Even Miracles Take a Little Time -A March 2017 PTR-

[mdsouth]

Well, it's a small world afterall! We actually own 2 beach houses there on North Forest Beach, not far from Coligny. We love it! We grew up renting places in Shipyard and then while I was in college, my parents bought the first house, which lead to another! Now we go once before the summer crowd hits and for Thanksgiving and sometimes after Christmas/NYE.

Definitely a small world! The place we rented was in Shipyard! Someday, I would love to rent a house with extended family members. So, I just might contact you in the future to find out what rental property companies you use with your houses. I know you can't post that information in the thread due to DIS rules. So, I will just message you if we ever do plan a trip to HHI.

 

[jmccoy18]

Planning Update
So, not a lot has happened since my last update. I have been combing the boards on the news for FEA and the A&E M&G. We will see next month how that all plays out with FEA being added to tier 1 for FP+. I am even thinking about switching Akershus from lunch to prepark breakfast on our Epcot day, just so we can get FEA and the A&E M&G right at park opening and then move on to Soarin. We might even skip TT because it would just me me and DH riding it and I would be fine skipping it. I am usually not a fan of prepark ADRs just because of Disney changing EMH and stuff last minute. Or maybe we do EMH at Epcot and move our lunch up to a brunch around 11.... just some stuff to think about, and luckily I still have time to figure it out.

I sent out a group email to my mom and MIL the other day just updating them with info for the trip with some budget info included. I ran the numbers for DDP vs OOP for each group and told them to let me know what they wanted to do so when I have my TA friend book the rooms I can tell her which ones will be doing DDP as well. DH, DD1, and I will be doing the DDP because we will end up breaking even (doing a lot of character meals.) It will be a little cheaper for MIL and FIL to not do the DDP, but they said they didn't care and wanted to do everything we were doing. That's fine with me as it is their money to spend how they please. My mom, dad, and sister will more than likely not do the DDP because my dad will not be with us in the parks every day and that would just be a waste of money. My mom won't even look at the email until after we go on our cruise this summer, though. She has a lot on her plate right now (sister's graduation, beach trip, and then graduation cruise) and once we finish all of that she said she can start thinking about Disney. I told her that was fine, but I would need to know no later than the end of July what their plans were (staying with us at CBR?, how many days on their ticket?, DDP? opinions on ADRs, etc...)

Currently, I am getting the house ready and packing for our trip home to see my sister graduate high school and then a week at the beach. So, I won't be on here for a little bit while I soak up some family time and sunshine I will update again once we get back!

 

[mdsouth]

I can see how it is hard to manage a trip with three families involved. It is nice that your MIL is going with the flow since that helps makes things easier when planning. Having them on the dining plan as well will be nice. They can just use their magic bands and not have to think about dining options too much. It is definitely a convenience I liked.
I can understand your wish to have things on your mother's end nailed down as soon as possible so that you are ready with the information when you can make the official arrangements. Your mother is like most people they really do not understand why so many of us are so focused on wanting to plan early and set things up ahead of time. Then when you are actually there and you don't have to stand in long lines or are able to get into restaurants when others are being turned away because they are full -- then they tend to understand it more. Of course, often they don't even really realize it then because we have done such a good job of making it all seem easy.

Have a great trip with your family at the beach. I will be here when you return to hear more about your plans for Disney and even catch up on the latest at HHI.

 

[Cassarye]

Planning Update
I sent out a group email to my mom and MIL the other day just updating them with info for the trip with some budget info included. I ran the numbers for DDP vs OOP for each group and told them to let me know what they wanted to do so when I have my TA friend book the rooms I can tell her which ones will be doing DDP as well. DH, DD1, and I will be doing the DDP because we will end up breaking even (doing a lot of character meals.) It will be a little cheaper for MIL and FIL to not do the DDP, but they said they didn't care and wanted to do everything we were doing. That's fine with me as it is their money to spend how they please. My mom, dad, and sister will more than likely not do the DDP because my dad will not be with us in the parks every day and that would just be a waste of money. My mom won't even look at the email until after we go on our cruise this summer, though. She has a lot on her plate right now (sister's graduation, beach trip, and then graduation cruise) and once we finish all of that she said she can start thinking about Disney. I told her that was fine, but I would need to know no later than the end of July what their plans were (staying with us at CBR?, how many days on their ticket?, DDP? opinions on ADRs, etc...)

I have been following along on your pre-trip planning (we are also going in 2017 but not until Sept). Question for you.......Are you all going to be on the same reservation? Reason I ask is because all guests staying in the same room must either have the dining plan or not have the dining plan. Unfortunately you are not able to choose who gets it unless you are staying at the non-Disney-owned Swan & Dolphin, Shades of Green, or International Drive hotels. Thought I would let you know to help with your planning.

Here is where I found this info.

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/disney-dining-plan-faq/

 

[jmccoy18]

I have been following along on your pre-trip planning (we are also going in 2017 but not until Sept). Question for you.......Are you all going to be on the same reservation? Reason I ask is because all guests staying in the same room must either have the dining plan or not have the dining plan. Unfortunately you are not able to choose who gets it unless you are staying at the non-Disney-owned Swan & Dolphin, Shades of Green, or International Drive hotels. Thought I would let you know to help with your planning.

Here is where I found this info.

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/disney-dining-plan-faq/

Hi! and thanks for following along! We will all be under the same reservation, but in three separate rooms. So our room (me, DH, DD1, and DD2) and the in laws room (MIL and FIL) will have DDP and my parents room (mom, dad, and sis) will not. I was under the impression that even though we will all be under the same reservation, DDP goes by rooms, so we could have it for 2 of the rooms and not the 3rd.

 

[lizet313]

Hi just joining in. I am excited for your trip and what a coincidence. My family will be having our first family Disney vacation in Springbreak March 2017. We are also considering the CBR. That's about all I know. I love your movie nights idea.

 

[jmccoy18]

@lizet313
Thanks for following along! YAY for going to WDW at the same time! Hopefully we can compare notes later on.

 

[jmccoy18]

Planning Update
We are back from the beach and had a fantastic time! It went by too quickly. DD1 loves the beach and the pool, she was at one or the other all day, every day. DD2 did not like the sand. She didn't mind it when she was smaller, but now that she is walking, she is not a fan. She would rather be at the pool. I was just happy to be there .

Now that we are back, I have been catching up on the DIS boards. I am really anxious to see how things will play out with FEA and the A&E M&G at the end of the month. It seems that Epcot is the only park I keep changing my mind over how we should tackle it because of the new Frozen stuff. It will also be Flower & Garden while we are there, so I think we might spend another evening there after we do HS in the morning. I don't think we will ride anything that evening, just soak up the sights in the WS and do some more F&G stuff. Maybe we get a ride in if we can score a FP there after our HS ones are used up. We will see.

I am also starting to keep my eye on flights. It is still a little early to book anything, but I am watching for any price drops, and time changes.

 

[mdsouth]

Happy to know you had a great time at the beach! You are right in that EPCOT is hard to plan right now with all the changes going on. Flower and Garden Festival will be really nice. There is a butterfly garden that your girls would probably love.

 

[MissMaryQC]

Glad the beach was a success. Gotta say I'm with DD2; I'll take a sand-less pool over the beach any day, and we live in SoFla!

Good luck on the flights; hope you can snag a great deal!

 

[jmccoy18]

Lion King Movie Night

It has been a while since my last post. I have really just been scrolling through the boards to keep updated with everything, but not much for me to do. We are still in a holding pattern until the AFS comes out. DH is home again and we have a lot of movie nights to catch up on! DD1 and I picked The Lion KIng and had DH guess what it was by giving him clues. He guessed after the first clue because DD1's clue was, "it is about lions." It was a very good clue

Here is our menu:

Simba's chicken legs:

Timon's Ants on a Log:

Pumba's Cucumber Salad:

Nala's Lion Cookies:

This was a pretty easy menu. We only had to grill the chicken legs. My grocery store happened to have these lion cookies in the bakery, so that was a no-brainer. It has been so hot here lately that the thought of turning on the oven was not a pleasant one. I was glad to have some easy items on this menu. Everything was delicious, but everyone's favorite from the meal was the ants on a log. We didn't have any raisins, but I did have craisins! I can't remember the last time I had ants on a log; it brought DH and I back to our childhood.

We all enjoyed the movie. I tried to not quote the entire thing while we were watching it (or at least keep it to a whisper!) DD1's favorite part was when Timon and Pumba go buzzard bowling and find little Simba. She also enjoyed when Timon and Pumba danced the hula to distract the hyenas at the end.

Our next movie night will be next week and we will be watching The Little Mermaid. It is my MIL's favorite and she will be here with us next week!

 

[mdsouth]

I can just picture your daughter sharing her clue, "It's about lions" and then being really happy when your DH figured it out!
the Ants on a Log brought back memories for me too! The lion cookies were perfect!

It should be lots of fun to have both your DH and MIL participating in your family Disney night next time with Little Mermaid.

 

[jmccoy18]

Progress Update
I bought our plane tickets tonight!

I was able to use some saved up Skymiles to help offset the cost, so that was nice. We were able to get the flights I had been eyeing for the past couple of weeks. Our flight to Orlando leaves super early, but we get into MCO around 11:30am! I am so excited about this because it will basically give us an entire half day to spend exploring the resort and hopefully a dinner ADR at Chef Mickey's (it is a family tradition to start our trip off at CM!) It should also give us some time to take a quick nap, especially since we will have to get up around 4am for our flight! Our flight back home doesn't leave until around 3:30pm, so that gives us some nice time in the morning to maybe get in one more swim before check out and hopping on DME.

So really at this point, everything is set to go except our resort rooms! I can't do anything to speed that process along as we are waiting for the AFS to be announced. Hopefully we won't have to wait too much longer. It would be really nice if it was announced before September so that I can go ahead and make our ADR's for the whole trip at one time and not have to make them day by day.

 

[mdsouth]

WOW! Great news on getting your plane tickets! Your trip really is becoming a reality now!

 

[jmccoy18]

Little Mermaid Movie Night

YAY! The little Mermaid is one of my favorite Disney movies. It is my sister's all time favorite, so it just has all the wonderful warm fuzzies of childhood wrapped up in it. We decided to watch it for our movie night after we learned it was my MIL's favorite Disney movie and she is with us this week along with her sister. They have come to town to watch the girls while DH and I go on my youngest sister's graduation trip, an Alaskan Cruise! We leave Thursday for the cruise, so they got here a few days before we leave to spend some time with all of us.

We did movie night a little different this time because DD1 is going to VBS this week at night, so instead of eating dinner and then watching the movie, we watched the movie while DD2 had her nap time and then ate dinner before we dropped DD1 off at VBS. It worked out nicely but I prefer eating and then watching the movie.

Here is our menu:

Ursula Dogs (DD1 really enjoyed biting Ursula's head off )

I served mine over the SHELLS and Cheese

SHELLS and Cheese

Flounder's Fruit Salad

Ocean in a glass (vanilla pudding with blue food coloring, crushed nilla wafers for sand, and swedish fish)

Dinner was yummy and the movie was, as always, wonderful! But, it is late and I have a lot of packing to do before we leave for the cruise! Soon, this will be me:

Goodnight Dis!

 

[mdsouth]

Have a wonderful cruise. The Alaskan cruise is on my DH's bucket list.

 

[CatNipRules]

Subbing. Off to a great start!!

 

[Sarahh1027]

Ahhh your movie nights are amazing! You create such wonderfully coordinated menus full of Disney magic! You are truly Super Momma!

 

[jmccoy18]

@CatNipRules Thanks for following along!

 

[jmccoy18]

Planning Update
Hello everyone! DH and I are back from our Alaskan cruise and it was fantastic! The pictures we took don't even come close to how majestic and awe inspiring the scenery is. Here is a quick picture DH and I took in front of the Hubbard Glacier:

If you ever get the chance to go on an Alaskan cruise, do it! I bet it would have even been better if we had done the DCL's Alaskan cruise, but RC was wonderful as always. Now it is time to go on a diet after putting on a couple pounds from all the cruise food

I got a text from BIL today that said he was at Disney, and I was like, what? He has never been before and never told me he was going. We invited him to go with us on our upcoming trip, but he declined. He is in FL visiting some college friends, so I guess they just decided to go to MK for the day. I was asking him about what FP+ he got and some other simple questions and he had NO IDEA what I was talking about I told him that I wished he had let me know he was going and I could have helped him not stand in so many lines and gotten him a discount on his tickets. I pointed him in the right direction to get FP+ for the day and told him to have fun and eat a mickey ice cream bar for me. I am jealous that he is there, but so glad I am not with them because their lack of planning and knowledge about anything at Disney would have had me super frustrated. I hope he and his friend have a good time and their first Disney experience isn't ruined by long lines, hot sun, and zero knowledge.

His text got me thinking about our trip. Now that the cruise is over, I can focus all my planning energy on DD2's birthday trip. Our 180 days out is a little over a month away, so I need to start finalizing my ADR wishlist. There are a few of the places I want to eat that are up in the air with what times we want. I was hoping that some park crowd calendars would be out by now, but I haven't seen any yet, except for the one on TP. So right now that is what I am going off of. We will have the DDP for 7 nights (7QS, 7TS, and 14SC- this is new to the 2017 dining plan. We lose the dessert from QS and gain a snack credit)
Here is the list of places I want for ADRs:

• CRT- lunch or dinner, but now thinking preferably dinner (2TS)
• CM- dinner on arrival night (1TS)
• Akershus- early lunch?(1TS)
• H&V- lunch (1TS) I am not super jazzed about this one, but this will probably be the only trip that it will be worth it to eat here with the Disney Jr characters for the girls. They will really enjoy it.
• O'hana- dinner (1TS)
• Tusker House- dinner or lunch (1TS) It depends on if ROL even shows up if we do lunch or dinner. If it isn't out yet, then we will do lunch and park hop that evening somewhere else.
• BOG- lunch (1QS) This is a maybe depending on whether or not we get a CRT dinner or lunch

That's all I have for now. Hopefully after my body has gotten over this jet lag, I can sit down and nail a few more things down. Stay tuned for another movie night coming up this week!