A Disney-addicted mom: 2nd annual August trip and Marathon Weekend *Update 10/7*

[natebenma]

We're home! And exhausted!!! The trip was really good. Not everything went as planned but I think we accomplished the primary goal - building happy family memories.
I'm not quite ready for a trip report. Need to upload pics and try to remember everything. And order our pre-paid CD. (Not to mention unpack, do laundry, and get kids ready for 1st day of school on Tuesday!)

Amanda

Welcome home!!!

I look forward to hearing all about your trip when you have time and are ready to write about it!

Good luck to the kids with the start of school this week. My boys go back on Tuesday.

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

Welcome back! Glad you had a good trip, and really, with kids (heck, without them) plans never go exactly as laid out... Sorry Zack was sick!

Can't wait to hear about it.

 

[dismagiclover]

Welcome home! I'm glad you had a good trip! Now you have to get serious about training for that marathon

 

[DrMomof3]

Glad to hear it was a good trip. Our trip didn't go exactly as planned either, but happy family memories is right!

Did you find it busier than last year the same week? Did you go the same week last year? I thought it was a little more crowded this year than last. Maybe everyone chose to go to Disney to escape the hurricane or something. We met a lot of people from the Northeast, especially Connecticut this trip.

We went one week earlier last year. I didn't think it was much busier this year. Except Friday at DHS seemed really busy.

Welcome home!!!

I look forward to hearing all about your trip when you have time and are ready to write about it!

Good luck to the kids with the start of school this week. My boys go back on Tuesday.

We start on Tuesday, too!!!

Welcome back! Glad you had a good trip, and really, with kids (heck, without them) plans never go exactly as laid out... Sorry Zack was sick!

Can't wait to hear about it.

Thank you! He really only missed one full day and then he was well enough to have fun.

Welcome home! I'm glad you had a good trip! Now you have to get serious about training for that marathon

I know. I lost a FULL week of training. I'm supposed to run 11 miles this weekend (I'm thinking I'll try tomorrow. Yikes!).

Amanda

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Glad you are home safe and sound Amanda! Can't wait to hear about the trip and glad that Zachary wasn't sick for too long!

 

[DrMomof3]

Glad you are home safe and sound Amanda! Can't wait to hear about the trip and glad that Zachary wasn't sick for too long!

Thanks Karen!!! We had a good trip!

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

I'm not quite ready to start my trip report yet. I've uploaded 800+ pictures from our 2 cameras to shutterfly. And I looked at our photopass pics (there are 137 pictures) which are quite mediocre. There are tons of pics of Jessica from Bibbidi Bobbidi (which are great!) and some really cute ones of the boys doing Pirate League. Beyond that are a few nice pics but nothing great. I may have time to start a trip report later today. I was "on call" Sunday and Monday but took today off for the first day of school. We'll see what the day holds....

I also just realized that the BIG 40th birthday cruise is SOON. Really soon. Like right around the corner. I can't even believe it! We're participating in the Fish Extender (it's a gift exchange on the cruise) and I need to buy my gifts. I found some pirate bracelets that might do. Either that or pirate tattoos. It's a big group doing the exchange (35 cabins; 104 people) and I don't want to spend a fortune. Ideas?

I'm also thinking about tweaking some things for our January trip based on what we learned from this trip.... More on that to come!

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

Here's the link to my new Trip Report!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=42572068#post42572068

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

A few updates to our upcoming trips!

Disney Cruise in October:
I won the Passporter Guide on Facebook. It was waiting for me when we returned from our summer trip!!! I never win anything so this was very exciting for me! One of the unofficial Disney fan sites was having a give-away and all you had to do was post on their thread. I posted how we were going on our 1st Disney Cruise for my 40th birthday in October and therefore really, really needed the book. I suspect that it was NOT random since I won!
Anyway I've been reading the book. We were originally in a category 6a room - all the way at the back of the boat. The rooms in that category have these oversized balconies which is why our TA picked it for us. However, there are 2 rooms that have teeny, tiny balconies and ours was one of the 2. I was really looking forward to spending time on the balcony so I was disappointed. We ended up upgrading to category 5e (it cost $100). I'm pretty happy about that!
We booked a couples massage in a cabana on Castaway Cay. We're also doing a shore excursion on Nassau. I was able to get a dinner at Palo one night. I'm pleased with our plans!
We are participating in the FE (fish exchange - people agree to give each other little gifts during the cruise) and I ordered my gifts from Oriental Trading last night. I hope I did ok - I'm new to this! We have a pretty big group participating so I didn't want to spend a fortune... One of these days I need to take a picture of our FE thingy (It's a wall hanging with pockets for gifts - I ordered it off Ebay and it's beautiful!).

January Marathon Trip:
I'm still hoping for a discount for January. I'm excited about staying at GF but I hope we can save some money. We have some leaking in our roof so we may need to downgrade our plans a bit, depending on how many thousands of dollars it costs to fix. Still waiting for an estimate!

I think I need to re-think our ADRs. Right now we're eating at Le Cellier the night before the half marathon. I'm not sure that's a good plan for Tom. The only Italian restaurant with a reasonable ADR still available is Il Mulino. We could spend some time at Epcot and then walk over there for dinner. And we could even take a cab back to GF. Our post-half and pre-marathon dinner is Narcoosee's. I loved eating there but, again, I'm not sure it's the best choice for a pre-race dinner. Hmmm....

I also need to re-check our flights. If we're getting in pretty late on Thursday, I'm wondering if we should just stay at the Orlando Hyatt the first night and take a car service to the GF early Friday morning. We'd have to get up and moving in the morning because the kids races are Friday (I think around 11am but I have to check?). I think we'd have to check-out no later than like 7:30am.

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

Change of plans for January!

Tom had originally picked CL at GF for the Marathon Weekend. Recently we've had a few unexpected (and pricey) expenses - including a leaky roof. I made the executive decision to downgrade to Garden Wing at the Contemporary instead. We just had a nice stay at BLT and we'll still have the convenience of the monorail and the ability to walk to the spectator viewing area. The cost was about 50% of what we would pay for CL at GF. My kids were totally fine with this decision (I don't think they know the difference - yet!).

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

With the new AP discounts we were able to switch back to CL at GF for the Marathon! Tom is pretty happy!!!
I have a 1/2 marathon this weekend. I'm under-trained. Nathaniel has been sick and spent some time in the hospital, which definitely cuts down on training. And it's supposed to be 80 degrees on Sunday which is NOT good for running! It sounds like it should be a fun race and the after party sounds fun.
We're supposed to be cruising in 2 weeks for my big 40th birthday! We'll see how Nathaniel is feeling and make a game-time decision.

Amanda

 

[natebenma]

With the new AP discounts we were able to switch back to CL at GF for the Marathon! Tom is pretty happy!!!
I have a 1/2 marathon this weekend. I'm under-trained. Nathaniel has been sick and spent some time in the hospital, which definitely cuts down on training. And it's supposed to be 80 degrees on Sunday which is NOT good for running! It sounds like it should be a fun race and the after party sounds fun.
We're supposed to be cruising in 2 weeks for my big 40th birthday! We'll see how Nathaniel is feeling and make a game-time decision.

Amanda

Oh gosh, so much going on!!! I hope Nathaniel is doing better.

Good luck in the 1/2 today. Who would have figured it would be in the 80's on Columbus Day weekend?

Keeping my fingers crossed that you will be able to go on the cruise, but if not, then you can always make it up when everything at home is more settled (ha ha- does that ever happen?)

 

[dismagiclover]

How did the race go? It was a lovely weekend, but a bit too hot for racing. Hope it wasn't too bad.

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

Hi stranger...checking in with you...

How is the family (Nathaniel especially)? How is the house? and how was your 1/2?

Debby

 

[DrMomof3]

A quick check-in. The 1/2 marathon was fine. Not my best time but not my worst. I'll do a proper update.
Nathaniel is doing ok. It's a bit frustrating but hopefully he'll continue to improve over time.
Sadly, we've had to cancel our cruise. His doctor thinks it's too risky for us to be on a cruise ship in case something happens at home. We were supposed to fly to Orlando on Saturday and come home late Thursday night. I was able to move our Thursday flight to Monday night and we'll spend 2 nights at the Swan. This way we can go to F&W and go to MNSSHP. Not the same as a cruise but still a little break.

Amanda

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Amanda, I'm so sorry you had to cancel your cruise! I'm glad you at least get to get away for a couple days though.

 

[natebenma]

Sorry to hear about the cruise, but it sounds like it is what you have to do. It is good that the doctor took the decision out of your hands so you didn't have to make an agonizing choice.

Have fun at the Swan, F&W and the Halloween Party. Should be a fun way to celebrate your milestone birthday.

Teena works on Sundays and Mondays, so if you get a chance to stop in and say hello, when you give her a hug, give her an extra one for me, too!

She is really grateful for the advice and support you gave her and for your part in the anniversary surprise.