'm having a hard time justifying the cost. We'll see.

EPCOT: I'd really like to finally see the Candy Lady in Japan; eating for the first time inside Mexico - which is part of another first for us the Candlelight Processional Dinner Package! Really looking forward to the Processional. We also really want to do a Kim Possible Mission this time, and I'd like to also maybe do the Pick-A-Pearl with Noelle; also see Remy at Chef de France so we have lunch plans for there one day - another first; oh and almost forgot that new ride at Innoventions where you design your own thrill ride...looks very cool!

DHS: Honestly, we've done most of the stuff here already. The only thing is to try to catch a meal at Mama Melrose for the first time. Maybe we can try to ride TSM THREE times during one park visit for the first time with the family...we've done it twice before. Maybe we'll try to take the kids to see the Beauty and the Beast show if they are interested.

AK: We've never seen FOTLK so that's a first, and we would like to introduce the kids to the Nemo Show here as well as DH and I loved that last time. If the younger kids make the 44-inch height requirement, we'd love to all be able to ride EE together; we have plans to try to have lunch at the Rainforest Cafe as well...another first.

 

[mandy2012]

 

[kittylady1972]

I can't believe it's just getting so close to our vacation! In a way, I can't wait but really I am not in a hurry since I always hate that letdown afterwards when I know we won't be back again for at least two years this time.

Amazingly, I haven't made any changes to our plans this week. We still have all of our dining ressies and I still have yet to cancel our Illuminations Cruise, but that may be done pretty soon.

Every time we get together with my in-laws, we always talk about our upcoming trip. I have yet to finish putting together our slideshow of photos from our November 2007 trip. I also haven't printed any photos from our May 2008 trip. I am so far behind!

The kids are all doing very well in school, so that should make it easy for me when it comes down to pulling them out for a week. It's going to be such a slow timeframe for them anyway. Report cards come out Nov. 18th or so for them, the following week is the week of Thanksgiving and they are off from school that ENTIRE week. Then they will go back to school for a week only to be out the entire next week. Then of course they have another week of school, followed by only 3 days of school and then they are off for Winter Break until January. So I guess the next few months are just going to fly right by for us!

Oh how I really need to lose some weight before this trip. There are so many yummy meals planned and treats to enjoy and the last thing I want to do is worry about gaining weight when right now I can't fit into a lot of my winter clothes. I'd love to lose about 20 pounds before this trip but can that really be done in 6 weeks? Maybe with a LOT of effort on my part and I just love food way too much. At this point, I'd like to just lose the 10 I've gained in the last year.

So I think that's my next plan...losing weight for Disney! I'm going to post a weekly update from here until our trip to let you know how I am doing, so feel free to nudge me here if I'm not doing that and keep me accountable!

 

[kittylady1972]

I can't believe it, just 40 days to go!

Unfortunately it looks like my MIL is having more trouble again with her back so I'm very concerned about how well she and FIL will be able to keep up with us on this trip. If you read my last trip report from May, my MIL had hip replacement surgery in February of this year, and ended up with complications that took her much longer to heal. She got around pretty well for the most part, but we did rent a wheelchair for her to use just in case and she used it pretty sparingly. I'm afraid she may need it much more this time unless she gets her recent issues resolved. Apparently due to the surgery, she now has one leg shorter than the other one, which is causing back problems for her. She just can't win. I learned last night that it also looks like she has taken up smoking again (she has been smoking pretty much all of her life, but she hasn't smoked for the last 2 or 3 years because she had so many health issues) so that means we'll be spending our time waiting for her to take smoke breaks...or leaving her behind while she does that.

So I checked our Disney Vacation Club information on Friday and we still have a room at Saratoga Springs despite being on the waitlist for a Standard 2BR at Bay Lake Towers. How I would LOVE to be staying there this time! I was reading a recent forum here and it looks like standard rooms are VERY hard to come by, though I have no idea how many there really are there. I would love a little magic to come our way and grant us that one wish though!

I may or may not have mentioned that we have decided instead of renting a stroller from an off-site group like we did last trip, this time we'll just haul our big double stroller with us for our trip. It's funny that our kids really don't use the stroller at all any longer but we just know in Disney it's something that we want to have the option of using...they did use it last May a few times. Many times we used it to transport sleeping kids from the car back to our room!! Since the airline won't charge us for gate checking it, we'll just bring it with us this time. It may just be the very last time we use it. I have to say it's nice to have the convenience of the stroller to haul our stuff around the park and leave in the stroller when we need to go someplace too.

 

[kittylady1972]

Ok, so as of tomorrow, we have 5 Weeks to go before our trip. How did time just fly right by us like that?

Amazingly, I've been too busy with life these days to make any more changes to our dining plans or anything else. The only tweak I made was to squeeze in a bit of info on our spreadsheet for the DVC Member Merry Mixer in hopes that we can fit that into our plans. We have tentative plans to be at EPCOT the day that it happens, so that shouldn't be too tough. We'll see if we can make it.

I'm still thinking about a trip in March of next year, which even I realize is just insane. My husband wants NO part of being anywhere near Disney during Easter. I'm just thinking, with our knowledge and experience, we could probably stay somewhere near Disney, just vist the parks in the early morning or late evening, and spend the rest of our time elsewhere...maybe even at the Universal Parks or Sea World. My husband's preference would be to just try to book something at Vero Beach using our points, but I know that using our points for that trip would be impossible. We've have to borrow into the future again, and that would leave us no points for the trip we plan to take in 2011 sometime with his whole family again.

I put some posts out about possibly renting points from another DVC Member, but I'm still on the fence about it myself. March and April are already going to be so crazy for us. I get an entire week off myself for Spring Break and State Government Furloughs...but the kids are in school so taking them someplace that week is not an option. Two weeks later is when they get their Easter Break, and it happens to begin the weekend that my oldest son turns ten. A quick 5 day trip to Disney would be fun, since we already have park passes, and we'd just come home before the Easter weekend. Yet I read the reports of the Easter week this year...and they were SCARY! Do we really want to even try that? The weekend AFTER Easter I have to take the kids out of school again because my brother will be getting married...and the wedding is 8-hours away in South Carolina, and I'm IN the wedding and so I'll have to take the kids out of school probably Thursday and Friday of that week. Of course, they don't have school Easter Monday anyway, so instead of a 4-day week...they get two days. I'm not sure how happy the school will be with me since they still don't know I'm taking the kids out of school in December for our upcoming trip. I can't help it if the wedding was planned AFTER I had planned our Disney trip. I may not even tell the school about the April days off...but they might find it odd that all three of my kids are out for two days. Believe it or not, they know my kids pretty well so it probably won't slip past them.

So who knows what I'll end up doing in March, but the vacation wheels in my head are ALWAYS turning. I've even researched renting a house in Orlando and inviting several friends with us for a few days but we'll see.

 

[Lizziejane]

Hey Dina,
I'm enjoying reading your PTR - oh lucky you, just 5 weeks away!! I kind of chuckled when I read your post about trying to plan a trip in March too - I'm always 2 or 3 trips ahead of where I am right now! I can't imagine NOT having a trip to plan, even if it's not WDW. I can also relate to your quandry about the cruise and the dining plan - sometimes I wish we didn't have so many options!
We;re also planning on Tony's for the first time. I'll be looking for your review so that if it's bad, I have time to bail!
by the way, your kids are adorable!

 

[kittylady1972]

Hey Dina,
I'm enjoying reading your PTR - oh lucky you, just 5 weeks away!! I kind of chuckled when I read your post about trying to plan a trip in March too - I'm always 2 or 3 trips ahead of where I am right now! I can't imagine NOT having a trip to plan, even if it's not WDW. I can also relate to your quandry about the cruise and the dining plan - sometimes I wish we didn't have so many options!
We;re also planning on Tony's for the first time. I'll be looking for your review so that if it's bad, I have time to bail!
by the way, your kids are adorable!

Thanks so much for the comment and reading Lizziejane! I am glad I'm not the only one planning trips before she has even taken the most recent trip. My family believes that all I do is plan our next vacation, but as a working mom that's what gets me through each day...thinking about my next day OFF!

I will definitely let you know about Tony's. It's just one of many restaurants I have wanted to try. It took me several trips (and cancelled ADRs) to finally try California Grill but once I finally convinced myself to try it...it's now become a new favorite! I wish the trips didn't seem like they are so much about the food for us, but they really do sometimes!

 

[kittylady1972]

So I called DVC Member Services yesterday night just on a whim to see if they had any other 2 bedroom units available for our week. Of course not! She didn't even have single nights here and there...that's a bit scary!

Just how crazy busy is it going to be that week? I can't imagine. I am on the extended waitlist for our resort which means up to 7 days prior if any cancellations come through for a 2 bedroom at Bay Lake Towers in a Standard View Room, I should have a pretty good chance of getting it. After all, I called EXACTLY 7-months prior to our trip, so I should be pretty close to the top of that list.

It's not that we won't enjoy Saratoga Springs. We stayed in a Grand Villa in November of 2007 and it was nice, with a great view of Downtown Disney. However, like my husband says, how often are we even in our rooms and even then, how often are we checking out the view? Given the choice, I'd rather be closer to our car. Still, I love the convenience of the Boardwalk area resorts and really would almost rather stay at Beach Club or Boardwalk. Yet I don't want to drop myself from either of my 2-waitlists just to put myself on a waitlist for one of those. It's kinda wrong that I had to do two different waitlists for one resort - one is a dedicated 2-bedroom and one is a 2-bedroom lockoff, both at BLT so it's two different lists. Which do I have a better chance of getting? I have NO idea!

In other news, I really need to get a behavior/reward chart going at home for the kids. Lately they have really been pushing the limits and I'm not sure my 9-year-old will SEE 10 at this point with his behavior. I know the chart I used last time worked great for them. They got a smiley face each day they did really well, at the end of the week we counted the smiley faces and the total was the dollars they'd get for that week. With about 5 weeks to go, they could earn about $35, which is enough for each of them to buy a souvenir at Disney. Got to get that chart up!



Speaking of rewards, looks like I'm on par to have about $300 on our Disney Visa Rewards to spend while there. That's probably going to cover our snacks and small meals here and there for the most part. I'm still undecided on the dining plan, but probably we'll skip it and just use our TIW card discount. There are so many places where I'd like to just have appetizers instead of a main dish, and if I get the dining plan I'll have to order meals. So it just doesn't seem like it will make too much sense, but I haven't finished number crunching quite yet. We'll see if I change my mind...that NEVER happens!

 

[kittylady1972]

So the Saga continues....not suprising! Did I mention my in-laws are not always in the best of health? My mother-in-law in particular and the recent issue is a result of the surgery she had back in February...hip replacement...see post #7 for details. Well they have determined now that she needs some kind of back surgery which is to take place...TA-DA...IN ONE WEEK! Yes folks, that's just a mere 3 weeks before our trip!

I guess it's some kind of outpatient surgery, which is the good news. The bad news means she'll have to take it pretty easy with regards to rides. Sure it's Disney so we all know she'll be able to ride and do plenty...but she and FIL love the thrill rides and the new Space Mountain will be out of the question.

What does this mean for our trip? Well it means I spent today looking into dining reservations for two additional days. Why? Well our original plan had us heading to Universal Studios for our first two days, so we figured off-site dining would be in the works for those days. Well the trip to Universal was because the in-laws really wanted to do those parks, but with thrill rides off limits it doesn't seem worth it. It's okay...we can wait until another trip for that and that also means a $500 savings for us since we won't have to buy those park tickets and honestly that works for me. So we spend more time at the Disney parks, and meals there would be easier. So I'm now searching for places to eat those first two days...and trying to decide what parks we'll hit those days.

Time to revise the plan...again! Stay tuned.....

 

[kittylady1972]

What a week it's been...or two. I've spent a lot of time crying over the loss of somebody who I went to middle and high school with and am still in disbelief that she died last week. She had complications of H1N1, spent about two weeks or so in the hospital with pneumonia and other isssues, and just when she was starting to stabilize...she passed. I am heartbroken for her family, for her two younger daughters (5 and 8 I think) and for her close friends and family. Though I haven't spoken to her in years, she was just one of the kindest souls you would ever want to know, with the voice of an angel. The viewing is this week and I plan to head an hour south of here to pay my respects to her family.

Then today...had my IUD replaced...not a fun experience. It's a 5-year IUD so it was due to come out, but there were complications and if my doc wasn't as awesome as she was I would have ended up in the operating room to remove it. Thankfully she was able to get it but it was extremely painful and right now I'm realizing my advil has worn off and I need it again. At least I have another 5 years before going through that again. After all, baby number 3 is referred to as our Disney Souvenir since we are pretty sure he was conceived during our Oct 2003 trip....he was born almost exactly nine months later.

So needless to say after taking the day off from work I was in the mood to cook dinner this evening and my choice was a favorite from the California Grill - Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli. Man...this was my second time making this and it was just sooo good! I love that stuff and I know it may not be exactly like they make it, it's still pretty good. I can't wait to go back there next month and have it again there AND to try the flatbreads again. During our May trip they did NOT have the flatbreads on the menu and I was so disappointed. My meal was going to be that ravioli and the flatbread. Guess I can try this time.

Well I guess my next post will be my newly updated trip plan. I got tickets for us all to see La Nouba yesterday and I'm very excited. This will be our first time for that show, but with my AP discount I couldn't pass up the chance to see it and it will be a great way to celebrate the first night of our trip!

 

[kittylady1972]

With my MIL being once again in a fragile condition for up upcoming trip, we've had to make some changes. Universal Studios is now out for our arrival weekend. That meant a mad scramble for me to find alternate plans and, more importantly, alternate DINING plans! Of course...since we didn't have to eat off-site now, we could hit the parks those first two days and if we plan to be in a park, we should plan to eat there or at least think about it. Thus, I spent my weekend and Monday making some changes. I even removed some of our duplicate dining reservations, since having two additional park days meant I could squeeze in the dining reservations there as well. So here goes...

THE PLAN v2.0:

DAY 1: Arrival Day...our flight leaves at 7am, putting us in Orlando nice and early at 9:10am. Now my FIL will want to LEAVE for the airport I'm sure by 4:30am, even though we live only 15 minutes away. He like a good 2-hour window before the flight. With three kids to keep entertained in the airport, and not wanting to deal with them cranky, I will attempt for probably a 5am departure from our house which is still going to suck. Yet it will all seem better when we get to arrive early at Walt Disney World! Since we can't check into our room, we might as well hit a park. Studios and EPCOT are good parks for easy parking access, so STUDIOS is the winner! I have dining reservations at Brown Derby and Mama Melrose's...just need to figure out which one to keep but I'm leaning towards MM. They are for close to 2pm which is great. It means we can hopefully coast through until our evening plans, maybe just snacking later. We have reservations to the 6pm showing of LaNouba, thanks to our AP discount. I'm very excited about this which is odd since I have never had much of an interest in doing it. However, since MIL will not have the chance to do many rides this time around, we're going to now gear our trip towards the shows and this one seemed good. So hopefully we can have our late lunch, then go back and check into our room, then head over to LaNouba.

DAY 2: EPCOT Day. I was able to snag lunch at Chef de France for this day, which frees up one of my other days later in the trip where I had squeezed in lunch and I wasn't really sure I wanted to do that. I MUST SEE REMY! Kids probably won't eat much there, so feeding them before this will be the key. We'll hang out at EPCOT for as long as we like, and hopefully get in a Kim Possible Mission this time around since we didn't get to do that on our last trip. Dinner right now is scheduled for Turf Club but if we are up for it we may just eat at EPCOT.

DAY 3: I know it's sounds crazy, but I'd really like to try to make the early morning extra magic hour at Animal Kingdom this particular day. I have lunch scheduled at the Rainforest Cafe there...never tried it. Dinner that evening is at the California Grill where we hope to catch the 8pm Wishes and MAYBE hit the Magic Kingdom for Extra Magic Hour evening if I can convince the hubby to let me drag the kids out that late. This NEVER works out though. I'm always pushing for more park evenings and he wants early bedtimes to prevent cranky kids. Crazy man!

DAY 4: Hoping to hit the Magic Kingdom in the morning and do the Main Street Bakery for breakfast. We ate here last trip and are still thinking about those yummy pastries! I also have a lunch ressie at Tony's Town Square...another place we've NEVER eaten. Dinner is planned for Sci-Fi Dine-In that night and then checking out the Osborne Lights.

DAY 5: Early breakfast at Chef Mickey's - a family TRADITION. Ever since we first introduced our in-laws to the WORLD back in Sept/Oct of 1997, we always have a meal at CM and get a photo taken. Next plan is to ride the monorail to the other resorts and check out the Holiday decorations, specifically at the Grand Floridian which I hear is a must and which we did not do on our Nov. 2007 trip during the holiday fesitivities. I think we'll spend our park time at EPCOT this day. We have the Candlelight Processional Dinner Package this day also which is for a dinner at San Angel Inn (another FIRST) and then the 8:15pm show...looking forward to seeing Andy Garcia for that one!

DAY 6: Open day here...maybe return to Animal Kingdom in the morning? However I have a lunch ressie for Brown Derby so maybe we'll just head there instead. Also the DVC Member Mixer is at EPCOT this day, from 3pm-5pm. Since the in-laws are not DVC Members, I'm guessing they can't attend that one. So either we ditch them for two hours and attend that or we skip it. If we attend it, then we would be better off spending the afternoon at EPCOT. I do have a dinner scheduled for Tutto Italia that night.

DAY 7: Our last FULL day at the World.... and that means most likely spending the day at the Magic Kingdom. I must squeeze in lunch at Colmbia Harbour House....yummmm Clam Chowder! Dinner that evening is a favorite - the Kona Cafe. At some point we'll squeeze in packing for departure the next day I guess.

DAY 8: Last day...very sad. We will either do Studios or EPCOT or Studios and THEN EPCOT for this last day. I always like to do my last minute shopping at EPCOT's MouseGear. Flight leaves at 6:18pm, which means departing the parks by about 3:30pm to be safe and giving us time to gas up the rental and get through the airport.

So, that's it for us. Any thoughts/suggestions/opinions? Anyone reading this but me?

 

[kittylady1972]

So yesterday my husband let me know that his dad (my FIL) is dropping more and more hints about the trip that believe they just may cancel on us. He is more and more concerned about how this outpatient back surgery will go for his wife (my MIL). We know she's in a lot more pain these days. We know they will probably need to limit their time out and about while we are there. That's all okay with us.

Yes, we have a pretty agressive schedule but it does allow for flexibility. I have made tons of dining reservations and if they can make it to SOME of them, that would be fine. We have always let them know and tried to encourage them to do their own thing while in Disney, and sometimes they do, and that's great with us. We're just happy to be there and glad that they can join us. We don't expect them to want to do all of the same things.

We have already decided that even if they do cancel on us, we'll probably still keep our two-bedroom reservation. It would be the first time that my husband and I could sleep in the King room...and we'd give the kids the other bedroom. Usually we share the room with the two beds with the kids and give the in-laws the King room...it just makes more sense.

I wonder if I should write up an alternate plan for them? One that would give them only half-days in the parks at the most, plenty of time to rest in the room, and then join us for dinner? That plan would be great for them and I just might encourage that. They can join us in the parks for a few hours where we'd do stuff that MIL could handle, then they could either take the bus back to the room or drive the rental back and we'd all take the bus back ourselves. We've already made the decision this time to add FIL as an additional driver to our rental (I hate that they CHARGE you for THAT) so that they have the flexibility to use it and we can use Disney transportation, which is just fine with us. MIL may be using a scooter anyway, that we'll rent from off-site, so they would need the rental van to transport that back and forth.

I really hope that they still go with us. After all, the trip for them is not costing much. They only paid for the airfare. We booked the room with our DVC membership and we all had Annual Passes from our May trip, knowing we'd be back. It's a chance to just get away for them, and they could still spend as much time as they need relaxing in the room and I do think they will need that.

I guess we really won't know until right before our trip though. The surgery is this Monday (16th) and then we'll see how she recovers in the almost 3 weeks she'll have before our trip.

 

[kittylady1972]

So one of my goals for this upcoming trip is to see Remy at Chef de France. I have a lunch reservation to see him on Thursday afternoon, but once our first weekend was freed up I made alternate lunch plans for Sunday. Can you guess what Sunday is?

Remy's DAY OFF!

I still have my Thursday ressie but I also have a lunch ressie that same day for the Brown Derby. We LOVE the Brown Derby and I'm afraid if we don't do it that day, we may not get the chance to do it.

How sad is it again that I plan my vacation around the food?

So maybe I can aim for lunch at the Brown Derby on Sunday instead? That means we'd do Hollywood Studios two days in a row. Both are extra magic days, so I was hoping to avoid going there both days. Maybe we should try to have lunch on Saturday, then do Studios on Sunday?

I just CANNOT DECIDE!

Seems EPCOT on arrival day (Saturday) might be a bit much since we will be getting up at the crack of dawn and will have plans for that evening for la Nouba. I would much prefer to wander the smaller Studios park that day.

Then the bigger question...since both days are extra magic days for the Studios, is it more crowded on Saturday when the park is open EARLY or on Sunday when it's open later? I am guessing Saturday...maybe we'd be better off going there Sunday?

I could analyze this a MILLION times as you can tell. Must make a decision soon though.

 

[kittylady1972]

My MILs outpatient back surgery yesterday was a success! My FIL called me last night with the update and said all she wanted to know when she woke up was....could she STILL go to Disney World? He forgot to ask...but promised her he'd call the doctor first chance and ask. See I'm not the only one obsessed!

Now when we last left, I was in trip panic mode because I had made big plans for lunch with Remy on my now Universal-free first weekend. I MUST have lunch with Remy and I thought Sunday would be great...but Sunday is Remy's DAY OFF so plans must me changed.

Thus, the NEW and IMPROVED 3.0 PLAN!


THE PLAN v3.0:

DAY 1: (SAT) Arrival Day...our flight leaves at 7am, putting us in Orlando nice and early at 9:10am. Now my FIL will want to LEAVE for the airport I'm sure by 4:30am, even though we live only 15 minutes away. He like a good 2-hour window before the flight. With three kids to keep entertained in the airport, and not wanting to deal with them cranky, I will attempt for probably a 5am departure from our house which is still going to suck. Yet it will all seem better when we get to arrive early at Walt Disney World! Since we can't check into our room, we might as well hit a park. Studios and EPCOT are good parks for easy parking access, so STUDIOS is the winner! I have dining reservations at Brown Derby and Mama Melrose's...but since we've never eaten at Mama Melrose's I think we'll have dinner there. It's a late lunch, close to 2pm, so that we can coast through dinner with maybe just snacks somewhere in Downtown Disney before our evening plans...seeing the 6pm show of La Nouba. We've never seen this but I used my AP discount for some great tickets in Tier 2. I'm very excited about this which is odd since I have never had much of an interest in doing it. However, since MIL will not have the chance to do many rides this time around, we're going to now gear our trip towards the shows and this one seemed good. So hopefully we can have our late lunch, then go back and check into our room, then head over to LaNouba. Oh and if it's not too much, maybe we'll try to see Santa in Downtown Disney.

DAY 2: (SUN) EPCOT Day. We'll hang out at EPCOT for as long as we like, and hopefully get in a Kim Possible Mission this time around since we didn't get to do that on our last trip. Dinner right now is scheduled for Turf Club but if we are up for it we may just eat at EPCOT. I did not get to eat my Fish N Chips from England while overlooking the water last time and I missed that! I'm hoping we can concentrate on a few things in Future World and then head to the World Showcase and maybe catch some of the holiday storytelling there.

DAY 3: (MON) I know it's sounds crazy, but I'd really like to try to make the early morning extra magic hour at Animal Kingdom this particular day. I have lunch scheduled at the Rainforest Cafe there...never tried it. Dinner that evening is at the California Grill where we hope to catch the 8pm Wishes and MAYBE hit the Magic Kingdom for Extra Magic Hour evening if I can convince the hubby to let me drag the kids out that late. This NEVER works out though. I'm always pushing for more park evenings and he wants early bedtimes to prevent cranky kids. Crazy man!

DAY 4: (TUE) Hoping to hit the Magic Kingdom in the morning and do the Main Street Bakery for breakfast. We ate here last trip and are still thinking about those yummy pastries! I also have a lunch ressie at Tony's Town Square...another place we've NEVER eaten. I'm thinking if we can keep it going all day, I'd like to hit the monorail resorts in the evening to see the trees and other decorations, especially the GF around 5:30PM because that's when they do something around the gingerbread house I think? Dinner is planned for Sci-Fi Dine-In that night and then checking out the Osborne Lights.

DAY 5: (WED) Early breakfast at Chef Mickey's - a family TRADITION. Ever since we first introduced our in-laws to the WORLD back in Sept/Oct of 1997, we always have a meal at CM and get a photo taken. Next plan is to ride the monorail to the other resorts and check out the Holiday decorations, specifically at the Grand Floridian which I hear is a must and which we did not do on our Nov. 2007 trip during the holiday fesitivities. I think we'll spend our park time at EPCOT this day. We have the Candlelight Processional Dinner Package this day also which is for a dinner at San Angel Inn (another FIRST) and then the 8:15pm show...looking forward to seeing Andy Garcia for that one!

DAY 6: (THU) Open day here. This is my rescheduled EPCOT lunch with Remy at Chef de France, so it may be another day at EPCOT, maybe Studios in the morning first. The kids won't eat at Chef de France so we'll have to feed them first. Also the DVC Member Mixer is at EPCOT this day, from 3pm-5pm. Since the in-laws are not DVC Members, I'm guessing they can't attend that one. So either we ditch them for two hours and attend that or we skip it. If we attend it, then we would be better off spending the afternoon at EPCOT. I do have a dinner scheduled for Tutto Italia that night.

DAY 7: (FRI) Our last FULL day at the World.... and that means most likely spending the day at the Magic Kingdom. I must squeeze in lunch at Colmbia Harbour House....yummmm Clam Chowder! Dinner that evening is a favorite - the Kona Cafe. At some point we'll squeeze in packing for departure the next day I guess.

DAY 8: (SAT) Last day...very sad. We will either do Studios or EPCOT or Studios AND EPCOT for this last day. I always like to do my last minute shopping at EPCOT's MouseGear. Flight leaves at 6:18pm, which means departing the parks by about 3:30pm to be safe and giving us time to gas up the rental and get through the airport.

So, that's it for us. Will there be a plan v4.0? Stay tuned....

 

[kittylady1972]

Can our trip really only be just over two weeks away? I can't believe it has come up this quickly! I'm not ready for it to be here...because I'm not ready for it to be over.

So it will be our family of five and my just-as-Disney-Crazy in-laws this time around, in case you are new here.

We've still had no luck on our waitlist for a room at Bay Lake Towers and I realize it's probably not going to happen. I called again today to check on anything else...but no other 2BR units are open either. It's not that SSR isn't nice...but I love the Boardwalk Area resorts for their convenience.

I'm trying my best not to keep thinking about our dining reservations, but I can't help that I'm addicted to reading about dining resorts here on the boards and thinking maybe we should try THAT place? It's crazy.

For the record, here are my current dining plans:

Saturday (arrival day): Lunch at Mama Melrose...never eaten here, might be dangerous bringing the 100% Italian FIL with us so let's hope it's good.

Sunday: Lunch somewhere in EPCOT most likely, but nothing planned since I had to cancel Le Chef (no REMY!); perhaps this will be my day for one of my favorites: The Yorkshire County Fish Shop; dinner plans include an early ressie at Turf Club (for convenience...it's where we are staying) or dinner at the Cape May Cafe Clambake. We've never done the Turf Club and it's been YEARS since we've done the Clambake and that was without the in-laws. So we'll see if we stick with it.

Monday: Since we plan to hit AK for Early Entry, I booked Rainforest Cafe for lunch. We have never eaten at any Rainforest Cafe. Now that I read more and more about the lunch options at AK, I'm thinking about just doing the Flame Tree BBQ instead. It can't be a big meal...saving ourselves for one of our new favorites, the Cali Grill that evening for dinner!

Tuesday: Can we really wait until FOUR days into our vacation before we see the Castle and MK? I don't think we've ever waited that long. We are a planning a yummy breakfast first thing at the Main Street Bakery, another discovery from our May trip that requires a return and has been agreed upon by all of us. Lunch at Tony's Town Square - another FIRST for us. I've read good things about it. I sure hope it's good...again Italian food and bringing the very Italian family with us. Dinner is at Sci-Fi that evening because we plan to then see the Osborne Lights at HS. We've been to Sci-Fi a few times and though the food isn't AWESOME I did enjoy the Beef and Blue Salad a lot during our November 2007 trip, so I hope I enjoy it again this time.

Wednesday: Breakfast at Chef Mickey's - a tradition! We eat at least one meal here EVERY trip and ALWAYS have a big family photo taken. Dinner will be another first: The San Angel Inn at EPCOT as part of our Candlelight Processional package. I think we'll all enjoy this one. We like mexican and the menu looks very unique.

Thursday: Lunch at EITHER Chef de France or Brown Derby. This was the only day I could squeeze in the Brown Derby - a favorite as we LOVE the Cobb Salad and FIL loves the Grapefruit Cake. Yet I want to see Remy, so I'm keeping my Chef de France lunch. More than likely we'll do Brown Derby and save Remy for our last day, Saturday, and hope he's there. Dinner might be at Tutto Italia. Tough decision. That would make THREE Italian Meals for our trip.

Friday: Magic Kingdom for our last full day. No big meal plans but another Tony's Town Square ressie. It will either be that or another favorite: Columbia Harbour House. It all depends on if we make our Tony's ressie on Tuesday or do CHH that day and save Tony for our last day. Dinner at Kona Cafe - this place is ALWAYS a favorite. I think we have done it on just about all of our last 4 or 5 trips!

Saturday: Last day here...late flight...so lunch at Chef de France.

So to sum it up, our return meals are here:
Brown Derby (L)
California Grill (D)
Sci-Fi Dine-In (D)
Chef Mickey's (B)
Kona Cafe (D)
Tutto Italia (D)


And our WANT to TRY first time restaurants are here:
Mama Melrose (L)
Cape May Cafe (D)
San Angel Inn (D)
Tony's Town Square (L)
Chef de France (L) *** REMY!!! ****

Any suggestions? Any favorites of our first times that you think we should NOT miss? Any that you think we can probably skip? I'd love to hear experiences here, especially recent ones!

 

[kittylady1972]

Here in Maryland, it's been rainy and cold for the last three days...no sign of the sun and so Florida is looking better and better. At least it's not snow here, but I'd almost prefer that!

I can't believe we only have 10 more days to go until our trip!

My MIL continues to slooooowwwly recover from her back surgery. We may not know until sometime next week if she's still up for the trip. I think she'll still try no matter what...at least it's a change of scenery and they don't have to try to keep up with us all day every day. I am thinking of putting together an alternate touring plan just for them...and we can try to tag along with some of the stuff, like shows, and head out here and there for the rides that they can't do with us.

My younger two kids had their pediatric checkups yesterday. My 7yo daughter is at 43.5 inches, which means with shoes she SHOULD make the 44 inch mark which means...SPACE MOUNTAIN!!! How exciting! I'd love to get the 5yo on it as well, but he's only at about 42 inches and I don't think he has a good chance of making that mark even with boots on but you never know.

I think we have a change in our Sunday dinner plans. A high school friend of mine lives very close to Disney, and her daughter is close in age to my son and they are like two peas in a pod in so many ways that it's funny. She and I met for the first time since our 1990 high school graduation back in June of 2008 and seeing the two kids together was just so funny. So now every chance I get down there, or she is up here in Maryland, we try to at least get together for a little bit of time. Well she has suggested a great NON-DISNEY place for dinner on Sunday evening which sounds like fun...and so I think we're going to do our best to try to have dinner there. It's a greek place called Opa Taverna that sounds like a GREAT family place with dancing and entertainment and crowd involvement. I'm really looking forward to that now!

So far this week I have NOT made any plans to our dining reservations and it looks like NO PIXIE DUST for us on the room request to Bay Lake Towers. I'm sad but I know we'll be okay with our 2BR at Saratoga Springs.

 

[kittylady1972]

That's right, in 72 hours our plane should be touching down at wonderful MCO - Orlando Airport! It's hard to believe the trip is so close. I'm doing my very best not to think about the fact that when we return we'll have only 13 days until Christmas...and that's the time I'll have to finish my shopping in which I've barely managed to put a dent so far. I have lots of ideas...just haven't followed through on the purchases yet!

The big question right now is if my in-laws will still be joining us. My MIL's back saga continues...she is still in a lot of pain. Right now I think they are strongly leaning towards cancelling the trip. What does that mean for us? Well actually nothing...we'll still go on without them. After all, the room is booked via DVC (no pixie dust though...we will be at Saratoga Springs instead of BLT as I'd hoped) and we have annual passes that need to be used. The flights were pretty cheap and the kids are looking forward to the trip. I've already told the teachers and have the schoolwork lined up for them.

We have told the in-laws that they have until 1 hour before our flight...or until 6am on Saturday morning...to make their decision. Even if they decided to cancel the flight, if they are feeling up to it later they can still join us because they will still have a place to stay. I looked up rates to change us to a mid-sized car instead of the minivan, since that would work for just five of us, but honestly it would only save me about $12 for the week so it's just not worth it. I haven't yet rented a scooter for MIL but I know I can do that even the day we arrive or she can just use them in the parks. We'll manage.

I'm really considering placing an order online for groceries to be delivered to our room...any suggestions? Does anybody have a preference over any of the grocery delivery services there? I've never used any of them.

So the weather here Saturday morning is calling for temps below freezing and possible rain and/or snow showers...first snow of the season and it may hit while we are on a plane to Disney! Works for me! So far temps in Florida next week are in the 70s, while here it will be the 50s! I think I just may start the packing process tonight since it looks like we'll be able to get away with some layers...probably short sleeves and pants, a few pairs of shorts and sweatshirts for layering in the evening.

72 more hours...WOW!