Being made a Saint TWICE deserves a trip to Mickey's House! PTR Update pg.12 06/06!!!

[Charleston Princess]

Oh my, Jen! I can't imagine the pain (and frustration) you went through! I am so glad the medicines are working, and you are able to enjoy life again! And be back on the DIS -- it is always brighter when you and your enthusiasm are around!

 

[MegansMom]

WOW, that sounds awful. I am so glad that they found a medicine to help you and you are mostly pain free. I can't even imagine how scary that must have been

Me too kiddo!! It was incredibly scary, and so emotionally difficult for us. I hate that Megan had to watch me go through all that pain and suffering--it scared her so much! We are ALL so happy to have found some sort of solution!

I'm so glad that they found something to take care of your problem! What a relief that had to have been for you and Tom!
It's so good to have you back, Jen, we missed you!

Me too sweetie! Tom was wonderful through it all, but we were both so scared too! Even though I know he hates that I have to take so much medicine everyday, it is worth it to have me back to normal! I am so glad to be back here...I missed you all SO much!!!

Oh my, Jen! I can't imagine the pain (and frustration) you went through! I am so glad the medicines are working, and you are able to enjoy life again! And be back on the DIS -- it is always brighter when you and your enthusiasm are around!

It was truly unreal...I am still so shocked and dismayed that I actually was fine through our trip now that I look back on it. But, I certainly "paid" for it upon our return home. I am so glad to feel normal again...even if it means I have to take lots of medicine. I am so glad to be back here--to share with all my DIS friends. I am so sorry though that I missed being there for you last summer for everything you went through. Once I found out, I was so devastated for you--know that I have sent MANY hugs and prayers your way and will continue to do so. Much love to you my dear!

 

[micandminforever]

I am sorry you had to go through so much pain, but thank goodness the new meds are working. My thoughts and prayers will cont. to be with you.

 

[Charleston Princess]

It was truly unreal...I am still so shocked and dismayed that I actually was fine through our trip now that I look back on it. But, I certainly "paid" for it upon our return home. I am so glad to feel normal again...even if it means I have to take lots of medicine. I am so glad to be back here--to share with all my DIS friends. I am so sorry though that I missed being there for you last summer for everything you went through. Once I found out, I was so devastated for you--know that I have sent MANY hugs and prayers your way and will continue to do so. Much love to you my dear!

Ahhh, thank you, Jen. It has been rough, but I just try to take it one day at a time.

 

[MegansMom]

I am sorry you had to go through so much pain, but thank goodness the new meds are working. My thoughts and prayers will cont. to be with you.

Thank you so much!!! I don't know where I would be right now without it...so thankful it has worked that is for sure! Thanks for the continued prayers...they are SO greatly appreciated!!

Ahhh, thank you, Jen. It has been rough, but I just try to take it one day at a time.

I can only imagine my dear! I know nothing that could possibly ease your pain or smooth the road for you on your journey. Just know that I am thinking of you and praying for you daily!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!! I hope the Easter Bunny was good to everyone! I will post some pics of our Easter festivities on here tomorrow!!!

 

[KristEn87]

WOW I am SUPER late to the party!

First off, I'm so glad that everything is going well with you!

How awesome for Megan to get the Saint award twice! That's just awesome!

I can't wait to hear tidbits from your last July report and your plans for this upcoming trip.

Are you guys walking in the March for Dimes walk this year?

Happy Easter!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Happy Easter to you, too, Jen!

 

[MegansMom]

WOW I am SUPER late to the party!

First off, I'm so glad that everything is going well with you!

How awesome for Megan to get the Saint award twice! That's just awesome!

I can't wait to hear tidbits from your last July report and your plans for this upcoming trip.

Are you guys walking in the March for Dimes walk this year?

Happy Easter!

Better late than never is what I always say!! We are not going to walk this year...it is the weekend of Megan's First Communion and Dance Recital pictures...there is literally no time left for squeezing anything else in. I hate to miss it, but I am very realistic about overstretching us beyond our limits on our weekends...I know how that SO does not work out well for us. Stay tuned, because there should be several updates today on the current trip, the last trip, and Easter. I just hope I can get them all finished!!!

Happy Easter to you, too, Jen!

Thanks girlie! I hope yours was a restful one since it was the last day of your break...how many days of school do you all have left? We started Spring Break this past Thursday, and have all of this week off as well. My kiddos are finished on May 15th, so we won't have much time left at all when we get back....YIPPEE!!!

 

[MegansMom]

Well with the official beginning of my Spring Break on Thursday, I was FINALLY able to finalize the remaining unfinished details for our trip over the past few days. What details you say? Well, now that we are flying down, we needed to secure a reservation for our first night there...preferrably something in or near MK. We also needed to find a good reservation for our last Friday night...also again preferrably something in or near MK. SO, our little group of three debated and discussed several locations...all the while looking over the vast array of menu selections for them all.

And we decided to try something new and hit a family favorite too.....

On Wednesday, June 13th...something new--The Plaza Restaurant at 5pm. We have stayed away from this place for quite some time...never thinking that the menu seemed too appealing. After looking at the menu published on WDW.com, I am not sure why we have waited this long! Tom was sold as soon as I read the description of the meatloaf dinner, and I began to salivate as soon as I saw the mention of a CHEESESTEAK sandwich...one of my all-time favorites! Couple those menu items with the fact that we won't have to leave MK at all, and we were ALL happy with this choice!

So on to our family favorite....

On Friday, June 22nd, we will GLADLY hop the monorail over to one of our favorites...Kona Cafe for dinner at 6:50pm. I LOVE the smell of this wonderful restaurant...the yummy home-baked smell of those delicious hand-rolled waffle cones, mixed with the various yummy smells of all the tantalizing foods served here...DIVINE!!! We will stuff ourselves silly so that we can handle staying up and taking in every last minute of the EMH evening hours at MK on this our last night of park touring...

So here's the update ADR list for the trip to keep everyone on the same page...makes me hungry just thinking about it!

Wednesday, June 13: Plaza Restaurant at 5pm...a family FIRST!

Thursday, June 14: Liberty Tree Tavern at 5:15pm...a family FAVORITE!

Friday, June 15: Mama Melrose's at 3:50pm for the Fantasmic Dinner Package...always a good meal, and can't beat a secured seat for Fantamic!

Saturday, June 16: 'Ohana at 5:00pm...quite possibly our #1 Family FAVORITE!!

Sunday, June 17: Turf Club Bar and Grill at 6:25pm...another family FAVORITE...I might move this one back a little though. This is going to be our AK day and swim afternoon...I want to make sure I have allowed us enough time to do everything we want. Hmmm......

Monday, June 18: Nine Dragons at 8:30pm for hopefully a window seat to see some of Illuminations...another family FAVORITE...gotta love their iced tea!

Tuesday, June 19: Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater at 6:25pm...a family FIRST!

Wednesday, June 20: Whispering Canyon Cafe at 5:20pm...a family FAVORITE...I just hope Tom leaves some ribs for everyone else!

Thursday, June 21: Tutto Italia at 5:15...a family FIRST! With our Italian heritage, we are hoping to bump into some relatives!

Friday, June 22: Kona Cafe at 6:50pm...a family FAVORITE!!!

Okay, so who is so hungry they can hardly stand it right now?!?!?!

Anyone have great suggestions on dining choices at any of our family firsts?!?? We would love the input!!!

UP NEXT: Day Two of our TR from last July's trip....will we make it to check-in at AKL AND rope drop at MK all in one morning?!?!?! Wait and see!

 

[sunny_stace]

Jen, I am so glad that the doctors were finally able to help you get some relief and so happy that you were able to enjoy your trip. I know exactly how painful some of those "lady problems" can be and I'm glad they aren't causing you such pain anymore.

On Wednesday, June 13th...something new--The Plaza Restaurant at 5pm. We have stayed away from this place for quite some time...never thinking that the menu seemed too appealing. After looking at the menu published on WDW.com, I am not sure why we have waited this long! Tom was sold as soon as I read the description of the meatloaf dinner, and I began to salivate as soon as I saw the mention of a CHEESESTEAK sandwich...one of my all-time favorites! Couple those menu items with the fact that we won't have to leave MK at all, and we were ALL happy with this choice

Thursday, June 21: Tutto Italia at 5:15...a family FIRST! With our Italian heritage, we are hoping to bump into some relatives! :rotfl

Two of my favourites!! The grilled chicken sandwich is also really great at the Plaza and the cheeseburger too! And Tutto Italia is some of the most amazing food I've ever eaten! Definitely some awesome choices for ADRs!

 

[cherbear]

so sorry you had such a scary experience, but So glad the meds are working beautifully!!

 

[MeMom]

That's definitely a lot of good eating! We have Plaza booked for the summer, too. We keep putting it on the list and cancelling it for some reason. I hope this is the magic time that we will actually make it.

Just the thought of Kona makes my mouth water!

 

[Trentmom]

Never tried Kona for dinner, but their breakfast is so good

We love The Plaza. Such simple food, right up mine and Trent's alley

 

[MegansMom]

Jen, I am so glad that the doctors were finally able to help you get some relief and so happy that you were able to enjoy your trip. I know exactly how painful some of those "lady problems" can be and I'm glad they aren't causing you such pain anymore.

Thank you so much sweetie! I feel so much better now...it is SUCH a relief!!

Two of my favourites!! The grilled chicken sandwich is also really great at the Plaza and the cheeseburger too! And Tutto Italia is some of the most amazing food I've ever eaten! Definitely some awesome choices for ADRs!

GREAT!!! I am so excited about our new little eating adventures!!! I have always thought that the Plaza restaurant looked so cute...I am going to have to take some good pictures!!!

so sorry you had such a scary experience, but So glad the meds are working beautifully!!

Thanks sweetie! We are ALL so glad that's behind me for the time being. It surely was hard to have to live through that pain, but even harder to have to watch Tom and Megan worry so much about it all.

That's definitely a lot of good eating! We have Plaza booked for the summer, too. We keep putting it on the list and cancelling it for some reason. I hope this is the magic time that we will actually make it.

Just the thought of Kona makes my mouth water!

I hope you actually make it to the Plaza too!!! It looks like such a quaint place! I SO completely know what you mean about Kona! I LOVE that place...my biggest problem is always narrowing it down to what I am ACTUALLY going to get! Ah the difficulties in life!

Never tried Kona for dinner, but their breakfast is so good

We love The Plaza. Such simple food, right up mine and Trent's alley

Kona has GREAT dinner choices, and the smell of that place can NOT be beat!

I am so super excited about the Plaza now....I am afraid I am going to be kicking myself for NOT trying it sooner!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Enjoy your spring break! We get out on May 18, so we are definitely in the home stretch.

Food appears to be the theme of all the PTRs/TRs I have been reading this morning! Your list looks fantastic. I keep playing around with the idea of adding the Plaza for our arrival night.

 

[MegansMom]

Okay…..so where were we??? Oh yes, heading to bed early to get up and try to accomplish the impossible—leave POP, check-in to AKL, hit the bus stop to MK, all before rope drop at 8am for EMH! Well, here it goes…………
So we got up early and quickly dressed and packed up the few items that we had taken into our POP room. We were back in our SUV and heading over to AKL by 6:45am. We were parked, bags unloaded and stored at bell services, and checked in at AKL by 7:15am. We quickly headed down the walkway to the bus stop, and were waiting at the MK bus zone by 7:20. We were picked up by a FULL bus by 7:40, and were on our way to MK!!! We were walking through security and the gates at exactly 8:00am, and of course headed straight back to Fantasyland. Tom headed off to get our first round of FPs, while Megs and I quickly headed to Dumbo for an early morning ride.

My driver all excited and ready to fly!

The best view of the morning!

Tom was waiting for us with Winnie the Pooh FPs and the special Philharmagic FPs that came with it upon our departure, and Megs quickly announced that we HAD to go to Snow White next! Snow is still her long-time FAVORITE princess, and she was already quite upset that they are tearing down this much beloved ride as part of the Fantasyland expansion. So, YES, we rode it LOTS on this trip!

As you can see, we took LOTS of photos of it to lock it away in our memories, and we also videotaped the ride—it is a little dark, but it has helped satisfy her when she gets sentimental about never riding it again.

From there, we then headed down to ride the Tea Cups with Mommy…

And to take a morning drive with Daddy!

We then decided to head back through Fantasyland and take in a family favorite—IASW—and get another set of FPs…this time to Peter Pan!

I love how even though it was the middle of July, since we were there first thing in the morning, there were plenty of empty boats in front and behind us! Gotta love morning touring!

Megan was still quite “worried” about the disappearance of her favorite Tiki boy! Oh WHERE did he go?!??!
Once out of IASW, we decided to head back towards Tomorrowland for some adventures into the FUTURE! On the way though, we had to stop for ONE more spin in the tea cups since there was literally NO line and they were waving us to come on in! So we did!

We were in MUCH need of some A/C, so we headed back to a family favorite—Carousel of Progress! I know some think it is corny and out-of-date (and they are right), but we LOVE it!

We walked out of the Carousel and right onto the TTA for a lovely ride through Tomorrowland…always a good family time!

After that relaxing ride, we headed to grab some FPs for Buzz before heading into enjoy a show at the Monsters Inc. Laugh Factory. Once our show was complete and we had once again restored power to Monstropolis, we decided we needed some more adventure….so off to Adventureland we went!
Of course, we had to go take on some spitting camels first….

We then headed back to another family favorite…POTC!!! Yo ho ho! After scurrying with Capt. Jack, we decided to grab some lunch at Tortuga Tavern. Tom and I opted for the Taco Salads, and Megan chose the kid’s quesadilla. Megan and I LOVE Mexican food, so were had our hopes up HIGH that this food would be GREAT…..we were pretty disappointed. We thought it was just “okay,” and probably will NEVER stop there again…unless we HAVE to! The ground beef in the salads was pretty disgusting, and the taco shell was not really what I would call “crisp!” Not a stellar lunch at all!
After our meal, we decided to head up to Liberty Square and take in Haunted Mansion’s new “scenic route.”

Megan REALLY loved all the interactive displays, but our line usually moved so quickly we didn’t get too much of a chance to see it all thoroughly. Still, SO MUCH FUN!

continued in next post....

 

[MegansMom]

We now were in the middle of the afternoon—in the heat of the day—so we started quickly opting for A/C options. We next headed to the Hall of Presidents, and then down to the Country Bear Jamboree!

During lunchtime and prior to heading to HM, Tom had secured for us at one point or another a Splash FP and a BTMRR FP…so after the Bears, we decided to head out to the great Frontier! We headed to Splash first—my FAVORITE ride!!!

And then we headed over to scream and giggle all the way around BTMRR—Megan’s FAVORITE ride!! After our fun was done in Frontierland, we headed back over to Fantasyland to use all the FPs we had gathered from there in the morning. First we hit Peter Pan, and then bounced our way over to Winnie the Pooh! We went around the corner into Tomorrowland to fight the evil Emperor Zurg on Buzz Lightyear!

Megan and Tom REALLY enjoyed our first trip through Buzz, but my gun was broken. I wasn’t too upset…because I was helping Megan, but when I told the CM as we exited about the broken gun, she quickly ushered us through a back door that led us to the front of the line to ride again! We were ALL so excited! After our second round trip through Buzz, Megan decided she needed to do some posing with this ugly, evil dude….

We decided to have dinner at Tomorrowland Terrace after our adventures with Buzz. Tom enjoyed a yummy Angus Burger, and Megan and I split a Chicken Alfredo meal. It was okay, but I think I would have picked the burger if we went back to this location…the Alfredo was just not great! After dinner, Megan and I decided to use the large “hidden” bathroom that is at the bottom of the Tomorrowland Terrace….BIG mistake! There was a LARGE Brazilian tour group—at least 30-40 girls—who were using the bathroom to pretty much bathe themselves. There were girls shaving their legs in the sinks, they were washing up everywhere, and pretty much consumed the entire bathroom. Megan and I QUICKLY got out of there as soon as we could. It was the most bizarre thing I think I have EVER seen at WDW!!!
After that little incident, Tom and I chatted about our evening plans. We had already pretty much done everything in the park and had used most of our FPs. We decided that since we had an early start the next morning due to our 8am breakfast reservation at CRT, we would head out early. It was around 8pm, so we headed out to the AKL bus stop and back to our room. We were both happy and disappointed with our room—we had only booked a standard view room, but this is what greeted us when we opened our curtains….

It was an amazing view of a small savannah, and we saw every kind of animal out there at some point during the trip. The disappointment was that our room was SO far away from the lobby (and Tom’s coke dispenser for his refillable mug), but we all got over that whenever we saw a giraffe or zebra right outside the door! We all showered up and headed to bed pretty quickly…we were beat! What a wonderful day we had though at the MK!!!

 

[Trentmom]

Sounds like a great day and you got so much accomplished

Bummer on not having luck with food that day for the most part

That scene in bathroom sounds crazy

 

[MegansMom]

Enjoy your spring break! We get out on May 18, so we are definitely in the home stretch.

Food appears to be the theme of all the PTRs/TRs I have been reading this morning! Your list looks fantastic. I keep playing around with the idea of adding the Plaza for our arrival night.

These first few days of Spring Break have been wonderful...looking forward to several more wonderful days!

I think there might be something for the entire CP clan on the Plaza menu...I have for so long avoided it, now I am wondering why!?!?!? The list makes me want to hop on a plane just to go eat at WDW right now!

Sounds like a great day and you got so much accomplished

Bummer on not having luck with food that day for the most part

That scene in bathroom sounds crazy

We had SO much good touring luck on this trip...even in JULY!!! We are hoping for the same great luck on this upcoming trip!

The food was not so great that day, but we weren't on the dining plan yet, so we were just trying to make the best out of some of the counter service places...we obviously did not do so well at the beginning!

Really...words do not even begin to describe how strange that scene from the bathroom was!!! CULTURE SHOCK OVERLOAD!!!!

 

[cherbear]

that is INSANE about the tour group in the restroom!

People never cease to amaze me...even at WDW!

Tom *really* IS the fastpass master! I happen to think I'm pretty good at it, but sounds like he is better! You three sure fit in a lot of fun at MK. Do you remember what time you had to wake up in order to time your morning so well? Great job! I don't blame you for calling it an early night.

It's a smart thing to save all the air conditioned attractions for the super HOT afternoon

Sorry the food was so gross at Tortuga! I've personally never tried it. We don't tend to branch out once we find a counter service we're happy with in each 'world'. LOL It's FlameTree BBQ in AK, Backlot Express (or Pizza Planet) in MGM (I still refuse to call it DHS ), Cosmic Ray's in MK, or Electric Umbrella in Epcot. Although I did try the counter service in Japan during our last trip and really enjoyed it! I suppose the World Showcase could be considered a "world" all it's own! (I didn't care for the chinese counter service there when I tried it years ago. DH likes the Mexican. So last time he got Mexican and walked all the way to Japan with me with his food so I could get CS there)

It's funny when people mention certain counter service restaurants that I have no clue what they are....LOL