A little of this, a little of that, WDW US IOA SeaWorld Legoland Oct 12 PTR

[oboedm]

Love the plans! I like that you only have a few must-dos for each day. Definitely do-able with a large trip! I am an overplanner and I think I will need to slow things down for the next trip!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

OMG!! I love that Splash Mountain pic!! CLASSIC!!

 

[Chelley00]

Hi Shel!
Just trying to get caught up on your trip planning!

Love ya!
Amanda

Isn't it about time for you to go again

Looks like a good plan! I like going to the left in MK. It's a nice change of pace.

We usually spend 2 days at MK, and one day we go left and one day we go right. Some day we might shake it up and head the middle just for kicks!

Love the plans! I like that you only have a few must-dos for each day. Definitely do-able with a large trip! I am an overplanner and I think I will need to slow things down for the next trip!

I'm usually a big over planner, but when DD and I went on her birthday trip alone, I let her set the pace and realized I enjoyed a slower less "we have to get all this done" feeling. Now I just make sure we have time to hit our favorites, and ride everything in between. We'll do SO much more than the must-do's I have listed here, but these are the things I know we HAVE to do.

OMG!! I love that Splash Mountain pic!! CLASSIC!!

Wait until I post the picture of my mom on Space Mountain. Same face. Eyes closed.



Today is the second day in a row that DS has been home with a fever, sneezing, coughing etc. He's pretty miserable, and today he's decided he's really bored. It's going to be a long day! Hopefully he can go back to school tomorrow, since it's his last day before Spring Break.

 

[Chelley00]

October 18th

This is the first full day with my brother, SIL and nephew. This is where the planning might leave my hands a little. Last year SIL was set on the parks they wanted to go to based on their schedules, and we ended up running into some crowds because she wanted to do EMH's (and we hate them...this trip we can't since we'll be offsite) I'm hoping that I can persuade her to follow touring plans and easywdw with me instead of just guessing.

So for now, I'm going with what I would plan if she wasn't with us, and if she wants to change later, we will. My plans for today would be a second day at DHS. Nephew is a Toy Story maniac and loves the Muppets, Brother is a Star Wars nerd and SIL loves Beauty and the Beast. If this is the one day we are all together for the entire day like last year, this is the park to be at.

Plus, I can send DD on RNR with my brother

The only thing that will change this plan at all is if everyone decides to do a family MNSSHP again. This would be the only night we could do it. We had such a good time last year I can't imagine anyone not wanting to do, however, last year we paid for everyone as their Christmas presents, but I don't know that we will do so this year. They may not want to go once they realize the price If we do go to MNSSHP this night, we'll probably do a couple of hours at MK in the morning, and then swim/rest after lunch. For now, we're going to pretend there's no MNSSHP for us this night, and we're heading to DHS for the day.


For my nephew

For my SIL

For my brother (it was closed for refurb last trip I think)

I'm going to guess this for DS

and of course for DD

For my mom

For me

And for all of us

So, DHS poses another problem for food. I know my nephew and son will want their old standby for lunch

For dinner. Last trip brother's family had the QS dining plan, we had regular. That spoiled my mom on table service dinners It worked out well as we'd spend all day with brother's family, but then go our separate ways for dinner and the rest of the evening they could spend together alone and we could do our thing. I've budgeted a table service each night. Really, there are only 2 options for us if we stay in the park.

50's Prime Time. Their menu might be a little better for me

but the kids love Sci Fi

My other idea is to see if brother and family would want to leave the park and head to DTD to go to TRex Cafe with us. We haven't been since 2008 and DS is a huge dinosaur fan. (plus we have 99 cent kids meal things!)

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

OMG!! That pic of your Mom being force fed her veggies is the BEST! Your Mom is cracking me up with all these shots....she looks like she's a lot of fun to be with. Love it!

 

[PixieMama]

Joining in!

 

[DrMomof3]

Of course I'm planning my next trips!
Love the pic from 50's Prime Time! Classic!!!

Amanda

 

[Chelley00]

OMG!! That pic of your Mom being force fed her veggies is the BEST! Your Mom is cracking me up with all these shots....she looks like she's a lot of fun to be with. Love it!

My mom was so much fun at Disney. It was her first real vacation, her first trip to Disney and she just became this excited little girl. I was so happy she went with us. We live just far enough apart to make it easy to see each other often, so it was nice to get to spend all this time with her.

Joining in!

Welcome!

Of course I'm planning my next trips!

Whenever David says something about me being addicted, I go "But, my friend Amanda goes four times a year"



Today is the first day of Spring Break. DS16 left yesterday for Florida (NO FAIR!) One of the families from his travel soccer league asked if he could go with them, with his only expense being food. Between this and the mission trip to Belize in June, I don't feel so sorry he's being left behind in October!

Oldest DS went to Chicago to his dad's to hang with his girlfriend and friends this weekend and youngest DS went to my ILs for the weekend. DH has to work, so it's just DD, the cat and me enjoying the stormy weather.

I should be cleaning, but it's much more fun to plan our trip!

 

[Chelley00]

October 19th Magic Kingdom Day #2

Today's the day we go to the right!

We'll go that way first to satisfy the 2 youngest in our group

Buzz Lightyear for my Toy Story obsessed nephew

and DS's newest favorite ride, Space Mt. He had never really been tall enough, and last trip I had to basically drag him on it. He was crying and the CM actually asked him if he was okay and if he wanted to get off. I said he'd be fine, leaned forward and put my hand on his shoulder, told him if he hated he never had to ride it again and we were off.


We rode it 9 more times on the trip.

We did make the mistake of talking my mom into trying it. Someone with a previous severe neck injury should NOT ride Space Mountain, FYI. But, since she was fine, just a little sore, we can totally make fun of her for having yet another ride picture with her eyes closed

We'll also make the rounds on the TTA, Monsters Laugh Floor and then I'm sure the kids will make us do the Tomorrowland Speedway. I hate it. The kids adore it.

Lunch today probably at Cosmic Ray's. If we do our usual and split up at dinner, I'm thinking 1900 Park Fare. We didn't get to the Grand Floridian with my mom, and I'm thinking she would get a kick out of the Tremaines

 

[DrMomof3]

Whenever David says something about me being addicted, I go "But, my friend Amanda goes four times a year"

I should be cleaning, but it's much more fun to plan our trip!

See I knew I was useful for something...
Most things in life are more fun than cleaning!

Amanda

 

[Chelley00]

Ugh. I'm such an idiot.

I thought had all the plans made, where to go when and in talking with DH tonight I realized I forgot to plan for the kids YES class!!! I'm going to have to go back and make a couple of adjustments to our day to day plans.

I could puke!

 

[PixieMama]

Ugh. I'm such an idiot.

I thought had all the plans made, where to go when and in talking with DH tonight I realized I forgot to plan for the kids YES class!!! I'm going to have to go back and make a couple of adjustments to our day to day plans.

I could puke!

Oh, no! Well, don't feel too badly... that totally sounds like something I would do!

 

[Chelley00]

I went back and rearranged our days/posts, so once I fix the links in the first post, I should be back up to date!


October 20th

Epcot Day #2

I know Epcot on a Saturday sucks, but I have a feeling SIL will want to go to Epcot and since we'll spend our day in Future World and avoid the World Showcase, we shouldn't run into a problem with crowds. The only issue is that we'll miss Illuminations, which my mom and DS have never seen, but really, I'd rather skip it and skip the crowds.

Now, hopefully Brother can hang with me for awhile, because then DD can ride this with him

Momma has some issues with tight spaces and this is one ride DD CANNOT drag me on.

We'll have to hit:
Figment (DD has a strange addiction)

And we'll also have to ride Nemo, Spaceship Earth and Test Track....not in the order or course.

We may also have to try Universe of Energy. It's so boring, but DS would like the dinosaurs.



Dinner tonight is my mom's pick, the place with the fish

and the light up drinks

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

OMG! My DD at the age of 11 MADE us ride Figment with her!! She was so mad when I suggested we skip it!!

Glad you're gonna get your Mom in with the fish and light up drinks!

 

[Joyciemc]

Epcot on a Saturday HAS to be better than MK on a Saturday, right? At least it's a bigger park, and more open so it doesn't feel so crowded.

Reading your daily plans has made it very hard to wait 6 more months for October!!

 

[Chelley00]

OMG! My DD at the age of 11 MADE us ride Figment with her!! She was so mad when I suggested we skip it!!

DD makes us ride it multiple times per trip. I keep praying for a refurb for October......................................

Epcot on a Saturday HAS to be better than MK on a Saturday, right? At least it's a bigger park, and more open so it doesn't feel so crowded.!

Epcot on a Saturday isn't bad, but the drunken people for F&W on Saturday night doesn't make for a nice evening. We had a run in with a drunk guy a couple of years ago, and later saw someone throwing up in the bushes!





October 21st. Wizards and dinosaurs


My brother and SIL are HUGE Harry Potter fans. Beyond huge. Last trip they took the last day and went to see Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We babysat my nephew so they could have a "date". At that point, DD had seen maybe a couple of the movies and DS none so I thought it would be a waste of money, especially since they only were there for half a day before we left to head home. Since we have so much more time this trip, and because DD has now seen all the movies and is in the middle of reading the book series, and DS has seen the first 2 or 3 movies, we're heading to the dark side!

We'll spend most of the morning, early afternoon at WWOHP, and then if we finish there, we'll most likely head to have some fun with Dr Seuss. Hopefully I can convince Brother to take DD on the Hulk and Dueling Dragons with him because there's pretty much no way I'm going to ride them with her

This will be the last day for my brother, SIL and nephew, and they will leave from here to start their long drive back home. Brother being a teacher makes for a short vacation because he can't take too many days off and they don't have Fall Break like we do.

After saying goodbye to the family, we will stay at Universal to finish our day. If we haven't ridden a few things with the family, they will become our must do's for today:

Remember DS, my dinosaur freak? He was only 4 on our last trip and not even close to being tall enough for Jurassic Park. He is beyond pumped to ride it this time. He's seen all the movies at least 30 times

Spiderman ride is a must, and hopefully it's warm enough we can get soaked on Dudley and Popeye while we're at it.


Lunch today will either be at Three Broomsticks (which would be DD's choice) or Thunder Falls Terrace. Either place should be safe for me.

Dinner I'm debating. I have a feeling we'll stay near Universal and eat at CityWalk. Last trip we went to Hard Rock just because we had never been to one. My secret family shame is that my mom and stepdad are huge Nascar fans so I'm wondering if the Nascar restaurant would be the right choice.


I must get my mom watching the Harry Potter movies so she can study up before our trip!

 

[Chelley00]

Spring Break has officially ended. DH16 went to Florida with friends and sent me pictures of beaches and sunsets while I sent him pictures of hail and thermometers that said 36 degrees. So not fair.

DS and DD rotated going to the ILs to stay, oldest DS was nights and slept all day, so with DS16 gone, I only had one kid every day of break except one. The one day both little ones were here we went to the paint your own pottery place and then out for lunch.

DS and DD's one hope for Spring Break was to be able to stay up until midnight to watch He-Man. Epic fail. The closest anyone made it was 11:40pm, and when I woke up DS to watch it since he was so close, he fell back asleep 2 minutes later.



So, back to plans:


October 22

Today we are back to being just the four of us, having said goodbye to brother, SIL and nephew the day before Since we went to IOA the day before, today is our Universal day.

And one of my most favorite rides. The Mummy. DD hated it, DS will hate it. I may have to solo this one

Men in Black

ET

Simpson


And a few other things I'm sure we'll have to ride.

I'm thinking tonight dinner we might pick up pizza at Giordanos on the way back Bonnet Creek. I have a restaurant.com certificate to use.

 

[DrMomof3]

I'm happy to see that you're spending my birthday in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I, too, am a HUGE HP fan (you may recall my trip to England to see the world premiere of the movie!).
I enjoyed Universal/IOA more than I expected. I went with Nathaniel and he wasn't quite 48" tall so it limited our experience. We still had fun!

Amanda

 

[Chelley00]

I'm happy to see that you're spending my birthday in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I, too, am a HUGE HP fan (you may recall my trip to England to see the world premiere of the movie!).
I enjoyed Universal/IOA more than I expected. I went with Nathaniel and he wasn't quite 48" tall so it limited our experience. We still had fun!

Amanda

R&O were both too small to ride a lot when we went in 2008, so I think this year they'll enjoy it more. O will still be too small for a lot, but he's not an adventure-lover anyhow. I'm more than happy to send R to ride with my brother and O can hang with me



So we've been having a few interesting conversations lately which led to a couple things happening.

1. I booked a Treehouse Villa. Now, I'm not sure we're going to keep it, but it's a place where we can stay with my brother, have onsite transportation, dining plan etc. I've got awhile to change my mind, but I'm kinda liking the option. We love to be outside and having the option to sit on the deck and BBQ sounds so nice, but I'm literally gagging at the price. (it will help to split the cost, but still....OUCH)

2. Someone posted a link to a travel site selling $45 Seaworld tickets on Friday starting at 1pm. I just happened to be home, so I logged on, refreshed like crazy until the site went live and scored our 4 tickets. That saved us $30 a ticket!

3. Tomorrow starts our ADR day. I have the alarm set. Trying to decide if I should book our Ohana first, or our CRT?

4. We've decided to do MNSSHP twice again. For the first night when it's the 4 of us, we'll wear whatever costumes everyone has. For the second night of the 7 of us, IF I can score Pirate League reservations, we'll go as pirates. I'd LOVE to get all 7 of us appts, but who knows if that will work. If not, I'll just try for 3 appts for DD, DS and nephew.

5. DH's employer gives us $75 per person for filling out these health questionnaires each year, so now I have $150 in AmEx giftcards, plus $150 in Marriot cards, $50 in gas cards and $10 in Burger King cards (a gift - ick). We gave the kids $15 Disney gift cards for Easter. I think I'll have enough Mypoints for Rainforest Cafe card before we leave.

And my little countdown clock says it's 179 days until we leave! Woot!

 

[PixieMama]

My DDs think the Treehouse Villas are cool!

You have a nice little stockpile of gift cards! I've got some tucked away, too... mainly $200 (or it might even be $250!) in BP gas cards, woohoo!