"I"m Only Going Because My Teacher Told Me To" Nov. 2016 PTR * update 12/2 TRIP REPORT STARTED! *

[amalone1013]

Lots of helpful information for a newbie Thanks! I mainly got the card because they had a $200 gift card sign up bonus - free honeymoon money We're trying to fit in a planning trip for the wedding so we can see everything in person. If we go, though, I think APs work out better than buying tickets for that trip plus honeymoon... Plus a reason for another trip before they expire, right??

As for dessert, if it's chocolate I'll try it - as long as there's no weird fruit... I'm not a fruity dessert fan.

You reports are awesome - helps me get some ideas of the trip process, plus most importantly - where should we eat! We have almost two weeks for the honeymoon, so I'm hoping to mesh together/slow down our commando touring with nice meals and a bit of relaxing...

 

[kastoney]

Avocado margarita, checked off my list! The best part of this-and believe me, everything about it was good-is that you get your veggies with it

So glad you finally got to try this and enjoyed it. Spoiler alert, we at at San Angel this trip too but our margaritas were not as good as usual. Such a bummer, but like you said at least there were veggies involved

We continued on, getting lucky by running in to one of those wonderful character trainings by the American pavilion! I'm pretty comfortable meeting fur characters by myself but face characters not as much; I'm a dork and never can think of anything clever to say. I just felt bad hugging these guys given how grossly sweaty I was

This is awesome!!!!!!! I of course only read about this area for the first time after we got back. I'm sure there would have been some there had we been smart enough to look

We look like we disgust each other, right? Well first of all this guy was spot-on Capt. Jack with everyone. Now when we got in line the CM with him told me I couldn't bring my drink up when I met him, so as I walked up to Johnny - oops! Jack - I downed what was left of my slush and handed the empty cup to Steve. Capt. Jack saw this and asked why I drank all the rum......anyway the whole interaction was perfect.

Wow, even better surprise!!!!!!!!! How cool to meet Johnny/Jack.

We also noticed that back in the corner of France, not far from where Aurora meets, the Stepsisters were meeting. I realized both they and .Jack Sparrow were training for the MNSSHP's starting in a couple days.

How was I clueless to all things getting ready for MNSSHP!!!! The only one we saw was snow white in front of figment.

If the line isn't long for GMR we might try getting on there; we'll have to do it at least once because Chris loves it and given the rumors about it possibly going away, who knows if it'll be around the next time he's there The park does open at 8 so we might already be looking at a long line for GMR; if so, watching the Muppets is always an option!

WHAT????????????? I had not heard these rumors. Casey would be devastated. What are they saying?

If we didn't do GMR earlier I'll have tried to get a 4th FP after our 3rd and if we did ride it, I'll try for either another TSMM or ToT.

We had great luck with this last trip. We went from Epcot to MGM a few times and were able to get 4th (or really 2nd because we only used one at Epcot, thanks tiering system) fast passes at both TSM and GMR.

Narcoossee's lobster mac n cheese

I have to figure out transportation to Narcoossee's too; last year from BWV we took a bus from there to MK and then the monorail to GF and the same back, and it worked fine so we'll probably do the same thing unless we feel like walking through Epcot to the bus there and going right to GF.

FYI - if you bus to MK, the boat to GF tends to be faster on the way there since the monorail is going in the opposite direction

 

[fallonkendra]

We did happen upon the Vikings in Norway, and since they're new since our last trip we followed them a bit. First they were messing around with a young(ish) girl. Then they started walking back toward the FEA ride and a bunch of kids/people were following them, including a family with a young girl in a wheelchair The Vikings noticed her and went up to her. She had one of those dolls you flip around and each side has a princess, this one being Anna and Elsa. The Vikings don't talk they just grunt to each other. One took the doll, did an "abracadabra" thing and flipped the doll. The other Viking grunted and acted like he was fascinated with it, which thrilled the little girl. They did this a couple times and then took a picture with her, even pushing her wheelchair into a better picture position and then pretending to run away with her after. She loved it and the reason I wrote all this out is because 1. when I first heard about the Vikings being out I thought it sounded dumb but they're not, and 2. they made this little girls day and it was great to see.

This is adorable! What a great thing to witness!

I downed what was left of my slush and handed the empty cup to Steve. Capt. Jack saw this and asked why I drank all the rum

Too funny!

Last but not least, in the morning we were the only ones in the lobby when we initially headed down; not even any staff except one lone maintenance guy. I walked up to the 2nd level and took these 2 shots looking down; might be a bit boring but I thought they were kind of cool:

Beautiful pictures!

 

[Saphire5742]

Almost missed your last day update from August.

I think yours is the 3rd or 4th report I've been reading recently who mentioned running into character training. And you got a pretty great one too. I will definitely be planning more Epcot days the next time so hopefully I can run into some as well.
Love the interaction with the Captain. That's hilarious!

Also love all your character photos

 

[ariane37]

Lots of helpful information for a newbie Thanks! I mainly got the card because they had a $200 gift card sign up bonus - free honeymoon money We're trying to fit in a planning trip for the wedding so we can see everything in person. If we go, though, I think APs work out better than buying tickets for that trip plus honeymoon... Plus a reason for another trip before they expire, right??

As for dessert, if it's chocolate I'll try it - as long as there's no weird fruit... I'm not a fruity dessert fan.

You reports are awesome - helps me get some ideas of the trip process, plus most importantly - where should we eat! We have almost two weeks for the honeymoon, so I'm hoping to mesh together/slow down our commando touring with nice meals and a bit of relaxing...

If you're going to do 2 WDW trips within a year, and spend at least 10-11 days in the parks, then yes getting AP's would work out best. This is our 2nd year getting them and it truly is a deal! Plus I feel really cool walking around with the "AP" slider on my MB
AH, I would love to have a 2 week trip! You should definitely be able to go at a more relaxed pace. Maybe do a couple commando days and then a couple rest days, then commando, then rest. You have lots of ways you can do it!

I'm with you on chocolate, I'll eat pretty much anything with chocolate in it. The only fruit in a dessert I like is raspberry sauce lol. I'll eat apple cobbler too even though there's no chocolate because you know, there's cobbler and ice cream

This is adorable! What a great thing to witness!

I love seeing things like that with kids involved!

Almost missed your last day update from August.

I think yours is the 3rd or 4th report I've been reading recently who mentioned running into character training. And you got a pretty great one too. I will definitely be planning more Epcot days the next time so hopefully I can run into some as well.
Love the interaction with the Captain. That's hilarious!

Also love all your character photos

We've been lucky and have run into the character training on our last 3 trips. We also have an advantage when we stay at an Epcot resort, because they do character trainings right at the IG entrance and we're entering and leaving through there so much. On your next trip I'd get a drink and keep walking back and forth in front of the American pavilion until you catch it lol!

 

[ariane37]

This is awesome!!!!!!! I of course only read about this area for the first time after we got back. I'm sure there would have been some there had we been smart enough to look

How was I clueless to all things getting ready for MNSSHP!!!! The only one we saw was snow white in front of figment.


WHAT????????????? I had not heard these rumors. Casey would be devastated. What are they saying?


We had great luck with this last trip. We went from Epcot to MGM a few times and were able to get 4th (or really 2nd because we only used one at Epcot, thanks tiering system) fast passes at both TSM and GMR.

FYI - if you bus to MK, the boat to GF tends to be faster on the way there since the monorail is going in the opposite direction

Steve is very good at spotting all the character trainings that go on at Epcot. He always points them out to me whether they're happening at the American pavilion or down at the IG-partly because if we're on the bridge by France I can't see well enough to tell who's down by the entrance.......but yes, you have to keep a lookout next time! And I didn't even think about MNSSHP trainings until we saw Jack and the stepsisters. Some things have to be right smack in front of me before I can put 2 and 2 together

So the GMR rumors: they're saying it's closing sometime in 2017 for some type of Mickey Mouse roller coaster I think there's a whole thread about it over on the rumors forum, or at least there was a month or so ago. I know lots if people think it's outdated and won't fit in the "new" HS. But since I'm a fan of the "old" HS (that would be MGM, Kari ) I think it should stay with little change. As far as I know it hasn't been 100% confirmed but I haven't checked the thread lately. So that's why I want to make sure Chris rides it at least once next month. Hopefully it's still there for Casey's next trip!

We had good luck getting additional FP's in January and a couple in August, but Thanksgiving week was a whole different ballgame And you couldn't book from your phone yet then either, so I don't know if that'll make it better or worse. We'll see. But that's one reason I'm making everyone do more RD's this Nov. than last Nov. If they get mad I have no problem going about the day on my own!

 

[ariane37]

HAPPY OCTOBER!!​

Now is the time I start to get excited-when I can say we're going to Disney next month! 46 days to go and while the closer it gets the slower it goes for some, I know it'll go fast for me. I did some MB work yesterday, ordering Ricky's Sorcerer Mickey band from the Disney Store and customizing Christopher's on MDE, even though I have until the 19th. He decided he no longer wants the Stitch one and instead is going with a plain yellow one. I also declined bands for Steve and I this trip since we just got our AP bands-purple for me and red for Steve. Plus we have SO MANY BANDS........

And since yesterday was a nice day, I put out my fall/Halloween decorations and got my pumpkins all set:



Creative, aren't I? LOL actually I am the least creative person on the planet so Steve used to always carve pumpkins with the kids. Now since the boys no longer care about carving them, I do what I want, and I thought these Mr. Potato head-like pieces were cute!

Oh, and Saturday night Ricky went to his first Homecoming dance. When I saw him all dressed up I got tears in my eyes I really don't like him growing up!






DAY 3, 11/21
Epcot
Unlike yesterday, today will definitely be an "up n at'em" day. We're spending pretty much the whole day at Epcot, starting off with Chris's meal request: an 8:05 PPO breakfast at GG:



We did this last year and the food was great! We did have a small issue with the characters, as in Mickey and Pluto never made it to our table. We were one of the very last seatings, 10:15 and the last is 10:30, and they skipped us. But we were given a "golden" FP for character spot so it all worked out. I'm hoping and assuming that with one of the first seatings of the morning we won't have that issue again.
Right after we eat I'd like to try making it to Soarin since I didn't get a FP for it. The kids don't care if we ride it or not. It's not a favorite of Steve or I but since it's new I want to see it. Then since we're in the land we'll most likely take a ride on LTWL.
FP
Test Track 11:00
SE 12:20
We'll spend the morning in FW. Chris has requested looking around the Seas building because we only rode Nemo last Nov. and walked out. I'd like to do Turtle Talk since they've added some characters from Finding Dory I also want to try catching these guys because we've never watched them:



The Jammitors! I figure we'll hit TT towards the end of our window and then do SE. We may or may not need the FP for it; I've seen wait times go up to 30 and 40 minutes and the kids both like the ride, Chris will definitely ask to ride it so I think I'd rather have the FP.

Unless there's something else they want to do we'll go over to WS once we're done with our FP's. Not sure what we'll do for lunch: I myself will probably get a snack or two and a or two! I skipped my favorite snack in August so I may go right for it when we hit WS so I don't miss out on it again:



School Bread from Norway!! Ricky and Chris may need more than a snack so will most likely get something from Liberty Inn, and Steve could go either way. I figure it'll be at least 1:30 when we get to FW and we have a dinner ADR at 6, so we won't want to be too full. As for what else we'll do today in WS - not sure. I want to do the American Adventure but think I'd rather wait until our next Epcot day, as that's Black Friday and it'll be busier so sitting in an attraction that holds lots of people will work well. We do enjoy lots of the WS entertainment and there's 2 newer acts I missed out on in August, Germany and Morocco. Unfortunately only the one in Germany performs on Mondays so Morocco will have to wait, too. Margaret Almer and the something-something-something lol, has performances at 2:10 and 3:10 so we may be able to catch one of them. But if we don't, just walking around after riding a decent amount of rides in FW will be good enough for me, especially since we'll be exiting through IG anyway to get back to our resort.
Then, depending on what time it is, will the boys swim? Maybe go see the holiday decor at the Dolphin, YC or BW? Whatever the case we'll change into our fancy-people clothes for our Il Mulino dinner, which I CANNOT WAIT FOR!!!!!!
We'll probably be done by 7:30, a little before 8 the latest. Right now HS closes at 7 and Epcot at 9 so I doubt we'll go back to a park unless they extend the hours at HS. I know I said this about our first night, but a stroll around the BW again after dinner would be great. This is one of the things that is a plus about staying at an Epcot resort: besides the cool pool you have a number of resorts to visit, 2 parks to walk to, plus the outdoor fun. What we've found on our previous stays in this area is that certain performers work certain nights, so there's a good chance at least 1 or 2 of the performers tonight would be different from Sat. And, we're done!

 

[LadyD]

That dessert at Narcoossee's looks AMAZING!!!! YUM!! We might just have to try that when we're there...

I hope you are able to fit in GMR and standby isn't too long. I really enjoy that ride, and the rumors swirling about it disappearing soon are making me really nervous. Hopefully they just stay rumors for a while longer.

Our trip isn't for another 21 days, and I'm already thinking about our next trip in May 2017 as well haha. F&G is a great excuse to go and visit again. I've never been to WDW for F&G, but it looks really pretty and I hear great things about visiting that time of year Having the APs definitely does encourage you to make a few more trips to really get your money worth.

 

[kittylady1972]

GREAT EPCOT plans. I hear so much about the school bread that I think I may have to finally try it this next trip if possible. It's not chocolate...and we usually make at least a stop at the Karamell-Kuche each trip for that...but maybe we can try both.

I love walked around the BW area also. We did this several trips ago so it's been a while, but we stopped to watch a juggler and both my son and my nephew at some point ended up helping it out. I still laugh when I think about the video with my son helping the guy because it was so funny.

Don't forget to use your AP for 10% and 20% savings at all those food places. I think that's totally going to add up to a big savings for us this trip!

 

[absolutmey]

Love the pumpkins!

 

[Raeven]

I can't wait to get our AP bands!

I hope you have better luck at the Garden Grill this time. I'm still sad we had to cancel that one and couldn't fit it back into our plans.

I'm making an ADR for Il Mulino when our next date comes around though, your reviews convinced me.

 

[Jfsag123]

I LOVE your pumpkins! And omg, Ricky looks so grown up in his homecoming outfit. I'm sure you are a proud mama!

Loving your plans so far, though the photo of the BC Marketplace made me a little sad lol. I miss it! I have been conflicted on trying the schoolbread because it always looked kind of dense and chewy to me in photos, but it sounds like you would recommend it?

PPO GG is great! That's on our list again too. As is some extra time looking around The Seas pavilion for the same reason you mentioned - kiddo request because we rushed through last time. Happy October! I'm excited for you that your trip is so close! And as for your next one, well you could join me and @ArielSRL in early June. Then you could potentially join in on the sure-to-be-exciting rollercoaster that will be waiting to figure out if Pandora will be open or not. Woohoo!

 

[kastoney]

And since yesterday was a nice day, I put out my fall/Halloween decorations and got my pumpkins all set:

Love, love, love these! And because we aren't similar enough we are apparently cut from the same creative/craft cloth. It's all Jason in our house. I can't even draw a stick figure without it looking funny

Epcot
Unlike yesterday, today will definitely be an "up n at'em" day. We're spending pretty much the whole day at Epcot, starting off with Chris's meal request: an 8:05 PPO breakfast at GG:

Hope you guys actually get to see the characters this time. And good you are going early. We had a heck of a time cause our reservation was late so the food was a bit overcooked. But of course they have bloody mary's ; )

Right after we eat I'd like to try making it to Soarin since I didn't get a FP for it. The kids don't care if we ride it or not. It's not a favorite of Steve or I but since it's new I want to see it. Then since we're in the land we'll most likely take a ride on LTWL.

Or maybe we aren't alike after all ; ) How can you not love Soarin'!!!! One of our favs and the new movie is amazing!!!!!!!!

Unless there's something else they want to do we'll go over to WS once we're done with our FP's. Not sure what we'll do for lunch: I myself will probably get a snack or two and a or two! I skipped my favorite snack in August so I may go right for it when we hit WS so I don't miss out on it again:

Do I hear angels' singing somewhere ; ) My fav too. Though we had a heck of a line when we had one last month. Not sure if the word is finally out or if I can blame Anna and Elsa for yet another disney catastrophe

Whatever the case we'll change into our fancy-people clothes for our Il Mulino dinner, which I CANNOT WAIT FOR!!!!!!

Wow, you clearly loved your dinner there. Can't wait to hear all about it

 

[Saphire5742]

And since yesterday was a nice day, I put out my fall/Halloween decorations and got my pumpkins all set:

Too freaking cute! LOVE!!!!!!

Now since the boys no longer care about carving them, I do what I want, and I thought these Mr. Potato head-like pieces were cute!

I'll take these over a carved pumpkin anyday! Unless of course it was a Disney themed one. But this is a brilliant solution if carving is not an option.

ETA- After posting my reply I just had to google pics of Disney themed pumpkins. Wow! There are some pretty talented people out there.

I really liked this one:

and this one:

Those 2 are particularly scary/sinister ones.

And one that I think you'll appreciate. Simple, minimal carving but the embellishments are really what make it stand out (plus it appeals to the princess in me):

 

[ArielSRL]

Omg, I can't believe I never responded to your 9/30 update. I remember reading it....oops.

Yay on working on the next trip! Definitely keep us all updated!

Sounds like a good morning plan. And of course, a great plan for ToT! I think you mentioned it is one of your faves...mine, too!

I hope MM is good. I've eaten there but it's been since 2007 (Mom and I took a Girls' Trip). I hope you get to see BaTB. We missed it this past June and I seriously doubt it goes on the list for next June as I'll probably be overruled by the 3 boys. I'm sure you completely understand!

That lobster mac-n-cheese looks divine! One day, one day....

 

[ArielSRL]

Great pumpkins! We do the same here as I have a Mike Waszoski set! Yes, super talented here, too!

Ricky looks very handsome in his Homecoming Night photos. Eek...I have no idea what I'll do when AJ is that age. He is turning five on Sunday and I have no idea how that even happened.

Love the ppo GG plans. I toyed with it myself but because we will need to do RS I can split our FPs between Soarin and Test Track (and I very well may be the only one on TT anyway), and we will all do Frozen on another morning Epcot day. But we will do a GG ADR, however it will probably be closer to 10ish.

Snacking and drinking around the world sound wonderful! Another thing we didn't get to in June. We planned 1.5 days but only made .5 days so we need a bit more Epcot time next trip!

I hope Il Mulino is as good this trip as last!

 

[ariane37]

I hope you are able to fit in GMR and standby isn't too long. I really enjoy that ride, and the rumors swirling about it disappearing soon are making me really nervous. Hopefully they just stay rumors for a while longer.

Our trip isn't for another 21 days, and I'm already thinking about our next trip in May 2017 as well haha. F&G is a great excuse to go and visit again. I've never been to WDW for F&G, but it looks really pretty and I hear great things about visiting that time of year Having the APs definitely does encourage you to make a few more trips to really get your money worth.

I need to go back over to the Rumors thread and catch up on what they're saying about GMR Last time I read it I got the feeling it would be later in 2017 if it happened at all, but you just never know with that park, unfortunately.
Ha, yes AP's definitely encourage spending! We'll have gotten our $$'s worth between Aug. and next months' trips, but hey since we got them, it just seems......WRONG not to take at least 1 more trip, right???

GREAT EPCOT plans. I hear so much about the school bread that I think I may have to finally try it this next trip if possible. It's not chocolate...and we usually make at least a stop at the Karamell-Kuche each trip for that...but maybe we can try both.

Don't forget to use your AP for 10% and 20% savings at all those food places. I think that's totally going to add up to a big savings for us this trip!

You've never had School Bread Oh, you MUST remedy that next month without fail! It's pretty much one of like, two or three things in WDW that I consider worthwhile eating that's NOT chocolate lol! And I see no problem getting that and something at Karamell-Kuche, too, after all, you're on vacation

I'm so excited about the added savings at the food places! I checked out the list and we're actually hitting a good # of the places offering the 20%, including Beachclub Marketplace which is really going to work out well for us I think.

Love the pumpkins!

Thank you

I hope you have better luck at the Garden Grill this time. I'm still sad we had to cancel that one and couldn't fit it back into our plans.

I'm making an ADR for Il Mulino when our next date comes around though, your reviews convinced me.

OK I looked at your Dec. ADR's earlier this afternoon but didn't comment yet, now I have to go back and see if Il Mulino is on there.......
I'm like, 100% positive we'll have better luck with the characters this year at GG. And honestly Ricky would be fine even if the characters missed us again, and Chris probably wouldn't be too upset. It would mostly be me missing Farmer Mickey

 

[ariane37]

I LOVE your pumpkins! And omg, Ricky looks so grown up in his homecoming outfit. I'm sure you are a proud mama!

Thanks! I am pretty proud, he's cute and also a pretty good kid. But it's very sad to see them grow up and like everyone says, it goes waaaaaay too quickly!

Loving your plans so far, though the photo of the BC Marketplace made me a little sad lol. I miss it! I have been conflicted on trying the schoolbread because it always looked kind of dense and chewy to me in photos, but it sounds like you would recommend it?

LOL since our stay at WL in August I get sad every time I read about someone's stay there or upcoming stay. I hope we fall in love with BC just as much!
Oh, BOY do I recommend the School Bread It's actually not dense at all and not chewy - if anything the outside can be a bit dry but the inside is more moist, but not quite as moist as a donut. You have to like coconut though b/c there's toasted coconut on the outside as well as some of the cardamom cream (it's also inside). I used to think it was just a less-sweet Bavarian cream, but it's not lol. It's the same consistency though. My one complaint is that I wish they'd put more cream inside so you could get some with every single bite, which used to be my complaint about jelly donuts!

PPO GG is great! That's on our list again too. As is some extra time looking around The Seas pavilion for the same reason you mentioned - kiddo request because we rushed through last time. Happy October! I'm excited for you that your trip is so close! And as for your next one, well you could join me and @ArielSRL in early June. Then you could potentially join in on the sure-to-be-exciting rollercoaster that will be waiting to figure out if Pandora will be open or not. Woohoo!

We're down to.....43 days today?? I would absolutely love to go in early June with you and Renee @ArielSRL! Unfortunately the schools here don't get out until late June so the boys couldn't come. Ricky will start his Regents exams the 2nd week in June and while it's tempting to go meet you guys just Steve and I, I think I need to be here to oversee the studying.......otherwise, we would be there And OMG I can't even think about Pandora now that we have the possibility of ROL being open for our trip!! I'm going to have to keep a careful watch and then maybe switch plans up at the last minute!

Love, love, love these! And because we aren't similar enough we are apparently cut from the same creative/craft cloth. It's all Jason in our house. I can't even draw a stick figure without it looking funny

Well then tell Jason to get ready for all the school projects coming his way You need to be an award-winning artist for what these kids are assigned to put together After 1st grade the boys knew to take all project assignment right to their dad.

Or maybe we aren't alike after all ; ) How can you not love Soarin'!!!! One of our favs and the new movie is amazing!!!!!!!!

OK wait, wait! It's not really that I don't like it; I get motion sick on it I have to keep my eyes shut the whole time and if I open them I get nauseous so I just can't really enjoy it. I'll still most likely do it at some point to say I've done it, I just won't feel well for about 30 mints after. Happy now???!!

Do I hear angels' singing somewhere ; ) My fav too. Though we had a heck of a line when we had one last month. Not sure if the word is finally out or if I can blame Anna and Elsa for yet another disney catastrophe

Ugh, then I'm guaranteed to have a horrific line Thanksgiving week. And I bet it is Anna and Elsa's fault They wait on line so long for FEA and then do the M&G, and are starving when they're done so they mosey over to my bakeri for some Norwegian goodness!

Wow, you clearly loved your dinner there. Can't wait to hear all about it

Um, well then you better get back over to my dining report because I wrote about it awhile ago and it appears you skipped right over it!!!
I want to hear what you thought about your meal there, too. Any idea when I may get to read that

I'll take these over a carved pumpkin anyday! Unless of course it was a Disney themed one. But this is a brilliant solution if carving is not an option.

Steve actually carved a Disney-themed pumpkin for me a few years back, Cinderella's pumpkin coach He did it from a stencil he found online. It really wasn't half bad!

ETA- After posting my reply I just had to google pics of Disney themed pumpkins. Wow! There are some pretty talented people out there.

Holy Moly these first 2 carved ones are incredible! I love the Old Hag! Also the Cinderella one with all the little props; that one is super creative. Thanks for sharing them!

 

[Raeven]

OK I looked at your Dec. ADR's earlier this afternoon but didn't comment yet, now I have to go back and see if Il Mulino is on there......

Il Mulino wouldn't be till our May trip. I love Italian food and that trip is for my birthday so it's perfect! We can make those ADRs next month.

 

[ariane37]

Omg, I can't believe I never responded to your 9/30 update. I remember reading it....oops.

Yay on working on the next trip! Definitely keep us all updated!

Sounds like a good morning plan. And of course, a great plan for ToT! I think you mentioned it is one of your faves...mine, too!

I hope MM is good. I've eaten there but it's been since 2007 (Mom and I took a Girls' Trip). I hope you get to see BaTB. We missed it this past June and I seriously doubt it goes on the list for next June as I'll probably be overruled by the 3 boys. I'm sure you completely understand!

That lobster mac-n-cheese looks divine! One day, one day....

Yes, TOT is my absolute favorite! I'm so glad as of now they don't have any plans to do the Guardians of the Galaxy thing to it at WDW I know the actual ride would stay the same but the theming is such a huge part of why I love it.

Lol I know all about being overruled by 3 boys! Wait until the kids are a little older and then use "mommy guilt". I got princess meals, a stay in an AoA LM room and the Lady Tremaine M&G last year all with mommy guilt!

Great pumpkins! We do the same here as I have a Mike Waszoski set! Yes, super talented here, too!

Ricky looks very handsome in his Homecoming Night photos. Eek...I have no idea what I'll do when AJ is that age. He is turning five on Sunday and I have no idea how that even happened.

Snacking and drinking around the world sound wonderful! Another thing we didn't get to in June. We planned 1.5 days but only made .5 days so we need a bit more Epcot time next trip!

Thanks! I didn't see Mike Waszowski but I would have bought him if I did. Besides Mickey and Minnie they had Darth Vader and the dog from Paw Patrol. At least we're creative enough to stick Mr. Potato head pieces in fruit!

Stop thinking about AJ being a teenager right now, because it's depressing Enjoy his 5th birthday today and just keep wishing the years move slowly

You definitely need more Epcot time next year! And I have a feeling your plans will stay more on track than they did this year and you'll get more done