"Honey, I want to see the Gin Blossoms. BTW it's at Epcot." Oct/Dec PTR -Update 11/30

[holleypie]

Congrats on the race! Very impressive.

Have a great trip! Looking forward to reading all about it.

Thanks! I'm sure we're going to have a great time (assuming we all survive the plane ride there)

 

[holleypie]

I just wanted to chime in about Hilton Head--that's our family's regular vacation spot (but we don't stay at the Disney part). Mellow mushroom is good--thick crusts and lots of toppings options (and good things like feta and artichoke hearts). They're a chain pizza place, but not all over the place (I think mostly southeast, although I think there's at least one in Colorado too). We've also enjoyed Skull Creek Boathouse (good seafood, not sure about the vegetarian options). If it's too cold for the beach, there's a lighthouse you can climb in Sea Pines (it's a few dollars a person now--used to be free!)--Sea Pines also costs to get in (I think it's $5/car/day), but some restaurants will validate/repay you that cost if you eat there. Or you can rent kayaks or a pontoon boat (lots of good boating) or bikes--there are fantastic trails all over the island, and many are entirely separate from the road (you still have to cross some intersections, but fewer worries about a careless driver swerving into you). We went one year in December and it was really too cold to spend much time in the ocean, but we still had a fantastic trip.

We also do the Baltimore (well Westminster) to HH drive in one day--we used to go partway one night and then spend the night in a motel and then do the rest the next day, but we found that by getting up early and going in one shot you spend less time sitting in traffic (and you save the cost of that hotel room...).

Thanks for the tips! I've spent pretty much zero time thinking about/planning the HHI portion of the trip, so it's great to hear some ideas. The lighthouse and renting bikes sound like fun. Going out on a boat does too but I don't know if it would be too cold to take the baby on a boat?

 

[holleypie]

I started a travel notebook for our honeymoon trip, and since then I've used it to keep track of our day-by-day vacation plans, and also take notes on what we ultimately end up doing. I don't start printing out our itinerary and pasting things in until we're VERY CLOSE because I'm lazy and I don't want to make changes.

This week, Brian waited until the day after I pasted the itinerary in before he said, "You know, I'm worried we don't have enough time scheduled in Epcot."

I pointed out that we'd kept our last half-day open, and we could go to Epcot then.

"But World Showcase doesn't open until 11 so we wouldn't have much time to walk around before we had to leave for our flight."

UGH. So I got the scissors out and started rearranging. Here's our FINAL (as of now) ITINERARY:

FRIDAY: 8am flight from BWI to MCO. Magical Express to Saratoga Springs Resort. Check in, then hop on a bus to Magic Kingdom. Ride some things in Fantasyland and maybe a few mountains that I had to skip last trip. Around 5pm, head to Epcot. Eat our way around World Showcase to the America Gardens Theatre to catch the Gin Blossoms at 8pm.

SATURDAY: Take the bus to Epcot and do some things around Future World. Uncle Tom and Luke will do whatever they feel like doing while Brian and I have our lunch date at Le Cellier. Afterwards, we'll all take the bus to Animal Kingdom. Maybe head to Downtown Disney afterwards for some shopping or a late dinner.

SUNDAY: Another morning/early afternoon at Epcot hitting whatever Food and Wine booths we haven't made it to yet. We'll most likely all go back to SSR for a nap, then change into our costumes and head to Magic Kingdom at 4pm for MNSSHP.

MONDAY: Take the bus to Hollywood Studios for a few hours. Maybe we'll have breakfast or lunch at Artist Palette if we haven't made it there yet. Magical Express back to the airport at 3pm, and flight home at 6pm.

I'm hoping Luke will be flexible and easygoing and sleep in the stroller, but if not then one of us will take him back to the resort every day for a nap, or cut the night short if he's super cranky.

And now, here's a gratuitous picture of my big boy at the farm last week:

 

[Imagineer5]

It's almost here!! Your cake / cupcakes look fantastic, and that tractor pic is hilarious!! I can't wait to hear how the trip goes

 

[holleypie]

It's almost here!! Your cake / cupcakes look fantastic, and that tractor pic is hilarious!! I can't wait to hear how the trip goes

Thanks! My sister and I made the cupcakes and my friend made the Plants vs Zombies toppers.

Oh, you started your trip report already! Off to read....

 

[holleypie]

Well, we're back from our first trip of the year. There were some fun times, some not-so-fun times, and then some more fun times. I just started a trip report, so feel free to hop on over and read all about it: A Food and Whine Festival Weekend.

 

[Imagineer5]

YAY!! I can't wait to read all about it! Can't believe you're back! Lol your title would have worked perfectly for me too...

 

[holleypie]

As I anticipated, November is flying by. Luke is eleven months old today, and we leave in almost three weeks!

Brian came home from work a few days ago and said, "I was thinking that we could stay an extra two days." Um, okay. Don't have to twist my arm. So we'll be spending Wednesday December 12 and Thursday December 13 at Wyndham Lake Buena Vista which is across from Downtown Disney.

Here's what our spreadsheet currently looks like, although our final plan may not resemble this in the slightest.

Saturday 1st: Leave early and drive to Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort. It's an 11 hour drive, so factoring in stops we'll probably get there so late that we'll just check in and go to sleep.

Sunday 2nd: Explore Hilton Head. We haven't made any dining plans, but some contenders are Giuseppe's for pizza, Kingfisher (because I heard they have a Bailey's cheesecake!), and Skull Creek Boathouse.

Monday 3rd: Leave Hilton Head, drive to WDW, and check into Animal Kingdom Lodge. Go to Magic Kingdom and have dinner at Columbia Harbor House.

Tuesday 4th: Animal Kingdom. Lunch at Restaurantosaurus. Dinner at Giordano's. Spend the evening touring the monorail resorts to check out the Christmas decorations.

Wednesday 5th: Epcot. Go to Downtown Disney in the evening and have dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express.

Thursday 6th: ADR at Boma for my birthday breakfast. Meet my parents at Downtown Disney for lunch or maybe just cake, depending on how hungry we are. (I joined Earl of Sandwich's e-club so I should get a free sandwich for my birthday!) Then off to Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Dinner at Pecos Bill.

Friday 7th: DHS with the family. Starring Rolls for breakfast. Leave Luke with my parents and head over to Epcot for my (belated) birthday dinner at Le Chefs de France. EMH at Epcot.

Saturday 8th: ADR at 1900 Park Fare for Luke's birthday breakfast. MK. Lunch at Be Our Guest. Captain Cook's for dinner and cake.

Sunday 9th: Animal Kingdom. Brian wants Flametree BBQ for lunch. Whispering Canyon for dinner.

Monday 10th: Flippers for lunch! DHS in the afternoon/evening.

Tuesday 11th: Magic Kingdom. Lunch at Tortuga Tavern. DVC Merry Mixer that evening at Epcot.

Wednesday 12th: Check out of AKL and check into Wyndham. Welcome Home Wednesday and then tour the Boardwalk resorts.

Thursday 13th: I don't know. Brian left the spreadsheet blank. The Wyndham has a character breakfast with Goofy and Pluto that is supposed to be reasonably priced, so maybe we'll do that.

Friday 14th: Check out and drive home!

After our October mini-trip, I had the brilliant idea to let each of us have a "night out" while the other person stays at the resort with Luke. I don't know if Brian has given it any thought, but I have no idea what I want to do (well...I want to do everything).

 

[holleypie]

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving! (Or a lovely Thursday if you were having one of those instead)

We go to my mother-in-law's house every year for Thanksgiving dinner. It's only an hour drive, but there are THREE rest stops between here and there. The last one, Delaware House, used to be my all-time favorite, but all of the rest stops have been under renovations lately, and DH no longer has the Sbarro/Nathan's combo that I loved. So sad.

Fortunately, I've found a new favorite.

We were about four miles from the Chesapeake House rest stop when we passed one of those signs that tells you what restaurants are coming up.

I told Brian, "This sounds crazy, but I think I just saw a sign for Earl of Sandwich."

About two miles later I saw another one. "SEE! It says Earl of Sandwich!"

"Are you sure you weren't hallucinating?"

"I have my glasses on."

"So you're sure it wasn't a chicken nugget?"

Sadly, these weren't ridiculous questions. A few years ago, I was driving home from Atlantic City really early in the morning, and I saw a billboard with a beautiful picture of Belle and the Beast dancing, kind of like this:

I thought it was an ad for Disney on Ice or something. But then as I got closer I saw that the billboard actually looked like this:

It was an ad for McDonald's chicken nuggets. No Belle. No Beast. Just chicken nuggets. I wear glasses now.

Obviously we had to pull over and investigate.

It certainly looked like the same Earl of Sandwich logo.

It really was Earl of Sandwich!

The menu didn't look as extensive as the Downtown Disney location, but I didn't bother asking if they had more options than were pictured on the sign.

After we talked about EOS for a few minutes, Brian asked, "Are you ready to go?"

"Uh, no! I want a sandwich!"

"We're going to eat at my mom's house."

"I can't not get a sandwich!"

"Fine. Stop taking pictures like a nerd and get in line."

I didn't see the All American on the menu, so I ordered the Full Montagu. ("And this is going to sound stupid, but can I get the meat on the side?")

I ate it in the car and then, yes, I did eat all of my Thanksgiving dinner.

It's only about 35 minutes from our house. But, here's the sad part: My mother-in-law just bought a house in Illinois so this was one of the last times, if not the LAST time, we'll be visiting her in Delaware.

Here are some bonus pictures of my adorable son cruising around sans pants after dinner:

 

[holleypie]

When we first started planning this trip, I wasn't sure which park I wanted to do on my birthday. Then my family decided to come down for a few days and wanted to do the MVMCP with us, and we could only get our DVC discount for the 6th, so the decision was pretty much made for me. But then my mom bought the tickets on her own without letting us know so we didn't even get the discount, and now with the whole New Fantasyland opening on that day I wish we weren't going to be anywhere near Magic Kingdom at all...but that's beside the point. ANYWAY. Before all of that happened, I pondered it for awhile, and I came up with a great idea. I thought it would be so fun to visit ALL FOUR PARKS that day, and make a list of my top 30 favorite Disney things to do, to celebrate turning 30.

There were only two problems with this idea:

1. Luke is a pretty easygoing baby, but visiting all four parks (and probably Downtown Disney) would make for a LONG day.

2. I am not actually turning 30 this year.

Yeah...I'll only be 29. Darn. "29 favorite things to celebrate turning 29" just doesn't sound as exciting. So Brian suggested I could do 29 for me and 1 for Luke. That works! And I realized that tackling 30 things in one day was ridiculous, so I could just do them over the course of the entire vacation.

This list has changed a lot over the last few months. At first it was mostly favorite rides, favorite foods, and things I wanted to buy. Now it is mostly a few favorite things plus special Christmasy stuff. I have a terrible habit of being overambitious, but I think this list is pretty doable.

ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE:
1. Drink some hot cocoa and enjoy the savanna view from our balcony.
2. Relax in the hot tub.
3. Boma birthday breakfast!
4. Get a caricature of Luke drawn.

ANIMAL KINGDOM:
5. Get a picture with the characters in their Christmas outfits.

DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS:
6. Ride Tower of Terror as many times as possible. Hopefully once with my wee siblings.
7. See the Osborne Lights.
8. Get a picture with Santa Goofy.

MAGIC KINGDOM:
9. Get Luke's first haircut at the barbershop.
10. Get a group picture in front of the castle.
11. Get a picture with Mickey and Minnie at MVMCP.
12. Get a picture with Scrooge McDuck at MVMCP.
13. Watch Wishes at MVMCP
14. Watch the MVMCP parade

EPCOT:
15. Ride the new Test Track.
16. Get a picture with Duffy in his Christmas outfit.
17. See at least one of the holiday storytellers.
18. Watch Illuminations.
19. (Late) birthday dinner at Chefs de France.
20. Attend the DVC Merry Mixer
21. Get a free Visa card picture.

DOWNTOWN DISNEY:
22. Get my free birthday sandwich at Earl of Sandwich.
23. Eat at Wolfgang Puck Express.

OTHER:
24. Have a Lapu Lapu at the Polynesian
25. Take Luke to meet Santa Claus (at MVMCP or Downtown Disney or even Epcot)
26. Fill out a comment card for a great CM. Because I never have, and it's nice to be nice.
27. Tour the monorail resorts and check out the Christmas decorations.
28. Tour the Boardwalk resorts and check out the Christmas decorations.
29. Visit Wilderness Lodge to check out the Christmas decorations.
30. Send postcards to some special people.

We'll see how many I actually accomplish!

In related news, I have a love/hate relationship with twitter and I just signed up again. I figured out how to tweet and post pictures from my phone, so I'll likely update from Disney. I'm @holleypie.

We're leaving tomorrow morning around 5 (or earlier if Luke wakes up before then) so I need to get off the computer and finish tackling my to-do list.

(PS: 200 posts!)

 

[holleypie]

Just wanted to say that the trip is over and we had a GREAT time.

I started the trip report here: The Twelve Days of Disney.