Celebrating Christmas with the Urchins -- UPDATE -- SURPRISE

[Pluto0809]

I finally made it over here! I think this was the last thread I needed to get caught up on after my trip. I love all of your plans so far. I want to get back to Disney for Christmas so bad it almost hurts. I'm tentatively planning to go sometime in either Nov or Dec 2014. I'm really contemplating getting an AP when I'm there in February. Then I would have to go more often in 2014, right?

Oh and Mary - sorry for your loss. I'm not sure there's much more anyone can say, it's so hard loosing one of our Fur Babies.

 

[Chicago Mo]

Kathy, I have to take this opportunity to once again hijack your thread. Look what was sitting on my front door this morning... It is finally sinking in that after 3 long years, I'm going to Disney World.

Have a great time!!!!

 

[Simba22]

Well, I'm caught up on ONE PTR/TR that I'm subbed to!

Mary, I am SO sorry for your loss! Big hugs to all of you!

AK day looks good! Can't believe I was there just over a week ago and now I'm home again already!

 

[scottny]

Yak & Yeti has the best Kobe Burger.
All pre tr’s I am reading people say AK for the 4th. We will be at HS and I am hoping ti will be not crowded. LOL. Although I don’t think 4 people make that much of a difference.
All caught up again. We are all getting closer.

 

[MaryAz]

Had to bump us from Page 2

Today is our first day of home schooling-it has gone well so far.

Girls both have a gymnastics meet this weekend, Avery Sat am and Cayley Sun pm-way to take up my WHOLE weekend!!

More plans coming soon

 

[KatMark]

Had to bump us from Page 2

Today is our first day of home schooling-it has gone well so far.

Girls both have a gymnastics meet this weekend, Avery Sat am and Cayley Sun pm-way to take up my WHOLE weekend!!

More plans coming soon

Yes, I will get to this by Wednesday...I promise. I am going to wrap up the TR so I can concentrate here.

And I fixed my countdown; have no idea what happened there.

 

[eandesmom]

First and foremost, Mary I am so sorry for your loss. Losing family, our fur babies, is so hard on everyone!

On to the update. The AK day looks great! We loved Yak and Yeti and I think Jiko is a fabulous adult only meal. Lovely all around!

And very good to get safari in, it's a must!

 

[emmysmommy]

Mary: Glad to see the first day of HS went well.
Isn't that the way sport schedule work out... best of luck to the girls for their gym meets.

Kathy: If you want some suggestions on what to order at Jiko, I can tell you that I'm a fan of the short ribs. I've only had that and the filet which was great. I stay away from the more ethnic options since I'm not that adventuresome!

 

[blessedmom4]

Kathy, heading to the TR now, I just had to say WAY to go Mary on the first day of homeschooling!

 

[KatMark]

Look what was on our doorstep when we got home from work today:



I'm still not sold on this whole system. And because we don't have actual tickets, I had to input my certificate number for the renewal of our AP's to order our fastpasses. After numerous not very pleasant emails with Disney and phone calls, I am told I shouldn't have any problem with transferring them to the MB's. I don't believe it. We will see what happens.

Okay, responses coming up and then an update FINALLY. Since I'm now done with my TR,I should be able to update here a little bit more regularly and answer posts (although we are going to Dubuque this weekend to see Mark coach as a college coach for the first wrestling tournament of the season.

 

[Tinker_Tam]

I was so happy to see I wasn't as behind here as I was on the TR!

We got our MBs on Friday. Brenda has begged me everyday to wear hers to school. Each day is a struggle to get her to understand how "important" they are.

 

[englishrose47]

Kat I kinda liked the bands !! They are great for opening the doors . I id take it off to do it frequently, but it was the first time I didn't haave to get my room key replaced as the magnet got de magnettted!!

 

[KatMark]

Funny thing about MVMCP....I have been twice. First time I was on heavy pain meds (10 weeks after neck fusion surgery and way over did during the day!) and last year it became my daughter in law's show. The ONLY thing I got to do was the parade...didn't even get to see the fireworks!

I want to go this year (with out daughter in law) but husband did not have fun either time we went and does not want to pay money for it again! I told him I thought about going by myself.....


Nini

Nini, have you decided if you are going to go solo? I'm sorry to hear about your neck surgery (Mark had neck surgery three years ago).

​

Thanks, Mo; sorry I'm so late in responding.

it was easy to switch them! we were only off by 30 minutes before, now only 10 minutes! we can't wait to spend the time together! we are off to Boston tomorrow for the weekend, so will check in next week! have a wonderful weekend and

HAPPY HALLOWEEN to everyone! stay safe!

Sounds great, Lisa.

​

Judy, I'm sorry I'm so late in saying thanks on this. I wanted to get the TR done so I could concentrate over here.

I have only been in WDW once when MVMCP was going on and sadly did not go. I have seen the parade and the fireworks when I have gone between Christmas and New Years.

I hope one of these years you get there soon for the MVMCP, Pat.

I will admit, this is one ADR that I'm not overly excited about. I may still switch up and go to Yak & Yeti but the lunch menu there looks a whole lot like some heavy asian dishes. As for Rainforest, I expect it to be exactly as you described, mediocre and overpriced... but being on the DxDDP I won't worry about the over priced. The ADR I am looking forward to on this day at the AK is when we have dinner at Jiko; now that one I'm looking forward too.

I'm looking forward to our Jiko ADR too.

Kathy, I have to take this opportunity to once again hijack your thread. Look what was sitting on my front door this morning... It is finally sinking in that after 3 long years, I'm going to Disney World.

That is awesome, Bob.

I finally made it over here! I think this was the last thread I needed to get caught up on after my trip. I love all of your plans so far. I want to get back to Disney for Christmas so bad it almost hurts. I'm tentatively planning to go sometime in either Nov or Dec 2014. I'm really contemplating getting an AP when I'm there in February. Then I would have to go more often in 2014, right?

Ariana, I'm glad you are here. An AP would be an excellent idea...go for it.

Oh and Mary - sorry for your loss. I'm not sure there's much more anyone can say, it's so hard loosing one of our Fur Babies.

It truly is.

Well, I'm caught up on ONE PTR/TR that I'm subbed to!

Thanks again for subbing while you were on vacation.

AK day looks good! Can't believe I was there just over a week ago and now I'm home again already!

It's funny how long it takes to get there, and how fast it goes.

Yak & Yeti has the best Kobe Burger.
All pre tr’s I am reading people say AK for the 4th. We will be at HS and I am hoping ti will be not crowded. LOL. Although I don’t think 4 people make that much of a difference.
All caught up again. We are all getting closer.

I've never had a Kobe Burger. I'm leaning towards the sweet and sour pork, but could change my mind when I get there. I'm hoping for low crowds at all of the parks while we are all there.

Today is our first day of home schooling-it has gone well so far.

That is good to hear Mary.

Girls both have a gymnastics meet this weekend, Avery Sat am and Cayley Sun pm-way to take up my WHOLE weekend!!

Welcome to the world of sporting events; as much as I miss the kids competing, I do NOT miss all the days and weekends away.

More plans coming soon

They are coming very, very soon.

 

[KatMark]

On to the update. The AK day looks great! We loved Yak and Yeti and I think Jiko is a fabulous adult only meal. Lovely all around!

I've been wanting to get back to Yak & Yeti and so the girls like it and suggested it, and we are looking forward to our adult meal at Jiko..

And very good to get safari in, it's a must!

Hoping to spot that lion actually up and walking this trip.

Mary: Glad to see the first day of HS went well.
Isn't that the way sport schedule work out... best of luck to the girls for their gym meets.

I remember those days with the boys; baseball all day, wrestling all day, basketball, football, on and on.

Kathy: If you want some suggestions on what to order at Jiko, I can tell you that I'm a fan of the short ribs. I've only had that and the filet which was great. I stay away from the more ethnic options since I'm not that adventuresome!

Those were the two exact things I was looking at. I am FAR from adventuresome (Mark will be more so than me). Do you havea preference of one over the other?

Kathy, heading to the TR now, I just had to say WAY to go Mary on the first day of homeschooling!

Thanks, Judy.

I was so happy to see I wasn't as behind here as I was on the TR!

This baby has been neglected, but that is about to take a turn.

We got our MBs on Friday. Brenda has begged me everyday to wear hers to school. Each day is a struggle to get her to understand how "important" they are.

Yes, wearing them to school not a good idea.

Kat I kinda liked the bands !! They are great for opening the doors . I id take it off to do it frequently, but it was the first time I didn't haave to get my room key replaced as the magnet got de magnettted!!

I understand the purpose of the Bands; I do not like the new Fastpass system at all, I don't like that they didn't iron out details before they kept testing them with more and more people.

 

[KatMark]

We are at the midway point of our trip already. This is what I hate about short trips...they go too fast.

Mark and I will start with an early morning. After reading Brenda's (emmysmommy) reviews of Whispering Canyon Cafe's breakfast on two trips, we decided to give it a try. Now, you have to understand we ate at WCC back in 2008 for dinner and it was by far one of the worse meals we have ever ahd at Disney (it came close to being a tie with Hollywood & Vine for pathetic food).

After our breakfast, we are heading over to Epcot with Mary, Cayley and Avery.



I know I for sure will be riding this:



We have three Fastpass+ attractions picked out:




We will all do this.

Our second Fstpass+ for Mission: Space which Mark will do with Avery (Mary, do you and Cayley do this?) for sure. I will not do it.

The third Fastpass+ is for



Mark and I are not fans, but I'm not sure the girls have seen it since it was refurbed, but we will all do it.

I'm sure we will hit a few other attractions before our lunch ADR. Those will probably include







I'm sure we will more than likely stay in the Future World area since our lunch ADR is there. We will be dining at the Garden Grill. This is the first time that we will be eating here in probably 15 years.

After lunch, I'm sure we will hit World Showcase. And, now that Mary is doing homeschooling, I'm sure she can incorporate some lessons here. I'd like to see some of the Santa from the different countries.

Some things we might see while we are in WS:









Up next, Friday the 6th...and our last day with Mary and the girls and some dancing lights

 

[englishrose47]

I understand the purpose of the Bands; I do not like the new Fastpass system at all, I don't like that they didn't iron out details before they kept testing them with more and more people.

I did notice that regular FP were out early in the day !!So I am assuming FP+ is using up the slots !! I liked that you could get into the Character spots with FP+ but I found that the time choices were not to good !!

 

[englishrose47]

I have my FP+ picked out for Epcot and they are Soarin, TT and SE!! I also want to see the Santas around the World !! That and Osborne lights and the Christmas Party are my Highlights

 

[DMGeurts]

Yay for Magic Bands! I cannot wait until we get ours - but that won't happen for quite some time yet.

I hope to try WCC for breakfast some day - however that probably won't happen until I get a holiday trip. We'll see though.

Did Garden Grill start taking lunch reservations? Granted it's been a little over a year since we've eaten there - but I thought they only started serving at 4pm??? I sure hope they did, because we love eating there!

D~

 

[blessedmom4]

You know you never have to apologize for being behind to me Kathy!

Finished your TR and half way through your PTR! I can't keep up! You wil be in one of my FAVORITE parks for Christmas...how exciting!

 

[Chicago Mo]

ohhh. the plans look DELIGHTFUL!!!!
still have NOT done garden grill... May this time around.. there is going to be a lot of firsts this trip!