A Disney-addicted mom: Disney cruise, Family trip, Running trips! *Update 2/18*

[wuzzy6]

And taking the bus to the Port might actually limit the amount of fighting amongst the children.

I'm sorry about the panic attack, but I am loving the optimism here!!!

 

[DrMomof3]

I'm sorry about the panic attack, but I am loving the optimism here!!!

Last August was the 1st time we ever rented a car at Disney. The drive from MCO to Disney was filled with so much fighting that I thought Tom was going to turn the car around and take us home!

Amanda

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Amanda?!?!? HOW was I not subbed to your PTR for this year??? So confused, but I'm subbed now!

 

[DrMomof3]

Amanda?!?!? HOW was I not subbed to your PTR for this year??? So confused, but I'm subbed now!

Welcome Karen! My PTR is relatively new and I didn't start with any fanfare.

Amanda

 

[cogero]

Cruise Update
I just heard some good news on the podcast. Apparently they aren't quite as strict about potty training in the kids clubs as I had been led to believe. I guess it makes sense that a company so dedicated to special-needs kids would make it possible for them to attend the kids programs. Zachary still won't be allowed in the pool if he's not fully potty trained but it'll be nice to send him to the kid clubs. Yay!
I've been obsessively reading the Passporter book on DCL. I think I'm learning everything I need to know. Today I'm hoping to get my passport picture taken and mail my renewal paperwork to get my new passport. I still can't believe I didn't realize my passport was expiring this year until last weekend.
I must say that after listening to all the stuff about the Fantasy, it made me super excited to go on the Dream. I hope my family LOVES cruising because then we can do this again.

I am so grateful I found your report. Last year I put J in the nursery since he was just 3.

This trip I have him signed up for the kids club. Just so I can maybe have an hour or two alone with G. J is non-verbal and autistic so that is why we like Disney so much.

I am going to be at Disney in August at the same time I love going the last week in August. We are kind of boxed into school vacations now that my dd is going to be starting middle school and J is going to be in Kindergarten in the fall

 

[DrMomof3]

I am so grateful I found your report. Last year I put J in the nursery since he was just 3.

This trip I have him signed up for the kids club. Just so I can maybe have an hour or two alone with G. J is non-verbal and autistic so that is why we like Disney so much.

I am going to be at Disney in August at the same time I love going the last week in August. We are kind of boxed into school vacations now that my dd is going to be starting middle school and J is going to be in Kindergarten in the fall

Welcome!!! And I'm glad I found you!
I'll definitely let you know what happens with Zachary and the kids club! It sounds like we'll be ok. I definitely know they allow pull-ups in the evening if the kids come in their pajamas so, worst-case, we can still grab a drink after dinner!

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

Life Update:
I will try to get back to my trip planning but we have a few things going on (surprise, surprise!). Yesterday was my first screening colonoscopy (my mom had colon cancer 9 years ago and is alive and kicking because of screening colonoscopy). Since I turned 40, I was due. I also had upper endoscopy because I had symptoms of gastric ulcer disease. The good news is that I have no evidence of polyps or any other badness. The less good news is that I have several healing ulcers. We're waiting for biopsy results to see if I need to take antibiotics in addition to the protonix (which I'm not that good about taking). Anyone as my public service announcement, the colonoscopy and even the prep were not a big deal AT ALL. If you are the appropriate age, PLEASE have this test done!
Second bit of news is that our beloved black lab, Buffy, isn't doing well. She was diagnosed with cancer in October and underwent successful surgery. She is now severely constipated and eating very little (she's a lab so this is quite concerning). The vet couldn't find any evidence of cancer so we're not sure what's going on. It's very distressing for all of us as Buffy has been part of our family for 9 years. She's turning 11 in July. We got her because she flunked out of seeing-eye dog school.
I have a big presentation to give this week so I shouldn't be on the DIS much. If you see me here, remind me to get to work!

Amanda

 

[natebenma]

Ugh. Spoke to our accountant today and we owe more in taxes than I expected.

The cruise is paid in full but I think we'll pass on shore excursions. They are quite pricey and I don't think we need them.

Amanda

Bummer on the tax bill!!!

After spending several days last week at Atlantis, I'll say that it is probably too soon for your family, anyway. It's huge, and there is so much to do, and you should consider this for a trip in the future, maybe when Zachary is 7-8.

I'm going to suggest the Pirate Museum again- your kids seem to like this theme, admission is $12 for adults and $6 for kids and I'm pretty sure you can walk there from the ship. So if you feel like getting off the boat for a couple of hours, you could do this and walk around the port for a low-cost excursion.

The gift shop could be a budget buster, though!

We have done this a couple of times in 2007 and 2009.

http://www.pirates-of-nassau.com/

Cruise Update
I just heard some good news on the podcast. Apparently they aren't quite as strict about potty training in the kids clubs as I had been led to believe. I guess it makes sense that a company so dedicated to special-needs kids would make it possible for them to attend the kids programs. Zachary still won't be allowed in the pool if he's not fully potty trained but it'll be nice to send him to the kid clubs. Yay!


Amanda

That's fantastic about Zachary and the kids club!

Have I ever told you about Ben's "Code Brown" on our Royal Caribbean cruise? Yes, that's what they actually call it!

ToT Race Weekend
I can't remember if I posted here but I found a roommate for the ToT race weekend. It's a friend that I've met on the DIS and I met her in person at the DISapalooza event in December. We are also friends on Twitter. She got a great deal on a studio at BCV. I'm going to hold onto my room at BC until we get closer to the race but I think we'll probably just share the studio. She also just told me that Lou Mongello is organizing an event at the American Pavilion on the Friday night of that weekend. And Epcot's 30th anniversary is on Monday of that weekend. I'm flying home late on Monday so I should be able to partake.


Amanda

Sounds great! Let me know if I need to move you on "The List"

August Family Trip
I haven't done ANY planning in terms of parks but I have dinner ADRs for every night:

Saturday, 8/25 5:40pm Cape May Cafe (We've never eaten here for dinner and I'm excited to try the Clam Bake!)
Sunday, 8/26 6pm Teppan Edo (NOT my favorite at all. We have a local hibachi place that is cheaper and better but my kids LOVE this place and insisted. What we do for love....)
Monday, 8/27 5:45pm Via Napoli (I love Via Napoli. I love the salad that you can get with the pizza. I love the atmosphere.)
Tuesday, 8/28 8:15pm Flying Fish Cafe (We're sitting at the Chef's Table for date night!)
Wednesday, 8/29 6:30pm Akhershus (Jessica MUST have a princess dinner or major tantrums ensue. She loves this one.)
Thursday, 8/30 6pm Bluezoo (We took the family here in January - the night before my marathon - and the kids loved it. Jessica says it's one of her very favorite restaurants at Disney World. Who am I to argue?)
Friday, 8/316:30pm Garden Grill (This has become our classic last night at Disney dinner. The character interaction is the among the best I've ever seen and we have happy memories of eating here. This will be our 3rd annual last night dinner at Garden Grill!)

Amanda

Love your reservations!!!

Life Update:
I will try to get back to my trip planning but we have a few things going on (surprise, surprise!). Second bit of news is that our beloved black lab, Buffy, isn't doing well. She was diagnosed with cancer in October and underwent successful surgery. She is now severely constipated and eating very little (she's a lab so this is quite concerning). The vet couldn't find any evidence of cancer so we're not sure what's going on. It's very distressing for all of us as Buffy has been part of our family for 9 years. She's turning 11 in July. We got her because she flunked out of seeing-eye dog school.
I have a big presentation to give this week so I shouldn't be on the DIS much. If you see me here, remind me to get to work!

Amanda

Sorry to hear about Buffy. I hope she recovers from this downturn.


I wanted to mention that the light blue color you use for the cruise updates is hard to read. Do you bold it occasionally? Sometimes it is easier to read than other times.


Now, BACK TO WORK FOR YOU!!!

 

[DrMomof3]

Thanks Dee!
I'll definitely look into the Pirate Museum. Good suggestion (as usual). Maybe we can even get some things for Pirate Night...
Code Brown??? Oh dear.... I would probably keep Zachary in a swim diaper just to avoid that...
I still have my regular BC room because my roommate *might* still cancel. She got a great rate at BCV so I'm hoping it's a go!
Thanks for the good wishes for Buffy. She seems a little better today.
And I'll try bolding the cruise color.

Amanda

 

[wuzzy6]

I'm really sorry to hear your Buffy isn't doing well.

I am glad, however, that your exam wasn't as bad as you'd expected. My dad is a colon cancer survivor, and just recently had the Whipple in his fight against pancreatic cancer. I'm all for screening and early detection. Good for you! I hope everything turns out in the best possible way for you!

 

[DrMomof3]

I'm really sorry to hear your Buffy isn't doing well.

I am glad, however, that your exam wasn't as bad as you'd expected. My dad is a colon cancer survivor, and just recently had the Whipple in his fight against pancreatic cancer. I'm all for screening and early detection. Good for you! I hope everything turns out in the best possible way for you!

Thank you!!!
Lots of prayers for your dad. A Whipple is not any easy procedure. Hoping for a speedy recovery and lots of cancer-free years!

Amanda

 

[rentayenta]

I'm sorry about Buffy. We love our Labs too. Sending lots of healing vibes.

 

[DrMomof3]

I'm sorry about Buffy. We love our Labs too. Sending lots of healing vibes.

Thank you! She seems a little better. Not eating well but eating a bit and drinking more water. We're hoping she continues to improve.

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

I ran 3.17 miles in 37 minutes yesterday! The first mile was in 10:47, the 2nd mile 11:24, and the 3rd mile 12:09. I guess I went out a little too fast. I'm trying to focus on speed at least one day a week so I'm happy with that. Felt pretty good!

Cruise Update
We set sail 2 months from yesterday!!! I'm starting to get super excited! I ordered personalized pillowcases off Etsy for the kids. Apparently you can get them signed by the characters. What I've read is that you drop them off at Guest Services at the beginning of the cruise and then get them back at the end of the cruise. Guest Services has all the characters sign them. I probably need to make an autograph book, too. I think I'm going to make ONE and let the kids share. Enough is enough!
I can't decide if I want to get matching cruise shirts. I'm thinking about Pirate Mickey shirts for Pirate Night. There are some cute ones on Etsy. I'm trying not to spend a ton of $$$ but it's a Disney trip. I know y'all understand.

Marathon Weekend
The Goofy is already 52% full! Crazy! I'm glad I signed up already. I'm trying to make 2 sets of plans: one if I go alone and one if I bring the family. I'm still pretty clueless! I'm thinking that if I go solo, I could probably stay at the Swan/Dolphin. The one issue with that is the transportation costs eat up a lot of the savings. Or maybe a Garden Wing room at the Contemporary so I have monorail access on the race days. I'm also scheming that if the kids don't come for race weekend, we could go to Disney for February break. That way I could run the Princess, too. I still think I can convince Tom to bring everyone, as long as our nanny comes, too. One thought is to get a 2 bedroom villa at Kidani and spend a lot of time at the resort. Another advantage staying at Kidani is that the 2 bedrooms have THREE full bathrooms instead of 2. A treehouse villa would be cheaper but the transportation to/from SSR is a little annoying. And I've heard it's even more annoying from the Treehouses. Plus, I'm not sure about the stairs situation at the Treehouses with my mom's COPD....
What I'm really hoping is that I get a raise and money becomes a moot point. Hope springs eternal, right? In all seriousness Tom and I are owed some $$$ from the IRS for FICA that was withheld during our residencies (it's a long, complicated story but basically anyone who did residency in the late 1990s/early 2000s is supposed to get back their FICA withholdings). If we ever actually get that money, it could certainly pay for a trip. I'm not holding my breath or anything but it's nice to dream.

Amanda

 

[wuzzy6]

Lots of prayers for your dad. A Whipple is not any easy procedure. Hoping for a speedy recovery and lots of cancer-free years!

Thank you so much!

What I'm really hoping is that I get a raise and money becomes a moot point. Hope springs eternal, right? In all seriousness Tom and I are owed some $$$ from the IRS for FICA that was withheld during our residencies (it's a long, complicated story but basically anyone who did residency in the late 1990s/early 2000s is supposed to get back their FICA withholdings). If we ever actually get that money, it could certainly pay for a trip. I'm not holding my breath or anything but it's nice to dream.

I'm going to re-name you to DrOptimismomof3.

But, truly, I hope you guys can get that money back before too much longer.

And, how cool about the pillowcases on the cruise?!!! I absolutely love that they'll do that - Disney is so awesome with all of the neat little details!

 

[Chelley00]

I can't decide if I want to get matching cruise shirts. I'm thinking about Pirate Mickey shirts for Pirate Night. There are some cute ones on Etsy. I'm trying not to spend a ton of $$$ but it's a Disney trip. I know y'all understand. [/B][/COLOR]a

Make them! Iron on transfers are so easy, and you can buy tshirts at craft stores like Michaels for $2.50 when they are on sale. There are so many cute Pirate Mickey/Minnie clip art pictures out there.

 

[DrMomof3]

Thank you so much!


I'm going to re-name you to DrOptimismomof3.

But, truly, I hope you guys can get that money back before too much longer.

And, how cool about the pillowcases on the cruise?!!! I absolutely love that they'll do that - Disney is so awesome with all of the neat little details!

Aww! Thanks!!! I try to stay optimistic. It's the only way I get through life.
I thought the pillowcase thing was pretty cool. Which is why I splurged on some nice personalized ones for the kids.

Make them! Iron on transfers are so easy, and you can buy tshirts at craft stores like Michaels for $2.50 when they are on sale. There are so many cute Pirate Mickey/Minnie clip art pictures out there.

Do you buy the transfer paper at Michael's, too? Can a completely incompetent non-craftsy person do this????

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

August Trip
This will be our 3rd annual trip to Disney World in late August. We like going that time of year because, despite the oppressive heat, the crowd levels are quite low. And we don't have Central Air Conditioning at home (we have an old home and need to completely re-do our electrical system before installing air conditioning. While that is a PLAN for the future, it's tens of thousands of dollars and would mean sacrificing Disney) so Disney, with its abundant air conditioning is actually an improvement.
Here's the question? We usually follow the same routine every year.
Arrive Saturday. Either no park or a little park time at whichever park is closest to our hotel (this year that would be Epcot). Dinner then bed. Sunday: DHS
Monday: AK (am EMH)
Tuesday: Epcot (am EMH)
Wednesday: No park day (Which usually ends up being a partial Epcot day because we usually have dinner at Epcot)
Thursday: MK (am EMH)
Friday: MK
Saturday: Epcot then home

Should I try to change this around? Should I follow Touring Plans best park days? Or just do what we've always done?

Amanda

 

[ddluvsdisney]

I did my 1st post-race run this morning and felt great! 3.6 miles at 12:38 min/mile pace. Yay! I'm running a 10k in NYC on June 9th so I need to keep up my training.

Podcast Cruise
I need to start thinking about a dinner reservation for the night before our cruise. We're staying at the Swan so it could be anywhere at Swan/Dolphin, Boardwalk, or Epcot. Or even Hollywood Studios, I suppose. Suggestions? I'm hoping to maybe watch Illuminations that night because, believe it or not, I've never seen Illuminations! Our cruise check-in time is 11am so we can't get picked up from the hotel much before 10am (DCL has gotten strict about people getting to the Port early because they're trying to manage crowds on the bigger ships). I still need to arrange our transportation, too.
Post-cruise we're pretty much set. I've reserved a golf cart at the Fort (I've read that this will likely be my children's favorite part of staying at Fort Wilderness). We're doing Hoop-dee-doo on Friday night and Mickey's Backyard BBQ on Saturday night. I'm thinking we could take the boat to MK one day if we want but otherwise I'm thinking about enjoying the Fort. I've heard the pool was recently updated and is nice. We could do a fishing excursion one morning but it's expensive so I'm not sure about that. And maybe some pony rides, time at the petting zoo, etc. I hope that's enough for the kids!

Amanda

Amanda~ not sure if you got any suggestions for the dinner yet. We got back from our trip Sun. night and with working now it's been hard catching up.
We ate at Rose & Crown on the patio and watched Illuminations right after our dinner. It was fantastic!!! This was the second time we did this.

Sorry to hear about your puppy, hope she's feeling better. We love our black lab too! We were devistated when our yellow lab died of cancer 5 yrs. ago.

We had a nice vacation last week but my DH and DS14 told me they were sick of Disney and don't want to go next year
This coming from the man that did ALL the planning for our trips until a year ago. I don't know what I'm gonna do. I am already depressed.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

August Trip
This will be our 3rd annual trip to Disney World in late August. We like going that time of year because, despite the oppressive heat, the crowd levels are quite low. And we don't have Central Air Conditioning at home (we have an old home and need to completely re-do our electrical system before installing air conditioning. While that is a PLAN for the future, it's tens of thousands of dollars and would mean sacrificing Disney) so Disney, with its abundant air conditioning is actually an improvement.
Here's the question? We usually follow the same routine every year.
Arrive Saturday. Either no park or a little park time at whichever park is closest to our hotel (this year that would be Epcot). Dinner then bed. Sunday: DHS
Monday: AK (am EMH)
Tuesday: Epcot (am EMH)
Wednesday: No park day (Which usually ends up being a partial Epcot day because we usually have dinner at Epcot)
Thursday: MK (am EMH)
Friday: MK
Saturday: Epcot then home

Should I try to change this around? Should I follow Touring Plans best park days? Or just do what we've always done?

Amanda

We've been and enjoy going in August for the low crowds as well!!
We have followed TP before especially for spring break trips. But with August crowds I don't think you'll have to change anything just do what you want when you want! That's why August trips are so great.