Tricks, Treats, Toddler, Food & Wine. An October 2011 Pre-Trip Report.

[exwdwcm]

QUICK POST

then more updates later............

SINGLE DIGIT DANCE.........8 days!!!

 

[exwdwcm]

This is why I love other people's TRs! It reminds me of the things I need to do still! I can't believe the trips are FINALLY coming and we have a few from the October thread already there!

lol, i know, i always see stuff i forgot to do!!!! I can't believe folks are already there too- i am loving watching all the updates on FB!!!

love the new shirts and Alice costume....come on you need to dress up, its the only time you can do it in the parks!

great job on getting so much packed, I've gotten a few of our misc stuff in the one carry on, plan on doing much more on Wed!

I know, but will i look funny wearing it to dinner at Ohana beforehand?

I was finally able to read your PTR. We own at BLT as well although on our last trip we couldn't get in and stayed at BWV which was nice but I much prefer BLT with small children. I love all your plans. Tusker House is our favorite character meal and we do the same with booking it first thing. I love your Alice costume and Halloween shirt. We went to MNSSHP last year and it was so much fun, we hope to do it again in the next 2-3 years.

You will be back at Disney so soon and I am so jealous.

Thanks for coming on over!!!! you know i love your board name of course! GO 96 CP!!! Great to hear on Tusker house, we are looking forward to it!

coming up fast now huh? love seeing your calendar full of stickers Your to-do list seems pretty managable...I am hoping for a good view on the outer C too I vote that you wear the costume too at the party!

love the ziplock bags for Will's clothes...I dod the same when packing for the kids, works so easy!

lokking forward to meeting you so soon and finishing counting down!

okay, you guys are talking me into wearing it! we will see- it will be a surprise! yes, can't wait to meet you guys!!!!!

oh and if you haven't already, be sure you join our october 2011 FACEBOOK group online. It's called DIS'er OCTOBER 2011 Trips and i can add you if you want. I'll be posting a lot of pics in there. i'll post some to regular FB too, since i have a disney friends list there, but i'll put even more on the group.

 

[stephielela]

Woo hoo!! Right around the corner!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Ooooh, I missed your update the other day! I think this means you are at 8 DAYS TODAY!!!! I LOVE your costume, you should totally wear it!

 

[tlenzendorf]

lol, i know, i always see stuff i forgot to do!!!! I can't believe folks are already there too- i am loving watching all the updates on FB!!!

I'm loving it too! I feel kinda sad for them at the same time, though. They'll be back and all sad and we will just be leaving. I have warped thinking, I know!

 

[Parla]

Can I just say

9 days for me and my first plan of action is to catch up on DISboards. I don't know if I have enough time though. I don't want to abandon anything though, I may miss something!

 

[exwdwcm]

UPDATE- FOOD and WINE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Food and Wine plan is done! In the middle of fighting a terrible sinus infection/cold, I did manage to finally go through the WDW food blog and look at all the Food and Wine pics and make my list!

so here are the MUST EATS and DRINKS for food and wine. There are some other items on my list that are maybes if we have time and money left!

but here are the ones I really want to try. Keep in mind I am a picky eater......I don't eat seafood (other than tuna out of the can, i know, crazy!). DH will eat anything and so will my almost 4 year old (including fish and veggies and loves salad). So I tried to pick a few things I think they would enjoy too- so not all stops are just for me!

So our food and wine plan overall-
We have two days devoted to tackle F&W at Epcot, both are weekdays and both are mornings. We plan to hit Epcot on Tuesday, 10/18 for EMH at 8am and immediately head to WS at 11am when it opens. We will spend at least 2 hours doing F&W that day. Have to head out early enough to get a good nap in prior to our 5pm Ohana before MNSSHP that night.

We will also be at Epcot on Friday, 10/21, again at RD at 9am and hit WS at 11am again. We can stay a bit longer this day though. We also have two evenings we are spending at Epcot, on Sunday, 10/16 and Thursday, 10/20, but i figure WS will be busier at night. If we find it isn't and want to head that way, we will, but the plan is to try and tackle it on those two mornings instead hoping for lighter crowds (and fewer drunks since we have the kiddo). Otherwise, I might be partaking in the drunkenness!

So what made the CUT?

• Argentina- beef empanada and Grilled beef skewer
• Australia- grilled lamb chop
• Canada- cheese soup, the sausage and apple ice wine!
• Carribean Islands- dragon berry colada
• China- pork pot stickers
• Germany- apple strudel (DH will probably do beer and maybe the sausage too)
• Hawaii- pork slider
• Ireland- fisherman's stew for the boys, lava cake for all, guiness for DH!
• Italy- ravioli
• Japan- sushi for DH
• Poland- Kielbasa and piergois

So those are the must do's, but there is a lot more we will probably try too- like the tacos at Mexico, some of the greek items and Morroco too, but they fall after this list above, since I am just not sure how long it is going to take us! I do have the map and all handy, since I got one in the mail, so I plan to highlight and mark it up this weekend with our must stop booths! I plan for our lunch both of those days to simply be snacking on all this goodness!

I have made other progress too.

• Mail is held now
• DS got a haircut
• Laminated my LGMHs!
  
• Laminated my schedule
• Food and Wine plan done
• initial packing /test packing done!
  

 

[exwdwcm]

Woo hoo!! Right around the corner!

I know!!! You are getting close too!

Ooooh, I missed your update the other day! I think this means you are at 8 DAYS TODAY!!!! I LOVE your costume, you should totally wear it!

Thanks! it will be a surprise if i wear it or not! heck, not sure i can fit in the luggage! lol

I'm loving it too! I feel kinda sad for them at the same time, though. They'll be back and all sad and we will just be leaving. I have warped thinking, I know!

I know, i feel sad too knowing they will be done soon, then i start thinking that about me too- we are so warped!

Can I just say

9 days for me and my first plan of action is to catch up on DISboards. I don't know if I have enough time though. I don't want to abandon anything though, I may miss something!

I know, i have SO much catching up to do on PTRs!!!!

 

[lovethattink]

Hope it's not to late to join in. I'm in the fb group.

Love the shirts from the Disney store. My son would love both! He is a huge Jake and the Neverland Pirate's fan. It's now his favorite show at DHS!!

I hope you will wear the custome to MNSSHP! It's one of the few times at WDW where a costume is permitted for an adult!

 

[Pixiedust530]

Glad to hear that you are making progress and getting things done. I can't believe how quickly it is approaching. Thanks to your post I now need to add stopping the mail to my list of things to do.

We will be partaking in the Food & Wine goodness on Friday 10/21 also. It will basically be our only day devoted to Food & Wine and we have to get back to the room for a little R&R before MNSSHP that night. Your choices look yummy.

Happy packing!!!

 

[mousescrapper]

okay, you guys are talking me into wearing it! we will see- it will be a surprise! yes, can't wait to meet you guys!!!!!

oh and if you haven't already, be sure you join our october 2011 FACEBOOK group online. It's called DIS'er OCTOBER 2011 Trips and i can add you if you want. I'll be posting a lot of pics in there. i'll post some to regular FB too, since i have a disney friends list there, but i'll put even more on the group.

awesome can't wait to see you in costume now sent a request to join the FB Oct group be fun to look at pixs!

love your F&W pixs we have many similar ones...good job on getting more things crossed off your list (I got a few more done today too plus a few not on my list )

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I'm getting caught up! Your trip is soooo soon!! If you have room in your food and wine list, the mac n' cheese with chicken was to die for! It was my favorite and the ravioli came in a close second

 

[stephielela]

Your F&W plans look great! I heard great things about the pork sliders, yum!

 

[exwdwcm]

Hi guys- happy Sunday night- just a quick update........

I've been fighting a cold/sinus infection since last weekend. I went to the doctor on Tuesday and got a zpack. I finished it yesterday. Still sick. Ugh. The coughing isn't as bad at least, but I still can't taste anything I eat (SO NOT GOOD for WDW!). Hopefully it clears up before Friday. Slowly feeling better, but have spent a lot of time going to bed early, which meant my to-do list was not getting done.

I did pack tonight, although I know I will repack on Thursday night again. But at least I know everything fits. I also got my itinerary notebook all ready to go. Rain gear is packed too. So feeling pretty good! Only a few more things to do:

• call to reconfirm requests
• give dogs bath and wash their bed - parents are picking them up from my house on Friday afternoon to dogsit
• mail my son's birthday party invitations (10/29 party!)
• Get a pedi

Really everything else is done. So feeling pretty good.

GOOD NEWS............I made it to round two of the Mom's Panel! I couldn't believe it. I am so thrilled. I've applied every year since its inception in 2008 and have always been rejected. This year, while excited, I didn't really worry about it that much, spoke from the heart and didn't over-analyze. And it worked! Now I am nervous. Tomorrow am, I'll get to see what the questions are and what the video request is. I know it needs to probably be 60 seconds, but curious what they want the topic to be. So I have to get that done prior to Friday as well. I am relieved I'll have that done and won't have to worry about doing it during our trip. So I might ask advice on the video once I see what the topic is tomorrow. I have a few ideas already if they ask for our favorite memory (last year's question). Wish me luck! I know it is a highly competitive field, so while I am hopeful (always dreaming!), I am realistic too. It's just great to even make it this far for the first time.

So that's it for now. 4 more days. Work is going to be CRAZY this week. Go figure. Meetings out the wazoo and need to finish drafting/editing a TON of web copy for a new site. But there is that amazing light at the end of the tunnel on FRIDAY!!!

 

[WDWCP96]

Sorry to hear you are sick. I hope you are better by Friday.

Jealous you got chosen for the 2nd round of the Moms panel. I was rejected. Oh well there is always next year.

Get some rest. You are going to Disney in 4 days!

 

[exwdwcm]

Hope it's not to late to join in. I'm in the fb group.

Love the shirts from the Disney store. My son would love both! He is a huge Jake and the Neverland Pirate's fan. It's now his favorite show at DHS!!

I hope you will wear the custome to MNSSHP! It's one of the few times at WDW where a costume is permitted for an adult!

Yeah! I know, DS LOVES Jake, it is actually a pretty cute show, I have to say I like it too- i am Peter Pan fan at heart.

Glad to hear that you are making progress and getting things done. I can't believe how quickly it is approaching. Thanks to your post I now need to add stopping the mail to my list of things to do.

We will be partaking in the Food & Wine goodness on Friday 10/21 also. It will basically be our only day devoted to Food & Wine and we have to get back to the room for a little R&R before MNSSHP that night. Your choices look yummy.

Happy packing!!!

I can't believe it either, you plan for so long and then the week before, you are either out of things to do or running around like crazy! Yeah for F&W. I cannot wait to experience it for the first time.

awesome can't wait to see you in costume now sent a request to join the FB Oct group be fun to look at pixs!

love your F&W pixs we have many similar ones...good job on getting more things crossed off your list (I got a few more done today too plus a few not on my list )

lol- no promises! In fact i don't have my costume currently packed- i ran out of room, but will be repacking Thursday night again probably.

I'm getting caught up! Your trip is soooo soon!! If you have room in your food and wine list, the mac n' cheese with chicken was to die for! It was my favorite and the ravioli came in a close second

The mac and cheese with chicken (nevermind the fancy name, lol) is right up my alley. It looks delicious!

Your F&W plans look great! I heard great things about the pork sliders, yum!

yum, pork!!!

Sorry to hear you are sick. I hope you are better by Friday.

Jealous you got chosen for the 2nd round of the Moms panel. I was rejected. Oh well there is always next year.

Get some rest. You are going to Disney in 4 days!

Yep, still sick, in fact i might call the doctor today. Thank you- so excited, I've applied every year, so I was in complete shock when i had a congrats email! Definitely next year. I'll keep trying every year that I can!

 

[exwdwcm]

UPDATE

Hi guys, wow, i am so behind on listing our my daily plans and including all the cute photos of what we will do. So in the essence of saving time, I'll forgo the pics and just list out our plans for the remaining days. As usual, time has gotten away from me. Between work, being sick and stressing about the mom's panel submission, I just haven't had time to be as active on the boards as I would like to!

So here is the latest on the trip:
RENTAL CAR
Checked rates again today and cancelled my Alamo ressie and booked w/ National, my favorite. I am Emerald Aisle, so just walk out to the car, get in and go. Same price as Alamo without having to use the kiosk or desk! Score!

ITINERARY
Done! I got everything printed, sorted, laminated and organized. I have a little spiral notebook (like 3x5 or so). It has a hard cover (lime green of course) and I taped my daily plans, car info, ressie info, ADRS, must do's etc. on each page. I could have laminated cards instead, but figured just using packing tape (clear) to tape it to each page, so it is durable and won't tear is just as good. I used this method last year and it was fine. Plus I can use the rest of the notebook to take trip notes etc.

Everything else is done. The only thing left is to bathe the dogs and wash their beds so they are all clean when my parents pick them up Friday for dog sitting. I am packed, but I will probably repack/reorganize come Thursday night!

Right now we have one large checked bag, one carry on roller bag, Will's backpack, our backpack, and one duffle (will have our laptop), plus my 40hth anniv D&B letter carrier purse. Of course the stroller and booster seat for the rental car too. We usually end up bringing another bag back with us for souvies. I plan to ship some items home too, including the breakables.

So now onto the plan-----we left off with our Monday at AK.

Tuesday, October 18th
Today we will tackle Epcot EMH! So it is open at 8am today. We might take the monorail over for fun! We will try and arrive at RD. We will just have a quick breakfast in the room. We will have already done an evening at Epcot, but this will be our first morning here, so we will probably do the run for Soarin FPs if we didn't get to ride it yet. We will probably then hit TT and then head back to ride Soarin and Living with the Land, maybe hit Living Seas next. But right at 11am, we are heading to World Showcase to enjoy the Food and Wine festival! I already outlined the booths we plan to hit up for sure. Not sure which side we will start on, but probably Canada. Our lunch today will be munching on F&W stuff! We will try and get as much done as we can by 1pm or 1:30pm at the latest.

Then back to the room for a nap and break. Tonight is MNSSHP, so I want Will well rested! We will leave the room by 4pm to catch the monorail to the Poly, maybe meeting Julie beforehand to say hi in the CR! Then 5pm ressie for O'hana dinner.

O'hana is one of our favorites! I LOVE the pot stickers, noodles and who doesn't love that dessert? We will take the monorail over to the MK after dinner, hopefully arriving by 6:30 or so. We will then enjoy MNSSHP! Our priorities that night are seeing the second parade, fireworks, treat trails, maybe a dance party and then a few characters. We want to check out Mickey, Pooh and friends, Donald for sure. Anyone else we get is icing on the cake. Since we aren't trying to see any of the hard to get characters, I am hoping we won't face long lines. But given the recent reports about the parties, I am a little nervous. We will try and grab a spot in Frontierland or near Liberty Square for the parade. We will try and stay until at least 11:30 or so, however long Will can last!

 

[Pixiedust530]

Everything looks like it's coming along nicely. I can't believe it is just a few days away. Your post reminded me that I ned to wash the dog's beds. I know what you mean about running out of time on the Dis...ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

 

[im4kycats]

So now onto the plan-----we left off with our Monday at AK.

We just moved some things around (OK - I just moved some things around!) and we will be at AK on Monday, as well!

 

[mousescrapper]

everything is looking good Michelle hope you getting on the mend...slowly here for me, asthma is better, but still coughing at night and now I have these horrid sinus headaches

hope that costume made it in the bag and yes can't wait to meet you all and of course have some fun watching the parade too

and super congrats on making 2nd round on panel