All you need is to believe....~Our Sizzling Summer Getaway! July 2012~~ TR started!:)

[Angies1274]

Following along, especially since you are a neighbor!. We love Pop because it was the first resort that we ever stayed in too! Sounds like you have a great trip planned.

We are going from 7/31-8/10, a little worried about heat, rain, humidity....but like you, it's what worked best for our family. Here's hoping that our DH won't melt! DD's are in 7th grade and I am a school nurse, so no more sneaking to the World at off season times....oh well! Anytime at Disney is a happy time for me! Can't wait to read more!

Hi neighbor! Glad you joined in!

I know what you mean...school breaks work best for us too. Although, it would be nice to be able to go during off times. I guess we'll just deal with the crowds, heat and rain. On the bright side, we are looking forward to spending more time at the resort and especially being able to enjoy the pools.

I agree!!! I'd rather be at Disney...it doesn't matter when it is!!

 

[Angies1274]

Wow! I didn't realize how many "new" things there were until you started naming them off. I just posted about the new interactive queue in the Pooh line and I'll be posting soon about the new queue at Haunted Mansion too. I've read the rumor about Test Track closing but haven't seen anything official yet. I'm hoping that they decide not to close it until a slower time of the year.

I know!! Isn't it crazy? I can't believe all the "new" things. I'll have to go check out your post about the interactive queue for Pooh. I can't wait to see it in person!

I'm glad to hear that Test Track's closing isn't official. The last I read it was going down from April to September. But, they haven't posted an official date. Maybe they will decide to postpone. I can't believe that they would refurb such a popular ride during the summer months when it's so busy.

 

[DisMomAmy]

What a great list of new things to do!

Great idea to stay at Pop to get a closer look at AoA! I can't wait to see pictures once it opens.

We too are sad about Test Track... BTMRR is going to be closed for us too!

I'm excited for the Kim Possible missions to change to Phineas & Ferb too - we've almost done them all so a new theme will be great. And my kids have no idea who Kim Possible is so P&F will be a welcome addition for them.

Can't wait to hear more about your plans.

 

[Idontwanttogrowup]

I joined in! I love your trip reports!
I too am upset about Test Track because I love that ride. Im hoping they delay the closing since I will be there from April 16-27.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Oh my goodness...so many new things to do!! I bet that with all of the new, the boys will barely miss what they are "missing".

I LOVE the addition of Phineas and Ferb in the WS. I enjoyed the KimPossible missions and the concept was cool, but like DisMomAmy says...my kids have very little memory of KP. They LOVE P&F and I think Agent P is a perfect fit!

I agree that the new Dumbo is beautiful! I may have to ride it again when we go (fingers crossed and lots of pixie dust) next spring. We haven't done Dumbo since our first trip in 2007.

 

[Angies1274]

What a great list of new things to do!

Great idea to stay at Pop to get a closer look at AoA! I can't wait to see pictures once it opens.

We too are sad about Test Track... BTMRR is going to be closed for us too!

I'm excited for the Kim Possible missions to change to Phineas & Ferb too - we've almost done them all so a new theme will be great. And my kids have no idea who Kim Possible is so P&F will be a welcome addition for them.

Can't wait to hear more about your plans.

We can't wait to try all the new things this summer!!

We actually looked into staying at AoA but it wasn't in our budget this year. I thought that staying at Pop would be a great alternative especially since we haven't been there since they have refurbished the rooms. (hey..another new thing I completely forgot about.) Also, since Pop is considered AoA sister resort that we may have access to the new pool as well???

I was just reading last night somewhere that since Disney hasn't posted anything official about the Test Track closing and it's supposed to start soon that they might end up moving it back. Maybe you'll be able to ride it on your trip after all.

 

[Angies1274]

I joined in! I love your trip reports!
I too am upset about Test Track because I love that ride. Im hoping they delay the closing since I will be there from April 16-27.

Thanks!! I'm so glad you joined in!!!

Test Track is definitely a favorite! I did just read that they may delay the closing especially since no official date has been announced on the Disney website. Maybe there is hope after all!!

Oh my goodness...so many new things to do!! I bet that with all of the new, the boys will barely miss what they are "missing".

I LOVE the addition of Phineas and Ferb in the WS. I enjoyed the KimPossible missions and the concept was cool, but like DisMomAmy says...my kids have very little memory of KP. They LOVE P&F and I think Agent P is a perfect fit!

I agree that the new Dumbo is beautiful! I may have to ride it again when we go (fingers crossed and lots of pixie dust) next spring. We haven't done Dumbo since our first trip in 2007.

We are so excited about the addition of Phineas and Ferb in the WS! We loved the Kim Possible mission but like your boys, mine didn't really remember the show very well. This will be so much more fun. Noah loves Agent P! We're hoping it will be up and running when we arrive in July!

I can't wait to ride the new Dumbo! The last time I rode it was on our very first trip as well. The boys rode it again on our second trip but by themselves. It will be interesting to be able to get a sneak peek of the new Fantasyland while you are riding.

 

[ColtGurl]

I'm joining in if you don't mind. I agree that Pop Century is amazing. We to are hoping they postpone the Test Tract refub. We are going in May and my fella has never rode before. Looking forward to your future posts

 

[Angies1274]

I'm joining in if you don't mind. I agree that Pop Century is amazing. We to are hoping they postpone the Test Tract refub. We are going in May and my fella has never rode before. Looking forward to your future posts

I'm so glad you joined in!

 

[Angies1274]

Celebrations

We are celebrating so much on this trip. I actually should have titled this PTR....So much to celebrate! This will be our 5th trip to Disney which for us is pretty monumental especially since 5 years ago we took a trip that was supposed to be our once in a lifetime trip but became so much more. It changed everything. We couldn’t wait to return and we spent every moment dreaming and saving until we could. Nothing will compare to that first trip but honestly it feels like it gets better and better each time we return which as you know is what increases the drive to go back. Hmm…sounds like an addiction to me. Anyways, I digress…so the second thing we are celebrating is mine and Nick’s graduation. I’m graduating in May. It took me 16 years to go back to college. I had always wanted to further my education but life got in the way. Looking back, I wouldn’t change any of those decisions that I made along the way but the one thing I always regretted was not getting my college diploma and I’m hoping that I have proven to my boys that it’s never to late to chase your dreams. We will also be celebrating Nick’s graduation. In our school district, elementary goes until 6th grade and then they move on to Junior High School. They have a graduation ceremony in June for all the 6th graders. Nick is looking forward to moving to Junior High but is also very nervous about going to new school. We are hoping that this will be a celebration for him of not only what he accomplished but what he can look forward to. (sniff..sniff I can't believe my baby is growing up so fast) Lastly, DH and I will also be celebrating our 17th wedding anniversary. It will also be 20 years since we met. So definitely lots to celebrate on this trip.

Dining

On our last 4 trips we have done the Quick Service dining plan twice and the regular Dining plan twice. I think that there are advantages to both plans with convenience being the major factor. Right now I have the QSDP booked with the intention of paying OOP for a couple meals. However, plans change..... After talking it over with DH, I think that we may decide not to use the dining plan this trip. We really don’t want to be completely tied down to ADR’s every day so the regular dining plan is out and the quick service plan would have worked but now I don’t think it’s really worth it since they took away the extra snack credit. The plan used to work great for us because we would use one of the snack credits for breakfast in the morning at the resort and then we would use the other one for a snack in the park later in the day. We did always end up with some left over credits but those Mickey rice crispy treats always made great souvenirs. Now, that we are going to Sea World for a day and we still want to do a few TS meals it just makes sense to pay OOP for everything. What I will miss is the convenience of having everything pre-paid but I have read that some people put the money on Disney gift cards and just use them. So, we will probably end up doing that. Anyways, without further ado... we have decided to eat at-

Table Service Restaurants
Noah’s pick—T-Rex—(Dinner)

Nick’s pick—Sci-Fi Dine in (Lunch)

Our Pick (DH & I)—Ohana (Dinner)

Counter Service Restaurants
Sunshine Seasons

Columbia Harbor House

Pecos Bills

We will probably eat a few meals at Pop, and might also try out the new Art of Animation Resort food court. At Animal Kingdom we plan to eat at either Flame Tree or Pizzafari.

Snacks—
No trip is complete until I have one of these-

But, I want to try a few new things too—
This….

Or maybe this…but definitely one or the other!!! I can’t believe I have never tried a Dole Whip!

From Starring Rolls— (DHS)

The Chocolate-Peanut Butter cupcake!
Or maybe the Butterfinger one….hmm…decisions, decisions.

In Epcot, we have decided not to eat at a CS place but to snack around the world instead.
So far we know that we want to try—
School Bread in Norway

Kaki-Gori in Japan

Any suggestions of must-try snacks in each of the different countries???

Up next--Movie Nights...hopefully!

​

 

[Cory's Gal]

Angie!! I was so excited to see a PTR from you! Congratulations on ALL of your celebrations too! I am hoping to go back to school once Helen is in Kindergarten or 1st grade, I was only 2 semesters away from my Bachelor's and I would LOVE to finish too! So awesome of you to finish school!!

Your trip plans look great! My parents went on the new Star Tours this winter and they LOVED it! They went on multiple times, we were also excited to hear about the new Phineas and Ferb adventure!

I will be following along with all your plans, I wish we had a trip planned but probably not until Fall of 2013 Also, those cupcakes look heavenly, I have peeked on the Dining Board at the Cupcake Thread, MMMMMM!!!!

~Beth

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Snacking around the World Showcase sounds delicious! Try the baklava in Morocco...delicious! Also, the churros in Mexico, giant pretzels in Germany, and the potstickers in China are worth trying. Now I'm hungry!

 

[Angies1274]

Angie!! I was so excited to see a PTR from you! Congratulations on ALL of your celebrations too! I am hoping to go back to school once Helen is in Kindergarten or 1st grade, I was only 2 semesters away from my Bachelor's and I would LOVE to finish too! So awesome of you to finish school!!

Your trip plans look great! My parents went on the new Star Tours this winter and they LOVED it! They went on multiple times, we were also excited to hear about the new Phineas and Ferb adventure!

I will be following along with all your plans, I wish we had a trip planned but probably not until Fall of 2013 Also, those cupcakes look heavenly, I have peeked on the Dining Board at the Cupcake Thread, MMMMMM!!!!

~Beth

Hi Beth!!!

I'm so happy you're here! I bet Gabe and Helen are getting so big!!

We're very excited to see the new Star Tours! I've heard such great things! We're hoping the new Phineas and Ferb adventure starts before we arrive but if not, I guess it gives us something to look forward to next time.

I love cupcakes and the ones at Starring Rolls look so yummy! I know I'm going to have a hard time deciding which one to try!!

Thanks for joining in!

 

[Angies1274]

Snacking around the World Showcase sounds delicious! Try the baklava in Morocco...delicious! Also, the churros in Mexico, giant pretzels in Germany, and the potstickers in China are worth trying. Now I'm hungry!

Thanks Missy!! So many great suggestions! I'm going to write them down so I don't forget!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Wow Angie! You guys have a lot of great things to celebrate! You know that I can agree that there's no better place than at WDW to celebrate family milestones.

We have T-Rex, Sci-Fi and Ohana on our ADR list as well! I can't remember, have ya'll eaten at those places before?

What a great idea to snack around the World at Epcot! I hadn't thought of that before.

 

[DisMomAmy]

You have some great milestones to celebrate! Alex is "graduating" elementary school (5th grade for us) this year too so we're celebrating that too.

Snacks around the world... I'm not very adventurous but I like the caramel store in Germany & there are a lot of good things at the bakery in France. I like the turkey sandwich & chocolate mousse!

 

[ColtGurl]

Congrats on the graduations!!!! I took my daughter in 2007 as my graduation present to her. It was a great time. It looks like you have picked out some really good places to eat. We have never eaten at TREX so looking forward to what you think of it. My suggestion for your Epcot snacks would be to try the American Dream at the Fife and Drum in the American pavillion. It is a strawberry slushie and blue raspberry slushie with vanilla ice cream. YUMMO

 

[Angies1274]

Wow Angie! You guys have a lot of great things to celebrate! You know that I can agree that there's no better place than at WDW to celebrate family milestones.

We have T-Rex, Sci-Fi and Ohana on our ADR list as well! I can't remember, have ya'll eaten at those places before?

What a great idea to snack around the World at Epcot! I hadn't thought of that before.

We haven't eaten at any of those places before. So, I'm very excited to give them a try especially Ohana's. I've been wanting to eat there since our first trip but I didn't think the boys would enjoy the food. But, now that they are older I think it will be a fun experience for all of us.

You have some great milestones to celebrate! Alex is "graduating" elementary school (5th grade for us) this year too so we're celebrating that too.

Snacks around the world... I'm not very adventurous but I like the caramel store in Germany & there are a lot of good things at the bakery in France. I like the turkey sandwich & chocolate mousse!

We can't wait to snack around the world. I was surprised when Nick mentioned that it was something he wanted to do because he has never been an adventurous eater either but he's very excited to do this.
Thanks for the suggestions! We will definitely be visiting the bakery in France...yum!!!

Congrats on the graduations!!!! I took my daughter in 2007 as my graduation present to her. It was a great time. It looks like you have picked out some really good places to eat. We have never eaten at TREX so looking forward to what you think of it. My suggestion for your Epcot snacks would be to try the American Dream at the Fife and Drum in the American pavillion. It is a strawberry slushie and blue raspberry slushie with vanilla ice cream. YUMMO

Thank you!! We're excited to try T-REX!! Noah is really into dinosaurs at the moment so when I gave him a choice of where he wanted to eat, I had a feeling that T-REX was going to be it.

Thanks for the suggestion on the American Dream!! I have been trying to make a list of choices in each of the countries and was having a hard time coming up with something at the American pavilion.

 

[Angies1274]

Revised Itinerary

Since we have decided to pay for our meals OOP this trip and add the Sea World dining plan on our Sea World day, it changed our itinerary a little bit so I thought I would do a recap of our plans before I shared our Disney movie nights.
July 10, 2012—Arrive at Pop Century, eat an early dinner and then head to Epcot for the evening.

July 11, 2012—Sea World (I found tickets that includes free all day dining with the purchase of a one day ticket to the park) So we decided to take advantage of that for lunch and dinner on this day. This meant that I had to change our T-Rex ADR since I’m not sure if we will make it to DTD on this evening.

July 12, 2012—Magic Kingdom EMH (morning), Pop Century (rest, swim, relax), ‘Ohana dinner, and then back to MK for the evening.

July 13, 2012—Epcot EMH (I’m not sure if we will to take a break or if we will just hang around all day and head back to Pop Century for the evening.)

July 14, 2012—Disney Hollywood Studios EMH (morning)Sci-Fi for lunch. Head back to Pop in the afternoon and then back to DHS for Fantasmic

July 15, 2012—Magic Kingdom (morning) rest in afternoon, DTD T-Rex for dinner and then back to MK for evening EMH

July 16, 2012— Animal Kingdom (last day)

So, those are the plans so far. I’m still not sure about changing T-REX but with getting the dining plan for Sea World, I thought that we might as well make the most of it and this way we don’t have to feel rushed through Sea World to make it to an ADR that evening.
Oh, and I forgot to add one more new thing that we are looking forward to this trip. I read that they are putting refrigerators in the value resort so that will be nice to have on this trip!!

Movie nights

We started doing movie nights before our third trip and have had such a good time that we have continued them. Even though we didn’t go last year, we knew that we had every intention of returning in 2012 so we started doing them about a year before our trip and have tried to do one once month. This first movie night that we did was one of my very favorite Disney movies……
Peter Pan!

I hid a treasure for the boys and made a treasure map to help them find it. They did some activity sheets and we had pirate boat pizza and corn “gold” nuggets. Then we made fruit “sword” kabobs for dessert.

Our second movie night was….Bolt!

It's been awhile so I'm trying to remember but it looks like we had hot dogs for dinner, made a dog collar out of a paper plate and had a Find Penny scavenger hunt. We also had graham crackers in the shape of dog bones.

Our next movie night was….Finding Nemo!

We made mac and cheese with goldfish crackers on top to look like Nemo in anemone and cut hot dogs to look like an octopus. The activities that night included paper plate decorated fish and we also made balloon jelly fish.


Up next, definitely a family favorite…..UP!

We love this movie and had a lot of fun with it!! Unfortunately it's been so long I can't remember what we had for dinner, obviously something from the movie but I do remember we had grape soda and chocolate bars for snack. We also made a house and attached balloons. The boys had fun pretending to be floating away!!!

continued on next post....


​

 

[Angies1274]

Disney Movie Nights continued....

Monster’s Inc.

We made badges on this night and drew monsters by rolling the dice and picking pieces of paper that had head, arms, legs etc. to tell us how many to draw on our monsters. We did a comedy show and had "eye scream" for dessert.

Meet the Robinson’s

On this night we had spaghetti and meatballs, fruit salad and peanut butter and jelly thumbprint cookies. We made Noah look like Lewis plus the boys made Family Trees and built (inventions) out of Legos.


Winnie the Pooh

Nick was at a friends house on this night and DH was working so it was just Noah and I. We had fun making brownies and then made signs to put on top so it would look like rabbit's garden. We then cut up the brownies and some fudge striped cookies (tigger's tales) and cinnamon and sugar pretzels cut up (pooh sticks) and snacked on them while watching the movie. We also played Disney Sorry.

The Muppet’s

We did this movie night over the weekend and had so much fun! We didn't do too many activities. I think they just colored pictures of Kermit and Fozzie and then we enjoyed our Kermit cupcakes and Fozzie gummy bears while we watched the movie.

That's it for now. Any ideas what we should do for the month of April?​