Cross your heart we're going! Cross it!An Unexpected April Adventure! TR Started!!!!

[Angies1274]

Thanks for the Epcot pictures Angie!

Epcot is most definitely our favorite park! I'm so glad you have come to appreciate it.

Me too, Missy!!--We're so excited to go back!! We've missed so much the last few trips.... especially in the WS!!! (hopefully we can finally get to do them this trip!!)

 

[eandesmom]

I really want to spend more time at the WS. While we do love Epcot, the FW layout is just odd to me and not "pleasing" if that makes sense. We tend to treat the WS as a place to eat and it's so much more!

Or at least I hear it is, hopefully this summer we will actually get to experience it.

Cute pics

 

[Angies1274]

I really want to spend more time at the WS. While we do love Epcot, the FW layout is just odd to me and not "pleasing" if that makes sense. We tend to treat the WS as a place to eat and it's so much more!

Or at least I hear it is, hopefully this summer we will actually get to experience it.

Cute pics

Thanks!! I agree...about FW. I can never quite figure out the right plan for touring FW. It feels like we are always zigzagging back and forth. Anyways..we can't wait to spend more time in the WS this trip. There is so much we want to see!!

 

[eandesmom]

Thanks!! I agree...about FW. I can never quite figure out the right plan for touring FW. It feels like we are always zigzagging back and forth. Anyways..we can't wait to spend more time in the WS this trip. There is so much we want to see!!

Exactly! Zigging, never in a straight path and it's not "pretty" I always feel like we are rushing in between attractions because there is no point in meandering unlike the other parks and WS where we soak in just the general atmosphere.

It's part of the reason I'd love to go one day during flower and garden, I think I'd like Future World more during that time of year, it would make me want to stroll...

And yet many of our favorite rides are in FW....

 

[Angies1274]

Exactly! Zigging, never in a straight path and it's not "pretty" I always feel like we are rushing in between attractions because there is no point in meandering unlike the other parks and WS where we soak in just the general atmosphere.

It's part of the reason I'd love to go one day during flower and garden, I think I'd like Future World more during that time of year, it would make me want to stroll...

And yet many of our favorite rides are in FW....

Isn't it funny? Many of our favorite rides are in FW also...hmmm...

That's one of the reasons why we love going during the F&G festival....it gives us the opportunity to relax a little more and enjoy seeing all the toparies and displays instead rushing this way and that way.

 

[Angies1274]

So, before I begin I must report that exactly 2 months from today we will be in Disney!!!! Can you tell I'm excited?

It's because of this revelation that I realized that I should get busy and make our countdown calendar!! If you remember, I originally wanted to start counting down at 50 days (that's what we always do before every trip.) But, as I was lining up my Mickey Heads...I found 56 days worked much better....to maintain evenness anyways Plus we get to start counting down even sooner!! So here's a picture of what I came up with...(Thanks Lisa and Amy for the ideas!!!)

I have decided instead of crossing out the days, I am having the boys pull off a Mickey head and underneath they have a trivia question.... left on the construction paper will be a picture of something we have visited in MK, or at Pop etc. on others just some character stickers. I think it will be fun for the boys. They are very excited to start counting down!!!


Movie Nights!!!


If you happened to read my first TR....I shared how just before each trip we always do a weekly Disney movie night. I also try to figure out activities and snacks that go along with the movie. I'm not sure if we are going to do that this time...I guess it will depend if I can come up with some ideas. But..in the meantime I have decided to start our movie nights.....tomorrow!!Yay!! Can you guess what movie we will be watching first???????

***Probably not what you were thinking...huh? If you haven't had the chance to watch it...you really should, it's so funny!!

Plans Change???


Um...well maybe. For the last few days we have been talking to the boys about adding the other 2 parks. What? Are you confused yet? because I am!!! Despite being fine with all my previous plans...there is still a part of me that feels that the trip wouldn't be complete if didn't see AK or even DHS. We love both those parks but for some reason the boys have been resisting the change. I think in part because on our trip in August it was so hot when we visited AK and they spent a lot of time waiting for us...to ride EE, Dinosaur etc. with their grandparents and they got bored. Last night I spent alot of time talking to them about how fun EE was and how I knew if they tried it they would love it! I think I may have them convinced...not sure??

I figured that if we make these changes than we would do AK on our last day. Unfortunately, that would mean Ohana's would be out. Which makes me sad because I love going there. I think last trip it was the combination of the sit-down breakfast away from the park and then heading back to the park with little time to tour is what caused a lot of my stress on the last day. I'm thinking if we could be at rope drop at opening then we could still probably make it back to Pop early enough.


As far as DHS, the only time that I can think to fit it in would be our first night. Luckily, that is the night they have EMH from 7:00pm-10:00pm so it would really work out perfectly, especially once we were to add on the extra day for AK, it's not too much more...maybe $30 total to add on a 4th day. The problem--I've heard that night time EMH at DHS are crazy busy. So, who knows?

Then I wonder?...am I trying to pack too much in? I don't know? Maybe tomorrow I'll go back to thinking the original plan was better. UGH!! What do you guys think?

 

[Cory's Gal]

Hi Angie!! AH! I have been MIA for a few days so I had to go back a couple of pages and catch up! Travel goodies look great!! That's always nice when you can start crossing those things off your list!!! The Epcot flashback was great too, your boys always give me a smile, they are just so handsome and have the greatest facial expressions!! AND, the Countdown Calendar ROCKS!!!!!!! I have to start thinking about getting mine organized, I don't know when I will start it, either 50 or 30 days, depending how organized I can get!!! I have not seen Bedtime Stories yet and I have been wanting to see it since it came out in the the theater!!! I will have to rent that one soon!!!! Have a great movie night!!!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Love the countdown calendar! It turned out great and I love the idea of including trivia.

The movie nights sound fun. I've never seen Bedtime Stories so I wouldn't even know where to begin as far as activities. Maybe decorating a pillowcase?

 

[dismagiclover]

Hey Angie,
Love the countdown calendar. I'm not ever that ambitious! I just put a ticker on my signature I think your new plans working depend on how hot it is and how crowded the parks are. It also depends on if you are looking for rest or excitement. I'd probably choose relaxation, but my DH would definitely choose the excitement. He always wants to be going every minute so he would say go for the parks! Regarding the price of adding the extra tickets have you looked into doing the Give a Day program. One of their projects available in most areas is Project Linus which makes blankets for kids. All four of you could make a blanket and then you'd get a voucher you could apply to your tickets. They are worth the cost of a 1 day ticket so that would be around $300 for the four of you. Then adding the extra days feels like it doesn't cost anything Check out the forum in the theme parks section here on the DIS.
Happy planning

 

[DisMomAmy]

Hi Angie! I love you look back at Epcot!

And your countdown is great! I just picked up my Mickey Heads last night. I'll be getting to work on our countdown calendars pretty soon. I'll probably do two calendars again this year so each of the boys can have their own. I don't want something fun to become a problem if you know what I mean... I think I'm going to use the same format as last year - just like you did, but only 7 across like a calendar. We'll probably start around 30 days - My boys get too wound up if we start building the excitement too early. I'd also like to do something a little different underneath though... so I'd love to see what yours look like underneath the Mickey Heads. I'll post a picture on my PTR when I'm done.

As far as adding extra days... I'm all for seeing everything, but don't squeeze everything in there so you are all exhausted. Maybe add one or the other?

 

[Angies1274]

Hi Angie!! AH! I have been MIA for a few days so I had to go back a couple of pages and catch up! Travel goodies look great!! That's always nice when you can start crossing those things off your list!!! The Epcot flashback was great too, your boys always give me a smile, they are just so handsome and have the greatest facial expressions!! AND, the Countdown Calendar ROCKS!!!!!!! I have to start thinking about getting mine organized, I don't know when I will start it, either 50 or 30 days, depending how organized I can get!!! I have not seen Bedtime Stories yet and I have been wanting to see it since it came out in the the theater!!! I will have to rent that one soon!!!! Have a great movie night!!!

Hi Beth!! I agree...I love being able to get travel goodies!! But, it seems like every time I cross off one thing...I think of two more things to replace it!! Oh, you should definitely rent Bedtime Stories...very fun movie!!! Can't wait for tonight!!

Love the countdown calendar! It turned out great and I love the idea of including trivia.

The movie nights sound fun. I've never seen Bedtime Stories so I wouldn't even know where to begin as far as activities. Maybe decorating a pillowcase?

Thanks!!! It was fun to make!! The boys loved doing the trivia before our last trip so I knew I had to include it again....only problem I seem to be having is....thinking of enough trivia questions!!

Great idea on decorating a pillowcase!! Hmm... still thinking of the snacks. In the movie it rains gumballs...fun but not much of a snack.

 

[Angies1274]

Hey Angie,
Love the countdown calendar. I'm not ever that ambitious! I just put a ticker on my signature I think your new plans working depend on how hot it is and how crowded the parks are. It also depends on if you are looking for rest or excitement. I'd probably choose relaxation, but my DH would definitely choose the excitement. He always wants to be going every minute so he would say go for the parks! Regarding the price of adding the extra tickets have you looked into doing the Give a Day program. One of their projects available in most areas is Project Linus which makes blankets for kids. All four of you could make a blanket and then you'd get a voucher you could apply to your tickets. They are worth the cost of a 1 day ticket so that would be around $300 for the four of you. Then adding the extra days feels like it doesn't cost anything Check out the forum in the theme parks section here on the DIS.
Happy planning

Thanks, I think it turned out pretty good. (although I noticed after posting it...that my 2010 sign is a little crooked..oh well!!)

Thank you so much for posting the info about Project Linus!! I had all but given up on finding something in our area for the Give a Day program as the closest opportunity was around 2-3 hours away. Hmmm...someone else mentioned it the other day to me on another TR, but at the time I didn't give much thought about it. Well, this morning after reading your post, I decided to do a little research and I think I found something. I'm waiting for an email back with some information. It would definitely make adding the extra park doable!! Thanks again!!!!!

Hi Angie! I love you look back at Epcot!

And your countdown is great! I just picked up my Mickey Heads last night. I'll be getting to work on our countdown calendars pretty soon. I'll probably do two calendars again this year so each of the boys can have their own. I don't want something fun to become a problem if you know what I mean... I think I'm going to use the same format as last year - just like you did, but only 7 across like a calendar. We'll probably start around 30 days - My boys get too wound up if we start building the excitement too early. I'd also like to do something a little different underneath though... so I'd love to see what yours look like underneath the Mickey Heads. I'll post a picture on my PTR when I'm done.

As far as adding extra days... I'm all for seeing everything, but don't squeeze everything in there so you are all exhausted. Maybe add one or the other?

Hi Amy!! Thanks for the compliment on the countdown calendar!! It's funny, because I originally started out with 7 Mickey heads across but then I realized I had some left over and extra room, so I just decided to add them on....ahh...what's an extra 7 days, when we are already counting down from 50. I'll try to post a picture of underneath the Mickey Heads sometime this weekend.

Still undecided about our plans. Although, AK on our last day is sounding better and better especially with the Give a Day program! I guess I could probably see how we feel when we arrive and just add on an extra day then if we decide to go to DHS?????

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Hi Angie... whoops, I was two posts behind Loved your two little snookems at Epcot, the pic with the badges at Nemo was too cute!

Your countdown calendar looks awesome! If you remember what we did, I just printed off Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy calendar pages (four months!) and hung them on our fridge so Demetri could cross off each night. I think 50 sleeps would be much more appropriate this time! Looking forward to your pic with the trivia.

As far as adding on more park days... I really liked the taking it easy on the first day game plan, BUT we had ten days to play with and if you guys are up for it, I'd say do it. Pick out what you really, really want to do and be prepared to call it a night if it becomes too much. Its a tough decision, you don't want to come home with any regrets, be it you didn't go to a park or you did and were overwhelmed. Is Fantasmic scheduled that night? We noticed on our two days at DHS there were less crowds when it wasn't on.

I guess the same would hold true for AK. Pick out your favorites and judge as the day goes on if you can add anything more before you have to leave. Are you an organized re-packer? Weird question I know, but I found if I took 10 min or so each day we were there to pack things away like souveniers and such, it wasn't such a big task when it was time to pack up and go. Maybe save you a bit of stress on your last day?

 

[eandesmom]

I'd have a hard time too not seeing all of the parks but also giving up Ohana!

Tough call.

We found EMH at DHS to be a lifesaver but we were there at CRAZY crowd level times. So in comparison, the crowds were much much better at EMH than before.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Great idea on decorating a pillowcase!! Hmm... still thinking of the snacks. In the movie it rains gumballs...fun but not much of a snack.

haha, that's funny you say that because that's the scene I remember most from the trailers and was going to say something about that.

 

[Angies1274]

Hi Angie... whoops, I was two posts behind Loved your two little snookems at Epcot, the pic with the badges at Nemo was too cute!

Your countdown calendar looks awesome! If you remember what we did, I just printed off Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy calendar pages (four months!) and hung them on our fridge so Demetri could cross off each night. I think 50 sleeps would be much more appropriate this time! Looking forward to your pic with the trivia.

As far as adding on more park days... I really liked the taking it easy on the first day game plan, BUT we had ten days to play with and if you guys are up for it, I'd say do it. Pick out what you really, really want to do and be prepared to call it a night if it becomes too much. Its a tough decision, you don't want to come home with any regrets, be it you didn't go to a park or you did and were overwhelmed. Is Fantasmic scheduled that night? We noticed on our two days at DHS there were less crowds when it wasn't on.

I guess the same would hold true for AK. Pick out your favorites and judge as the day goes on if you can add anything more before you have to leave. Are you an organized re-packer? Weird question I know, but I found if I took 10 min or so each day we were there to pack things away like souveniers and such, it wasn't such a big task when it was time to pack up and go. Maybe save you a bit of stress on your last day?

Hi Tracy!!!

Ahh...I really liked the idea of taking it easy on the first day too!! That is why I think we may have decided to keep it that way. As much as I would LOVE to go to DHS (especially since we missed it on our last trip) I think it would be too much, since we have plans on doing EMH the next morning at Epcot--plus we're not arriving until around 5:00pm on our first day. I don't want to get all tired out before the trip even officially begins!!

But as far as AK goes....I think we are definitely going to give it a go! We have decided to participate in the Give a Day program so that is going to help with the cost of adding that extra park!! I'm sad Ohana's is out But....I'm thinking of adding another character breakfast that morning instead!! Can you guess which one?

Oh...and thanks for the idea on the packing!! I always seem to wait until the last morning. It would definitely be less stressful if we do it a little bit each day!! Thanks!

I'd have a hard time too not seeing all of the parks but also giving up Ohana!

Tough call.

We found EMH at DHS to be a lifesaver but we were there at CRAZY crowd level times. So in comparison, the crowds were much much better at EMH than before.

I agree...it was a really tough decision!!! I think we may go to AK but not DHS. It would be just too much on our first day, especially with EMH the next morning. We're sad not to see all 4 parks...but we can always make it next time!!

haha, that's funny you say that because that's the scene I remember most from the trailers and was going to say something about that.

Too funny!!

 

[MainStMandy]

Oh I love the countdown!!! That's great!!

 

[Angies1274]

Oh I love the countdown!!! That's great!!

Thanks!! It was fun to make!!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

AMAZING countdown calendar....I LOVE IT!!

I'd say as far as the extra park days go....you need to just decide what your family can handle. We are "go-all-in" vacationers...we go from early morning till late at night and, for the most part, my boys can hang. So...for us, I think we'd try to do as much as possible. It's easier with older kids because the nap/bed time issue is really not a problem. But...if you are the kind of vacationers that like to relax, sleep in, chill by the pool...you will miss that if you add the extra days.

I'll be here waiting to see what you decide! And how many times you change your mind!

 

[ellajeansmom]

Hi Angie,

I'm finallly all caught up! Sounds like you're having a lot of fun planning The plans sound great, I totally get why you have the urge to add AK to your last day, especially if you can take advantage of the give-a-day get-a-day. Whenever I plan out potential future trips I always start out with a take it easy approach, but then think well if added this it would be fun, and so would this and all of a sudden its a jam-packed trip (my DH does not understand my compulsion to plan a potential trip that is almost 2 years away!).

Ella was looking over my shoulder and saw the pic of your countdown calendar - she was very impressed, its much cooler than the simple paper chain we used last year!

To back up to a much earlier conversation, I'll weigh in with our CS experiences at in MK and Epcot:
We ate at Lotus Blossum Cafe (China) and would definitely recommend it. The girls both had drumsticks that came with rice. Just discussing it now, we think there was a sauce on the drumsticks that we ended up scraping off but other than that it was very good. E had the Beef Noodle Soup Bowl and I had the Shrimp Fried Rice with Egg Roll. Both were very good and not too exotic
We also did the CS in Mexico. The desserts were yummy but the meal was just OK. I think we mostly had quesadillas as we aren't big fans of fried beans/black beans either and they were pretty plain, just chicken and cheese - we're used to having them with sweet peppers or tomatoes in them.
At MK we ate at Cosmic Ray's and Pinochio Hause. Both were OK but not outstanding.

Interested to see what you decide about DHS and AK