Thanksgiving with Mickey again...a November 2016 TRIP REPORT! (DONE)

[ariane37]

Nice change leaving earlier Friday! We're one of the districts that always only has Wed-Fri off for Thanksgiving, so my kids will be missing 2 days this year as they did last year. Ricky was in 8th and while he thought it was a bit of a pain making up a science lab, that was it. Now that he's in high school he's a little concerned but for the most part, teachers don't do anything major those 2 days. Hopefully your kids' teachers won't, either but in my opinion, going on a family trip is still worth missing 2 days of school work!

 

[cinderelly828]

Following along as we'll be there around Thanksgiving as well! It sounds so fun to be able to spend time with all your family in the parks! We've only ever done adult only trips with my DH and I since we've been adults, and we're hoping to do a trip to DLR sometime next year with my FIL, sMIL, SILs, nieces and nephew! I'm excited to read more about your trip as we get closer to November!

 

[kittylady1972]

Nice change leaving earlier Friday! We're one of the districts that always only has Wed-Fri off for Thanksgiving, so my kids will be missing 2 days this year as they did last year. Ricky was in 8th and while he thought it was a bit of a pain making up a science lab, that was it. Now that he's in high school he's a little concerned but for the most part, teachers don't do anything major those 2 days. Hopefully your kids' teachers won't, either but in my opinion, going on a family trip is still worth missing 2 days of school work!

I know I am so excited about leaving on Friday! Last night at dinner my daughter was asking about our trip plans, and she said "ok so we are leaving Friday after school"...YEP that's the plan.

I'm hoping they won't have anything pressing on Friday. I'm sure Monday and Tuesday will be total wash days as well because so many parents I'm sure are used to the kids having the entire week off as it's been that way for YEARS! I'm okay with them missing 3 days because I agree that family time is very important. They don't see my side of the family very often so I'm glad we will see them Saturday and now have all day Sunday together.

Following along as we'll be there around Thanksgiving as well! It sounds so fun to be able to spend time with all your family in the parks! We've only ever done adult only trips with my DH and I since we've been adults, and we're hoping to do a trip to DLR sometime next year with my FIL, sMIL, SILs, nieces and nephew! I'm excited to read more about your trip as we get closer to November!

How cool...it's such a fun time in the parks! We did a DLR trip back in August 2013 with my husband's family (MIL, FIL, SIL and nephew) and it was also a cool trip. Sounds like fun!

****************
On an off-topic note that same SIL and nephew just left YESTERDAY and are moving from MD to CA, driving cross country. They will be leaving in the San Diego area and I'm sure they will visit DL at some point. I sure hope my SIL doesn't think we'll be coming out there to visit because as far as I'm concerned that California trip was a once-in-a-lifetime trip for all of us together. At the time we had airline miles to help defer the costs, but those miles are gone now and no way will we be spending money on 5 airline tickets to California again. I think at some point, once her divorce is final, she plans to marry for the 3rd time...out there because that's where all of HIS family is located. We have no plans to attend wedding #3...sorry.

So yes, as of right now the kids have no idea of our change in plans. Last night I must have mentioned many times how we will NOT have FOTL passes for our time at the Universal parks...when of course we will now that we have a room reserved at RPR. They didn't really complain at all about it, as we went on about the LONG lines we'd have since it will be the Saturday before Thanksgiving. We do plan on telling them THURSDAY before we leave and after they pack that we are actually having them miss school on Friday. I am going to save RPR for when we arrive there though!

 

[kittylady1972]

One month away.

~6.5 Weeks away.

45 days away.

Wow.

No changes to report. Spoke to my mom last night during our weekly phone call and she seems excited. I think it's going to work out so much better meeting up with everybody Saturday evening and having us all together for the first night at least at Shades of Green.

So I must say I am SO excited about the new changes coming for annual passholders! Just last week I went through an exercise where I was trying to determine if we should purchase the TIW card again, as we've done it for many previous trips. I was pretty sure we'd break even on this trip by buying it and getting the discount on the meals we do have planned already, not to mention we'd save other people money that were with us. I had also done the math on the few TS restaurants where we could get either an AP or DVC discount as well and that wasn't even close. NOW I should probably redo my math with the new numbers with the discounts for APs.

PLUS having that extra month as well? That means if we wanted to do Thanksgiving AGAIN next year we could, since buying the AP and activating it this trip would have left us short a week to return at Thanksgiving next year. BONUS!

Now I'm just hoping between now and the time we leave they don't raise the prices, and if they do they raise the 7-day hoppers the same amount as the DVC APs because I'm only paying that difference which right now is about $500.

While I'd love to change my ADRs to take advantage of some of the discounts, I know it's too late for that. However since we did have plans to try to do a few more quick service meals this trip to save time and money, it is exciting to get that discount and since each of the kids will have an AP they can also accompany family members when ordering food to help save them some money.

I definitely will keep the discounts in mind for our future ADRS.

Speaking of future...still trying to decide when we will return AFTER this trip that we haven't even taken yet...of course!

We have my daughter's foot surgery now scheduled for Dec. 27th and there is about a 6-8 week recover time for that where she has to be non weight-bearing on that foot. The kids have a sorta long weekend in early March (right around my birthday...45 just like Magic Kingdom BTW!) but that might be pushing it. I think we are going to aim for Memorial Day Weekend since they get a long weekend there also. The don't have school Tuesday after Memorial Day so we could push the trip out maybe until even Wednesday. We'll wait and see how flight prices are when they get released and then decide.

Really starting to lose hope on our waitlist for BLT coming through but you never know. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed that I'll get a happy surprise on that one soon.

 

[kittylady1972]

36 days to go! I still can't believe it's so close. No changes since my last update. Still in two different resorts. Still very excited.

Kids still don't know about our plans to leave on Friday morning instead of Friday night...or about our stay at Royal Pacific Resort.

Got a reminder about finalizing our Magicbands so can't wait until they arrive!

 

[kittylady1972]

ariane37 has me thinking all about photos now...and I know for sure we want to get as many family photos as we can of all of us together. I don't see my family but a few times a year since they live 6-7+ hours away now. This trip will be the most time we've all spent together in a long time...and I plan to treasure all of it.

My two nephews are growing up so fast...and I am hoping to capture a lot of great memories in photos this time.

I think the last character meal that my parents had was at Crystal Palace with us back in November 2007. Here is my mom and the kids with Eeyore:

So this is why I'd love to return to Crystal Palace...because I think it would be a great opportunity for more character photos with not just my kids but my nephews.

I still have character meals to cancel and I'm pretty sure it's going to mean dropping Chef Mickey and keeping Crystal Palace as well as Tusker House.

I also can't wait to see if my oldest nephew has this same reaction to riding BTMRR:

Nicolas was 7 when we took this photo...and my oldest nephew will be 4 when we ride this. That's my brother in behind them with his girlfriend at the time. This time it will be him with his wife (not the same girl shown here) and with his son.


I also can't wait to see how the boys react to riding the monorail:

After all, it's one of the coolest rides in all of the parks. I'm not sure why my youngest son has that look on his face...probably he was tired!

We definitely need a family photo in front of the castle...with all of us...maybe at night and during the day.

I hate that they won't get to experience the Osborne Lights...but hopefully something better will return to Disney in the future.

I'm looking forward to our return trips after this one, even though we haven't even planned them yet!

 

[kittylady1972]

OUR CURRENT PLAN:

• FRIDAY Nov. 18th: Depart our house no later than 7am and start our 14+ hour drive to Florida. We'll pack a cooler with food and snacks to limit our stops. We are hoping to arrive at Universal's Royal Pacific Resort by 11pm.
• SATURDAY Nov. 19th: We should be up early to maximum our time in the Universal Parks. We'll have FOTL access which should help a lot. First on our list is going to be The Hulk since the kids haven't been on that one yet. We'll do all of our favorites at both parks for most of day and will probably leave around dinnertime. My family should arrive close to dinnertime and we will need to meet up with each group as they arrive in town so we can check them into their room at Shades of Green. Perhaps we'll all grab dinner together somewhere, either at a SOG restaurant or maybe ride the monorail around for fun. Perhaps we can head to the Polynesian beach area to catch the fireworks that evening.
• SUNDAY Nov. 20th: We have absolutely nothing planned for this morning, since originally I wasn't expecting the family until later. We'll have to check out of our resort and perhaps we'll head over to Bay Lake Tower to see if Mom and Dad's room is ready there and just so they know where to go when it is ready. My dad and brother and SIL MIGHT be playing golf this morning, but as of now I don't think they have booked anything. I have Fastpasses for EPCOT but they don't begin until after 4pm and that is Imagination. Perhaps we can grab dinner at EPCOT somewhere like Sunshine Seasons. We also have FPs for Character Spot so the boys can meet Mickey and friends and later that evening we have Soarin' so it should be a somewhat easy FIRST park day. Maybe we'll get to Finding Nemo while here.
• MONDAY Nov. 21st: The first FULL park just HAS to be Magic Kingdom so with any luck we'll arrive here at park opening, so breakfast will likely be in the room before we leave. Our first FP here doesn't start until after 1pm and that is for Jungle Cruise, so my plan is to hit as many rides as we can in the early morning, most likely starting with Fantasyland. We can have a light lunch/snack somewhere in the park. We have dinner at the Crystal Palace around 4pm, which should be perfect for a rest time. After dinner we have a FP for 7DMT which everybody should be able to ride.
• TUESDAY Nov. 22nd: This is another Magic Kingdom day because I feel like we'll need two of them. We have lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern because I love it. We can arrive at MK as early as we want and do any remaining rides there that we may want to do before lunch. Perhaps a break in the afternoon for dinner and relaxation. We have FPs for HS beginning at 3:30pm so we need to head over there no later than 3pm. TSM, Star Tours and ToT are the FPs, but the little kids can only do TSM. If we can find the Toy Story characters here, I'd like to try to have the boys meet them.
• WEDNESDAY Nov. 23rd: This is our Animal Kingdom day and I have a late breakfast (more like brunch) at Tusker House. So I hope we can arrive early at AK and do the safari at least and maybe one or two other rides and/or shows before brunch. I have booked Tusker House for meals for us SEVERAL times on prior trips and I have yet to make it there. I think this one is a priority to keep. After we eat, more time at the park and hopefully catch Finding Nemo and Lion King shows. I have FPs for this day starting after 3pm at EPCOT - that one is Turtle Talk. If we've already managed to see that, then we would need to get to EPCOT no later than 4pm for our next FP which is for Frozen Ever After and we also have one for Spaceship Earth, probably not needed for this late in the day but it's something to have on hold. Older kids may want to do Test Track since I don't have a FP booked for that one at all this trip.
• THURSDAY Nov. 24th: MK in the early morning if everybody can hang. Our earliest FP is for 7DMT at 9:45am. We also have an 11am at Space Mountain and a 12:30pm for BTMRR but that's probably about all the time we'll be staying at MK this day since I expect by that time the crowds may be crazy. We can try to do another park afterwards or just take a break at the hotel until dinnertime which is early at about 4pm at Boma. Since this is the last day for everybody, we'll see what parks everybody wants to hit after dinner to finish up the trip, like perhaps an evening show like Illuminations, or Wishes from BLT or even Fanstasmic! are all options.
• FRIDAY Nov. 25th: This is our departure day and right now I'm not sure what we'll do. I've suggested at least a half day at the parks, but DH wants to hit the road early. I'd be okay with staying later and just doing half the drive Friday and the rest Saturday, but we'll see what happens.

So that's the latest and greatest so far for us. I like the plan, not sure how much I'll tweak it between now and our trip.

 

[ariane37]

Love all the pictures! And your plans look I just updated my PTR with a fairly big possible change........and then one addition which is the Jingle Jam Jingle BAM dessert party at HS on Thanksgiving. Did you hear about that, it was just announced today! It's not on the scale of Osborne lights at all and takes the place of the SW fireworks for a good part of Nov. and all of Dec. and sounds awesome. I have to do a bit of rearranging due to the possible change but I'm hopeful we can maybe meet up to say hello on either the 22nd or 23rd!

 

[kittylady1972]

Love all the pictures! And your plans look I just updated my PTR with a fairly big possible change........and then one addition which is the Jingle Jam Jingle BAM dessert party at HS on Thanksgiving. Did you hear about that, it was just announced today! It's not on the scale of Osborne lights at all and takes the place of the SW fireworks for a good part of Nov. and all of Dec. and sounds awesome. I have to do a bit of rearranging due to the possible change but I'm hopeful we can maybe meet up to say hello on either the 22nd or 23rd!

I saw the Jingle Jam information on my FB feed...and I considered booking a dessert party...but I've decided against it. I'm probably too late now anyway but that does mean I want to try to hit HS one night to see the show at least.

Definitely let me know if you'll be up for trying to meet. It's tough when there are so many of us in the group that I'm leading around, but if you see us definitely say hello!

 

[kittylady1972]

Working in a celebration????

So I started thinkng last night about how to work in an additional celebration while in Disney. My mom will turn 70 during the month of November, actually the Monday after Thanksgiving. Some of her friends in NC are throwing her a surprise party (sssshhhhh) and I was hoping they'd plan it for the weekend and we'd just stick around and try to join in...but alas they ended up planning it mid-week the following week. Well we can't make it back to NC for that evening sadly.

Anyway...I thought maybe instead I should take advantage of our time in Disney and add in an early celebration for her. Of course, I'm a bit late in the planning of this but we still have a few dinner ADRs that I haven't dropped (even though I was considering dropping them) so perhaps as part of one of those we could surprise her with a cake or something.

Now I have ordered a cake from Disney before, but it's been a while and it was just for myself and my husband while on a adults only trip. Now I have to consider something bigger...or I suppose I could get one off property and maybe bring it to the restaurant? I wonder if they allow that? I guess I need to ask!

So we have a dinner planned for The Wave and one for Kona Cafe during the week. I am going to add a birthday celebration to one of those days I think and then look into cakes! Should be fun!

 

[kittylady1972]

TWEAKING a bit....

So my dad and brother are still trying to work in some golf while on vacation. After all, it is vacation so they should do fun stuff they enjoy as well. I've suggest Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon or Sunday morning or afternoon. They have yet to decide. This has caused me to do a little bit of tweaking of our FP+ reservations. I also finally dropped our Chef Mickey reservation for Monday because I've decided we'll just stick to that being a MK day and having dinner there at Crystal Palace will be easy.

• FRIDAY Nov. 18th: Depart our house no later than 7am and start our 14+ hour drive to Florida. We'll pack a cooler with food and snacks to limit our stops. We are hoping to arrive at Universal's Royal Pacific Resort by 11pm.
• SATURDAY Nov. 19th: We should be up early to maximum our time in the Universal Parks. We'll have FOTL access which should help a lot. First on our list is going to be The Hulk since the kids haven't been on that one yet. We'll do all of our favorites at both parks for most of day and will probably leave around dinnertime. My family should arrive close to dinnertime and we will need to meet up with each group as they arrive in town so we can check them into their room at Shades of Green. Perhaps we'll all grab dinner together somewhere, either at a SOG restaurant or maybe ride the monorail around for fun. Perhaps we can head to the Polynesian beach area to catch the fireworks that evening.
• SUNDAY Nov. 20th: We have absolutely nothing planned for this morning, since originally I wasn't expecting the family until later. We'll have to check out of our resort and perhaps we'll head over to Bay Lake Tower to see if Mom and Dad's room is ready there and just so they know where to go when it is ready. My dad and brother and SIL MIGHT be playing golf this morning, but as of now I don't think they have booked anything. Currently I have FASTPASSES beginning at 12:35pm at EPCOT, but the only one I don't have a lot of options with is the one for Soarin' in the early afternoon. I think dinner at Sunshine Seasons is an option here and then leaving by about 4pm to head back to check into our resorts. Since this is a day to avoid Studios, we may just do Wishes at MK if we didn't watch it the night before, or just call it an early day since we'll have a big day on Monday.
• MONDAY Nov. 21st: The first FULL park just HAS to be Magic Kingdom so with any luck we'll arrive here at park opening, so breakfast will likely be in the room before we leave. Our first FP here doesn't start until after 1pm and that is for Jungle Cruise, so my plan is to hit as many rides as we can in the early morning, most likely starting with Fantasyland. We can have a light lunch/snack somewhere in the park. We have dinner at the Crystal Palace around 4pm, which should be perfect for a rest time. After dinner we have a FP for 7DMT which everybody should be able to ride.
• TUESDAY Nov. 22nd: This is another Magic Kingdom day because I feel like we'll need two of them. We have lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern because I love it. We can arrive at MK as early as we want and do any remaining rides there that we may want to do before lunch. Perhaps a break in the afternoon for dinner and relaxation. This has been mentioned as a good time for my family to do some golfing if they want to do so. We have FPs for HS beginning at 4pm so we need to head over there no later than 3:30pm. TSM, Star Tours and ToT are the FPs, but the little kids can only do TSM. If we can find the Toy Story characters here, I'd like to try to have the boys meet them. We have dinner planned at the Wave which is where I MIGHT do a birthday celebration for my mom.
• WEDNESDAY Nov. 23rd: This is our Animal Kingdom day and I have a late breakfast (more like brunch) at Tusker House. So I hope we can arrive early at AK and do the safari at least and maybe one or two other rides and/or shows before brunch. I have booked Tusker House for meals for us SEVERAL times on prior trips and I have yet to make it there. I think this one is a priority to keep. After we eat, more time at the park and hopefully catch Finding Nemo and Lion King shows. I have FPs for this day starting after 3pm at EPCOT - that one is Turtle Talk. If we've already managed to see that, then we would need to get to EPCOT no later than 4pm for our next FP which is for Frozen Ever After and we also have one for Spaceship Earth, probably not needed for this late in the day but it's something to have on hold. Older kids may want to do Test Track since I don't have a FP booked for that one at all this trip. We have dinner at Kona Cafe this evening, which I'd like to keep as it's another potential time to do a 70th birthday celebration for my mom.
• THURSDAY Nov. 24th: MK in the early morning if everybody can hang. Our earliest FP is for 7DMT at 9:45am. We also have an 11am at Space Mountain and a 12:30pm for BTMRR but that's probably about all the time we'll be staying at MK this day since I expect by that time the crowds may be crazy. We can try to do another park afterwards or just take a break at the hotel until dinnertime which is early at about 4pm at Boma. Since this is the last day for everybody, we'll see what parks everybody wants to hit after dinner to finish up the trip, like perhaps an evening show like Illuminations, or Wishes from BLT or even Fanstasmic! are all options.
• FRIDAY Nov. 25th: This is our departure day and right now I'm not sure what we'll do. I've suggested at least a half day at the parks, but DH wants to hit the road early. I'd be okay with staying later and just doing half the drive Friday and the rest Saturday, but we'll see what happens.

 

[kittylady1972]

So once again my Sunday plans have changed...and I'm not sure that we have many options left at this point for that day. I checked the FP+ reservations for other options for some of these and they were few and far between.

Right now my dad has a tee time at Lake Buena Vista golf course around 9am. That means I have to wait until probably at least 2pm before making any plans. I think my brother and SIL will golf with him, which means that we will need to find ways to entertain the little ones. I am sure my SIL wouldn't want us taking them to their first Disney park, no matter which one, without her and so we'll have to come up with something. We might try minigolf with them instead.

I modified my Sunday FPs once again and now I have the earliest one planned for about 4pm and that's Soarin'...and we'll have until almost 5:30pm to use it. I was hoping to leave 4pm-6pm open for us to all check into our new resorts, but now that's out. Since we'll need to be checked out of SOG by 11am, we definitely will need to hang somewhere. We have MISSION: Space up next but that will just be for those of us who can ride, all but the littlest one but he can be entertained at the ride exit area during that time. Character Spot is later in the evening, where hopefully the boys will get their first Disney character meet experience.

If our rooms are somehow available earlier, that would be great and we could help my mom get checked in at BLT without dad and then the rest of us could head to SSR for our checkin. Let's hope those text messages come through for our room...I think I've only had them work once or twice in all our times there. I usually end up calling constantly to check.

So most of my original Sunday plans are below, only now the EPCOT FPs are later and I think I checked and cannot change Soarin' to earlier. The little one won't even be able to ride Soarin', but we could always just ride The LAND on standby afterwards so he'd get on his first ride there too.

SUNDAY Nov. 20th: We have absolutely nothing planned for this morning, since originally I wasn't expecting the family until later. We'll have to check out of our resort and perhaps we'll head over to Bay Lake Tower to see if Mom and Dad's room is ready there and just so they know where to go when it is ready. My dad and brother and SIL MIGHT be playing golf this morning, but as of now I don't think they have booked anything. Currently I have FASTPASSES beginning at 12:35pm at EPCOT, but the only one I don't have a lot of options with is the one for Soarin' in the early afternoon. I think dinner at Sunshine Seasons is an option here and then leaving by about 4pm to head back to check into our resorts. Since this is a day to avoid Studios, we may just do Wishes at MK if we didn't watch it the night before, or just call it an early day since we'll have a big day on Monday.

I really wish the golf started earlier but it is what it is right now and I want them to do things that they enjoy as well, so we'll just roll with it. Monday will be a BIG day for us in terms of a full day at MK right now, so having to start with just an afternoon and a few hours at our first Disney park on Sunday won't be the worst thing ever.

 

[kittylady1972]

Of course, now I am sitting here running through other "what if" scenarios in terms of family.

I mentioned much earlier that my MIL is very ill...in and out of hospitals weekly. She has been fighting kidney cancer for a while now. I'm honestly not sure how much longer she will have but a year ago she was only given 6 months and she's beat those odds. However these days her health continues to decline.

She was admitted to the hospital last week...and was out the next day thankfully. However her mental state is severely limited right now.

Just found out this morning she is back in the hospital this morning and was unresponsive when my FIL tried to get her up for her 5am dialysis appointment. She has dialysis three times a week because she has no kidneys.

They think she has an infection and are treating for that now but infections are just dangerous for her since she is so fragile. I am hoping for the best of course, but have to think of preparing for the worst.

I am also thinking ahead to Thanksgiving week and we've already discussed the what-ifs if for some reason something happens while we are in Florida. We'd have to find a way to get my husband back home. I dread to think of the cost of a flight last minute...and he might be better off just driving a rental car home and then I'd drive home alone with the kids once vacation was done. I hope it doesn't come down to that...but the possibility is there.

Adulting is hard sometimes.

 

[ariane37]

I'm so sorry to hear about your MIL taking a bad turn. It's a horrible thing, and the fact that it goes on and on, while wonderful that she's been here longer than the doctors thought, still makes it harder because when things go well for awhile you get "comfortable", and then it all goes back to being up in the air. My dad had a heart attack out of the blue and was gone in a matter of hours; my grandmother was in the hospital for quite awhile, unconscious, and I often think that while I wish I'd had more time to say good-bye to my dad it was, in the end, easier than seeing him holding on so long like my grandmother did.
Back to your trip! I do hope your rooms are ready early, I'm always happier when that happens lol. Just one less thing to have to worry about later if you've left bags in your car or with Bell Services. We've been lucky with getting the text messages, I think it's worked for us every trip since they started doing it. Of course now that I've written that, it won't work for us next month

 

[kittylady1972]

I'm so sorry to hear about your MIL taking a bad turn. It's a horrible thing, and the fact that it goes on and on, while wonderful that she's been here longer than the doctors thought, still makes it harder because when things go well for awhile you get "comfortable", and then it all goes back to being up in the air. My dad had a heart attack out of the blue and was gone in a matter of hours; my grandmother was in the hospital for quite awhile, unconscious, and I often think that while I wish I'd had more time to say good-bye to my dad it was, in the end, easier than seeing him holding on so long like my grandmother did.
Back to your trip! I do hope your rooms are ready early, I'm always happier when that happens lol. Just one less thing to have to worry about later if you've left bags in your car or with Bell Services. We've been lucky with getting the text messages, I think it's worked for us every trip since they started doing it. Of course now that I've written that, it won't work for us next month

Thanks. Yes it is truly difficult to watch any loved one suffer, especially a parent. My own mom has been fighting a battle with cancer for 10 years now. During that time she also dealt with depression a few times. It was very difficult for everybody. Her initial breast cancer diagnosis happened only a few months before my grandfather (her father) passed away suddenly of a heart attack. I was very close to him as he was my last living grandparent and I take solace in the fact that I had spoken to him only a few weeks before he passed, and I know at the time he realized my mom was not herself...we didn't know at the time that she was beginning the long spiral that would become several months of depression. As hard as it was for him to go quickly, I totally get what you mean about in some ways it was easier to not watch him suffer. He was a very vibrant and active man and if he had been kept down by an extended illness it would have been hard for him and for us.

My mom is still struggling, almost 5 years after her breast cancer diagnosis and treatments she was almost in the clear having not had any treatments for a few years...then something strange popped up on her oncology reports and a scan revealed a tumor in her lung. Attempts to surgically remove it were unsuccessful so she then had to start all over, with radiation and chemo and yes we've had more depression related episodes among other struggles. My mom was also a very active person, never smoked a day in her life, so this was difficult to handle. She remains on yet another chemotherapy protocol simply to keep her current tumor from spreading or getting larger. It has still robbed so much from her and I'm hoping she'll be able to enjoy this trip with all of her grandkids though I know it will be exhausting. She has very little strength but doesn't want to admit she'll need a wheelchair when I know (and my dad knows) that she will for sure. I'm debating renting one offsite so that she can use it around the resorts and in the parking lots as well.

So yes now having my husband's mom in her 3rd year of so of dealing with her issues...it's tough. I actually like my in-laws and they vacation with us all of the time so it's sad to think she won't ever get to return to Disney with us as she can barely leave her own house. Right now we are just hoping she gets out of the hospital again soon and can return home, but it's tough to watch my FIL try to do everything for her. We offer to help but he hates to ask. Hopefully he'll get over that soon.

ANYWAY....that's my current sad family story so needless to say this trip is a welcome distraction for all of us. I'm also hopeful about the room thing and perhaps it will work out well and we'll get that text message...and early!

 

[kittylady1972]

So many health issues with both moms right now...not going to continue to go into it...but instead I'll focus on the GOOD stuff that is ahead!

The NEW stuff coming to all areas of Walt Disney World sounds so great. I just read about the Disney Springs stuff and since we are currently staying at Saratoga Springs it will be an easy trip over there. I don't think we've ventured to the Downtown/Springs area in a few years, at least since before the parking lot and before most of the construction.

This sounds cool: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/holidays-at-disney-springs/

I like the festival of trees idea and just the overall atmosphere will surely put us all in a holiday mood.

And I'm looking forward to the new projection show at the castle...though I'll miss the old one: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2016/10/once-upon-a-time-projection-show-begins-november-4/

Still a small bit of hope that this will finally open: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/entertainment/animal-kingdom/rivers-of-light/
And if it doesn't we will surely catch it during a return trip in 2017.

And of course this at Hollywood Studios: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/hollywood-studios/jingle-bell-jingle-bam-holiday-party/

I mean, who would NOT be getting excited about all of the new stuff happening?

We are quickly closing in on the THREE WEEK mark. Hard to believe...and I guess I need to start thinking about Christmas also now.

Weather here in MD has finally turned a bit chilly...maybe for good now. Actually I see now some high 60s and low 70s for this upcoming weekend and early next week so maybe not quite here for good. It's so much easier to look forward to sunny Florida when it is cold here. We've been to Florida a few times when it's been snowing back here, and in fact I told DH last night if there is even a chance of snow for the Friday we plan to leave...we may leave on Thursday instead! He's on board with that plan. One year we had plans to leave on a Friday afternoon and snow came in Thursday night. We made plans to leave earlier and packed up the car and drove out in the snow. No way I'm getting stuck here when I should be in Florida.

Don't think I have any new changes on the horizon. I stalked the DVC site a few times during the week. Yesterday they had a 1BR available at Saratoga Springs and I considered the possibility of moving my mom and dad out of BLT and over to Saratoga with us, but for Thanksgiving week it was missing ONE day (Mon or Tues I think) and I would hate to think they could end up without a room or having to move in the middle. My dad would really like a room with a washer/dryer and they would need a 1BR for that to happen. I've mentioned BLT has laundry rooms on the first floor, and they can use the laundry room app to track when the clothes are done, or worst case he could bring some stuff over to Saratoga with us and do laundry in our room.

Mom and Dad's Magic Bands have shipped and ours should be shipping very soon. Now with all the fun stuff at Disney Springs I'm really thinking a wheelchair rental from offsite might be preferable even if (as of now) it will cost more than renting at Disney parks. I don't believe they have wheelchairs to use at Disney Springs.

 

[kittylady1972]

THREE WEEKS!!!
We are getting so close. So exciting!

Nothing else to report. Just for fun I checked out dining options for our Sunday evening there...really nothing good. Was thinking something in EPCOT might be nice, but we can just do Sunshine Seasons or something.

My thoughts right now for Sunday...our first park day but one where we'll probably not get started until after 2pm.

My dad and brother and maybe SIL will be golfing at LBV beginning at about 9am. That's about 4 hours for them for them to finish. In the meantime, we have little boys to keep busy.

If the weather is nice enough...no brainer we'll have to do a pool. However we have to check out of SOG by 11am so that's not going to be easy. Mom and Dad have a room at BLT and the rest of us are at Saratoga Springs. IF the rooms are by chance ready earlier at either of those resorts...we head there to get into the rooms and perhaps unload some stuff.

If SSR is ready...awesome because we could get checked in there and explore the resort and maybe get the kids to the pool and when the rest of the family is done golfing...they would be right there! Easy enough to meet up with them.

Let's say NO rooms are ready...then what?

We could try taking the boys to one of the minigolf courses. That would probably kill an hour or two for us and keep them entertained.

Hopefully we'll come up with something.

By 2pm I'm hoping we are meeting up with the rest of the group and they have had lunch...and if no rooms are ready...we'll head to a park.

We can all catch a bus from SSR to EPCOT no later than 3:30pm. First stop will be Soarin' where we'll ride with FP reservations, but we have one little one who won't be tall enough...so somebody will need to stay behind with him while the rest ride and then switch off. Afterwards I figure if anybody is hungry...we can do Sunshine Seasons. If not...then Living with the Land for all.

After this, it makes sense to head nextdoor to The Living Seas. Ride Finding Nemo, explore the fish tanks and catch Turtletalk with Crush. That should kill some time before our next FP+.

We have a 5:25pm for Mission: Space but not all will ride this one. I know mom won't and I am also okay sitting it out if the rest want to go. We can keep the boys occupied at Living Seas for longer or head to Mission: Space and do some of the interactive stuff at the ride exit there while waiting.

Still plenty of time for dinner if anybody is hungry. If we missed out on Sunshine Seasons we can get something elsewhere.

If we've waited until closer to 6:20pm for Mission: Space then we can head right from there to our next FP which is Character Spot at 6:40pm. This should be fun seeing how the boys react to characters.

Afterwards perhaps we can try to head to Imagination for a while which I think the boys will enjoy. If not, we should have time to head back to our resort which SHOULD be ready by this time. Everybody has the evening to check in and get settled.

And IF on the off chance ROL is truly open, this would be the best day to head over and see the show depending on the times, like if it starts after 8pm or so. If not, we could try to head to Studios to catch Jingle Bell Jingle Jam instead. I'm sure my family will be up for more stuff but I think this afternoon outing will be more than enough for my mom who doesn't have much energy these days. We'll see what happens. Monday is our BIG BIG day so starting off with a few things at EPCOT is a good way to just ease into the trip!

 

[kittylady1972]

THE PLAN v2.0

• FRIDAY Nov. 18th: Depart our house no later than 7am and start our 14+ hour drive to Florida. We'll pack a cooler with food and snacks to limit our stops. We are hoping to arrive at Universal's Royal Pacific Resort by 11pm. If my DH has it his way, we plan to tell the kids the night BEFORE that we are leaving Friday and maybe even be on the road even earlier...his hope is 4am but I'd be good with 5am. Northern VA traffic sucks so getting through it earlier would be preferable.

• SATURDAY Nov. 19th: We should be up early to maximum our time in the Universal Parks. We'll have FOTL access which should help a lot. We have to check out of our resort sadly, so we'll get stuff in the car before heading out. First on our list is going to be The Hulk since the kids haven't been on that one yet. We'll do all of our favorites at both parks for most of day and will probably leave around dinnertime. If we get in early, we should try to knock out the Harry Potter rides. After that, I expect we'll want to do The Simpsons, Men in Black, maybe Kong, the Mummy, Rip Ride Rocket...those for sure. My family should arrive close to dinnertime and we will need to meet up with each group as they arrive in town so we can check them into their room at Shades of Green. Perhaps we'll all grab dinner together somewhere, either at a SOG restaurant or maybe ride the monorail around for fun. Perhaps we can head to the Polynesian beach area to catch the fireworks that evening.
• SUNDAY Nov. 20th: I've made several changes here, but since we are all at SOG maybe we can try to have breakfast together. My dad and brother and maybe SIL are golfing at LBV at 9am, so they'll need to leave NLT 8:30am. We'll have to be checked out of the hotel and that leaves the rest of us...possibly with two little ones with us and my mom. If by chance any of our rooms are ready, we'll go there and get stuff unpacked. If not...then perhaps we'll take the boys minigolfing to kill some time. At some point we should just head over to SSR since that's where most of us are staying...and where golf will be taking place. The plan is to meet up at SSR after golf, then we can check into resorts if ready, and if not head to EPCOT for a while. We will spend from about 4pm to 7pm or so at EPCOT and then head back to our resorts for checkin afterwards. If we are still up for it after checkin, we can try an evening show at a park.
• MONDAY Nov. 21st: The first FULL park just HAS to be Magic Kingdom so with any luck we'll arrive here at park opening, so breakfast will likely be in the room before we leave. Our first FP here doesn't start until after 1pm and that is for Jungle Cruise, so my plan is to hit as many rides as we can in the early morning, most likely starting with Fantasyland. We can have a light lunch/snack somewhere in the park. We have dinner at the Crystal Palace around 4pm, which should be perfect for a rest time. After dinner we have a FP for 7DMT which everybody should be able to ride.
• TUESDAY Nov. 22nd: This is another Magic Kingdom day because I feel like we'll need two of them. We have lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern because I love it. We can arrive at MK as early as we want and do any remaining rides there that we may want to do before lunch. Perhaps a break in the afternoon for dinner and relaxation. This has been mentioned as a good time for my family to do some golfing if they want to do so. We have FPs for HS beginning at 4pm so we need to head over there no later than 3:30pm. TSM, Star Tours and ToT are the FPs, but the little kids can only do TSM. If we can find the Toy Story characters here, I'd like to try to have the boys meet them. We have dinner planned at the Wave which is where I MIGHT do a birthday celebration for my mom.
• WEDNESDAY Nov. 23rd: This is our Animal Kingdom day and I have a late breakfast (more like brunch) at Tusker House. So I hope we can arrive early at AK and do the safari at least and maybe one or two other rides and/or shows before brunch. I have booked Tusker House for meals for us SEVERAL times on prior trips and I have yet to make it there. I think this one is a priority to keep. After we eat, more time at the park and hopefully catch Finding Nemo and Lion King shows. I have FPs for this day starting after 3pm at EPCOT - that one is Turtle Talk. If we've already managed to see that, then we would need to get to EPCOT no later than 4pm for our next FP which is for Frozen Ever After and we also have one for Spaceship Earth, probably not needed for this late in the day but it's something to have on hold. Older kids may want to do Test Track since I don't have a FP booked for that one at all this trip. We have dinner at Kona Cafe this evening, which I'd like to keep as it's another potential time to do a 70th birthday celebration for my mom.
• THURSDAY Nov. 24th: MK in the early morning if everybody can hang. Our earliest FP is for 7DMT at 9:45am. We also have an 11am at Space Mountain and a 12:30pm for BTMRR but that's probably about all the time we'll be staying at MK this day since I expect by that time the crowds may be crazy. We can try to do another park afterwards or just take a break at the hotel until dinnertime which is early at about 4pm at Boma. Since this is the last day for everybody, we'll see what parks everybody wants to hit after dinner to finish up the trip, like perhaps an evening show like Illuminations, or Wishes from BLT or even Fanstasmic! are all options.
• FRIDAY Nov. 25th: This is our departure day and right now I'm not sure what we'll do. I've suggested at least a half day at the parks, but DH wants to hit the road early. I'd be okay with staying later and just doing half the drive Friday and the rest Saturday, but we'll see what happens.

 

[ariane37]

OK with your schedule, IF Ricky and Steve end up coming down later in the week, Chris and I will be in MK with you on the 22nd and AK with you on the 23rd Of course I won't know for another like, 2.5 weeks, but if that's the way it works maybe we can meet up quick to say hi!

I think mini-golf on Sun. is a good idea with the boys if your rooms aren't ready, they'd probably like Winter Summerland. Also since you're looking at possibly QS dinner at Epcot, I recently read a review on Easywdw of Electric Umbrella and it's supposedly pretty good!

 

[kittylady1972]

OK with your schedule, IF Ricky and Steve end up coming down later in the week, Chris and I will be in MK with you on the 22nd and AK with you on the 23rd Of course I won't know for another like, 2.5 weeks, but if that's the way it works maybe we can meet up quick to say hi!

I think mini-golf on Sun. is a good idea with the boys if your rooms aren't ready, they'd probably like Winter Summerland. Also since you're looking at possibly QS dinner at Epcot, I recently read a review on Easywdw of Electric Umbrella and it's supposedly pretty good!

Ah...that's great! I am pretty sure about both of those parks on those days.

We haven't done Winter Summerland in many years. It would be great to go back.