“That’s brimstone we must be close.” Update 07/01 - Finally! An Update!

[lschism]

30 Day Universal Challenge: Day #16 The First Universal Movie You Saw

I am not positive that this is the first Universal movie I saw, but I have a nice memory of my aunt taking me to the movie theater to see E.T. I was only 9, but I felt like a teenager because she took me to see a PG rated movie! I loved that movie from the beginning and I love it to this day!

Haha, you just made me remember my first Universal Movie which was Jaws and I was only 7 or 8. I'm not sure who I went with or who let me go (probably Nana), but after watching it I was terrified to go to the bathroom because I thought a shark would attack me from the toilet. Ahh the sweet fears of childhood.

 

[tlinus]

30 Day Universal Challenge: Day #29 Favorite Universal Theme Park

I really can’t answer this fairly, since I haven’t been to UO in 20 years or so, but I have a strong suspicion about what my favorite park will be!

 

[tlinus]

30 Day Universal Challenge: Day #30 Favorite Universal Theme Park Attraction or Ride

Again, I have no idea what my favorite will be since this will be my first time going in about 20 years, but I am fairly certain it will be a WWoHP ride. My best guess is that it will be either Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey or Flight of the Hippogriff!

This (and the Old Spice Commercials) = Pure genius!!! Love it

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Well, it has been a VERY long time since I have done any actual trip planning on this PTR! There wasn’t much I could plan, though, considering I was so far out and I have planned about three trips before this one, right? In less than 30 days, I’ll be able to make my ADRs, so I have got to get cracking! Oh, and Coy threw a monkey wrench in my plans because he said he definitely wants to go to Sea World! This changes my plans significantly because I am putting Sea World in the former MK day. Now, our “off” day is truly nonexistent because we have to go to MK on that day. Well, we don’t have to, but you know what I mean! I have at least two days in each park, but the kids and I tend to want to spend more time in MK and EP than in the other parks. So, I’m rethinking the ADRs so that we will mostly have breakfast and/or lunch in the parks, but then have our evenings free to park hop if we want. I think it is a good balance between a structured day and a no-plan evening. So, this is what I have in the works so far:

Wednesday, August 21st – UO: WWoHP in the morning (breakfast at Three Broomsticks); IoA in the afternoon/evening (late lunch at Mythos)

Thursday, August 22nd – UO: WWoHP in the morning; US in the afternoon/evening (late lunch at Lombard’s Seafood Grille)

Friday, August 23rd – UO: WWoHP in the morning; either IoA or US in the afternoon/evening (late lunch at Bubba Gump)

Saturday, August 24th – MK in the morning (Before Park Opening breakfast at Crystal Palace); HS in the evening

Sunday, August 25th – AK in the morning (Before Park Opening breakfast at Tusker House); EP in the evening

Monday, August 26th – EP all day (Before Park Opening breakfast at Akershus; early dinner at Coral Reef)

Tuesday, August 27th – HS all day (late lunch at Sci-Fi)

Wednesday, August 28th – Sea World (dinner at Whispering Canyon Café)

Thursday, August 29th – EP all day (early dinner at Garden Grill)

Friday, August 30th – MK all day (early breakfast at Chef Mickey; dinner at Be Our Guest)

Saturday, August 31st – AK in the morning (lunch at Rainforest Café); MK or EP in the evening

Sunday, September 1st – HS in the morning (early breakfast at ‘Ohana); MK in the evening (early dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table)

Monday, September 2nd – Departure day

Based on this, we will have to leave late on Tuesday night after I get home from work. There is usually a flight to MCO at about 8pm that arrives around 10pm, I think. That flight is usually very cheap (like $100 each) so I will have to keep that savings in mind when I am struggling to wake up the next morning to go to WWoHP! I’m trying to decide if it will be better for us to check in at the UO hotel on Tuesday night or if we should stay offsite that one night. The downside to staying offsite that first night is that we will have to check into the UO hotel early Wednesday morning so that we won’t have to leave the parks later in the day to handle checking in. I’m all about staying in the vacation bubble! Anyway, we’ll already have to leave the parks in the afternoon on Friday to check out of UO and check in to our WDW hotel. That won’t be too bad, though. This plan really does look like a lot to squeeze in to almost two weeks! Yeah, I’m definitely overcompensating for not taking a vacation in such a long time. Keep in mind, though, that the kids and I haven’t been to WDW since 2009! That is entirely too long! So the kids and I are going to soak up as much fun and sun as we can while we are in Orlando!

I think the ADR choices are good, too, because we only have a few days where we have two table service meals. That will leave us time to explore UO on Thursday and Friday, and time to pick which WDW park we go to on WDW days. I don’t want to be “stuck” with a plan because we have to be in a certain park for dinner, so I only have a few dinners planned. I also like the idea of going to WCC after our Sea World day. I may be wrong, but I don’t really expect to be at Sea World all day, and I don’t want to burn a ticket so we can have dinner in a WDW park. Plus, whatever time we do have at Sea World, I don’t want to use too much of it by going to a table service restaurant. Nope, regular park food will be OK for us that day. Then, we should have a nice appetite worked up for WCC.

By the way, I am still using My Points and I earned a lot of points by ordering my Christmas gifts through them. In fact, if there is anything I want to get from Best Buy or WalMart, I order it online and choose in store pick up, and I swing by the store later in the day. This has all added up and I have earned enough points to get a $50 gift card for Landry’s restaurants! I can use that at Bubba Gump or at RFC! I’m halfway to a second $50 card, so I hope to be able to earn that by the time we take that trip.

I’m getting excited about this trip again! We’re almost at the six month mark, so there is a lot of planning and preparing in store!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Haha, you just made me remember my first Universal Movie which was Jaws and I was only 7 or 8. I'm not sure who I went with or who let me go (probably Nana), but after watching it I was terrified to go to the bathroom because I thought a shark would attack me from the toilet. Ahh the sweet fears of childhood.

I’m so glad you are reading along! Yes, Jaws can be traumatizing to a kid! That movie is a classic, though, and I love it even if it did make me scared of beaches when I was a kid!

This (and the Old Spice Commercials) = Pure genius!!! Love it

Those commercials are hilarious!

 

[Nancy for Disney]

30 Day Universal Challenge: Day #27 Saddest Death in a Universal Movie

By far, it was when Snape passed away! I cried like a baby when I read it in the book. I actually wanted them to save Snape in the movie! I knew that wasn’t going to happen, but I didn’t want to see him pass away again! It was so painful! When Harry was able to see Snape’s memories, I just about lost it! It was so moving.

Enjoying your PTR. Anyway, funny story about the saddest death in a Unversal Movie in my family. My kids who were 16, 13 and 9 at the time (estimated) went to see HP7 pt 1 without me as DH and I had an event to attend. We get a phone call in the middle of the event. It is loud and it is hard to hear but I do hear crying in the background. Not just a little cry but huge, giant sobs. . I run out of the building scared to death because I think they had an accident. DD 16 is a very new driver at this point. I get to where I can here and my 13 year old says "Caroline (dd9) won't stop crying because Dobbie died. We don't know what to do."

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Enjoying your PTR. Anyway, funny story about the saddest death in a Unversal Movie in my family. My kids who were 16, 13 and 9 at the time (estimated) went to see HP7 pt 1 without me as DH and I had an event to attend. We get a phone call in the middle of the event. It is loud and it is hard to hear but I do hear crying in the background. Not just a little cry but huge, giant sobs. . I run out of the building scared to death because I think they had an accident. DD 16 is a very new driver at this point. I get to where I can here and my 13 year old says "Caroline (dd9) won't stop crying because Dobbie died. We don't know what to do."

and thank you! Oh my gosh, you must have been scared to death! But that is the cutest story! That was a very sad part of the movie! My daughter and I basically cried though the last two movies. Thank goodness for the happy ending!

 

[pas130]

We will be there the same time!!! Cool!

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

I am subbing in to this one too. I already subscribe to your Disney PTR. We are doing both UO and WDW this August. Because of you, we are doing movie nights, but nothing themed. We are currently working on Jurassic Park. I am not sure about the Mummy for my 9 year old. She refuses to watch Jurassic. She did finally watch all of the Harry Potter. Good luck with your ADRs.

 

[pas130]

I am subbing in to this one too. I already subscribe to your Disney PTR. We are doing both UO and WDW this August. Because of you, we are doing movie nights, but nothing themed. We are currently working on Jurassic Park. I am not sure about the Mummy for my 9 year old. She refuses to watch Jurassic. She did finally watch all of the Harry Potter. Good luck with your ADRs.

My DD8 did okay on Jurassic, she was nervous and she is sensitive to noises..we were glad she tried it. She loved the Discovery Center there, they got to pet a "real" baby Triceratops

Dinosaur at WDW she was in tears by the end poor baby

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Six Months! Well, my ticker says “5 months, 4 weeks and 2 days”. I guess the ticker has a hard time dealing with February being a short month So I started celebrating six months to our trip yesterday! I was also celebrating my birthday! Yep, I turned the Big 40 yesterday! It was a really nice day. I’m going to hijack my own update to tell you guys about it, but then I will get back to the actual update, OK? Promise! If you’re not interested, you can scroll past the pictures and just read what I’ve changed (again) about the ADRs...

So, I went to work yesterday, even though I was thinking about taking the day off. Yesterday was a Thursday, so what could I really do on a Thursday to have fun for my birthday? I’m glad I went to work, though because a couple of girls took me to this great sandwich shop for lunch. Then my whole department had a party for me and another girl who’s birthday is today (she was smart enough to take the day off, though ) We had champagne and cupcakes! It a nice break in the middle of a long day! “Champagne?” you might be asking. Yes, champagne! We know how to party around here! There is always someone serving wine or going to the store to get beers for the team. It is totally different from the environment where my boss and I used to work. We talk about it all the time, because we never had parties – much less alcohol – at our old company. It’s a totally different culture here. One of the girls who took me to lunch yesterday joked that she should buy us some beers for lunch… but I am not completely sure she was joking! I’m not much of a beer drinker, so I declined her offer Anyway, during the party, I was telling the girls in my department about how True was planning on throwing a surprise party for me. I knew about it because I overheard her talking to my mom about it. I thought it was so sweet that True wanted to do something special for me! I told my co-workers that I had to practice my surprised face! Haha! So, when I got home last night, my entire house was dark, which is very unusual for kids who like to keep EVERY LIGHT IN THE HOUSE ON, but that is another story So, fully expecting my kids to jump out and yell “Surprise!” I made my way up the steps to the dining room. Sure enough, my kids, my mom and David all jumped out and yelled, “Surprise!” Even though I knew it was going to happen, I was still pretty shocking and I laughed! I didn’t have to practice my surprised face at all! True decorated the dining room and everything looked so pretty and pink!


There were more decorations, but I didn’t get pictures of everything. True got presents for me with her own money and she even let Coy put his name on them! LOL!



True decorated the cake with cookie icing, so she wasn’t happy with how it turned out, but I loved it!



These were some of the cupcakes that I brought home from the party at work. They fit in perfectly with True’s color scheme!



I opened my smallest present first, and it was a box of snack baggies! I went along with the joke and said, “Oh, just what I wanted! Snack bags!” Then I opened up the box and saw that there were two smaller presents inside.







True could barely contain herself when she busted out and said, “Pink polish and a clear coat!” I asked, “How did you know I wanted this?” and she answered, “I just knew. Grandma thought the pink was too bright,” and True rolled her eyes She is too funny! I didn’t get a picture of it, but they also got me a cute black dress. True wanted me to try it on and take a picture, but I didn’t feel like it right then. I knew that if I changed out of my clothes, I’d end up putting on sweats LOL! I opened up the presents before blowing out the candles because I figured we’d eat the cake after dinner. Well, Coy and True begged me to have the cake RIGHT THEN so I gave in and blew out the candles!



I only had a tiny piece of cake because I was close to my sweetness quota from the cupcakes earlier.



Then, I tried to get some good pictures of me and my kids before dinner, but True was clearly having a sugar rush, because she kept making silly faces!



Putting me in a choke hold -



Giving me devil horns (that my mom called “bunny ears” instead LOL!) –



Coy told True to stop being silly, so she made this sad face –



We tried a few more pictures, but I won’t bore you with those. Then I told True we should just make silly pictures at the camera. They were hilarious pictures, but not the most flattering of me LOL so I won’t post those! Then Coy and I got a nice picture and I have been showing it to people at work all morning –



It was a really nice 40th birthday with my kids, mom and brother! This weekend, my kids and I are going to my sisters’ to continue the party! We invited Kyle along, but he has a big project due on Monday, so he won’t be able to make it. The kids will have fun playing with Bruno, and my sisters and I will have fun making dinner and having a few drinks!

Anyway, on to the ADR changes! Today was supposed to be my ADR day, but since I changed my plans and we are at UO for the first three days, I don’t get to do my ADRs until Monday. That’s OK, though, because I really need to think about our plans. Yesterday, I got an idea in my head that the kids and I should really take advantage of the PhotoPass + by going to the majority of the restaurants where they upload pics to PhotoPass +. Really, it was just an excuse to book more places to eat The kids and I are foodies, so we would really enjoy going to a lot of restaurants so that we can try new things and go to our favorite places. There were a couple of restaurants that the kids really wanted to try, but weren’t on the list before, like 50’s Prime Time Café and T-Rex. So, here are the further updated plans:

Wednesday, August 21st – UO: WWoHP in the morning (Lunch at Three Broomsticks); IoA in the afternoon/evening (dinner at Mythos)

Thursday, August 22nd – UO: WWoHP in the morning; US in the afternoon/evening (late lunch at Lombard’s Seafood Grille)

Friday, August 23rd – UO: WWoHP in the morning; either IoA or US in the afternoon/evening (late lunch at Bubba Gump)

Saturday, August 24th – MK in the morning (Before Park Opening breakfast at Crystal Palace); HS in the evening (early dinner at Sci-Fi)

Sunday, August 25th – AK in the morning (Before Park Opening breakfast at Tusker House); EP in the evening (late lunch at T-Rex)

Monday, August 26th – EP all day (Before Park Opening breakfast at Akershus; early dinner at Coral Reef)

Tuesday, August 27th – HS all day (lunch at 50’s Prime Time Café)

Wednesday, August 28th – Sea World (dinner at Whispering Canyon Café)

Thursday, August 29th – EP all day (early breakfast at 1900 Park Fare; early dinner at Garden Grill)

Friday, August 30th – MK all day (early breakfast at Chef Mickey; dinner at Be Our Guest)

Saturday, August 31st – AK in the morning (early lunch at Rainforest Café; late dinner at Le Cellier); MK or EP in the evening

Sunday, September 1st – HS in the morning (early breakfast at ‘Ohana); MK in the evening (early dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table)

Monday, September 2nd – Departure day

If you have been paying extremely close attention, you would have noticed that I changed our breakfast at Three Broomsticks to lunch. All of you saw that, right? Yeah, I didn’t expect you to notice Well, I was pricing the items there and I saw the rotisserie chicken platter. It looked delicious! I realized that the kids and I would probably like lunch a lot better than breakfast. So I switched our lunch to a dinner at Mythos. Probably a very late dinner. This is where I need your help, UO experts. I have heard a few bits of conflicting info, so I was wondering if I really need to make some sort of reservation at Mythos. I want to make sure the kids and I get to eat there, but I don’t want our UO days to be too structured since this will be our first time going. So that’s where I am right now! Decisions, decisions!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

We will be there the same time!!! Cool!

I subbed to your PTR since we’re going to be there at the same time! I can’t wait to see your plans!

I am subbing in to this one too. I already subscribe to your Disney PTR. We are doing both UO and WDW this August. Because of you, we are doing movie nights, but nothing themed. We are currently working on Jurassic Park. I am not sure about the Mummy for my 9 year old. She refuses to watch Jurassic. She did finally watch all of the Harry Potter. Good luck with your ADRs.

Thanks for subbing to both! I subbed to yours, too, since you’re also going in August. I hope you have fun with the movie nights! Jurassic Park is actually the one I want to do next, since we haven’t done a UO one yet. I hope your daughter watches it. How did she like Harry Potter? Some of it was way too scary for my daughter until very recently.

 

[coastgirl]

Erin, you make me feel like a planning slacker! We are just kinda thinking, you know, Forbidden Journey, Ollivander's, some butterbeer... I haven't even purchased a guidebook yet! Our first few trips to Disney I was totally commando, but we have two weeks this time, so I'm trying not to let you make me feel inadequate.!

Congrats on your 40th! I just about died at the sweetness of your girl decorating your cake.

Ok, ok, maybe I should just make an ADR for 'Ohana...

 

[pas130]

I subbed to your PTR since we’re going to be there at the same time! I can’t wait to see your plans!

I'll be hijacking some of your ideas for sure!!

what a great party from your kids!!! My hubs is 40 in June so he keeps saying this is HIS trip this Summer (even though we will be there on my birthday)

Erin, you make me feel like a planning slacker! We are just kinda thinking, you know, Forbidden Journey, Ollivander's, some butterbeer... I haven't even purchased a guidebook yet! Our first few trips to Disney I was totally commando, but we have two weeks this time, so I'm trying not to let you make me feel inadequate.!

Congrats on your 40th! I just about died at the sweetness of your girl decorating your cake.

Ok, ok, maybe I should just make an ADR for 'Ohana...

It'll be great! And you made the O'hana ADR, right?

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Erin, you make me feel like a planning slacker! We are just kinda thinking, you know, Forbidden Journey, Ollivander's, some butterbeer... I haven't even purchased a guidebook yet! Our first few trips to Disney I was totally commando, but we have two weeks this time, so I'm trying not to let you make me feel inadequate.!

Congrats on your 40th! I just about died at the sweetness of your girl decorating your cake.

Ok, ok, maybe I should just make an ADR for 'Ohana...

Please don’t feel like a slacker on my account, JoAnne! I am just an uber-planner! It is a sickness, really Thank you for the birthday wishes! My daughter is a sweetheart and I am so proud of her Are you splitting your upcoming trip with WDW or are you just going over there for a meal or two? Either way, I hope you get the ADR for ‘Ohana!

I'll be hijacking some of your ideas for sure!!

what a great party from your kids!!! My hubs is 40 in June so he keeps saying this is HIS trip this Summer (even though we will be there on my birthday)

Hijack away! I get most of my ideas from the boards! Thank you for the birthday wishes!

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

Thanks for subbing to both! I subbed to yours, too, since you’re also going in August. I hope you have fun with the movie nights! Jurassic Park is actually the one I want to do next, since we haven’t done a UO one yet. I hope your daughter watches it. How did she like Harry Potter? Some of it was way too scary for my daughter until very recently.

She did ok with Harry Potter. She was able to watch it all. Jurassic Park she was not as much interested in. Marissa won't watch it at all, but Jacob loves them. They are releasing the original Jurassic Park in 3D soon. I saw the advertisements not too long ago. Maybe on the US site? They are releasing Jurassic 4 next year, so I think they are trying to get this generation hooked before it comes out.

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

I haven’t seen any ads for Jurassic 4 yet, I’ll have to go looking for one

 

[coastgirl]

Please dont feel like a slacker on my account, JoAnne! I am just an uber-planner! It is a sickness, really Thank you for the birthday wishes! My daughter is a sweetheart and I am so proud of her Are you splitting your upcoming trip with WDW or are you just going over there for a meal or two? Either way, I hope you get the ADR for Ohana!

Well, I have found my last planning document and am in the process of updating it. It'll be a few days before I'm ready to make ADRs. I did talk to the lovely people at 407-WDW-DINE yesterday though! Keep the plans coming though, you're refreshing my memory about how we might spend our time!

Nah, this time we're not doing Disney. The Flexpass gives us US/IoA plus Seaworld/Aquatica, and we're also doing Legoland for my Lego freak son. (Seriously. He's 12 now so is transitioning from "kid goofing around" to "collector". At least in theory.)

 

[indimom]

You're back!
and with more plans!

Your birthday party looked so sweet. I just celebrated that same lovely milestone in December. I'm not sure where the time went? I think I may have lost a few years in there somewhere??

We're also planning a split trip this summer, five days at disney and three at universal. I can't wait to hear more about your planning and your plans!

 

[pas130]

Hijack away! I get most of my ideas from the boards! Thank you for the birthday wishes!