1 Aunt, 1 Mom, 2 kids - will we be sane?

[If U Had Wings]

One of these days I'm going to go on an Illumination cruise. We were going to do it this trip, but the plans just wouldn't work out. Next time.

 

[Donald is #1]

One of these days I'm going to go on an Illumination cruise. We were going to do it this trip, but the plans just wouldn't work out. Next time.

As long as it won't break the bank, definitely try it out sometime. I found it nice and relaxing plus a great way to see the fireworks. Our captain, took us down towards MGM first so we got to see the all of the lights from BW lighting up the canal. Then he headed to EPCOT and tied up under the bridge just a few minutes before the show. It was really a neat way to see them plus you didn't have to fight the crowds leaving EPCOT.

 

[Donald is #1]

Hi everyone! Just checking in to see how everyone is doing. Not too much going on with this trip currently since Jet Blue hasn't open up yet for November.

I have been doing a bit more on my December trip (solo - 10 days). I have a list of TS places that equals or is greater than the number of days of the trip! I also can't wait for my May trip. I am going for 5 nights with a friend of mine from HS and college. If any of you read my trip report from trip last May, My First Solo - well almost solo trip, Marge is the friend that I spent 2 days with (one of the days also included her mother ).

In other news, I ended up spending last weekend doing taxes. I got my taxes done and my mother's taxes done. Now all that is left is the estate taxes for my father's estate. I think that since I have procrastinated so long, I am going to go to H&R Blockto have the estate taxes done. Hopefully, by the end of next week, taxes should be done!

 

[Donald is #1]

When I got home tonight and I was checking my email, I saw that Jet Blue has a sale going on! So, I raise my hopes and then go over to the Jet Blue website. Unfortunately, they still haven't released November tickets yet. Oh well, it would have been too good to be true anyways.

So the airline wait continues.

 

[If U Had Wings]

The wait is horrible isn't it? I couldn't wait to book my airfare either!

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

The airfare and the MNSSHP are the only two things we're waiting on too. Most of the airlines have rates released for our dates, but we're really hoping to fly out of a specific airport, possibly on Southwest, and they're only booking up until 8/22/08 right now.

The MNSSHP tix are on sale as of 5/1/08.

 

[Donald is #1]

Well, since most of the planning is done until Jet Blue opens up the flights for November and we hit our 180 day mark, DSis and I had to find something else to figure out.

So we started looking at flight times. Our basic plan had been to fly on the Jet Blue non-stop flight at about 10. It gets you down to MCO at about 1. Well, since we only have 3 park days, we started thinking about looking at earlier flights or even the night before. Well, it looks like leaving the night before won't work. Probably the earliest flight we could get out of Boston in the evening and still have the kids spend the whole day at school would be 6:30. That would mean that we would need to leave as soon as the kids get out of school with just the shortest (!!!) stop at home to drop off school stuff. Well, looking at Jet Blue's website, the latest non-stop flight is at 5. Oh well, I also did check other airlines but nothing good.

So our next plan is to get the flight 1 hour eariler. In order sleep a bit later in the morning, we are now checking out the park fly and stay places near Boston. By staying over night, we will get at least another hour of sleep if not 1.5 hours because we would be leaving from Worcester and would need to make sure that we didn't hit traffic. The prices are actually very reasonable. They seem to be $135-$200 for a room plus parking. That is cheaper than a limo and parking at an off-site lot would be about $100. Hmmm, this option is very interesting!

 

[swwake]

Well, since most of the planning is done until Jet Blue opens up the flights for November and we hit our 180 day mark, DSis and I had to find something else to figure out.

So we started looking at flight times. Our basic plan had been to fly on the Jet Blue non-stop flight at about 10. It gets you down to MCO at about 1. Well, since we only have 3 park days, we started thinking about looking at earlier flights or even the night before. Well, it looks like leaving the night before won't work. Probably the earliest flight we could get out of Boston in the evening and still have the kids spend the whole day at school would be 6:30. That would mean that we would need to leave as soon as the kids get out of school with just the shortest (!!!) stop at home to drop off school stuff. Well, looking at Jet Blue's website, the latest non-stop flight is at 5. Oh well, I also did check other airlines but nothing good.

So our next plan is to get the flight 1 hour eariler. In order sleep a bit later in the morning, we are now checking out the park fly and stay places near Boston. By staying over night, we will get at least another hour of sleep if not 1.5 hours because we would be leaving from Worcester and would need to make sure that we didn't hit traffic. The prices are actually very reasonable. They seem to be $135-$200 for a room plus parking. That is cheaper than a limo and parking at an off-site lot would be about $100. Hmmm, this option is very interesting!

What about just taking the kids out of school an hour early on departure day? Is that out of the question? If I were going to add a hotel to the beginning of my trip, I'd rather it be in Orlando than at home. Just thinking...

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

I'm not sure where in NH you are, but what about Southwest out of Manchester? I don't know what the rates are like, but just a thought (not that they've released their dates either.)

I detest flying out of Logan. We're trying to go Southwest out of Providence. But, if we can't get a decent deal on that, we'll probably do Jet Blue out of Logan as well.

 

[If U Had Wings]

Flights never work out the way you want them to. I actually thought we had worked out a great plan for my upcoming trip. Early trip on the way down, and a flight leaving at 6:30 on the way home.

I went online to just check the current rates the other day and couldn't find my flight home. Turns out it's been moved to 10:50 am. Ugh!!!

I was really looking forward to having a few more hours that last day. (At the very least not having to be up at the crack of dawn for ME pickup).

 

[Donald is #1]

What about just taking the kids out of school an hour early on departure day? Is that out of the question? If I were going to add a hotel to the beginning of my trip, I'd rather it be in Orlando than at home. Just thinking...

We thought about that but we figured that we didn't want to push our luck with my brother-in-law. He has been a good sport about us taking the kids out of school for 2 days but he didn't want us to take them out a third day. Plus since I may want to do this again, we figured that we should stay with our orginal plan for the kids and school. But we did think about it!

 

[Donald is #1]

I'm not sure where in NH you are, but what about Southwest out of Manchester? I don't know what the rates are like, but just a thought (not that they've released their dates either.)

I detest flying out of Logan. We're trying to go Southwest out of Providence. But, if we can't get a decent deal on that, we'll probably do Jet Blue out of Logan as well.

I'm actually only 20 minutes from Manchester. My sister and kids are about 1.5 hours away. It is an option. However, to be honest, I am not a big fan of Southwest. I have only flown them once and didn't have any problems but I free Jet Blue. I agree with you on Logan. For many years, I would fly out of MHT and only fly out of Logan when flying to Europe. However, now that Logan is easier to get to, I have actually flown out of there 4-5 times so that I could either fly on Jet Blue or the flight options were better.

Another plus is that Jet Blue prices will be out before Southwest.

All that being said, I am flying Southwest out of MHT for my May trip.

 

[Donald is #1]

Flights never work out the way you want them to. I actually thought we had worked out a great plan for my upcoming trip. Early trip on the way down, and a flight leaving at 6:30 on the way home.

I went online to just check the current rates the other day and couldn't find my flight home. Turns out it's been moved to 10:50 am. Ugh!!!

I was really looking forward to having a few more hours that last day. (At the very least not having to be up at the crack of dawn for ME pickup).

So true! We won't make our final decision until the flights open up to see if there is a major price difference or not. Also, for return flight, we will probably be on a 1:00 flight because the next direct flight wouldn't get in until fairly late (the kids probably wouldn't be home until 11 and then I wouldn't be home until about 12:30).

 

[Donald is #1]

Well, it's been a while since I posted. Let's see, well taxes are finally done! I have had my own done for a few weeks, but I had the taxes for my father's estate left. Well, after looking over the forms, I decided that it was time to pay someone to do them for them. I am definitely glad I did. I would never have figured them out! I mailed them last night so taxes are finally complete.

I finally had time this past weekend to play around with the new camera that I bought over a month ago. I want to play with it a bit before my May trip because I want to use it on the sunrise safari. This camera is a new nikon digital SLR. For some reason, a new DSLR (digital SLR) has been calling me!

In regards to this trip, my sister and the kids will be coming up in a couple of weeks to spend a night. So we will probably spend some of the time talking to the kids about the trip. I think that I am going to ask the kids to pick their top 2-3 attractions at each of the parks (EPCOT, AK, DHS). That way, I can make sure that they hit their highlights.

 

[swwake]

Well, it's been a while since I posted. Let's see, well taxes are finally done! I have had my own done for a few weeks, but I had the taxes for my father's estate left. Well, after looking over the forms, I decided that it was time to pay someone to do them for them. I am definitely glad I did. I would never have figured them out! I mailed them last night so taxes are finally complete.

I am also VERY glad Tax day has come and gone!

I finally had time this past weekend to play around with the new camera that I bought over a month ago. I want to play with it a bit before my May trip because I want to use it on the sunrise safari. This camera is a new nikon digital SLR. For some reason, a new DSLR (digital SLR) has been calling me!

I'm also trying to learn to use my new camera. I don't think it's as nice as yours. It's a little Sony I got for Christmas. But I do like it. Have fun learning and practicing. Can't wait to see your safari pics!

In regards to this trip, my sister and the kids will be coming up in a couple of weeks to spend a night. So we will probably spend some of the time talking to the kids about the trip. I think that I am going to ask the kids to pick their top 2-3 attractions at each of the parks (EPCOT, AK, DHS). That way, I can make sure that they hit their highlights.

That will be so much fun to talk to them, and they will get excited knowing that they are part of the planning.

 

[If U Had Wings]

I like the idea of asking the kids what they want to see. My nieces tend to be a bit bossy sometimes. They are already telling me what they will do. No worries about being in the dark about what they want to see.

 

[Donald is #1]

I like the idea of asking the kids what they want to see. My nieces tend to be a bit bossy sometimes. They are already telling me what they will do. No worries about being in the dark about what they want to see.

It's great that they will speak up. In this case Belle will definitely speak up. But Pluto sometimes will and sometimes won't. So I figured this would be a good way to get them involved plus to make sure that they both get to see the highlights that they want to see. I would hate it to be our last day and hear "Well I really wanted to do x, but we didn't do it."

It also stems from my approach to the parks. I don't use any of the published plans. Instead, we (me and whoever I am with) figure out what our top couple of rides for the park that day and then do those first. We then hit up the other attractions. But at least for me, I find this mentally is a better approach. I get my must sees out of the way and then everything else is gravy and I don't feel disappointed about the attractions that I don't get to.

 

[Donald is #1]

Well, this past weekend was our first really nice spring weekend and I definitely took advantage of it. My other sister was on vacation last week and since Friday was one of my off-Fridays (I have every other Friday off), we decided to head down to Foxwoods for the day (casino in CT). It is about 2 hours from my house, so I got up at my normal work time and then headed down. My sister lives on the way. So I stopped at her house and then we headed to the casino. We got to the casino at about 9 and then spent the entire day there. We didn't end up leaving to a bit after 4 which is long for us. Normally, we head out after lunch.

Then on Saturday, I decided that I wanted to try out my new camera before my May trip to WDW. So I decided to head to the southern coast of Maine. The Maine border is a little over an hour from my house. It was very sunny and probably about 70 out so it was an awesome day just to mosey. Plus it is off-season so the crowds were low. Here are some of the pictures that I took.

Nubble Light:

South Portland Light: (Yes I love lighthouses! )

Plus for those of you wondering what New England looks like in the middle of April, it is still brown:

Then on Sunday, I went down to visit my mother in the afternoon. While I was there, my aunt and uncle stopped by so I spent an hour or so longer than I planned.

Overall, it was a great weekend. Of course, I didn't get anything done around the house.

 

[stagemomx3]

Great pictures!

 

[swwake]

It also stems from my approach to the parks. I don't use any of the published plans. Instead, we (me and whoever I am with) figure out what our top couple of rides for the park that day and then do those first. We then hit up the other attractions. But at least for me, I find this mentally is a better approach. I get my must sees out of the way and then everything else is gravy and I don't feel disappointed about the attractions that I don't get to.

I think I like this idea. Maybe I'll try this.

What a great use of some free time and great weather. I love the pictures. So different from anything we are used to seeing around here.