Happy Birthday to Joe, May 2011. . Trip Report Link

[Luvmepluto]

Hi there!! I just found your PTR..... Congratulations on your weight loss!! Don't forget to treat yourself though. My doctor said it is ok to have the "good" stuff in moderation. I have lost 35 pounds......and I ate all the Dole Whip I wanted when I was there.

You really have your trip planned out. Other than keeping an ADR, everything else is out the door. I go MAD when I am there. I never have enough time to get it all done.

Don't forget the Haunted Mansion and most definitely do FP for Peter Pan. When we went in September, that and Splash Mountain were the only rides that we needed to FP....everything else had a 5 min or less wait. I heard May is a great time to go.

 

[blessedmom4]

I hope your week gets off to a GREAT start!

 

[Moira222]

Hi there!! I just found your PTR..... Congratulations on your weight loss!! Don't forget to treat yourself though. My doctor said it is ok to have the "good" stuff in moderation. I have lost 35 pounds......and I ate all the Dole Whip I wanted when I was there.

OOh the weight. I am having a really hard time staying focused. I need to stop reading everyone's food write ups!! I have told DH about the Grey Goose Slushies and the Dole Whips and we both agree that if we are standing or walking when we have them, they don't count, right?

Our plan for WDW is to eat smart and splurge on the things that we feel are worth the calories. ...so that means lots of grey goose slushes for me. Most of the time I would rather spend my calories on a few glasses of wine than a piece of cake. -->that's me after I have a few glasses of wine!!

You really have your trip planned out. Other than keeping an ADR, everything else is out the door. I go MAD when I am there. I never have enough time to get it all done.

Don't forget the Haunted Mansion and most definitely do FP for Peter Pan. When we went in September, that and Splash Mountain were the only rides that we needed to FP....everything else had a 5 min or less wait. I heard May is a great time to go.

OOh did i not have them on m list? we definitely will do those two rides. DD LOVES LOVES LOVES the PP ride, and we did HM in 07 but not 09. I am sure that there are a lot more rides not on my list....I really wanted to make sure that we see the things we haven't done before, like Tom Sawyer Island and Splash Mountain.

We tried the mostly winging it in 09 and felt like we didn't get to do everything we wanted to, so I am back to a fleshed out plan. who knows if we will really do it all in that order!

 

[Moira222]

So if you've read through my plans so far you'll see that I have tried to really lay out the days. Its been my experience that if I don't have an agenda, even a loose one, that we sort of end up wandering aimlessly, basically going where the crowd (aka Katie) takes us. (wow I just realized how few ride photos i have uploaded on flickr. I will be taking lots more pics in May!)

Despite the grief that DH gives me when I "Plan every moment of his entire life", he really DOES like when I plan Disney. Men, go figure I didn't plan a whole bunch our last trip and well, I personally felt that I didn't get to do nearly as much as I wanted to. SO, I planned. a lot. Until May 19th. Truly the only thing I actually have "planned" is our ADR at the Coral Reef in Epcot. I would LOVe to hear feedback on this ADR. The only personal story we heard was from someone who, in general ...GASPdid NOT like DisneyWorld. . Wierd, right?

so she didn't rave about Coral Reef. but we love seafood, and even though it may be wierd looking at fish while eating them (I hope this is not a problem for me) we decided the menu looked great and we were going to go for it.
that's the plan!! Really! We will have an easy morning, maybe some pool time, and head to DTD for some shopping and more window shopping. I think there is a lot we haven't seen there, and I know that DH and DD will love the Legos. I am looking forward to a CS at Wolfgang Puck Express, or heading over to the Beach Club and lunching there. I just know that after seven days of go go go we will need a slow slow slow day to enjoy and recoup a bit.

 

[Moira222]

Thought I'd just share a bit of what has been keeping me from updating here and posting on everyone else's PTRs and TRs. I find myself reading updates on my phone whenever I have two minutes to spare. its rather sad!

Friday Katie had a sleepover at her friend from first grade who now is in a different school. She was OVER THE TOP excited to go. I was less than excited to be finishing my taxes although a huge sigh of relief was heard when I realized that my tax refund would be enough to cover two big bills that were looming over my head. Money has been excruciatingly tight for us... I was out of work for 18 months, and then when I went back to work it was at 60% less than my former salary. after paying for benefits, my take home check is now significantly less than the unemployment that we had been eeking by on.

This trip has been two years in the planning (we always seem to starting planning the text trip on the flight home from Disneyworld!!) so we had a decent amount of money saved, and we just decided in for a penny in for a pound. the last two years have been stressful and we are due. but vacation money aside, its been a little stressful here

Ok out of that dark hole!!! I worked on Saturday, then picked up DD who was completely and utterly exhausted. She and I snuggled on the couch and watched Wizards of Waverly Place and then went to bed. No Dis for me! too tired!

Today in between Sunday School, church, a staples run, and a Girl Scout cookie booth, we finished her first report. She had to write about an animal so she picked a Siberian Husky.

I am proud of her for doing all the work herself with only a little help from me. It may not be a three dimensional stacked moose decorated with moss and raffia, but she did it herself. Yeah Katie!!

Tomorrow we will work on her science fair project. sheesh! lots of homework for mom's too!

Ok folks, I am enJoying my favorite Minne Mug from epcot,

filled with decaf and kahlua (thinking of Mexico in epcot tonight!) and need to wrap this up before today becomes tomorrow (oops too late) and I have to wake up in 5 hours. crap.
Night all!

 

[gallmcduck]

Very organised, I like your mousekeeping envelopes Your counter service scores are really useful, it amazes me just how many do not have a healthier option.

Sounded like you had a great birthday, many belated happy returns

DIS time is so precious, everything else seems to get in the way! I try and get sometime at least a couple of times a week once the children are all sleeping, doesn't always work too many distractions

Well done Katie on your school report, looks very good

 

[Lidian]

Hi there! I'm jumping on board! You guys are heading out as we're checking in.

Grats on the weight loss to both of you! WW is a great program! I used to attend meetings myself, but now I use WW-online. I love that it doesn't restrict you from eating what you want, just teaches you portion size and taking things in moderation.

You mentioned visiting allears for the menu selections! Excellent! Just bear in mind that some of them are not 100% accurate and the restaurant may have more/less options than listed on the site.

Your DD7 sounds a lot like my DD9. She was very upset that she couldn't meet Hannah and Alex Russo (etc) at WDW but she could meet Princesses and Tink. She just couldn't understand why.

Are you cookie booths almost done? We're just getting started on our booths (first one is this weekend), and I'm ready for all these cookies to be gone! I'm tired of climbing over cookies when I need to get something out of my bedroom.

I'm not sure if it was mentioned, but I'm pretty sure Barnstormer is closed now.

I absolutely LOVED LOVED the Pinky Promise story. It brightened my day reading it. Thank you for sharing!

We're trying 50's PTC this year ourselves. I'm excited, DH isn't so much ...

Happy belated birthday!

The Block Party Bash at DHS has been replaced with a new street party. Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun!

We have never done the matching tee's before -- I just saw a few folks who did it here and it looks like a fab idea. I am only planning on making 2 for each of us, maybe a special 3rd for the birthday boy. One benefit will be the safety issue -- it will easy to identify each other. When we travel to crowded places--parks, zoos, etc -- we take a picture of Katie as soon as we arrive (or as soon as we know she is not changing her clothes ....again). Then if (G-D forbid) we lose sight of her, we have a photo of exactly what she is wearing that day. plus its great for those scrapbooks that I never get to work on.

I do this with my kiddos each morning. I stand them outside of our hotel door and take a pic of them together so I don't have to remember which outfit they were in. I'd feel like an idiot standing there saying, "Well, she either wore her Princess shirt or her Bambi shirt ... the Princess one is either pink or purple..." It's just easier to show them a picture instead of trying to explain. Plus, with it being in front of the door, they can get a relative example of height based on doorknob and other surroundings!

Thanks for joining! The birthdays a day apart is cool...and let me give you my sympathies for being married to a Taurus Does yours go from Prince Charming to Grumpy to Shrek in a short time span

DH's birthday is May 6th.... he's only Prince Charming when he wants something, or when he finally gives in to my pleas on going to WDW. He's Grumpy and Shrek the rest of the time.

Your family is lovely and you'll have a super awesome time I'm sure! Hope you get your shoes straightened out!!

 

[Moira222]

Hi there! I'm jumping on board! You guys are heading out as we're checking in.

Grats on the weight loss to both of you! WW is a great program! I used to attend meetings myself, but now I use WW-online. I love that it doesn't restrict you from eating what you want, just teaches you portion size and taking things in moderation.

You mentioned visiting allears for the menu selections! Excellent! Just bear in mind that some of them are not 100% accurate and the restaurant may have more/less options than listed on the site.

We have been getting pretty good with portions now but keep our measuring cups and scale handy for dinner to keep us on track. I did notice a difference between the menus on all ears vs disboards .... i am not sure which site was more accurate.

Your DD7 sounds a lot like my DD9. She was very upset that she couldn't meet Hannah and Alex Russo (etc) at WDW but she could meet Princesses and Tink. She just couldn't understand why.

Yeah when we saw the HSM dance party in 09 she TOTALLY wanted to see Sharpey

Are you cookie booths almost done? We're just getting started on our booths (first one is this weekend), and I'm ready for all these cookies to be gone! I'm tired of climbing over cookies when I need to get something out of my bedroom.

we had a cookie booth sale on Sunday. it was the only one Katie was doing because she was sick for the other two. I don' tmind at all. I hate doing the cookie booths!!! Between family friends and neighbors, Katie made her goal and then surpassed it so she is happy. and we have only one box of unclaimed cookies left in our house.

I'm not sure if it was mentioned, but I'm pretty sure Barnstormer is closed now.

I absolutely LOVED LOVED the Pinky Promise story. It brightened my day reading it. Thank you for sharing!

Thanks. I just love that story and in my mind see the wonder on Katie's little face as she spoke with Wendy and took on a serious look when she made her "Pinky Promise" ....i get teary when i think of it. I

Delivering the message:

We're trying 50's PTC this year ourselves. I'm excited, DH isn't so much ...
I am not sure if we will make it there or not. we made two reservations for that night and I am really leaning toward Kouzzina.

Happy belated birthday! Thanks!!!

The Block Party Bash at DHS has been replaced with a new street party. Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun!



I do this with my kiddos each morning. I stand them outside of our hotel door and take a pic of them together so I don't have to remember which outfit they were in. I'd feel like an idiot standing there saying, "Well, she either wore her Princess shirt or her Bambi shirt ... the Princess one is either pink or purple..." It's just easier to show them a picture instead of trying to explain. Plus, with it being in front of the door, they can get a relative example of height based on doorknob and other surroundings!



DH's birthday is May 6th.... he's only Prince Charming when he wants something, or when he finally gives in to my pleas on going to WDW. He's Grumpy and Shrek the rest of the time.

LMAO...sounds just like Joe

Your family is lovely and you'll have a super awesome time I'm sure! Hope you get your shoes straightened out!!

thanks@!! Love my little escapes here!

 

[Moira222]

So I am veering off of WDW to tell you all about my first ever favorite park. I am thinking of it as I am watching an episode of American Pickers, going through the storage and fun house at Bushkill Park.

Man, that was the best park for kids. Its in my home town and it was THE amusement park pictured in every old time movie or story. From the best fun house to the carousel with the brass ring, we loved that park.

I dug up some photos online of the park but I just wish you could see it the way I remember it as a kid. There was a huge beautiful carousel with hand painted wooden horses and animals to ride on. You just knew you were officially a "big kid" when you could sit on an edge horse and catch a brass ring from the trough hanging down. And WOW you were really IT if you could get your rings in the bin at the end of the ride as the carousel slowed down.

next to the carousel was the wooden skating rink. It was every little kid's dream to have a skating party at Bushkill, where you could get small heavy green glass coca cola bottles to drink for a nickel. it was the BOMB!

Behind the carousel were all sorts of games, snack bar with cotton candy, candy apples, all sorts of yummies. There was a salt & pepper shaker, where you there were two different capsule like "cars" on either end, and one was salt one was pepper. whichever was on top was upside down. (I never braved that one). A Wild Mouse with a big mouse on it...the closest we NE PA folks got to Mickey's big park in Florida! The park had a whip, the best bumper cars ever, a haunted house, awesome kiddie rides, and the BEST fun house ever.

This was the destination during the summer. Local groups and churches held their annual picnic there and they were awesome! The adults could eat and drink (oh and did they drink , play quoites (like horse shoes but a game pretty specific to NE PA and coal country), and watch their kids have fun. Kids could have run of the park going from ride to ride, running back for snacks and drinks, then gone running again.

It was the standard to which every other park (even WDW!) would be compared to anyone who went to Bushkill. Think ToonTown but of the 50s and 60s. I think its the ability of WDW to make even such a huge park feel like my hometown park of my childhood that makes it the best place on earth.

sigh. I am a little misty having just watch Pickers pick through my childhood favorite place as I dream of heading to my adult favorite place.

aaaaahhhhh May.... so close yet so far.

 

[Lidian]

Yeah when we saw the HSM dance party in 09 she TOTALLY wanted to see Sharpey

I am not sure if we will make it there or not. we made two reservations for that night and I am really leaning toward Kouzzina.

We missed the HSM street party last year, but my mom and DD caught it the year before. So Mom was stuck trying to explain to DD why she couldn't meet the actual cast of HSM - and that Joe Jonas was not there that day.

We ate at Kouzzina last year and loved it! I'm a big fan of Cat Cora anyway, (when the kids allow me to watch TV, its usually Foodnetwork) ... so we might be a bit partial. I had the Pastitsio and DH had the Fisherman's Stew. Both were soo delish! We'd eat here again this year, but DH said no dining at resorts (parks or DTD only) - since it was such a hassle the past two years.

I'd love to hear what you decide on! And can't wait to hear your thoughts afterwards.

 

[blessedmom4]

WONDERFUL Memory Lane photos! Katie did an awesome job on her project!

 

[laashley]

Hey Mary Ellen! I have gotten so behind here. Happy Belated Birthday! Your plans look good. How nice to have a day for your dh for his birthday. We ate at Coral Reef last trip and the food was pretty good, but the service was terrible. Our server brought me the wrong main dish and the wrong dessert. When we were leaving I heard someone complaining to a manager about her.

Katie did a good job on her Siberian Husky board.

 

[Moira222]

I am so excited!!! I just received a free dining pin on my second email account. and it can be applied during my stay.

I just emailed my TA to see which pin will save me more $ -- my original discount pin or the new dining pin.

One thing I did notice -- I clicked through to the disney site and it actually verified who I am -- asked for my name & zip code, then displayed my address and requested a confirmation. Looks like they mean it now when they say pins are not transferable!

I cant wait to hear from my TA......

 

[Moira222]

Hey Mary Ellen! I have gotten so behind here. Happy Belated Birthday! Your plans look good. How nice to have a day for your dh for his birthday. We ate at Coral Reef last trip and the food was pretty good, but the service was terrible. Our server brought me the wrong main dish and the wrong dessert. When we were leaving I heard someone complaining to a manager about her.

Katie did a good job on her Siberian Husky board.

Oh what a bummer that the server was not with it.

Thanks for the to Katie. She was very happy to be done, and very proud of her work(as she should be).

 

[Moira222]

Ok so here is where my planning abilities crash....I can't plan because I don't have any real schedule yet to see how our day fill happen. BUT we are off for our first adventure in Star Wars Weekends

My plan for the day is simple. REALLY simple.
We will head for Hollywood Studios very early so that we can see ROPE DROP for opening of SWW show. Arrive at HS by 8:15 am for 9 am opening.
Stay at park till crowds are annoying, then go swimming or take a FriendShip to the BoardWalk Inn prior to 5 pm dinner ressies.

Dinner @ Boardwalk Inn? or 50's Prime Time...which will it be? I usually make just one ADR a day. I notice that a lot of people make more than one ADR for the same meal just in case. I am blatantly copying you! We are not big crowd people, so I am a little afraid tha tDHS will turn out to be mobbed, in which case we will be aggravated. No fun being so if that is the case, we will head out to other adventures and dinner at Kouzzina at the Boardwalk BUT if its not crowded and we are having a blast, we will eat in the park at 50's Prime Time. We've never done either restaurant, though truthfully the more I see of the BW and Kouzzina', the more I am leaning toward keeping that ADR.

What will we do at the first SWW day? got me by the shorts! so give me your thoughts. What is it like? aside from autographs, are there special events or presentations in the park those days? I haven't read any sort of schedule, so I am rather clueless

I do know that we will hit the EMH at Epcot. We will be winding up our trip - only one more full day after this so we will want to get as much Disney fix as we can to hold us over till the next one.

 

[Moira222]

Okay I have to tell you, this trip will be lots of firsts for us -- we've never been to an "event" at WDW . this trip we will experience two - Flower and Garden Festivalfor the first weekend, SWW the second. I have not been too sure what to expect from either.

I've been reading up on lots of other TR's about the F&G and am getting pretty excited. I've been catching Brook's awesome FB updates with great topiaries in Epcot. gorgeous!

and today I found the F&G Guide to this year's event.
Who was addicted to Trading Spaces a few years back? ME ME ME and DH too! we would watch those shows for hours commenting on some of the great and bizarre makeovers (who the heck staples silk flowers all over the wall of someone's bathroom anyway Hilde???) Anyway, I jsut found out that our all time favorite designer - Vern Yip - is going to be the special guest for the weekend we are there oh yeah, very psyched. DH is catching some zzzzz's before midnight shift, but I will tell him in a few when he wakes upl

Oh, and if you were wondering, the free dining did not give us an better rate than the first pin. Didn't realize the first pin gave us a 40% discount, almost $1500 off, so that is way more than the DP would cost the three of us.

off to catch up on some of the TR's that I am behind on!

 

[Moira222]

I really have only one more full day to write out for our trip, but I am not ready to call it yet!!!

So, I confess that I blatantly copied AKL Lover (thanks Melissa) in doing some pre-Disney shopping.

Oh Yeah..... new Kodak PlaySport.

and its PURPLE! tee hee hubby sort of wanted me to get black or blue but I said Hey, its the color of royalty.... suck it up dude!

Joe took the picture for me (my phone batter died) so he just caught the whole package that we bought, not a close up of the video camera. (Check AKL Lover's PTR for better pics!) see, he's learning. by the time we get to WDW he'll be photographing food and stuff without me even asking!

Its so small -- its actually a little smaller than my cell phone! and the package came with the cutest little tripod and a carry case that will hook on to one of the hooks on his new travel vest.

DD, DSIL, and I are going to Pt Pleasant tomorrow for a birthday party (DH has a work related thing to do) so I will test the video and photo taking abilities tomorrow. can't wait!!!

I also have made my first set of tee shirts. I wish the iron ons would have transferred better. i am afraid that we are only going to get one wear each before they start to peel. Has anyone does iron on transfers at home? any sort of fixative I can spray on the finished tees to make the iron on stay?

Here is a close up of just DH's -- his came out best, then all three.

all three:

its late here.... i had to catch up on at least one TR before I even hit mine. More later Gang!

 

[AKL LOVER]

I really have only one more full day to write out for our trip, but I am not ready to call it yet!!!

So, I confess that I blatantly copied AKL Lover (thanks Melissa) in doing some pre-Disney shopping.

Oh Yeah..... new Kodak PlaySport.

and its PURPLE! tee hee hubby sort of wanted me to get black or blue but I said Hey, its the color of royalty.... suck it up dude!

Joe took the picture for me (my phone batter died) so he just caught the whole package that we bought, not a close up of the video camera. (Check AKL Lover's PTR for better pics!) see, he's learning. by the time we get to WDW he'll be photographing food and stuff without me even asking!

Its so small -- its actually a little smaller than my cell phone! and the package came with the cutest little tripod and a carry case that will hook on to one of the hooks on his new travel vest.

DD, DSIL, and I are going to Pt Pleasant tomorrow for a birthday party (DH has a work related thing to do) so I will test the video and photo taking abilities tomorrow. can't wait!!!

I also have made my first set of tee shirts. I wish the iron ons would have transferred better. i am afraid that we are only going to get one wear each before they start to peel. Has anyone does iron on transfers at home? any sort of fixative I can spray on the finished tees to make the iron on stay?

Here is a close up of just DH's -- his came out best, then all three.

all three:

its late here.... i had to catch up on at least one TR before I even hit mine. More later Gang!

What?!? I am so jealous that you got all those great goodies with your play sport. Where did you get it from? My DH was also less than thrilled that I got purple, but hey, I was the one who did the buying, so I picked the color that I wanted!

My DS's bday party was today and I got to use ours. Now I just need to transfer the video to our laptop and play around with it a bit to see how much I really like it. I think I'll post part of the video we made on my PTR so people can see a sample of what it does.

Let me know what you think of yours.

 

[AKL LOVER]

Oh, and I love your shirts. I think they turned out great! You guys are going to get a lot of attention wearing those in the parks!

 

[AKL LOVER]

Oh, and if you were wondering, the free dining did not give us an better rate than the first pin. Didn't realize the first pin gave us a 40% discount, almost $1500 off, so that is way more than the DP would cost the three of us.

Love those savings! We got 40% off AKL too. When staying at a deluxe, room discounts are usually better than free dining!