"We're following Dad to work....SURPRISE!!!" Secret's out Trip - May/June 2013

[BridgetR3]

Ooh, Captain's Grille! We've never been there, but I've heard it's good!!

It's got great food!!

I have enjoyed reading your PTR so far.

We usually go to Disney around this same time but since DS is in our local High School Marching Band. We have to go the last 2 weeks of June.

You are such a talented lady! I have enjoyed seeing your creations.

Your ADRs look great. I really want to try Captain's Grille but it did not make the cut for our next trip. Maybe next time.

Thanks for joining us! Two weeks will be great!! Does he get to march in a parade at MK? That would be so cool!

Awww thanks!! I'm learning as I go on the sewing bits. It's a hobby I really enjoy!

Captain's Grille is great but it is awkward because you either have to leave a park or already be out of a park since it's at a hotel. We probably never would have tried it except that my first trip was moved at the very last minute from 100 days away to 20 days away and we suddenly had to start remaking all of our ADR's. As you can imagine not much was available. However, I'm really glad that we got that one!

great.... now I have to add another restaurant to our have to try list. DD#2, DS#2 & I all love steak, not that anyone in our family dislikes it. What's the atmosphere there?

YAY for Chef Mickeys breakfast. yummy. We've got to try Teppan's we keep saying we're going to, but haven't yet.

Hope your day went well.

lol....sorry to add another restaurant to your to do list. There are so many good ones at Disney. The atmosphere is beachy from what I remember. It wasn't anything special about the decor. Actually from what I remember, I really wasn't impressed with the decor (kind of "old" beach theme) but I do remember this little octagon window in the ceiling that was pretty. Don't ask me why I remember that. It was pretty dark in there and I was not real sure about taking photos in restaurants yet so my photos are pretty dark but here are some photos of our food....

They start you off with complimentary bread which my family loves of course.

This was my steak and mashed potatoes.

Gelato variety

Triple chocolate cheesecake that DH said was too rich

DS with a fix your own sundae

I'm so sorry to hear about your puppy. That must be so heartbreaking. It looks like your son enjoyed his time cat sitting though!

Your dining choices look great. We did QS in BOG in December, and it was amazing.

Yes, we were all devastated to lose our pup. The boys LOVED sitting the kitties and I know that those kitties will miss the boys! The kitties belong to a childless couple so they were certainly not used to the activity level of boys but one kitten loved it. He would run all over the house after the boys and would stand at their bedroom door meow-ing if the boys went in and closed the door. I think that cat enjoyed his stay a LOT!

I can't wait to see BOG!! It looks so gorgeous!!



As always I appreciate you guys hanging out with us!!! Thanks for reading along!

 

[BridgetR3]

SO....I'm finally feeling a little better today with this awful head cold. It wasn't the flu but it was enough. Our plans for today are to go watch Monsters, Inc. 3D. Both of my boys loved the original and of course we need to see it in 3D.

Then I need to come home and work on a couple of orders and get my school work ready for this week. I'm getting observed sometime this week for the "major" observation (where they check in with a 62 point check list to make sure I'm doing my job). I'm not worried about it at all because it is stuff we normally do everyday anyways but I do need to finish preparing my stuff for the week.


Onto our Disney planning, I'm still trying to find rooms for our first two nights. I checked for rooms with this latest discount that's out but I'll be honest. The rates are still pretty high and my thought keeps going back to "Why would I want to pay that much for a moderate when I can stay at a deluxe for just a little bit more?" (that's by renting points of course).

I'm still looking into purchasing DVC so that we can just use our own points even though this trip was supposed to "try out DVC" for us. The discounts on APs for DVC holders have really sealed the deal for DH. Well that's all I have for today. I hope you all have a great Sunday!!

 

[Deesknee]

SO....I'm finally feeling a little better today with this awful head cold. It wasn't the flu but it was enough. Our plans for today are to go watch Monsters, Inc. 3D. Both of my boys loved the original and of course we need to see it in 3D.
I LOVE Monsters, but can't do 3D. I hope you guys enjoy(ed) it.

Then I need to come home and work on a couple of orders and get my school work ready for this week. I'm getting observed sometime this week for the "major" observation (where they check in with a 62 point check list to make sure I'm doing my job). I'm not worried about it at all because it is stuff we normally do everyday anyways but I do need to finish preparing my stuff for the week. good luck.


Onto our Disney planning, I'm still trying to find rooms for our first two nights. I checked for rooms with this latest discount that's out but I'll be honest. The rates are still pretty high and my thought keeps going back to "Why would I want to pay that much for a moderate when I can stay at a deluxe for just a little bit more?" (that's by renting points of course).

I'm still looking into purchasing DVC so that we can just use our own points even though this trip was supposed to "try out DVC" for us. The discounts on APs for DVC holders have really sealed the deal for DH. Well that's all I have for today. I hope you all have a great Sunday!!

I agree. It would kill me to pay for moderate when I can get deluxe for just a little more. About the AP discount, that is fairly new and they always warn the discounts can change at any time. If they are smart they won't but I just figured I'd put that damper out there. Also, I think you will be amazed at how often you appreciate having a frig & toaster (and me the cofee maker) in the room. Can you tell, I think you should buy now, and use those points. Be careful, it becomes addictive.
Glad you are feeling better!

Thanks for posting the photos of Capt. Grille. I don't mind leaving the parks for meals, as we tend to take a break mid day anyway. This is going on our try list for sure.

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

Love the Captain's Grille pics! Looks yummy! Definitely going to have to put that on our list!

I am a supporter of the "go ahead and buy DVC" club too! Does anyone know--are the $399 AP's still available? Toying with the idea of doing that in March, since DH has changed his mind on 2014!

 

[BridgetR3]

I agree. It would kill me to pay for moderate when I can get deluxe for just a little more. About the AP discount, that is fairly new and they always warn the discounts can change at any time. If they are smart they won't but I just figured I'd put that damper out there. Also, I think you will be amazed at how often you appreciate having a frig & toaster (and me the cofee maker) in the room. Can you tell, I think you should buy now, and use those points. Be careful, it becomes addictive.
Glad you are feeling better!

Thanks for posting the photos of Capt. Grille. I don't mind leaving the parks for meals, as we tend to take a break mid day anyway. This is going on our try list for sure.

Yep so I'm holding out for a deluxe. I hope I don't have to pay rack rate for a value while waiting on a deluxe. (WHY OH WHY do they move the smilies on me?!?!?)

Yeah I would not get DVC just for the discount but since we are looking anyways, a discount on the AP would be nice!!! (Update on our looking into DVC below....)

About Captain's Grille, you could always do it at night and go watch performers on the Boardwalk afterwards.

Love the Captain's Grille pics! Looks yummy! Definitely going to have to put that on our list!

I am a supporter of the "go ahead and buy DVC" club too! Does anyone know--are the $399 AP's still available? Toying with the idea of doing that in March, since DH has changed his mind on 2014!

Yep Captain's Grille is yummy (at least the one time we had it!!). I would love to buy DVC as soon as possible but......(in the next post....)

 

[BridgetR3]

Crazy crazy week here!! It started off with that awful head cold this weekend. Monday, I had my formal evaluation (observation) for school. I did fine so I'm glad that is over. Yesterday, I had to go to the dentist because I thought I had a cavity. I was so nervous!! I hate hate HATE HATE the dentist. They took my blood pressure in the office and it was higher than it's ever been. He did my x-rays only to find I had no cavities. He thinks the pain I was experiencing came from the head cold and sinus junk! Thank you, Mr. Dentist!!! Then I got a call from our loan specialist. We are buying the home we live in and found out yesterday that we don't qualify for the loan we were hoping because of a technicality. This means that we will have to give quite a bit of money which hurts my DVC dreams for this year. However, DH told me tonight to still make sure that we bought APs for this trip so that we can go back at Christmas regardless. YESSIR!!!

So I've been waffling on our park days....

Our days were....
May 31 - Arrival Day - Magic Kingdom - Evening EMH
June 1 - Hollywood Studios for SWW
June 2 - Moving Day - Animal Kingdom, then Magic Kingdom Evening EMH
June 3 - Rest Day -
June 4 - Hollywood Studios (morning)/ Epcot (afternoon evening)
June 5 - This was a Universal day but now may be a water park day.
June 6 - Magic Kingdom
June 7 - Epcot
June 8 - This was a Universal Day as well but can not be a water day because we are leaving, so I'm sure we will find ourselves a place to go!

But I didn't like that for a few reasons.... 1) We aren't going to Universal. 2) We would not be doing a rope drop at Epcot this way because of the Chef Mickey's reservation on our only Epcot morning.

So........I changed a few days......
May 31 - MK EMH
June 1 - HS for Star Wars Weekend (Sci Fi Lunch)
June 2 - Moving Day/Water Park/MK EMH
June 3 - Rest day (probably Disney Quest for a little while with Wolfgang Puck Express for lunch)/Captain's Grille dinner for DH and I
June 4 - HS/Epcot with Teppan Edo for dinner
June 5 - AK (no park has late EMH...what are we going to do? bowling? Putt putt? pool? Boardwalk??)
June 6 - Water Park/Magic Kingdom with Be Our Guest ressie for dinner
June 7 - Epcot
June 8 - Checking out day/Chef Mickey Breakfast (late morning)/whatever park we need to hit again......

Almost blew the secret today....I was rearranging our days with my Disney notebook on the side of me at the table when DS10 walked in to ask me a question. Thankfully he never noticed anything written on my notebook!!

Well it's raining cats and dogs here so I'll upload this before I lose connection! I hope you all have a great evening!!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

Awwww. .I'm sorry about the loan! Something similar happened to us several years ago, and I know how frustrating that is!!

yay that you are still getting APs, going at Christmas, and that the boys didn't find out!!

 

[Deesknee]

Sorry you are experiencing frustration with your home purchase. Seems when it comes to loans and/or passing papers on a house there is always something! I hope it all works out okay.

Great that you can still plan both trips! and AP's! YAY!

Good you didn't have a cavity, but hopefully not a sinus infection. Hoping the pain is now gone for you. I don't like going to the dentist either. We had been going to the same dentist DH went to as a child until he retired several years ago. But, we found a dentist who loves Disney as much as us! He has since moved it, but when I first went to him he reclined the seat & when I looked up there was a beautiful picture of SpaceShip Earth! What a relaxing view! I wish he would put it back! Still hate his job, but he & all his staff are wonderful!


Sounds like a good idea to go to Capt. Grille, then walk around the Boardwalk. I love the BW.
Hope your day is magical!

 

[BridgetR3]

Awwww. .I'm sorry about the loan! Something similar happened to us several years ago, and I know how frustrating that is!!

yay that you are still getting APs, going at Christmas, and that the boys didn't find out!!

I'm a VERY firm believer in "Everything happens for a reason...." so I'm o.k. with it albeit very frustrated that we were led to believe one thing when it was entirely another. However, I think it was an honest mistake on the loan guys part because he thought we had a special lease on this house that we don't have. Maybe a miscommunication or lack of communication.....either way, it will all work out eventually. I'm more upset about having to wait a year to get my DVC than I am about putting out money to the house....

Sorry you are experiencing frustration with your home purchase. Seems when it comes to loans and/or passing papers on a house there is always something! I hope it all works out okay.

Great that you can still plan both trips! and AP's! YAY!

Good you didn't have a cavity, but hopefully not a sinus infection. Hoping the pain is now gone for you. I don't like going to the dentist either. We had been going to the same dentist DH went to as a child until he retired several years ago. But, we found a dentist who loves Disney as much as us! He has since moved it, but when I first went to him he reclined the seat & when I looked up there was a beautiful picture of SpaceShip Earth! What a relaxing view! I wish he would put it back! Still hate his job, but he & all his staff are wonderful!


Sounds like a good idea to go to Capt. Grille, then walk around the Boardwalk. I love the BW.
Hope your day is magical!

Yeah, the loan stuff will eventually work out. I just wanted DVC NOW!!! I had my sights set on getting it this spring/summer and now will likely have to wait til early 2014 to get it. That also brings up the question of what to do for our fall trip. You know if I just win that Disney Time Sweepstakes all of this worry is for naught! If by some I do win, we would choose Disneyland. Are ya'll entering?

I know! I was so excited NOT to have a cavity!!! My sinus infection is much better now!! How neat that your dentist loved Disney so much!! I may not mind going if I could look at Spaceship Earth every time!

It's been a crazy week here at school because our area has received LOADS of rain (although not nearly as much as our friends just to the east). I think we received around 5-7 inches in about 24 hours so my students and my children have not been able to go outside to play since Monday. This makes for some children!!! Sad thing is we got a break today but the forecast is calling for more rain for the next 4-5 days. We already have levees to our east that may breach this weekend. There are homes flooded and even a few schools flooded. I know of one school at least where all of their first and second grade students lost their books and supplies because their rooms flooded. This would devastate me and I can't imagine how much those teachers lost. I'm sure most did not pick their things up off the floor because these schools are in downtown sections of small towns that NEVER flood. However, those towns received 11+ inches of rain in 24 hours and there was no where for the water to go.

On a separate and happier note, I finished another lovey this weekend. I haven't shown the picture yet because it was actually an order and I wanted the person to receive it first before I posted it here.

O.k. up next - a small Disney update.....

 

[BridgetR3]

Well it looks like we may in for some fastpass changes before our trip. Our first trip we took advantage of the "come back when you want to" advice from the DIS...(please don't flame me......I was new!!). On our second trip they changed it to where you had to return during your time. For our third trip, they are changing the ENTIRE system. Yep this should be fun.

Honestly I'm not sure I'm going to even "sign up" for it if there's a way to opt out because from what I'm hearing it wouldn't really work out that well for us. According to the terms and conditions posted, you can not use it at more than one park per day. Also people who went through the test said you can only get a few (4-5) of the fastpasses through that FP+ system. We use more than that often and quite often will fastpass the same ride twice in one day.

BUT, it would definitely help on days like our water park morning/Magic Kingdom evening to have fast passes planned for MK at night. Since we would need fastpasses at the water park we could save them all for our time at MK and not have to wait in the lines. Unfortunately I don't think you can pick and choose which days you want to use it. It looks to be all or nothing.

Another thing I've read about is that you can order your lunches/dinners from the quick service restaurants to have them ready at a certain time. This sounds interesting. If it saves waiting in those long lines it would definitely be worth it but if there's a line for pick up you would end up with the same problem. Also, what happens if the 15 minute wait for Peter Pan turns into 30 minute wait right before you were scheduled for lunch so now you are late? All interesting changes going on right now.....

Lastly the one DH and I are the most sad about is the closing today of Main Street Bakery. This was a place that we enjoyed. Whether it was a cinnamon roll, a cupcake or those GIANT ice cream sandwiches we loved everything it offered. It just fit right in. I know that they can make the decor of the Starbucks fit right in because the Disneyland one looks GREAT but it won't serve the awesome Disney desserts.

Well now that I'm done being a negative Nelly, I'm going to go back to visiting with my boys! DS6 is now sick with that same sinus junk and he needs me to hold him.....spoiled much? Going love on my little ones!!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

I love the "taggie" (that's what DS's was called) that you made!! Adorable!

I hope your little guy is feeling better! DS came down with a cold, beginning on Friday, and he is feeling so yucky that he even asked to come home early from Target today. Sounds crazy, but definitely a sign he feels yucky!

I am with you on FP +. I am a little weirded out by it. It does not put my compulsive-planner mind at ease! I think it will help us this year because we are just at MK two days and not at any other parks, but in the future, it may be weird and confusing. Heck, it's confusing to me now! Plus, I want to know EXACTLY WHEN they are putting it in place! I wish they'd tell us!

 

[reelmom]

I just started reading your PTR. First of all, after reading about the little boy at Christmas, I said a prayer for him and his family. It was so sweet of him to get you something. It is times like these that makes you feel like all the headaches that comes with teaching worth it. I am so glad his family was adopted and I hope they had a wonderful Christmas. I am so sorry to hear about your loan. I would be disappointed too. But I believe there is a reason for everything also. I am glad that you husband is still open to getting AP's. I hope to be able to get AP's next year to celebrate my 40th birthday. Especially since we are taking a year off from Disney. My boys(DH included) want to go back to Universal this year. So we are doing Universal and SeaWorld June 1-7. I told them they could have this year but 2014-2015 is my year of Disney.

 

[Deesknee]

YAY, for posting the lovey. Again, we love it, so soft! I can't wait to give it to him!
Glad you are feeling better, but sorry your DS is not feeling well.
I am so sad about the Main St. Bakery. My favorite snack food in all of WDW was those huge Toll House Choco Chip icecream sandwiches! The only good thing is that the last time we were there it tasted more like one from the frozen carts. Very disappointing at the time, but atleast it makes it less hard to say good-bye.
Way too many decisions for me to consider. I don't know much about the new systems. Good luck!

 

[BridgetR3]

I love the "taggie" (that's what DS's was called) that you made!! Adorable!

I hope your little guy is feeling better! DS came down with a cold, beginning on Friday, and he is feeling so yucky that he even asked to come home early from Target today. Sounds crazy, but definitely a sign he feels yucky!

I am with you on FP +. I am a little weirded out by it. It does not put my compulsive-planner mind at ease! I think it will help us this year because we are just at MK two days and not at any other parks, but in the future, it may be weird and confusing. Heck, it's confusing to me now! Plus, I want to know EXACTLY WHEN they are putting it in place! I wish they'd tell us!

Thanks!! I enjoy sewing a lot but I'm pretty slow at it or I guess I should say I just don't get to my sewing room all that often.

Sorry that your DS was ill. How cute that you knew he must be sick because he wanted to leave Target!!

I had to go get DS6 at school before lunch today because he wasn't feeling well. He came home and slept for about 3 hours straight. Finally I had to wake him up for fear that he wouldn't sleep tonight. Then tonight at dinner DS10 says, "I'm f - f-f-freezing cold." Yep you guessed it....a fever!!! No other symptoms but a fever. DH wants me to medicate him and send him to school tomorrow anyways but I'll probably have to take another day. I don't want to infect anyone else with whatever he has......It's time for summer!!!! I hate winter!!!

As for FP+, most places I've read say sometime in February or early March, so I'm pretty sure it will definitely be in place by the time we go. Hopefully they will have all the kinks worked out by the time we get there. And no one seems to know how they are going to handle AP's or DVC or anything yet so it's all just a guessing game.....

I just started reading your PTR. First of all, after reading about the little boy at Christmas, I said a prayer for him and his family. It was so sweet of him to get you something. It is times like these that makes you feel like all the headaches that comes with teaching worth it. I am so glad his family was adopted and I hope they had a wonderful Christmas. I am so sorry to hear about your loan. I would be disappointed too. But I believe there is a reason for everything also. I am glad that you husband is still open to getting AP's. I hope to be able to get AP's next year to celebrate my 40th birthday. Especially since we are taking a year off from Disney. My boys(DH included) want to go back to Universal this year. So we are doing Universal and SeaWorld June 1-7. I told them they could have this year but 2014-2015 is my year of Disney.

I'm glad you decided to join us for our little Disney party!!

Thank you for praying for my sweet baby!! Unfortunately where I teach, 96% of my students live in poverty. 96%.....that blows my mind. We have very at risk kids which is very draining emotionally but also very rewarding when you see how much of a difference you make for them.

I'm glad he is still wanting to get AP's too. I keep telling him that it will save him money in the long run since we are taking three trips to Disney in the next year. He has NO clue how much they cost or even how much a Disney trip is. He completely trusts me with all of our financial decisions which is honoring and totally terrifying all at the same time.

How exciting to get an AP for your birthday!!!! Wow, take a year off from Disney to go to Universal!??! Whose kids are those!??! We've never been to Universal but we do plan to try it in the fall. I finally decided to do water parks instead of Universal for the summer trip (if I can afford those AP's).

How neat that we will be in Orlando at the same time!!!

YAY, for posting the lovey. Again, we love it, so soft! I can't wait to give it to him!
Glad you are feeling better, but sorry your DS is not feeling well.
I am so sad about the Main St. Bakery. My favorite snack food in all of WDW was those huge Toll House Choco Chip icecream sandwiches! The only good thing is that the last time we were there it tasted more like one from the frozen carts. Very disappointing at the time, but atleast it makes it less hard to say good-bye.
Way too many decisions for me to consider. I don't know much about the new systems. Good luck!

I'm sad about Main Street Bakery too!! I can't help but read up on the new systems as they intrigue me. I know it must at least somehow be worthwhile because Disney wouldn't sabotage itself but for now it doesn't look promising.

Up next - The newest addition to our Disney bathroom!

 

[BridgetR3]

Before our last trip in June, I was given some Disney plates from an aunt who loves to shop!! I'm not sure if these are vintage or not but they fit our bathroom so well that I had to hang them in there. I know this is sort of but I figured I would share so you could enjoy my gift!

The plates hanging above the towel hooks....yes plates in a bathroom....

Peter Pan

DS6 calls this one "My Little Pony" but it's Fantasia.

Love this addition to our bathroom!! Now to find frames for my stitched pieces and put those on the other wall. Everytime I think it's almost finished I find more stuff I want to add!

I hope you all have a great evening!! Stay warm and dry!

 

[Deesknee]

Love the plates! What a nice Aunt!

 

[BridgetR3]

Yep we love our plates too!! She is a sweet aunt!!

Well on the life front since the last time I was on.......both of my boys had the flu. UGH!!! It was a rough week!! I took off Monday and Tuesday, DH took off Wednesday and Thursday. Both boys FINALLY made it back to school on Friday. They hardly ever catch anything (DS10 had perfect attendance last school year but not at all this one....). Luckily it looks like DH and I may have escaped without catching it.


I'm beyond excited about Disney and really wish we could leave tomorrow!!! I'm about to pay off my room reservation. Then I'll work on AP's. I can't decide if I should just go ahead and buy the APs from the start or if I should book a package for the first two nights to save a little on tickets and then upgrade to APs while we are there so that it is cheaper. What do you all think?

 

[Deesknee]

Yep we love our plates too!! She is a sweet aunt!!

Well on the life front since the last time I was on.......both of my boys had the flu. UGH!!! It was a rough week!! I took off Monday and Tuesday, DH took off Wednesday and Thursday. Both boys FINALLY made it back to school on Friday. They hardly ever catch anything (DS10 had perfect attendance last school year but not at all this one....). Luckily it looks like DH and I may have escaped without catching it.


I'm beyond excited about Disney and really wish we could leave tomorrow!!! I'm about to pay off my room reservation. Then I'll work on AP's. I can't decide if I should just go ahead and buy the APs from the start or if I should book a package for the first two nights to save a little on tickets and then upgrade to APs while we are there so that it is cheaper. What do you all think?

Glad your boys are feeling better. I'm happy you & your DH didn't catch it. Although, I hope you knocked on wood when you said that. Seems everytime I say something like. "oh everyones good", someone get sick.

For me it would depend on how much I saved when all was said and done. To me if it is only $10 or $20 I would value the time in the park more than time spent in line to exchange the tickets. That's just me. Either way... you're getting AP's. HOW COOL IS THAT?!

 

[lovethattink]

Hi, followed your link over from fb. Now I need to go back and read.

 

[Corrine 1973]

Also following over from Facebook. Loving your PTR so far. It looks like we will both be at SWW on June 1st. Maybe we will see each other. I see you know about D. I love her work. She gave me a little change purse when I saw her in March. One of these days I will get one of those bags.

Can't wait to read more.