The Trip that Won't Stop Changing! Now a Sept 2017 Birthday Visit. *Updated 8/28/2017

[jmccoy18]

YAY for booking your May trip and your trip to BB!!!!! Also meeting Morimoto was super cool, too!

 

[Chicago Mo]

How was i NOT informed your had this??? YOU KNOW you have to say Hey Mo i have as PTR you need to subscribe...

I AM HERE NOW! and was only 4 pages behind!

WOWZA! Your daughter is getting so big!!! and BEAUTIFUL!! Just love all your family pictures! I cannot wait to see DISNEY family pictures!!!

I am not going to lie.. I read just your updates and i don't know if any of the below was suggested?
Ohh so excited for you to stay wilderness! how FUN!!!

ADR'S
O'Hana Breakfast?
Although since you did the Polynesian dinner by you O'Hana dinner would be PERFECT for her! especially the dancing and the parade she can participate in!

What about Akershus? We didn't like Lunch-dinner Yet breakfast was OK. we do it just for the princesses..

Are you going to book BBB?

OMG! your leaving WEDNESDAY?!?!
SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!!!

 

[MissMaryQC]

Just seen as I was finishing up my reply on my PTR that you had a new post. Glad you are officially booked!

Me too! there is nothing like logging into MDE and seeing the hotel and tickets. Makes this trip very real!

Fun!!! Even if you aren't doing the parks at least you are at Disney. It is great y'all live close enough to drive up for a weekend and enjoy DS.

I may never be able to move out of South Florida because of WDW... It's super fun to go for little weekend trips, but I do much prefer the week long vacations. Nothin like being totally emerged in the Disney magic!

Ahh I love when more nights=more dining credits! When we were looking at our 10 day vacation we couldn't get over having to book 10TS meals. It was almost overwhelming until we decided to put it off until fall. I am sure once we get back together we will start picking out dates and then be back in the same boat as what we were lol.

It can be very overwhelming, especially when you're planning with other people. Thankfully my partner doesn't mind that i plan the whole thing, so I'm the only person I have to agree with! I can't wait to see what you guys get planned though; family trips are such fun!

YAY for booking your May trip and your trip to BB!!!!! Also meeting Morimoto was super cool, too!

Thanks!! I can't wait to actually start doing daily plans and stuff. The lull between booking and ADR day can be a long one! Chef Morimoto was so nice too! Very approachable.

How was i NOT informed your had this??? YOU KNOW you have to say Hey Mo i have as PTR you need to subscribe...

LOL! I started it when you had a lot of car trouble going on, I figured once things settled you'd pop on over

I AM HERE NOW! and was only 4 pages behind!

Not too much to report a year out! November can't come fast enough!

WOWZA! Your daughter is getting so big!!! and BEAUTIFUL!! Just love all your family pictures! I cannot wait to see DISNEY family pictures!!!

Thanks Mo! She's a handful. I'll have some good ones after this weekend too!

I am not going to lie.. I read just your updates and i don't know if any of the below was suggested?
Ohh so excited for you to stay wilderness! how FUN!!!

Me too! That resort is so pretty. It'll be nice to come back to a tranquil room after a day in the parks. Plus it's the fella's first deluxe!

ADR'S
O'Hana Breakfast?
Although since you did the Polynesian dinner by you O'Hana dinner would be PERFECT for her! especially the dancing and the parade she can participate in!

I thought about the breakfast there, if only to meet Lilo and Stitch; she loves that little alien. We have started a Stitch collection that may soon rival your not-so-little-little one's... Well maybe not soon...

My only thing with any breakfast is DH; he is in NO way a morning person. It takes him a solid hour to become human after he wakes up. I'd worry he'd be grumpus.

What about Akershus? We didn't like Lunch-dinner Yet breakfast was OK. we do it just for the princesses..

Oddly enough we had planned to skip Epcot and HS this trip. But now that they moved Anna and Elsa to Epcot, we may have to change that. DD isn't so big into the princesses, but there are a few she loves; Elsa, Tiana, Jasmine and Aurora (who she calls Elora, after herself), so I'm still playing around with that...

Are you going to book BBB?

Funny you should ask, my mom called Disney and tried to book it for the baby as a surprise, but she won't be yet be 3 when we go so she'll be too little... I will soon have news on that front though...

OMG! your leaving WEDNESDAY?!?!
SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!!!

Thanks! I slept terribly last night, dreaming of Mickey Ice Cream bars and the Finding Nemo pool! The next two days will likely drag on very slowly.

 

[Chicago Mo]

IT IS going to DRAG.. Only bad part of planning.. It's way too off!
I am really excited the 'Fella" will be staying his first deluxe! Now you won't ever go back to any other resort! LOL!! Smart cookie you are..

 

[jmccoy18]

[QUOTE="MissMaryQC, post: 56132565, member: 488046"
Thanks!! I can't wait to actually start doing daily plans and stuff. The lull between booking and ADR day can be a long one! Chef Morimoto was so nice too! Very approachable.
[/QUOTE]
Tell me about it! We have everything booked except our resort, because we are waiting on a military discount to be announced, but we are almost a month out from our ADR day and it is killing me!

 

[MissMaryQC]

IT IS going to DRAG.. Only bad part of planning.. It's way too off!
I am really excited the 'Fella" will be staying his first deluxe! Now you won't ever go back to any other resort! LOL!! Smart cookie you are..

The lulls that come along when you're trip planning can be brutal, luckily I have a few fun things happening before our ADR day.

Yes! I hope he enjoys the convenience of the deluxe, cause he's more of a value guy, price wise.

[/QUOTE]Tell me about it! We have everything booked except our resort, because we are waiting on a military discount to be announced, but we are almost a month out from our ADR day and it is killing me![/QUOTE]

That would stress me out SO much!! Hopefully discounts will come out soon for you guys.

 

[MissMaryQC]

A Mini TR and a Mini Update!

This weekend was awesome! My mom, DD and I drove up to Orlando to visit my sister, do some shopping and have some WDW pool fun! Wednesday my mom drive to pick me up from work with DD, we stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrell (it's tradition) and were checked into our Little Mermaid room at AoA by 8:45 pm or so. No pics that night as DD was exhausted so we unpacked a little and hit the hay.

The next day my sister came to meet us for some shopping. We went to a few outlets, including the Disney Character Warehouse, of course! We are lucky enough to have one of these fairly close to us, but the one in Orlando is way better, and not far from the resorts at all. DD had her pick of toys and she chose these:



A skeleton pirate and Constance from HM, who she calls the Corpse Bride, which is a favorite movie of hers; can you tell mommy is a big Tim Burton fan…? We went back to the hotel for a rest.










Showing off her dolly.

My sister had a photo shoot that night, so mom, DD and I decided we’d go to Beaches & Cream for dinner, and dessert! I made a rookie mistake and went against my Disney instincts on how to get to Boardwalk from AoA… A CM suggested we take a bus to Epcot then take the boat to Boardwalk… But I thought the boats were in the back of Epcot, near World Showcase, they are, as we found out when we arrived at Epcot, in the rain… Anywho, an hour late for our reservation we still got lost finding B&C once we actually made it to Boardwalk. A lovely CM walked us there and had us comfortably seated in a corner, since DD was totally passed out.



Food was good, dessert was great! We finished a mini- Mickey sink!






DD woke up half way through our meal and had some chicken and ice cream for dinner… Mother of the year over here! Lol! We got back to AoA, showered and went to sleep; we had plans to go to Blizzard Beach the next day!

DD woke up at 6:48 AM… Which means mom and I did as well. We got ready and met sis in the Dining Area around 8:30 AM. I decided not to bring the stroller since we’d be at the water park all day… Remember this... We hopped on the bus to AK and transferred over to the BB bus.







We arrived right the park was opening! We spent a lot of time in the Tikes Place and on the lazy river. I'll post a few photos once I get the prints from the waterproof cameras back. By about 2pm we were done; DD fell asleep before we even made it out of the park! I carried a sleeping, 35 pound toddler onto 2 buses and walking back to the LM room, in the 3 pm Florida sun… If only I'd brought the stroller!! Lol.



We all rested and showered and decided to try to get dinner at Chef Art Smith’s Homecoming in DS. The restaurant is brand new so they're not accepting reservations yet. We got seated almost immediately! What a meal! DD had catfish sticks, veggies and Mac n’ cheese, mom had catfish too, sis and I had different variations of the fried chicken, which is what Chef Smith is known for. The wine was great, as were the cocktails (they have a moonshine bar). Dessert was so, so good. We split the moonshine cake and the hummingbird cake both of which were delicious! Everything was perfect! I'd recommend this spot to anyone! We will go again, for sure.






My little pixie.

On the bus back home mom and sis decided they did not wish to share a bed so we moved rooms from LM to a Cars Suite. I didn't particularly enjoy packing at 10 pm, but it was nice to have the bigger space. We slept in on Saturday, had a late breakfast and spent some time by the big blue pool. DD loved the splash pad and the fact that she could stand in the water. She can't quite swim so she wears the life vest, which she hates. So anytime she can be in water without the vest she is happy!



We had dinner plans at Cape May this night, but DD did not want to nap, so I knew dinner might be a difficult one.


A few pics with Tow before we got on the bus.

We made it to Boardwalk with out any trouble, we learned our lesson there and took the bus to HS then the boat to the resort.



As soon as we got to the restaurant DD was already getting fussy… She ate her food easy enough, but once she was finished, she was ready to go!







Thank goodness for dessert plates, lol! Dinner was good,nothing amazing, but I do love all you can eat crab claws and the pallella was good. The little desserts were tasty and it was fun to have a few bites of each one. I don't think I'd dine here again though, unless I was staying in that resort.

Once we cleaned up dd’s mess we got out of CM as quickly as possible because DD was on the verge of a melt down. We decided to walk back to HS so DD could get some air and just relax in her stroller. We went to long way around the Boardwalk and along path next to the water. It was a lovely walk! The weather was warm without being muggy and oppressive, it was even a little breezy!





We got back to the hotel and just rested and watched a few episodes of PJ Masks before hitting the hay. Mom had gotten us a late check out for Sunday. We woke up at about 9 am and packed up our things, had breakfast and said good bye to my sis.


A selfie in the best lighting on property!


Had to get some Cars pics for her cousin!


The real Cookie Monster!

Mom, DD and I headed to DS for some candy before we hit the road, and that was when everything went wrong!

We live about 3 hours south of Orlando. An hour into the trip I was a little sleepy so I pulled into a rest stop so my mom could take over driving. As we pulled in my Tire Alert light came on. My front right tire was almost totally empty! We filled it with air and could hear the air hissing right back out of it. We were in the van so we decided to wait for the road ranger to help change the tire. The guy was super nice and gave us the number to a service station 17 miles north; the closest one.

Well it being at 3 pm on a Sunday they were closed, as were the 4 other places I called… We drove the rest of the way on the spare, at 50 mph… Took us about 3 hours instead of 2.

Then, on Monday, my apartment flooded with toilet water so I left work early to help clean it up; we still have the dryers on the carpet from the shampoo job we finished yesterday. To top it all off DD had an allergic reaction to the carpet shampoo and is covered in hives. I stayed home from work today to take her to the doctor. Oye vey. I totally should have just stayed in WDW!

But in good Disney news we have officially extended our 2017 trip to be from Friday May 5th-Friday May 12th! I'm also very close to convincing DH that we should celebrate DD’s 3rd birthday in WDW!

We're currently planning her 2nd birthday and the cost is about what a WDW weekend is. So I'm thinking we upgrade to Annual Passes when we go in May and use them again next September for DD’s birthday! Maybe even invite DH’s sister along since our nephew’s birthday in a whole 7 days before DD’s. We're getting together Saturday for lunch and to do see Finding Dory, I'll talk to my SiL then…

Well friends that's all for now! Hope everyone is happy and healthy! TTFN!
​

 

[jmccoy18]

I'm so glad you had a great time for your little Disney Pool time get away! I can't believe you didn't take the stroller with you to BB. You were very brave and I'm sure very tired after lugging around a sleeping toddler. I'm sorry you had such an ordeal getting back home and then everything happening once you got back. We had a toilet overflow about 3 years ago and we ended up having to replace all the flooring upstairs. It was a not fun, long process, but the end result is wonderful!

Yay for extending your May trip and YES to celebrating birthdays there! We did DD1's 2nd birthday there and now we are going back for DD2's 2nd birthday! I have also celebrated my birthday there several times and nothing beats a birthday at Disney!

 

[Chicago Mo]

Oh heavens is your daughter toooooooo cute!!! OMG! i love that age! she is just a giggly little girl! I want to squish her! OHHHHHH Love DD red outfit of being a future CM! How cute is THAT!

How did you like Disney character warehouse? Might send you a PM on this..

Great being able to switch over to cars. it is roomy isn't it?!?! Oops on not bringing a stroller? Let's blame it on the sun?? Yeah that's it!

and use them again next September for DD’s birthday!

Umm so when would that be???

 

[MissMaryQC]

I'm so glad you had a great time for your little Disney Pool time get away! I can't believe you didn't take the stroller with you to BB. You were very brave and I'm sure very tired after lugging around a sleeping toddler. I'm sorry you had such an ordeal getting back home and then everything happening once you got back. We had a toilet overflow about 3 years ago and we ended up having to replace all the flooring upstairs. It was a not fun, long process, but the end result is wonderful!

I will never leave the stroller behind again, that is for sure! The toilet issue has been a nightmare; DH is at Urgent Care with DD as we speak cause the hives have spread to her face and neck... Her pediatrician said she should be fine, but to get her checked out any way.

Yay for extending your May trip and YES to celebrating birthdays there! We did DD1's 2nd birthday there and now we are going back for DD2's 2nd birthday! I have also celebrated my birthday there several times and nothing beats a birthday at Disney!

RIGHT! I think 3rd birthday at WDW is awesome; it'll be the last time she's "free"

Oh heavens is your daughter toooooooo cute!!! OMG! i love that age! she is just a giggly little girl! I want to squish her! OHHHHHH Love DD red outfit of being a future CM! How cute is THAT!

She's too much. I have to get some good video of her to post. She has a photographic memory so anything she sees, or hears, she can recall. This is a wonderful skill for learning songs! She knows just about every Disney song, and I swear we don't let her watch a ton of tv.

How did you like Disney character warehouse? Might send you a PM on this..

We liked it! I go to the one down here about once a season. The prices are AMAZING. I got two tall, glass cups for $5 retail was $15 and both the stuffies DD got were $3. The place was a zoo though. If that's the only reason you're going to the outlet mall I'd skip it, but if you want to do some shopping it's worth popping in. The stuff I look for is their seasonal stuff (like the holiday stuff) cause it's always at a HUGE discount. I wish they had more clothing though. Mom got a super cute shirt with Darth Vader riding Dumbo for $12, but they have mostly small sizes, which does not work for me...

Great being able to switch over to cars. it is roomy isn't it?!?! Oops on not bringing a stroller? Let's blame it on the sun?? Yeah that's it!

I love those suites! I want to stay in a Nemo one next time we stay at AoA. That resort is one of my faves!

That stroller will always be with me from now on. Always.



Umm so when would that be???

I totally thought of you cause we'd likely go up the week you were originally going... My nephew's birthday is August 25th and DD's birthday is September 2nd. Depending on SiL we might be up there for Labor Day weekend, 2017. BUT we might go the week before instead, not sure yet though.

 

[Chicago Mo]

NO! i changed my dates! DANG IT!!

 

[toomuchtv]

Following along! We finally booked our trip for next May, but the week after you will be there. My DS will only be 20 months at the time, but we decided we just can't wait. At least my mom will be joining us, if not DH's parents as well. We booked a Little Mermaid room of AoA, partially for the splash pad. We were going to book Pop (which feels like our home), but I think DS will really like the splash pad at AoA.

 

[afwdwfan]

I'm out of the loop. I didn't know they changed anything on the DDP. I guess I'll need to do some more research before we plan our next trip.

I know it's a terrible photo but that's our family with Chef Morimoto himself!! It's a fantastic restaurant, kind of a once in a lifetime thing for us, but it was mom's birthday so we went! If you're able to go. You totally should.

Cool!

We all rested and showered and decided to try to get dinner at Chef Art Smith’s Homecoming in DS.

I've heard good things about this place.

Well it being at 3 pm on a Sunday they were closed, as were the 4 other places I called… We drove the rest of the way on the spare, at 50 mph… Took us about 3 hours instead of 2.

Then, on Monday, my apartment flooded with toilet water so I left work early to help clean it up; we still have the dryers on the carpet from the shampoo job we finished yesterday. To top it all off DD had an allergic reaction to the carpet shampoo and is covered in hives. I stayed home from work today to take her to the doctor. Oye vey. I totally should have just stayed in WDW!

Yikes. What a way to end a vacation.

But in good Disney news we have officially extended our 2017 trip to be from Friday May 5th-Friday May 12th! I'm also very close to convincing DH that we should celebrate DD’s 3rd birthday in WDW!

Awesome!

 

[MissMaryQC]

Following along! We finally booked our trip for next May, but the week after you will be there. My DS will only be 20 months at the time, but we decided we just can't wait. At least my mom will be joining us, if not DH's parents as well. We booked a Little Mermaid room of AoA, partially for the splash pad. We were going to book Pop (which feels like our home), but I think DS will really like the splash pad at AoA.

Well hello and glad to have you aboard!

Oh, I TOTALLY would have taken DD earlier if my hubby would have let me! We love AoA and have stayed there twice now. The very first pool Elora ever swam in was the Cozy Cone. The splash pad is a ton of fun. DD spent a lot of time running through there. My one complaint about the LM rooms is how far they are from the main building. Don't make the mistake I made and be sure to bring your stroller!!

I'm out of the loop. I didn't know they changed anything on the DDP. I guess I'll need to do some more research before we plan our next trip.

Yeah, some pretty serious changes, but they work well for us. They removed the desserts from QS meals, but have added an additional snack per day. I'm planning on eating my weight in Mickey bars

Cool!

Right?! He was so nice. The food is amazing, pricey but really good.

I've heard good things about this place.

Being from South Florida we are geographically very Southern, but not at all culturally. The restaurant was a perfect southern style meal full of comforting, fried goodness! Definitely go next time your in WDW,

Yikes. What a way to end a vacation.

It really only got worse... DD had hand, foot, mouth disease, likely from one of the pools in WDW. It lasted 10 days and my DH got it. We were a mess.

Awesome!

Thanks! I'm excited for the extra night, even though we'll likely check in and just hit the hay after the drive up. Glad to have you here Andy!

 

[afwdwfan]

It really only got worse... DD had hand, foot, mouth disease, likely from one of the pools in WDW. It lasted 10 days and my DH got it. We were a mess.

I got that from DS 4 years ago. It was actually during the Olympics. He had it for a couple of days and I was kind of excited to get to stay home with him for a couple of days and just watch the Olympics. He didn't seem to have a severe case. He had a low fever, a few spots and was over it in just a few days.

Then one evening I came home from work and just felt exhausted. I laid on the floor playing with DD who was only about 3 months old and I fell asleep. I woke up freezing cold and had a 103 degree fever. I caught it from DS and I have never been as miserable as I was with hand, foot and mouth. I ended up being the one in our family to be knocked out with it for about a week and a half. Just brutal. I'm glad that you got past all of that stuff.

Thankfully we didn't share it with DD and DW.

 

[MissMaryQC]

I got that from DS 4 years ago. It was actually during the Olympics. He had it for a couple of days and I was kind of excited to get to stay home with him for a couple of days and just watch the Olympics. He didn't seem to have a severe case. He had a low fever, a few spots and was over it in just a few days.

Then one evening I came home from work and just felt exhausted. I laid on the floor playing with DD who was only about 3 months old and I fell asleep. I woke up freezing cold and had a 103 degree fever. I caught it from DS and I have never been as miserable as I was with hand, foot and mouth. I ended up being the one in our family to be knocked out with it for about a week and a half. Just brutal. I'm glad that you got past all of that stuff.

Thankfully we didn't share it with DD and DW.

Brutal is definitely the word. Lucky that your wife and then little DD were ok. I actually caught it and had no symptoms, but DH was in really bad shape; fever, cold sweats, awful.

The worst part is I had never heard of this illness before! SO the thing took us totally by surprise. We took DD to the Ped cause the rash/reaction wasn't going away after we gave her benedryl. It's an odd illness, for sure!

 

[jmccoy18]

Brutal is definitely the word. Lucky that your wife and then little DD were ok. I actually caught it and had no symptoms, but DH was in really bad shape; fever, cold sweats, awful.

The worst part is I had never heard of this illness before! SO the thing took us totally by surprise. We took DD to the Ped cause the rash/reaction wasn't going away after we gave her benedryl. It's an odd illness, for sure!

DD2 just caught hand foot and mouth on Tuesday. It is no fun. She was miserable with a high fever and her poor throat was covered in blisters. She is starting to feel better, but now we are just trying to make sure DD1 doesn't catch it (or DH and I for that matter!)

 

[Chicago Mo]

I am here and still reading along!

 

[MissMaryQC]

DD2 just caught hand foot and mouth on Tuesday. It is no fun. She was miserable with a high fever and her poor throat was covered in blisters. She is starting to feel better, but now we are just trying to make sure DD1 doesn't catch it (or DH and I for that matter!)

Oh my gosh! Is this what turned into strep?! Poor kiddos. Being sick is rough but being little and sick is worse!

I am here and still reading along!

Yay! Got an update ready to go!

 

[MissMaryQC]

Could time be going any slower?!
​

Hello friends! We just got home from vIsiting family in NC; we drove from our home in south Florida to a small town called Bryson City. It was a good trip, beautiful, as always, and my grandparents are doing well. My one grandmother has Alzeihmers, and although she was in good spirits she got very confused quite a bit. We are in talks for possibly moving up there are running their old house as a Bed and Breakfast for a few years. It would allow DH time to focus on his business, and I could stay home with our daughter. I think the biggest question is do we want to live in such a small town, even just for a few years? Plus, it'd take us away from our parents, all of whom live down here. It's a tough choice, but it is officially on the table!

In Disney news...:


Only 255 days until we head to the World!! I'm so stoked, like omg, I talk bout this trip WAy too often around here; the fella is sick of me.

So I know 75 days seems like a lot, but it's reaaly not for me this time of year. Our nephews birthday is this weekend, then DD's birthday is September 2nd (I can't believe she's almost two!) and we have parties for each child, of course. October marks our favorite holiday, Holloween! We got our decorations out of storage today and spent too much money on new stuff at Michaels. As of now we are going to dress up as Ralph, Vanelopee and Felix from Wreck it Ralph! But DH isn't sold on that one yet...

After Halloween is crazy season at my work, and this year my boss will be out of our store on maternity leave!! I'm scared, like for real. Any who, the point of all this caca is I am now on the fence about my dining choices. We are firmly locked into 4 days in the parks, and only MK and AK (2 days each).

This is my line up for TS meals:

Friday May 5th: arrive, no TS
Sat: Early dinner at T-Rex (they better add this to the 2017 DDP)
Sun: PPO at CP in MK
Mon: Early dinner at 'Ohana after AK
Tues: resort dat, 6 PM HDDMR
Wed: TH dinner (hoping for a RoL package)
Thurs: BoG dinner

BUT as DD is getting bigger her love for the princesses is growing strong; I have seriously watched all 9 of the princess movies we have like 100 times; she's getting Snow Whire for her birthday and Beauty and the Beast for Christmas. CRT is looking like our only option for princess dining since DH is really against another park day, or one less day at AK (it's his favorite park).

I wasn't impressed with CRT for dinner, but I don't want to use two credits on a breakfast. Is CRT worth the OOP payment? Or should I just count on using FP for princess M&Gs instead of trying for another character meal? I thought about dropping BoG, but the dude wants to meet the Beast...

I'm secretly hoping that the RO discounts for Spring 2017 include the extra park ticket like they did in 2016, just so I can take DD to "The one in Epcot I can't pronounce" (that's the offices name, btw) for breakfast! Lol!

TTFN friends, hope you're all doing well!