Celebrate Good Times Come On! An Oct 2013 PTR - Link to TR 10/29!!

[Pluto0809]

wow, a week and a half!!! YAY!

the wedding looked great. My youngest asked if I could buy her that dress (the flowergirls'). she is obsessed with anything floral hahahaha

I'm so glad that you get to spend time with Ruthie. You guys are gonna have such a good time

10 days and counting, tomorrow I can do the single digit dance and start obsessing over the 10 day forecast!!

Those flower dresses were beautiful, weren't they. And the two little girls were so good during the wedding. They just sat on the steps and watched everything going on.

I am excited to spend time with Ruthie!

 

[DMGeurts]

Yay almost a single digit dance!!! WAHOO!!~! SO excited for you!!!

D~

 

[Luvchefmic]

10 days and counting, tomorrow I can do the single digit dance and start obsessing over the 10 day forecast!!

Those flower dresses were beautiful, weren't they. And the two little girls were so good during the wedding. They just sat on the steps and watched everything going on.

I am excited to spend time with Ruthie!

Me Too !! Tomorrow when I get home I am off until the next morning
I am planning to wrap up the Sept TR and actually really start the Oct reporting ( same thread) but my real priority is I am going to write a scenario of how I do MNSSHP remembering I do NOT like long lines and avoid them as much as possible but get a lot done $70 pp is a mega amount of money I want every pennies worth

I'll email it to you You and Jim can think about it give me the yeah or neighs with the PROMISE we will keep Jim fed

 

[Pluto0809]

Yay almost a single digit dance!!! WAHOO!!~! SO excited for you!!!

D~

Thanks!! Now that I'm officially at 9 days I can do the dance!

Man, I was even going to pull out the creepy dancing guy but he is MIA this morning.

Me Too !! Tomorrow when I get home I am off until the next morning
I am planning to wrap up the Sept TR and actually really start the Oct reporting ( same thread) but my real priority is I am going to write a scenario of how I do MNSSHP remembering I do NOT like long lines and avoid them as much as possible but get a lot done $70 pp is a mega amount of money I want every pennies worth

I'll email it to you You and Jim can think about it give me the yeah or neighs with the PROMISE we will keep Jim fed

Excellent, I'll keep an eye out for the e-mail. Jim will deny up and down that he gets grumpy when he's hungry but I know better.

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Woooo single digits!!

I think that your new plans sound much more relaxing. If you wanted to head to DTD you could, if not I am sure that you will find another way to spend the afternoon. We did mini golf at Summer Winterland a couple of years ago. It was fun enough, but it was also mini golf lol If you enjoy that sort of thing, go for it! The theming was fun, and we enjoyed it but it isn't something I'd want to do every trip.

Enjoy the MNSSHP!! It really is a fun party and I love your costumes (I hope that there will be pictures of them!).

 

[Pluto0809]

Woooo single digits!!

I think that your new plans sound much more relaxing. If you wanted to head to DTD you could, if not I am sure that you will find another way to spend the afternoon. We did mini golf at Summer Winterland a couple of years ago. It was fun enough, but it was also mini golf lol If you enjoy that sort of thing, go for it! The theming was fun, and we enjoyed it but it isn't something I'd want to do every trip.

Enjoy the MNSSHP!! It really is a fun party and I love your costumes (I hope that there will be pictures of them!).

Yeah, I'm still going back and forth trying to decide what to do during that afternoon. I know we could probably make it to DTD but it would be rushed as we would only get an hour or two due to the slow buses. And you are right, we could play mini golf anywhere!

Oh, there will definitely be pictures of the halloween costumes! I've already pre-purchased PP+ so you will get sick of seeing pictures of us by the end of the TR!

 

[Pluto0809]

Before I start the final day, would you guys please send some good thoughts and prayers for my Grandma? She is 89 and took a very bad fall down her basement steps yesterday. She has a broken arm, cracked rib, cracked hip and broken vertebra. She also hit her head and they are still determining the extent of any head injury. The worse injury is the broken vertebra. The doctors are deciding today whether to do surgery or not as it will be extremely risky at her age. If they don’t fix it though, she will never sit up or walk again. This is one of those times I hate living so far from family but I’m not sure how much I could do if I was there any way.

So, let’s move on with the PTR. Friday, October 25th will be our last full day at WDW. I’ve decided I’m going to give Jim a choice on this day. Originally I was planning on us spending all day at Epcot but since we are not getting any DTD time on Tuesday, I thought we might go there for a bit in the morning. I will see whether Jim wants to go to Disney Quest or spend more time exploring the countries at Epcot.

One way or the other, we’ll head to DTD in the morning. I’m thinking we will sleep in a bit since we will be out late the night before. Once we get to DTD, I’ll do some quick shopping so I don’t drive Jim too nutty.



Around 11 am, I’d like to do an early lunch at WPE and then I will let Jim decide between DQ which opens at 11:30 am or heading to Epcot. When I mentioned to him that we might cut our time in the countries short to go to DQ he actually seemed disappointed. I was expecting him to be really happy about less time in stores so I was a bit surprised.



One way or the other, I would like to be at Epcot by 4 pm at the latest so we have some time to walk around the countries. I’m hoping I don’t buy too much at DTD because I really don’t want to waste time going back to the room. It might be worth investing in a locker on this day to save some time.

I made the following FP+ for the day. I actually had these with times in the morning but moved them to later in the day when I made changes to our Tuesday schedule.

Test Track 3:05 pm – 4:05 pm
Maelstrom 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Soarin’ 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm



Yeah, I know I probably don’t need one for Maelstrom but wanted to use all three again. Also, depending on what time we get to Epcot, I don't even know if we will use the Test Track one.

If we get to Epcot right after lunch, maybe we’ll ride Ellen’s Energy Adventure or explore Innovations a bit. I always seem to skip over Innovations so maybe it will be nice to slow down and see some of it. Then we will head into World Showcase.

I know we will spend some time in Germany since its Jim’s favorite.



And visit Donald Duck in Mexico.



If we time it right, maybe we will stop to see the show in America since Jim is such a big history buff.



I also think that Jim may want to stop and see Mo Rockin (in Morocco) because you know, boys will be boys.



Dinner this night is the one meal I am not looking forward too. We are eating at Beirgarten in Germany, Jim’s pick of course. I’m a little leery of the menu as I don’t like sausage (well except on a Scotch Egg) and I can’t eat pork. I’m hoping there is a chicken dish or two on the buffet. If anything there should be chicken tenders in the kids section, right? Also, the restaurant gets pretty mixed reviews. Jim didn’t request much though on this trip so I thought I’d give him this one.

Sometime during the night, we also plan on seeing the Eat to the Beat concert with Survivor.

I like to end my trips with a favorite ride so I made the late Soarin’ FP+ so it can be the last thing we do that night.

Up Next: Time to go Home

 

[KatMark]

First and foremost, sending prayers and good thoughts for your grandmother.

Love your plans for your last two days (I missed a day because of all that has happened at home this week).

I just LOVE the costumes you guys are going to where and I saw that hat and wish I'd known someone to buy it for. Jim will look great in it!

 

[Luvchefmic]

Ariana

Prayers sent for your dear Grandma Yes its VERY hard to live so far away, but like you said, frustrating with what could you do anyway Living so far from my Aunt Mary still in NY you remember her going through leg surgery and Hurricane Sandy My heart was breaking through it all being here Everyones prayers and thoughts helped both me and more importantly her, so take comfort in that


Back to you and Jim you'll be here so soon I am so excited I'm working on the MNSSHP strategy for you both to discuss to email I purchased my ticket yesterday Was holding my breath that it was still an available date when I saw clear with the laughable budget around here

I will have to go over your other day to day plans your AK date may not work out for me as I have to work that day We'll see but truly hoping we can figure something out

 

[missangelalexis]

I am very sorry to hear about your Grandma

Your plans are sounding great and I think you will have a great time at MNSSHP! And what a nice gift from your mom!

 

[Pluto0809]

First and foremost, sending prayers and good thoughts for your grandmother.

Love your plans for your last two days (I missed a day because of all that has happened at home this week).

I just LOVE the costumes you guys are going to where and I saw that hat and wish I'd known someone to buy it for. Jim will look great in it!

Thanks for the prayers, I'll update soon.

Well, I'm hoping the hat works out. Jim told me late last night while he was packing that it's too tight and he may not wear it. I wish he would have told me that sooner so I could get him a regular chef hat. Too late now to order one.

Ariana

Prayers sent for your dear Grandma Yes its VERY hard to live so far away, but like you said, frustrating with what could you do anyway Living so far from my Aunt Mary still in NY you remember her going through leg surgery and Hurricane Sandy My heart was breaking through it all being here Everyones prayers and thoughts helped both me and more importantly her, so take comfort in that

Back to you and Jim you'll be here so soon I am so excited I'm working on the MNSSHP strategy for you both to discuss to email I purchased my ticket yesterday Was holding my breath that it was still an available date when I saw clear with the laughable budget around here

I will have to go over your other day to day plans your AK date may not work out for me as I have to work that day We'll see but truly hoping we can figure something out

I'll update about Grandma in a minute.

I'm getting really excited about MNSSHP too! Spent some time trying to talk to Jim about it, you'll see how that went in a minute.

Bummer you may not be able to meet on the AK day. Hopefully you can find another day to join us for a bit.

I am very sorry to hear about your Grandma

Your plans are sounding great and I think you will have a great time at MNSSHP! And what a nice gift from your mom!

Thanks! The gift from Mom was a great one!

 

[Pluto0809]

First, an update on Grandma. She's doing as well as can be expected for someone her age. They decided not to do any kind of surgery but instead put her in a back brace to see if it will heal on it's own. Yesterday, she was moved out of the Trama Unit into a regular room and is eating small meals again. Mom said she still has a long road ahead of her but things are slowly looking better.

And if that wasn't bad enough, Jim got a call on Friday that his Sister was in the hospital. She has a gallbladder infection and gall stones. They did surgery yesterday to remove the gallbladder, all went well, and she should be going home Tuesday.

I had a few bad moments over the last week where I was wondering if this trip was even going to happen. Luckily everyone seems to be doing OK now so full speed ahead!

So, the last day. They always stink don't they? We won't be doing much as our flight is at 1:30 PM which means we will have to catch the Magical Express at 10:30 AM. No parks for us this day.

My plan is to sleep in a little bit then use up any leftover CS and snack credits on breakfast. I seriously doubt we will have any snack credits left with Food & Wine but I'm pretty sure we will have CS credits.

Then we'll check our bags and if we still have some time, walk around the resort to see some of it.

We land back in Atlanta at 3:00 PM and will go straight to pick up the doggies. The evening will be spent unpacking, starting laundry and working on pictures from the trip!

And that's the end. Since this was so short of an update I thought I'd share a conversation that I had with Jim this weekend. Of course this is somewhat paraphased but you'll get the idea of how it is dealing with him on anything related to Disney. I decided I wanted to find out if there were any characters he would want to meet at MNSSHP. So I printed out the character map from Kenny the Pirates site and gave it to him to look at. After about 30 seconds, he handed it back and this is the conversation that followed:

Jim: "I want to see Donald & Daisy".

Me: "OK, what about Jack Sparrow? I'd like to meet him."

Jim: "Jack Sparrow? Where? I didn't see him on the map." (I show him on the map) "Yeah, he would be cool to meet."

Me: "Jack Sparrow is one of the popular ones along with Jack and Sally and the 7 dwarves." Do you want to meet with either of those?"

Jim: "Who are Jack & Sally?" (I go into a lengthy explanation of who they are and why they are so popular to meet). "I've never seen that movie, why would I want to meet them? I don't care about the dwarves either."

Me: "OK, there's also a Villians Show where you can meet the Villians afterwards." (I list out the Villains)

Jim: "Maleficent? I don't know who he is?"

Me: "She is the evil fairy from Sleeping Beauty, she's green." So do you want to meet any of them?"

Jim: "Nah"

Me: "What about Lotso from Toy Story? You liked him in the movie."

Jim: "Lotso?"

Me: "The big pink bear that ran the Daycare."

Jim: "I don't remember him." (I show him a picture) "Oh yeah, nah I don't want to meet him".

Me: "Oh, Jafar is in the square near Lotso".

Jim: "He might be fun to meet".

Me: "I'd also like to get a picture with Mickey and Minnie in their Halloween costumes if we have time".

Jim: "Huh? What did you say?" (he's now back to playing some game on his computer)

Me: "Nevermind".

And that is a typical conversation I have with Jim any time Disney comes up. I think I got a whole ten minutes of his attention this time.

Up Next: Well I don't really have an up next as we are pretty much at the end of the PTR. I'm sure I'll stop in a few more times before the trip and once we are back, I'll post a link when I start the TR!

 

[KatMark]

I will continue to keep your grandmother in my thoughts and prayers that the back brace helps. So sorry to hear about Jim's sister, but glad to know she'll be home on Tuesday.

I hate last days! They just totally stink.

You had me on the floor about your conversation with Jim. I guess I should count my blessings that Mark loves to plan with me (well, most of the time anyway).

 

[Luvchefmic]

I have only a second here so here are my responses:

For Grandma & Jim's sister

to Jim ( I KNEW Fred had a brother somewhere)

and to YOU the family planner I get it I Soooo get it

 

[Disney9.9.10]

I'm so sorry to hear about your grandma but glad to hear that the road to recovery has started. I hope that she can make progress with the brace. I'm sorry to hear about your sister in-law too - it has been a rough week for you

The plans for your last day look great. You will be able to get in a little bit of everything that you wanted to do, which is nice. I'm not crazy about the menu at Biergarten either, I hope that you find something there that you will like.

Departure days are always the worst, but I definitely look forward to getting home to see my dog (as I'm sure you do too!)

Conversations about Disney generally go the same way with my husband. Silly men not understanding our Disney craziness lol

 

[Pluto0809]

I will continue to keep your grandmother in my thoughts and prayers that the back brace helps. So sorry to hear about Jim's sister, but glad to know she'll be home on Tuesday.

I hate last days! They just totally stink.

You had me on the floor about your conversation with Jim. I guess I should count my blessings that Mark loves to plan with me (well, most of the time anyway).

Thanks for the continued thoughts and prayers. I haven't heard anything new so I'm guessing everything is still going fine.

Yep, definitely count your blessings. Getting anything out of Jim for this trip was a chore.

I have only a second here so here are my responses:

For Grandma & Jim's sister

to Jim ( I KNEW Fred had a brother somewhere)

and to YOU the family planner I get it I Soooo get it

I knew some of the people on here would understand my frustrations with planning this trip! Guess it's my own fault since I decided to drag him along. I still have unrealistic hopes of him drinking the kool-aid this trip but I'm positive I'm going to be disappointed.

I'm so sorry to hear about your grandma but glad to hear that the road to recovery has started. I hope that she can make progress with the brace. I'm sorry to hear about your sister in-law too - it has been a rough week for you

Thanks, it was a rough week, moreso for them than me though! I just had the stress from worrying, not the pain they are both still going through.

The plans for your last day look great. You will be able to get in a little bit of everything that you wanted to do, which is nice. I'm not crazy about the menu at Biergarten either, I hope that you find something there that you will like.

Thanks, I think it's going to be a fun last day even though I prefer to spend it at MK. Couldn't do that this trip because there is a MNSSHP that night.

Departure days are always the worst, but I definitely look forward to getting home to see my dog (as I'm sure you do too!)

That is one of the only things that makes me want to go home from Disney! I miss my doggies while there.

Conversations about Disney generally go the same way with my husband. Silly men not understanding our Disney craziness lol

I know, silly! Jim doesn't really have anything he is passionate about so he just doesn't get my love for Disney or my love for volunteer work with animals.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Okay, today I am trying my best to catch up on everyone's TR's an PTR's...made it over to yours.

*So glad your family members are doing better. I know the mixed feelings you much have gone through:
sad and stressed because family members are suffering
annoyed because sick family members could possibly ruin your trip plans
guilt because you have such selfish thoughts
SO GLAD things are working out for everyone involved!

*I am so excited to read about your MNSSHP experience! Your costume idea is BRILLIANT, and I can't wait to see the pictures!

*your trip conversation with Jim had me rolling! Love it! I am just waiting for the day when he finally drinks the Koolaid!

*I missed your single digit dance, so here is my contribution:

 

[Pluto0809]

Okay, today I am trying my best to catch up on everyone's TR's an PTR's...made it over to yours.

*So glad your family members are doing better. I know the mixed feelings you much have gone through:
sad and stressed because family members are suffering
annoyed because sick family members could possibly ruin your trip plans
guilt because you have such selfish thoughts
SO GLAD things are working out for everyone involved!

*I am so excited to read about your MNSSHP experience! Your costume idea is BRILLIANT, and I can't wait to see the pictures!

*your trip conversation with Jim had me rolling! Love it! I am just waiting for the day when he finally drinks the Koolaid!

*I missed your single digit dance, so here is my contribution:

Oh my, you described my emotions over the last week perfectly. I ended up making myself sick to my stomach over the weekend between the worry for family members, worry about the trip and feeling guilty about worrying about my trip. Finally feeling better now which is good since my trip is so close.

Thanks on the costume idea but I can't take credit though because it was actually Jim's idea. He did decide the hat was too tight so he stopped on the way home yesterday at a Halloween store and bought one. He has a stuffed version of Remy that he's going to carry with him.

I'm not feeling too confident that Jim will fall in love with Disney. His main problem is that he hates to travel. So even if he loved it, I'm still not sure if he would want to go back.

Oh, thanks, you found the creepy dancing guy!! He was missing a few days ago when I did my initial single digit dance. I've started to write down the codes for the smilies since they tend to play hide and seek sometimes but I didn't have the code for that one.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Sorry to hear about your Grandma and Jim's sister, but glad to hear they are both doing well now.

with your conversation with Jim. My advice, since I saw D&D as well as M&M: D&D had no line when I walked over to where they meet at 6:55pm. I was the first one to see them when they came out. I saw M&M right after the second parade with only a few families in front of me. Your party will probably be busier than mine, but I'd expect similar results. Jack is in the parade so he won't be out during it. I didn't do him this trip so not much help from me on him.

Have a great trip and I can't wait to hear all about it.

 

[KatMark]

In case I don't get back here tomorrow, I hope you and Jim have a most magical trip.