A Disney-addicted mom plans a trip in August, 2010! *New pics #574*

[DrMomof3]

You are right! Not only don't they have a children's menu, but not on the dining plan! I think you have struck gold girl!

You are a wise, wise woman.

Thanks! It seems that Disney has something for everyone - if you know what to look for!

Sounds fabulous! You are making me think that if dh and I can't get away for a long weekend at WDW then at the very least we need a date night.

We don't have a weekly date night but we try as often as possible. We learned (the hard way) that we need some adult time!

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

My DH is so funny. One of his hesitations about going to Disney in April is that he's really trying to lose weight for our August trip. He's done a good job so far but he has a bit more to go. I've gained a few lbs over the last few months so I'm trying to get rid of that before wearing a bathing suit. This morning he says, "How many more weeks before the April trip?" and then makes a muscle. I'm hoping to lose 3 more lbs by April and I think I can do it! I'd like to be down a few more than that by August but the 3 lbs would be fine for me.

Amanda

 

[Charlefours]

Yay for your April plans--sounds great! The Bistro sounds lovely and I will be looking forward to hearing your impression on it. DH and I are horrible at taking date nights--I hope we can get them back again soon.

There are a lot of us working on weight loss before our Disney trips! Must be contagious too.

 

[DrMomof3]

Yay for your April plans--sounds great! The Bistro sounds lovely and I will be looking forward to hearing your impression on it. DH and I are horrible at taking date nights--I hope we can get them back again soon.

There are a lot of us working on weight loss before our Disney trips! Must be contagious too.

Date night has become a necessity for us. It's really been a key to staying married!

We're going to try a Peter Pan movie night tonight. I'm not doing anything terribly themed or fancy. I printed out some coloring pages for the kids. I'm going to cover the coffee table in brown paper and let them draw on that, too. And I'll let them eat dinner in the living room in front of the tv (which is very rare for us!). I'm making a regular dinner - roasted chicken with gravy, potatoes or rice, veggies. I bought some mini-cupcakes for dessert. They're St. Patrick's so the green with go along with Peter Pan. I know it's hardly inspirational compared to what others are doing but I think this'll be fine for us!

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

I'm starting to wonder if I should do an Illuminations cruise in August. It's a bit pricey but we could maybe do a share. It sounds awesome! My biggest reason to NOT do it is that my kids go to bed early and it would require them to stay up late. Maybe that's something will save for another trip? Especially since my older 2 are getting to do the pirate cruise...

Amanda

 

[-Hope-]

I honestly think our big plans and themes for movie days are more for the ADULTS than the kids. Yours sound great and if your kids are enjoying themselves and you are getting some special family time that's what's important. :

The cruise sounds so fun and I'd love to do one but if your kids fall asleep early I might save for when their older- that's the great thing about WDW, every time you go there's something new to look forward to.

 

[DrMomof3]

I honestly think our big plans and themes for movie days are more for the ADULTS than the kids. Yours sound great and if your kids are enjoying themselves and you are getting some special family time that's what's important. :

The cruise sounds so fun and I'd love to do one but if your kids fall asleep early I might save for when their older- that's the great thing about WDW, every time you go there's something new to look forward to.

Thanks Hope! It is easy to get caught up in the "all the other families are doing more elaborate things than I am" bug. Sadly our Peter Pan DVD was scratched beyond salvage (boy was I angry!) so we ended up watching Aladdin instead. The kids loved the "make your own tablecloth" and it's so much cheaper than buying a themed tablecloth! I think it was a success!! Maybe I'll try to do a bit more advanced planning for our next movie night...

Amanda

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Amanda! I have no clue how I missed your PTR, but I snuck over here from Hope's and I'm glad I did! Love your plans, DH and I are planning a short trip next Feb. for our 20th Anniversary (yes, I was 5 when we met! )

 

[DrMomof3]

Amanda! I have no clue how I missed your PTR, but I snuck over here from Hope's and I'm glad I did! Love your plans, DH and I are planning a short trip next Feb. for our 20th Anniversary (yes, I was 5 when we met! )

Don't worry! You're still younger than I am.
Welcome to my chaotic life!

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

I had posted in the DCL forum to get some advice about guidebooks for the cruise. I know very little about cruising in general and figured that I should start reading up if I want to plan a future cruise (I'm thinking maybe 2012 when my youngest is old enough for the kids' programs). Some really nice Dis-er sent me their book for free! It arrived yesterday and I started my reading today. I didn't get very far with my reading but it's definitely getting me excited! I better start saving now....

See how crazy I am? I have 2 trips to Disney to plan (one work and one pleasure but still) and I'm already thinking ahead to 2012!!!

Amanda

 

[cdotla]

Yep! You're addicted...welcome to the Club.

 

[DrMomof3]

The Cinderella DVD is on its way to us thanks to Blockbuster.com. Sadly I think we'll have to wait until next weekend because they're estimating a Monday arrival date. It's too bad because it is raining and cold! Oh well!!!

My DME packet for the April trip arrived! It makes it all so much more real!!!

Amanda

 

[-Hope-]

My dd loved Cinderella at that age.

Yay for DME packages! Any Disney magic in my mailbox makes me happy. I can hardly wait to book my flight so I can get mine!

 

[Charlefours]

Date night has become a necessity for us. It's really been a key to staying married!
Amanda

It would be lovely to get them! DD will start going to DMIL and DFIL's house a little earlier on Thursdays in April so hopefully we can get back to doing them then.

Your night sounds great! I do not think they have to be elaborate to be special!! The Illuminations cruise would be great thing but only it works for your kiddo's schedule. Can you nap later to make them more incline to stay up later and be happy? Nah, you are not crazy amongst us here at DIS! I am thinking about a cruise too! Perhaps May/June 2011 for us as a graduation present and a family trip before the PhD begins.

 

[DrMomof3]

Cinderella arrived yesterday but we lost power (with no estimate of when we'll have power again) so the kids will have to wait. We're staying at my MIL's house which is only 10 min away so hopefully we'll be able to run home and get a few more things. They've declared a state of emergency in our town so we're not allowed to drive until noon! When we were trying to decide where to stay last night, my son announced that we should just go to Disney! What a great idea!!!

Amanda

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Sunday: Travel day. Don't know arrival time yet. If we take an early flight, we can try to move the Princess dinner to this night. Otherwise no ADRs.
Monday: Morning EMH at DHS. Dinner at Teppan Edo.
Tuesday: Morning EMH at MK. Dinner at Le Celier.
Wednesday: Albatross cruise 9:30-11:30 for older 2 kids. Fantasmic! Dinner at Mama Melrose.
Thursday: Sleep late! Cape May Cafe for Breakfast. KNO for kids. Bluezoo dinner for grown-ups.
Friday: Akershus Princess breakfast. Garden Grill for dinner.
Saturday: Late flight (hopefully). No ADRs.

Ok Amanda, I'm here to help as requested!

Are these the plans you have so far? I see you guys like AM EMH, for early risers, they are great! Will you have hoppers? Oh...duh, I see AM DHS and PM dinner at Teppan Edo, so I guess so!

Ok, so if you have time for a park on Sunday b/c of an early flight, my suggestion would be AK. It's the easiest park for a Sunday with the lowest crowds. Plus, since it closes early, you won't be tempted to stay out too late!

DHS will be busy after the first hour or two on an early morning EMH, so after lunch or a break I would head to Epcot, which is perfect for a Monday evening! Don't ask me how I know, I just know these things.

So on Wednesday you will just go to DHS for the evening/Fantasmic? Sounds like a plan as long as you went on the headliners like TSM the previous morning.

No park on Thursday? Friday looks like a great day for Epcot! Are there other times you are going to MK????

 

[DrMomof3]

Ok Amanda, I'm here to help as requested! Thanks!!!

Are these the plans you have so far? I see you guys like AM EMH, for early risers, they are great! Will you have hoppers? Oh...duh, I see AM DHS and PM dinner at Teppan Edo, so I guess so! I like having park hoppers because of the flexibility. In April we're not getting park hoppers because it isn't worth the cost for only 2 days!

Ok, so if you have time for a park on Sunday b/c of an early flight, my suggestion would be AK. It's the easiest park for a Sunday with the lowest crowds. Plus, since it closes early, you won't be tempted to stay out too late! I wouldn't have thought of that! We would have probably just wandered over the Epcot. AK is a good idea!

DHS will be busy after the first hour or two on an early morning EMH, so after lunch or a break I would head to Epcot, which is perfect for a Monday evening! Don't ask me how I know, I just know these things. That's what we would probably do. A few hours at SAB and maybe a little rest and then off to Epcot!

So on Wednesday you will just go to DHS for the evening/Fantasmic? Sounds like a plan as long as you went on the headliners like TSM the previous morning. I haven't gotten this far in my planning!!!We could take Zachary to DHS in the morning and grab FPs for later in the day. He could see the Playhouse Disney show while the big kids are on the pirate cruise.

No park on Thursday? Probably MK but I also like to leave a little flexbility so the kids can choose what they want to do. Or we could do AK.

Friday looks like a great day for Epcot! And it's great because we can walk "home" after lunch for some R&R before returning for dinner!

Are there other times you are going to MK????I still need to figure that out! We'd like to take a late flight on Saturday so we may have most of the day to play with, too.

Thank you!

Amanda

 

[carissanboys]

Hey Amanda!

Things are a little crazy around here right now, but I've subscribed and quickly zipped through all of your plans and will try to stay caught up.

 

[DrMomof3]

Hey Amanda!

Things are a little crazy around here right now, but I've subscribed and quickly zipped through all of your plans and will try to stay caught up.

I just told my DH about your half-marathon. He said we can go to Disney in January, 2011 if I run a half-marathon! I'm going to think about it!!! You're such an inspiration. I'm going to try to increase my training efforts....

Amanda

 

[-Hope-]

Well, I really have no advice because Karen is the true master.

So sorry about the power! I hope it gets fixed soon!!!