Oregon to WDW Will Be Quite the Adventure~Going LIVE!!

[DizNee Luver]

Hi Laurie,

Just popping back on as I haven’t been on areas other the the DCL area much. Trying to throw things together for my last minute vacation. Thinking about adding in one WDW day when we get off the ship- the ship comes in on the Saturday, and our flights are first thing on the Monday, so we do have the Sunday totally free. 1 day tickets are INSANE though! I’ve been thinking that we could grab a rental car, head to the DTD area, and was thinking about dong the DVC tour that day as I have read that you can get a $100 GC for doing it (and we have always been interested in the club and would like to see the units) which would help towards the cost of 1 day tickets, if we decided to go for it. DD would thrilled, that’s for sure. We wouldn’t be able to book FP+ ahead though.

I’ve snagged a couple of ADRs just in case…grabbed a BOG breakfast and also a Ohana at 8:00 (I think) although I doubt we will keep the Ohana- I just looked up the prices, and when you convert that to Canadian dollars, yikes!

Is J officially on the trip? That is such awesome news, so happy for you.

Your calendar is awesome! Any chance you can send me the file? We are 30 days away from our cruise and would love to surprise Maria with something like this!

Tickets are spendy....well actually....everything is spendy at Disney. The DVC would be a fun way to get a little spending money. You can apply it towards that Ohana dinner and then pay the difference....won't seem as expensive that way......lol

I PM'd you the link to the calendar pages on FB.

J should be here in the next few weeks, so yes, she's officially going on this trip. I bought her plane ticket & park ticket and she's on all the dining & room reservations.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Well life has thrown us a bit of a curveball but now that we've had a little time to process it, I think it's perfect timing. So what's going on you ask?? My husband has been dealing with a hernia (in the same place he had repaired when he was 22). Occasionally, a little bit pokes out....but he's able to get it to go back in and he continues on. This time it's the size of a baseball and there's no way that's going to take care of itself......so we are waiting on a call from the surgeon. We're hoping he gets in this next week. We still don't have our official approval on the adoption home study but it should come in this coming week. We also don't have a moving date to bring "J" up here. We think that will happen the week of the 20th or 27th. Mike was going to take time off to help get J settled and do this as "family leave". The only hiccup with that was trying to figure out if they were going to make him use his vacation time before he used sick time. If he did that, he wouldn't have the vacation time to cover our week at camp and our WDW trip. So now that he's off work due to the hernia & impending surgery......we don't have to worry about it. So now he's off probably for the next 2 months and he has enough sick pay to cover at least 6 weeks of that.

So if he can have the surgery this upcoming week and we move J up here in the next 2 weeks.......the timing will be perfect.

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Sorry to hear about Mike. You all are in my prayers. I've gone though past trip reports and here are some of my favorite pictures:

I found this hilarious I love Anthony's Nemo shirt

I love this Nick and I would totally get along

I love this off Anthony. My dad has that same shirt

Love this!! My mom and I like the Dodgers while my dad is an Angels fan. I would have been 10 at the time. I went to a Dodgers game in '03

Another good family portrait. I have a shirt similar to Addy's except it's from 2009 and it's black

Love this I think I would get along great with Nick

Awww. I've only seen Brer Bear around, not Fox

Love this!! I love this family shot

I love this of Anthony and Addy. I especially love Anthony's Phineas and Ferb shirt.

I love this of Anthony. I especially LOVE that Nemo shirt

I like this Derek looks handsome holding one twin (sorry, can't tell them apart)

I love this of you and Mike

Love this!! I like how Derek's pose and I love Anthony's shirt too

I love this of the four of them. I have the same shirt as Anthony and I may pack it for the cruise for Pirate night

Nice family shot!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

That was fun reliving those pictures!! Thanks for posting those!!

 

[DnA2010]

Yikes Laurie, I hope you get the calls you need soon!!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Yikes Laurie, I hope you get the calls you need soon!!!

Me too....still waiting!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Ok, Mike's surgery is Thursday and it's day surgery, so no hospital stay!!

I was also able to find an earlier time at Coral Reef Restaurant by switching it to August 10th and doing the Garden Grill on the 16th. So now instead of a 8:15pm dinner, we'll be able to do it at 7:05pm. Which I think will work much better. Our original Garden Grill was a 6:35pm dinner and now is a 6:50pm so it's all good!!

Now I will continue to check on the Be Our Guest reservation. We have an 8:50pm dinner on the 17th and that's pretty late.....so I've been trying to find an earlier time since I set that one. Didn't want to lose out on the ADR so we took the late time. I figure when we get a little closer, there will be people setting their plans in stone and also canceling so I should be able to find a better time.

Still no word on "J"......I'm pretty anxious and would love to know when that's all gonna happen!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Updated after making the 2 restaurant swap at EPCOT:

8/7: Travel day from Oregon, arriving in Orlando at 5:05pm. Will get dinner at Everything Pop at the Pop Century Resort

8/8: Kona Café ~ A mid-morning breakfast at the Polynesian Resort
8/8: Earl of Sandwich ~ Mid-afternoon lunch at Disney Springs (or Downtown Disney)
8/8: Cape May Café ~ Late seafood dinner buffet at the Beach Club Resort

8/9: Everything Pop ~ A grab-n-go breakfast (snack) at the Pop Century Resort
8/9: Casey's Corner ~ Lunch at the Magic Kingdom
8/9: Cinderella's Royal Table ~ Character Dinner in the castle at the Magic Kingdom (this is the day that 3 of the 4 girls are doing the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique)

8/10: Everything Pop ~ A grab-n-go breakfast (snack) at the Pop Century Resort
8/10: Sunshine Seasons ~ Lunch in the Land of EPCOT
8/10: Coral Reef ~ Dinner at the Seas of EPCOT

8/11: Everything Pop ~ A grab-n-go breakfast (snack) at the Pop Century Resort
8/11: 50's Prime Time Café ~ An early lunch at Disney's Hollywood Studios
8/11: Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater ~ Dinner at Disney's Hollywood Studios

8/12: Everything Pop ~ A grab-n-go breakfast (snack) at the Pop Century Resort
8/12: Flame Tree BBQ ~ Lunch at the Animal Kingdom
8/12: Ohana's ~ Late dinner at the Polynesian Resort (hoping to catch the fireworks from the beach)

8/13: 1900 Park Fare ~ Character breakfast at the Grand Floridian Resort
8/13: Everything Pop ~ Lunch at the Pop Century Resort (this is an off day from the parks)
8/13: Boatwright's ~ Dinner at the Port Orlean's Riverside Resort

8/14: Everything Pop ~ A grab-n-go breakfast (snack) at the Pop Century Resort
8/14: Golden Oak Outpost -OR- Peco's Bill's ~ Lunch at the Magic Kingdom
8/14: Crystal Palace ~ Character Dinner at the Magic Kingdom
8/14: Wishes Dessert Party ~ Tomorrowland Terrace at the Magic Kingdom

8/15: Everything Pop ~ A grab-n-go breakfast (snack) at the Pop Century Resort
8/15: Yak & Yati Local Foods ~ Lunch at the Animal Kingdom
8/15: Mara ~ Dinner at the Animal Kingdom Resort

8/16: Everything Pop ~ A grab-n-go breakfast (snack) at the Pop Century Resort
8/16: Liberty Inn ~ Lunch in the American Pavilion at EPCOT
8/16: Garden Grill~ Character Dinner at The Land in EPCOT

8/17: Everything Pop ~ A grab-n-go breakfast (snack) at the Pop Century Resort
8/17: Columbia Harbor House -OR- Cosmic Rays in the Magic Kingdom
8/17: Be Our Guest ~ Late dinner in Beast's castle in the Magic Kingdom

8/18: Everything Pop ~ Last breakfast at the Pop Century Resort
Travel day back to Oregon

 

[Steppesister]

Your dining plan looks so fun. I'm always amazed at how much time and energy goes into making sure you have a nice variety, it's close to where you'll be, places that fit the budget, etc... quite a juggling act for sure.

So many fun pictures- I love looking back and reliving those memories!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Your dining plan looks so fun. I'm always amazed at how much time and energy goes into making sure you have a nice variety, it's close to where you'll be, places that fit the budget, etc... quite a juggling act for sure.

So many fun pictures- I love looking back and reliving those memories!

The dining plan takes the most work, I think.....lol You plan everything else around those special meals!!

I've been looking at some older pictures lately as I switched photos from my old laptop to the new one. Will share some more soon.....Kaitlin just beat me to it.....lol

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Woot!! I love the dining plans. Glad to hear Mike is okay

 

[DizNee Luver]

Woot!! I love the dining plans. Glad to hear Mike is okay

He's definitely sore but this will pass in a few days. Thanks!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

So I got the email I had been waiting for......our Adoption Home Study is complete and will be signed Monday. We are approved to get "J". We are visiting her on Monday. Next step will be to have a Family Meeting where all parties get together to discuss the move to our home. I'm guessing we will have her here with us in 2-3 weeks. Hoping sooner than later.....Shyann tears up when she talks about her.....because she misses her. We all miss her!

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Here are a few I forgot about:

I like this

Cute!!! My sister and I had Monsters Inc Sweatshirts when we were younger. Her's had Sulley and Boo with flowers on it while I had Mike, Sulley and some other monsters.

How cute!! I like how Derek is holding on to Anthony

I forgot to add this in the last post. Nice group picture!! My mom likes the Dodgers and I want to take after her

Hilarious!! DCA opened when I was 5 and I believe the first time I went on I was either 6 or 7

 

[DizNee Luver]

Thanks for sharing more of our past Disney trip memories!!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hello Laurie. I finally caught up again! It looks like your adoption is coming together. I know what a roller coaster this can be. DS and DDIL were finally able to finalize on their 3rd adoption 2 weeks ago. Their family is finally complete. Sorry your DH has to have surgery. Maybe it will be a blessing in disguise with the sick leave situation.

Your plans are looking really great! We're not doing the dining plan so I only had a few meals to plan. We have found with the kids we like to eat more QS and not have so many appointments to keep. With that being said, we are open to less big experiences also.

I hope things continue to go well for the adoption and I hope the surgery gets scheduled quickly.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Hello Laurie. I finally caught up again! It looks like your adoption is coming together. I know what a roller coaster this can be. DS and DDIL were finally able to finalize on their 3rd adoption 2 weeks ago. Their family is finally complete. Sorry your DH has to have surgery. Maybe it will be a blessing in disguise with the sick leave situation.

Your plans are looking really great! We're not doing the dining plan so I only had a few meals to plan. We have found with the kids we like to eat more QS and not have so many appointments to keep. With that being said, we are open to less big experiences also.

I hope things continue to go well for the adoption and I hope the surgery gets scheduled quickly.

Welcome back Tammie!

Congrats to your son & daughter in law!!!! Our approved home study will be signed Monday and we are thrilled!! I'm guessing we'll have "J" here in 2-3 weeks.....hoping it will be on the shorter end of that.

Mike had his hernia surgery on Thursday. He's hurting but it's getting better. They discovered he had a another small one on the other side so they repaired it too. That is actually the side that is hurting the worse.

We're hoping to do the dining plan. I've priced it out and it's pretty even but I find using the plan convenient. I'm not sure when our son will hear about any possible discounts on it, so for now, we wait. I look at the TS meals as a time for the kids to unwind a bit. Since 3 of them are sensory affected, they need that. Of course most of our TS meals probably will just add more sensory challenges........

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Welcome back Tammie!

Congrats to your son & daughter in law!!!! Our approved home study will be signed Monday and we are thrilled!! I'm guessing we'll have "J" here in 2-3 weeks.....hoping it will be on the shorter end of that.

Mike had his hernia surgery on Thursday. He's hurting but it's getting better. They discovered he had a another small one on the other side so they repaired it too. That is actually the side that is hurting the worse.

We're hoping to do the dining plan. I've priced it out and it's pretty even but I find using the plan convenient. I'm not sure when our son will hear about any possible discounts on it, so for now, we wait. I look at the TS meals as a time for the kids to unwind a bit. Since 3 of them are sensory affected, they need that. Of course most of our TS meals probably will just add more sensory challenges........

Thank you! They are precious additions
I hope Mike heals quickly.
Yes, the TS choices can be pretty exciting and out of the ordinary, but you know what will work for your kids. You may be able to ask for a quieter table but still be part of the fun

 

[DizNee Luver]

Thank you! They are precious additions
I hope Mike heals quickly.
Yes, the TS choices can be pretty exciting and out of the ordinary, but you know what will work for your kids. You may be able to ask for a quieter table but still be part of the fun

Mike is a bit better today, last night before bed he said was the worst pain he had ever felt. Today he's standing more upright......now to get the "system" to start working like normal.

I'm hoping the kids can handle all of the stuff they are going to see & experience. We will definitely be keying into their reactions and letting them lead us.

 

[Steppesister]

Congrats on the GREAT news. I think the 2-3 weeks will go quickly with all of the preparations, both physical and emotional. Good to take the lead from the kids.

Glad Mike is healing well, and it sounds like he'll be ready to handle more sooner than later. YAY!