Driving down to Mickey's for Christmas!

[annmarieda]

Me too! Thank you! And I hope that July comes quick for you (though the day of the wedding I hope that it lasts forever with great memories)!

Thank you... I am sure it will be lovely... but getting through it will be AMAZING

 

[Monknmom]

Not much but reading other people's PTR lately! I need to make a countdown calender for the trip! I have seen some pretty enticing ones on here! I am going to have to take a look at! I also want to get the trip binder organized! I have just been pretty busy and not focused much on it! It's fine! We have a soccer game in the morning Go Bandits! then cleaning up the yard- maybe while DH is cleaning up I'll sneak inside to do other things related to the trip!

 

[momabaarjo]

Yay! I am so excited to hear about your plans. Your son and niece are simply precious...I so hope you get to take Lily along with you. It sounds like she could use a little magic and escape from her life! What a wonderful and caring aunt you are!

Glad to hear another person only want to pay in cash. I learned about getting in over your head with credit the hard way, and now cash it is for me! The house can wait, memories need to be made. And it is a cute house! I hate leaves too, my neighbors probably hate me...but I keep my yard clean of everything else....

 

[disneyaddicted]

Yeah I went through custody battles with my parents too! So it is hard, and what breaks my heart the most is that she hears everything that they say about each other!
That's one thing I never did, bad mouth my kids father to them, I knew eventually they would see everything for themselves and then their opinion of him would be theirs and theirs alone, not mine forced onto them. Two years ago when I brought them out to Mi for their court ordered summer visist with him they refused to get into his car and go, they finally had enough of him and the courts not listening to them and they took matters into their own hands, we haven't heard from him since. I know your neice is so young and right now her future is in the hands of the courts, but I pray that God will whisper the right decision in the judges ear.
Gosh I just wanna give that babygirl a big hug.



:!

I can't tell you how many times I have gotten absorbed into the Disboards and next thing I know I am running late for an appt or it's the wee hours of the morning and I have to get up for work in like 4 hours.

 

[veggiemama]

I can't tell you how many times I have gotten absorbed into the Disboards and next thing I know I am running late for an appt or it's the wee hours of the morning and I have to get up for work in like 4 hours.

ME too !! THe worst is when I am reading along and researching and suddenly the doorbell rings and I realize that it is my next student coming for a lesson!!

 

[Monknmom]

Yay! What a wonderful and caring aunt you are!

Glad to hear another person only want to pay in cash. I learned about getting in over your head with credit the hard way, and now cash it is for me! The house can wait, memories need to be made. And it is a cute house! I hate leaves too, my neighbors probably hate me...but I keep my yard clean of everything else....

Thank you! Yeah I love her! And I learned the hard way with a Kohl's card! So yes now everything is cash or debit card (which is only used for things on the internet I can't pay cash for)! Ha ha and yeah the neighbors are probably upset that we moved in here!

I can't tell you how many times I have gotten absorbed into the Disboards and next thing I know I am running late for an appt or it's the wee hours of the morning and I have to get up for work in like 4 hours.

YesI keep getting stuck on here- and half the time I walk away with another 2-3 pages of notesDH thinks I'm a little crazy, but what the heck!

ME too !! THe worst is when I am reading along and researching and suddenly the doorbell rings and I realize that it is my next student coming for a lesson!!

There are times I just "check" my email really quick before I start housework but after my son's in school and see that someone posted here so I just click to "check" that one post and well at 3:30 I'm looking at the time asking myself "Is this right?"

 

[Monknmom]

Just saw another person with the Disney movie nights and I really want to get that done! It's just finding the time! Monday I go to cooking classes at Williams Sonoma, tuesday is Village meetings and Wednesday is is Board of Ed, Thursday we have soccer and Homeowner ***. meetings, Friday will be a MIGHT and Saturday is a MIGHT, Sunday is soccer games and we have been going to my in laws for food after- getting home not hungry! So I am going to try to fit one in by next week! I am going to steak the ideas from them though! It looks so fun and my son doesn't know the old Disney stuff!

 

[Monknmom]

While down in WDW we are goin to have 1 and 1/2 days we are not going to the parks so that we can explore the resorts and DTD. I was thinking that on the first night we can go to DTD that way if we bought anything it can be delivered to the room without us having to lug it around and we can eat there that night because it will be the 1/2 day and head back to the hotel for an early evening of sleep for the mornings to come. Then on the last FULL day we can take the car and drive to the different resorts and play the round of golf have breakfast, lunch and dinner in 3 different resorts that way any snack/meal credits that we have left we can use them up. End the day by going to Chip and Dales for the camp out then skipping the movie to get to the beach for the Electric parade. After that we would leave. But DH is saying that's going to be very late to be leaving by.

His suggestion (I know I just about needed my heart to be pumped it was so shocking that he actually chimed in while I was rambling about the trip) but his suggestion is that the first day we look at the resorts and see Chip and Dale then the parade on the beach, get back to our room and sleep (that would be the 1/2 day). The full day we can eat breakfast, play golf, see DTD and eat dinner, use the remaining snack and meal credits and leave from there.
If anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate it! I kinda agree with him I don't want to be tired driving to Georgia but on the other hand I don't think that you can see the resorts I want to look at in just a few hours!

Any comments or suggestions are welcome!

 

[Monknmom]

These are all going based on last years stuff and of course will need to be tweaked and poked and prodded before being final plans to write in the binder, but I have come up with this so far, please let me know how it sounds and if it's at all reasonable! Thank you
Day 1- arriving
I think that going to DTD on the first night is the best idea and just eating at WGP (I hear really good things from that place). If we get there early enough we can also check out the boardwalk. But ultimately I want to be in bed by the latest 9pm (8pm for Monk)

Day 2-
MK
eat breakfast at crystal palace before rope drop.
I just don't have a real touring plan for this park. We know that we would like to go when they have the EMH at night because we will be going back to the resort for a nap this day for about 3-4 hours.
Some must see stuff-
space mountain, BTMRR, Pirates ride, Presidents hall for DH rotfl:maybe we don't need to go back to the hotel for a nap-just kidding), Buzz space ranger ride, speedway, Winnie the pooh ride, haunted mansion,
I'd like to also have a little time for these things-
exploring the main street town, Tom sawyer island and Swiss family tree house just for letting Monk have some running around time, monsters inc laugh floor, I am not sure about the stitch ride-I have heard only bad things, Mickey's Philharmonic, wishes and a parade? Jungle cruise, What is the tiki room (I want to go mostly just to know what it is...)
*For a late dinner (8pm) we will be eating at Liberty tree for DH (he loves that period of time) and lunch will be a later lunch (1pm) on our way back to the hotel at Tony's or the plaza I am not sure yet.
But we are going to take this day a little slower as well because we will have all night to do it- not sure about that though because we are trying to get to the parks early for rope drop or breakfast!

Day 3-
Epcot
get there at rope drop (9am) or eat at 1900 Park and skip this lunch so we can eat lunch around the world!
Explore space ship earth, then mission space stuff.
Get a test track pass(?) and go eat lunch at San Angel Inn
ride test track(?)
explore the worlds starting there in Mexico and making our way around to end in Canada (get snacks while going around and exploring) (maybe done by 5:30-6pm)
Visit the Kodak thing and the innovations (both?)
if illuminations night eat somewhere we will see this, if not eat at Coral reef
Explore nemo and turtle talk and then back to hotel for sleep.

Day 4-
AK day (this is if we can get a day with EMH at night if not we will cut back on a lot!)
eat @ Tusker House before the park opens
Kilamanjaro
Camp Minnie/Mickey
Lion King show (maybe)
Explore the tree of life & it's tough to be a bug
maharajah Jungle trek
parade?
Head into Dinosaur land-rest, grab snack/lunch, play in bone yard, Dinosaur ride, kids club, fossil fun games (about 3-4 hours)
grab a FP for Everest as we go to Yak and Yeti for dinner
Everest and then head back to the hotel for sleep.

Day 5-
DHS
either start the day at 1900 Park for b-fast and get to the park shortly after opening or schedule Hollywood & Vine breakfast.
Grab a TSM FP and/or ride in the standby if it's not to long
really no plans here are the following must do's
ToT, Great movie ride. Lights, motor, action, animation tour, rock n roller coaster, Pixar parade, honey I shrunk the kids playground for a little rest and down time (this is a must for my son (about a 1/2 hour)
Some things we would like, but not a definite
Star wars, some shows and a parade
*I do know that DH and I will be splitting up a little because he is more into the Walt Disney thing and the ATAS and some other things that my son will be antsy through.
We will try to schedule a dinner package for fantasmic through Mama Melrose otherwise we will eat at 50's Prime time
We will have all day at this park so I am not too worried about it everyone says it's a small park and as long as you get FP for the few rides it has you should be fine-I am hoping that's the case for us! Lunch we will just either grab snacks or a QS whichever is best in the situation.

Day 5-
The day we leave
On the day that we check out I am not sure about which character meal to chose either 1900 if we didn't get it in during the week or Ohana's (he really likes stitch, but I hear that the mad hatter is a hoot). We are just going to be going around to the different resorts to explore it's great uniqueness (is that a real word?) and we love playing mini golf so I wanted to explore some of the mini golf courses that they have-well the 2 that they have. And dinner will be at Whispering Canyon cafe so that we can go to the Chip and Dale sing-a-long, see the "geyser erupt" and watch the electrical parade from the beach all before heading to Georgia to see some old friends! At least I think that all of those things are at the same place? OOOO I forgot--- my MIL is buying Monkey a pirate adventure (I think it's called- where you ride on the pirate ship for 2 hours but it's only the kids) for his birthday so it would fit in on this day with these touring plans and DH and I can relax on a beach and wait for the little guy to get back. If anyone has heard of this or did this for their kids can I have some feed back please? I read the thing and sorta kinda looked it up a little, they said that there is a photo pass person that goes with them to take photos for you while they are away- which is great because I am pre-ordering the photo pass CD before we go.

***So anyway, these are the touring plans that I have come up with. Anyone that has been there or anyone that sees something that does look like it needs to be tweaked I am all ears.... !

 

[annmarieda]

Day 1- arriving
I think that going to DTD on the first night is the best idea and just eating at WGP (I hear really good things from that place). If we get there early enough we can also check out the boardwalk. But ultimately I want to be in bed by the latest 9pm (8pm for Monk)

I have never been to WGP... but WGPE is WONDERFUL and a great use of a cs credit. I like your idea of getting to bed early. On our first day, we will probably be pretty tired due to the time change. I need to follow your example cause often times we stay up too late (like midnight or so which is really like 3am to for us) Then we get up super early and we are pretty tapped very early on in the trip. I think your way is a much better way to start the trip.

Day 2-
MK
eat breakfast at crystal palace before rope drop.
I just don't have a real touring plan for this park. We know that we would like to go when they have the EMH at night because we will be going back to the resort for a nap this day for about 3-4 hours.
Some must see stuff-
space mountain, BTMRR, Pirates ride, Presidents hall for DH rotfl:maybe we don't need to go back to the hotel for a nap-just kidding), Buzz space ranger ride, speedway, Winnie the pooh ride, haunted mansion,
I'd like to also have a little time for these things-
exploring the main street town, Tom sawyer island and Swiss family tree house just for letting Monk have some running around time, monsters inc laugh floor, I am not sure about the stitch ride-I have heard only bad things, Mickey's Philharmonic, wishes and a parade? Jungle cruise, What is the tiki room (I want to go mostly just to know what it is...)
*For a late dinner (8pm) we will be eating at Liberty tree for DH (he loves that period of time) and lunch will be a later lunch (1pm) on our way back to the hotel at Tony's or the plaza I am not sure yet.
But we are going to take this day a little slower as well because we will have all night to do it- not sure about that though because we are trying to get to the parks early for rope drop or breakfast!

Again, I love what you are planning and intend to do the same thing... going to CP for a before RD ADR... I think that being in the park before it opens will be amazing not only to get a bit of a break from the crowds, but to get pictures of the castle without all those people.

Stitch isn't so bad. My oldest children hate it, but my 6 year old doesn't mind it. It isn't the best ride... but... I can say I have done it.

The Tiki Room is a must! Right now it is not open though due to fire. (the Tiki Gods must not have been happy with the new management) Basically, it is an animatronic show.... Tiki themed. It is fun... and a nice break from the weather (hot or cold) I honestly prefer the old version that did not incorporate Zazu (sp?) and Eogo (sp?). Still... a must do.

Day 3-
Epcot
get there at rope drop (9am) or eat at 1900 Park and skip this lunch so we can eat lunch around the world!
Explore space ship earth, then mission space stuff.
Get a test track pass(?) and go eat lunch at San Angel Inn
ride test track(?)
explore the worlds starting there in Mexico and making our way around to end in Canada (get snacks while going around and exploring) (maybe done by 5:30-6pm)
Visit the Kodak thing and the innovations (both?)
if illuminations night eat somewhere we will see this, if not eat at Coral reef
Explore nemo and turtle talk and then back to hotel for sleep.

We never get enough time to explore SSE once we come off of the ride. I should add that to my to do list as well.

Eating around the World in WS is so much fun. Last trip we split meals in order to sample more things. YUM Coral Reef is one of our favorite restaurants. Dh loves the food, but for me it is more about the atmosphere.

Day 4-
AK day (this is if we can get a day with EMH at night if not we will cut back on a lot!)
eat @ Tusker House before the park opens
Kilamanjaro
Camp Minnie/Mickey
Lion King show (maybe)
Explore the tree of life & it's tough to be a bug
maharajah Jungle trek
parade?
Head into Dinosaur land-rest, grab snack/lunch, play in bone yard, Dinosaur ride, kids club, fossil fun games (about 3-4 hours)
grab a FP for Everest as we go to Yak and Yeti for dinner
Everest and then head back to the hotel for sleep.

I notice there is not the Finding Nemo Musical on your list. I know that it isn't for everyone, but it is one of my favorite shows.. period. And.. if you don't get a before RD ADR for Tusker, you can get the Nemo dinning package and get awesome seats. (although, again... maybe not awesome for everyone... you should look at my TR from September and you can see how close to the stage we were)

Also, and this could just be my kids... but we were never able to spend that much time at the fossil fun games. (we are talking the carnival games, right?) There is not too many actual booths. Then, there is the Dino dig site (play area) and while there is a bit taht can be done.. I am not sure it is hours worth

Day 5-
DHS
either start the day at 1900 Park for b-fast and get to the park shortly after opening or schedule Hollywood & Vine breakfast.
Grab a TSM FP and/or ride in the standby if it's not to long
really no plans here are the following must do's
ToT, Great movie ride. Lights, motor, action, animation tour, rock n roller coaster, Pixar parade, honey I shrunk the kids playground for a little rest and down time (this is a must for my son (about a 1/2 hour)
Some things we would like, but not a definite
Star wars, some shows and a parade
*I do know that DH and I will be splitting up a little because he is more into the Walt Disney thing and the ATAS and some other things that my son will be antsy through.
We will try to schedule a dinner package for fantasmic through Mama Melrose otherwise we will eat at 50's Prime time
We will have all day at this park so I am not too worried about it everyone says it's a small park and as long as you get FP for the few rides it has you should be fine-I am hoping that's the case for us! Lunch we will just either grab snacks or a QS whichever is best in the situation.

This is a small park, but I always have a hard time fitting everything in. I use ridemax...and almost always I have to cut things out in order to get the plan set.

And for a great cs credit.... try starring rolls. the sandwiches are HUGE and the cupcakes are amazing!!!

Day 5-
The day we leave
On the day that we check out I am not sure about which character meal to chose either 1900 if we didn't get it in during the week or Ohana's (he really likes stitch, but I hear that the mad hatter is a hoot). We are just going to be going around to the different resorts to explore it's great uniqueness (is that a real word?) and we love playing mini golf so I wanted to explore some of the mini golf courses that they have-well the 2 that they have. And dinner will be at Whispering Canyon cafe so that we can go to the Chip and Dale sing-a-long, see the "geyser erupt" and watch the electrical parade from the beach all before heading to Georgia to see some old friends! At least I think that all of those things are at the same place? OOOO I forgot--- my MIL is buying Monkey a pirate adventure (I think it's called- where you ride on the pirate ship for 2 hours but it's only the kids) for his birthday so it would fit in on this day with these touring plans and DH and I can relax on a beach and wait for the little guy to get back. If anyone has heard of this or did this for their kids can I have some feed back please? I read the thing and sorta kinda looked it up a little, they said that there is a photo pass person that goes with them to take photos for you while they are away- which is great because I am pre-ordering the photo pass CD before we go.

Last days are always so sad. I think your day looks amazing though. We will be staying at WL, but we don't plan to eat at Whispering Canyon. I plan to see the water parade though.. and of course the geyser.

As for the pirate cruise.... I have no experience, but I can't wait to hear how much he loves it!!!

 

[Monknmom]

I have never been to WGP... but WGPE is WONDERFUL and a great use of a cs credit. I like your idea of getting to bed early. On our first day, we will probably be pretty tired due to the time change. I need to follow your example cause often times we stay up too late (like midnight or so which is really like 3am to for us) Then we get up super early and we are pretty tapped very early on in the trip. I think your way is a much better way to start the trip.

I might try the express then to save a little money and us a CS credit- I am a little confused though, I have the deluxe dining am I allowed to us a CS instead of a TS? Ha ha we are going to have it a little tough for DH and DS- both are in bed early (ds-around 7-7:30 and DH around 9:30-10om) but me I stay home and clean and such so bed late is not a big deal to me and up early like 6am every morning! To both my guys it's going to be rough! So thank you!

Again, I love what you are planning and intend to do the same thing... going to CP for a before RD ADR... I think that being in the park before it opens will be amazing not only to get a bit of a break from the crowds, but to get pictures of the castle without all those people.

That's exactly why I want to try out CP- well also I love winnie the pooh! But I want some pictures with the castle and my family and not too many others! Hopefully there will be a PP person there to take the shot of all of us at once!


Stitch isn't so bad. My oldest children hate it, but my 6 year old doesn't mind it. It isn't the best ride... but... I can say I have done it.

Yeah I think that my son will get a kick out of it! Me on the other hand- I hear that there is a "smell", I'm not ure what that means. The dark of the ride is nothing as DS isn't scared of the dark so I might just have to keep it on there!


The Tiki Room is a must! Right now it is not open though due to fire. (the Tiki Gods must not have been happy with the new management) Basically, it is an animatronic show.... Tiki themed. It is fun... and a nice break from the weather (hot or cold) I honestly prefer the old version that did not incorporate Zazu (sp?) and Eogo (sp?). Still... a must do.
It sounds nice! I just had no idea what it was as no one really mentioned it anywhere. I thought maybe a snack bar? But it sounds interesting!



We never get enough time to explore SSE once we come off of the ride. I should add that to my to do list as well.

Eating around the World in WS is so much fun. Last trip we split meals in order to sample more things. YUM Coral Reef is one of our favorite restaurants. Dh loves the food, but for me it is more about the atmosphere.

I think that we might eat around the world for lunch and eat Dinner at coral reef! My son wants to be a marine biologist so that might be great for him with all of the fish and such about!


I notice there is not the Finding Nemo Musical on your list. I know that it isn't for everyone, but it is one of my favorite shows.. period. And.. if you don't get a before RD ADR for Tusker, you can get the Nemo dinning package and get awesome seats. (although, again... maybe not awesome for everyone... you should look at my TR from September and you can see how close to the stage we were) Also, and this could just be my kids... but we were never able to spend that much time at the fossil fun games. (we are talking the carnival games, right?) There is not too many actual booths. Then, there is the Dino dig site (play area) and while there is a bit taht can be done.. I am not sure it is hours worth

I didn't know that there was a finding Nemo dinner package.... I am going to read you report to check that out! I might have to add that as my son does like it- I was just not sure if we would have time! Since the fossil fun is just carnival games I might skip that and do the musical! The bone yard we are going to let him have about a 1/2 hour there just a cool down for all of us and some elbow room for Damien! I am scheduling about 30 minutes of play time in each park at the parks in them.





This is a small park, but I always have a hard time fitting everything in. I use ridemax...and almost always I have to cut things out in order to get the plan set.

And for a great cs credit.... try starring rolls. the sandwiches are HUGE and the cupcakes are amazing!!!

MMMM... I love cupcakes! So I will add this onto a possible lunch spot! What is ridemax? Never mind I googled it! I am going to take a look at that tonight after soccer practice! Thank you for that! Are there any shows that you recommend for a little one? I think I remember you have a DD around my DS age? Or any that we should stay away from?

Last days are always so sad. I think your day looks amazing though. We will be staying at WL, but we don't plan to eat at Whispering Canyon. I plan to see the water parade though.. and of course the geyser.

As for the pirate cruise.... I have no experience, but I can't wait to hear how much he loves it!!!

I will let everyone know! my mother in law is giving him a choice between the cruise and the pirate makeover, I am trying to sway him to the cruise and I keep promising that for Halloween he can be a pirate! I feel like the make over will be a little of a waste because he never leaves that stuff on his face when he gets it done here at home, school, carnivals, soccer, etc... And the WL I am excited about visiting because everyone says that it's the best decorated for Christmas! Also I think it's the one that has a petting zoo you can buy a ticket for?

Thank you for answering and giving me tips and advice!

 

[annmarieda]

Your son and my daughter are about the same age. My dd will turn 7 after the trip though (in February) Being a girl, she enjoys the Beauty and the Beast show. I do as well. . For boys though, the Indiana Jones stunt show or the Lights Motor Action show is a must. Both of those are a bit long... and there is usually a wait so my dd has been a bit antsy during them. Playhouse Disney Onstage show is pretty neat for little ones, but I think both of our young ones may be getting a bit too old for it.

And as for the dp... and credits. Yes, I believe if you have deluxe (3 ts credits a day) then you can still go to counter service restaurants. Course.... unless you are trying to save the cost of a tip (which at WGPE, I still tip) then a ts used for a cs is probably not giving you the best bang for your buck.

 

[momabaarjo]

If it helps any, I used TS credits last year for a CS meal...in Epcot. We wanted to have lunch at the bakery in Norway (love their apple, ham, and cheese sandwiches...and school bread or cloudberry horn...or any of their baked sweets). We ordered just as we would if it was a TS...offered the app (which is soup, but we declined it and they gave us an extra bottle of water), main course (sandwich), dessert, and a drink. They acted like it was no big deal.


As for the pirate thing...my boys want to do the Pirate League...but of course they both want the skull head which paints the entire face...there is no way that I am going to allow that all day long in the park regardless of the magic I am taking away! I want the trip to be 2 weeks of YES days...because 99.9% time it is a NO day at my house! Well maybe not that high!

I think the pirate cruise would be fun. Is he okay going with strangers and being away from you for a while? This might be an added treat for you and our dh...a little time to do something together that you want to.

 

[Monknmom]

Your son and my daughter are about the same age. My dd will turn 7 after the trip though (in February) Being a girl, she enjoys the Beauty and the Beast show. I do as well. . For boys though, the Indiana Jones stunt show or the Lights Motor Action show is a must. Both of those are a bit long... and there is usually a wait so my dd has been a bit antsy during them. Playhouse Disney Onstage show is pretty neat for little ones, but I think both of our young ones may be getting a bit too old for it.

And as for the dp... and credits. Yes, I believe if you have deluxe (3 ts credits a day) then you can still go to counter service restaurants. Course.... unless you are trying to save the cost of a tip (which at WGPE, I still tip) then a ts used for a cs is probably not giving you the best bang for your buck.

Thank you for the show tips- oddly enough my DS likes Beauty and the beast? he loves that they objects talk and such so I am not sure if we will do that! My son does have trouble staying still for a long time (he has ADHD and is not taking medicine for it- maybe later in life if he needs it but right now he's a kid and I can't see doing that- so he's on a diet that helps, but since he will be off the diet) I think that I think staying still might be a problem.... we will have to see and talk with him about what he thinks and them make a decision! For the WGPE I was thinking the express to save a little time and get back to sleep quicker, but if they take the same amount of time (or close to it) maybe just going to the cafe would be good!

If it helps any, I used TS credits last year for a CS meal...in Epcot. We wanted to have lunch at the bakery in Norway (love their apple, ham, and cheese sandwiches...and school bread or cloudberry horn...or any of their baked sweets). We ordered just as we would if it was a TS...offered the app (which is soup, but we declined it and they gave us an extra bottle of water), main course (sandwich), dessert, and a drink. They acted like it was no big deal.


As for the pirate thing...my boys want to do the Pirate League...but of course they both want the skull head which paints the entire face...there is no way that I am going to allow that all day long in the park regardless of the magic I am taking away! I want the trip to be 2 weeks of YES days...because 99.9% time it is a NO day at my house! Well maybe not that high!

I think the pirate cruise would be fun. Is he okay going with strangers and being away from you for a while? This might be an added treat for you and our dh...a little time to do something together that you want to.

Yeah I know what you mean about the whole face painted- luckily he wants the captain jack looking one! But to me it's not worth it to just get some makeup and dress up I would rather him do the cruise, but the cruise leaves around 9:30 am and that would interfere with our plans for the Ohana that morning! Oh I am not sue what we are going to do.... if he does do it though I hear the the Yacht club one takes them to the different ports in the world showcase so that might be nice!

 

[Monknmom]

So we had our first Disney family night the other night- when I get home tonight I should be able to post pictures of it!

I have been hearing mixed things about staying on the deluxe dining plan, so I just spent the last hour looking through the menus on the allstars page and calculating the prices with what we usually eat and what DH is probably going to eat (steak every night for him)! And I even added in some extras that we might do (like instead of sitting at a meal we will go to rope drop, but get a QS breakfast at the hotel (they have there platters that you can order and we can eat that while we wait for entering the park or something). And all of the prices that I came up with I didn't add apps and I only added deserts that I thought might sound good to DH, DS, or I so not everyone had a dessert and I didn't include tax and I came out way ahead of the cost of just staying on the DxDP. So I think that I am going to keep the DxDP at this point! BUT on another note DH and I were going through some of the crowd reports and on the youtube on PS3 he searched WDW at Christmas- he was SHOCKED to say the least about the number of people that are going to be there so he asked why so many people- um DUH it's Christmas break AND most kids get this as a gift (like our son). So we are going to talk to the travel agent about switching the dates to the 4th-9th with everything else staying the same, I just hope that I can keep my PIN? And with that change we can also stop at a few more places on the way home because when we left on the 23rd most places would have been closed for Christmas! NOW with the change we can go to the root beer factory in NC with my mom for a free tour and tasting of Root beer (my favorite soda!)! And also when we get to DC we won't be too crowded either! I am really looking forward to this change (AND I get to go to Disney a few days earlier)!

 

[momabaarjo]

I love the stuff too! I grew up with an A&W RootBeer Car Hop restaurant in my little town. I remember in the summer going and getting a gallon of rootbeer (it was on tap...like a beer tap...not a fountain) throughout the summer and come home and make rootbeer floats with homemade ice cream.

What movie did you do last night? I am dying to find out all the details! Warning they become addictive (both for you and the family).

Yes, I worry about crowds too, but I figure I am going to with a plan and we are morning people...so rope drop it is! Not a problem...well with dd the teenager it is on days about getting up.

I have crunched the numbers about a million times and I keep coming up with the DxDP too. I did it this past summer, and my friend and I loved it! It is so nice to order without even thinking about the price.

 

[annmarieda]

So we had our first Disney family night the other night- when I get home tonight I should be able to post pictures of it!

Cant wait to see the pics!

I have been hearing mixed things about staying on the deluxe dining plan, so I just spent the last hour looking through the menus on the allstars page and calculating the prices with what we usually eat and what DH is probably going to eat (steak every night for him)! And I even added in some extras that we might do (like instead of sitting at a meal we will go to rope drop, but get a QS breakfast at the hotel (they have there platters that you can order and we can eat that while we wait for entering the park or something). And all of the prices that I came up with I didn't add apps and I only added deserts that I thought might sound good to DH, DS, or I so not everyone had a dessert and I didn't include tax and I came out way ahead of the cost of just staying on the DxDP. So I think that I am going to keep the DxDP at this point! BUT on another note DH and I were going through some of the crowd reports and on the youtube on PS3 he searched WDW at Christmas- he was SHOCKED to say the least about the number of people that are going to be there so he asked why so many people- um DUH it's Christmas break AND most kids get this as a gift (like our son). So we are going to talk to the travel agent about switching the dates to the 4th-9th with everything else staying the same, I just hope that I can keep my PIN? And with that change we can also stop at a few more places on the way home because when we left on the 23rd most places would have been closed for Christmas! NOW with the change we can go to the root beer factory in NC with my mom for a free tour and tasting of Root beer (my favorite soda!)! And also when we get to DC we won't be too crowded either! I am really looking forward to this change (AND I get to go to Disney a few days earlier)!

Wow, that is a change! I have to be honest... I have wondered on the crowd thing myself. I am really worried that we won't be able to handle it. As for the dx dinning plan... I added up the places I intend to pay oop for and it didn't equal the amount it will cost to upgrade so doing the math, we too will be sticking to the regular dp.

 

[Monknmom]

Sorry this is a day late- I didn't know that it was New Year in my husband's country yesterday so we went to celebrate that with family! My son got $97 from the older people- they give the younger generation money to show them respect and give to the future!

Anyway.... I was VERY SHOCKED to see that my DH watched the movie with us! I didn't know that he had never seen the movie and understood it. In his country they watched it in english but didn't understand it so this was special!

We started the night with some beef tataki and quinoa salad- I wanted to do cous cous but I didn't have any in the house and didn't feel like going out for some...

Then as we watched the movie we each had our own Genie lamp and drew what it would look like if we could live inside (DH drew a pillow and said he would just meditate- I did not take a picture of a blue square-sorry!)

Damien's Lamp came complete with a TV and video game system that he's playing, a Christmas tree (we told him after the Christmas trees go up we go to Disney so this ensures that he gets to go to Disney everyday he said!), some Christmas lights, and he tried to copy mine and drew a bed in the top of the lamp (you can see he's sleeping from the ZZZ's). The circles throughout the picture are his bakugans- he said that they would fill up the rest of the space and a robot to play with him!

My lamp was a little more simple! I had a hammock bed from the roof of my lamp, a robot to clean and water my plants, a dresser that I could open the drawer and any type of fashion that I wanted was there and the jewelry box on top did the same, but with jewels! Oh and let's not forget my tub- my own personal tub that was at a constant warm temp filled with never ending bubbles! And of course I am sleeping in my bed in the picture!

To me dessert was a little hard- I didn't know what to do! So I made my whole wheat sugar cookies and called them "camel's hump cookies" and DH loves Ben and jerry's banana split ice cream so I got a pint of that and called it "Genie's make a wish ice cream"

Not everything related directly to Aladdin, but my son had a good time and DH did as well.... I really hope that we can continue these every week until Disney! I really thank some of the other people's PTR that I am reading- they gave me lots of inspiration!

 

[Monknmom]

I love the stuff too! I grew up with an A&W RootBeer Car Hop restaurant in my little town. I remember in the summer going and getting a gallon of rootbeer (it was on tap...like a beer tap...not a fountain) throughout the summer and come home and make rootbeer floats with homemade ice cream.

What movie did you do last night? I am dying to find out all the details! Warning they become addictive (both for you and the family).

Yes, I worry about crowds too, but I figure I am going to with a plan and we are morning people...so rope drop it is! Not a problem...well with dd the teenager it is on days about getting up.

I have crunched the numbers about a million times and I keep coming up with the DxDP too. I did it this past summer, and my friend and I loved it! It is so nice to order without even thinking about the price.

I agree with the ordering and not thinking about how much the bill is going to be! The root beer place is in North Carolina- http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/22739 that is the site for the one that we are going to be going to-although I just noticed that they aren't open on Sunday only until Saturday, we may have to book it to get to NC by evening! Which place did you go to as a kid? I wonder if that's on our way?

I am going with a plan too, although most of the time I make a plan and no one looks over my plan- they agree to just follow- and my plan doesn't pan-out like it should! Hoping that this change will benefit us rather than bring us into more trouble! Still waiting to hear from the travel agent about the choice though!

Cant wait to see the pics!




Wow, that is a change! I have to be honest... I have wondered on the crowd thing myself. I am really worried that we won't be able to handle it. As for the dx dinning plan... I added up the places I intend to pay oop for and it didn't equal the amount it will cost to upgrade so doing the math, we too will be sticking to the regular dp.

That's what I am worried about, when I booked the trip I kept getting told that the days between Christmas and New Year's was bad so I thought well I have no problem then, but as I kept reading I found that the week before Christmas is bad too, and Damien has some sensory issues and DH doesn't like crowds so I think it will be the better move for us? I honestly didn't compare the ddp with the Dx- after raking some leaves I may have to come inside and do that to see where we stand! thank you for pointing that out!

 

[momabaarjo]

Your Aladdin dinner LOOKS to die for! I am practically licking the screen. Now I really have to make that salad! The camel hump cookies and wish ice cream...might have to steal that one myself!

As for the root beer place...sadly does not exist anymore...and I do not think northern Colorado is on your route...a little too far off the path!