Fasten your seatbelts it's going to be a bumpy ride- March 2020 PTR

[jesridge]

Welcome, foolish mortals, to the Haunted Mansion, OOPS I mean welcome to my PTR... fasten your seatbelts and keep your head, hands, arms, legs, and feet inside the PTR at all times!!

Ready for a bumpy ride?

My daughter (17) asked me if we could spend one week of her spring break on a family trip to Disney World (of course I said yes) she's graduating this year (did I mention she's my baby, not looking forward to the empty nest) and wants to spend some family time with me and her brother, who could say no to that?
So in an instant (really it took hours of resort research) I booked us at the Poly and the trip planning began.

During our discussion we realized we hadn't been to DW in almost 10 years, our last trip was to celebrate DD's 8th birthday and well she'll be turning 18 in February!!! (HOW DID I LET THIS HAPPEN) DD & DS have both admitted they don't really remember DW at all (I've let the whole family down ) We visited yearly for about 4 years and then DD got involved in competitive cheer and pageants and DS got involved in wrestling, soccer, and football and well those became a priority. Then in 2016 DD was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma and that really changed our lives, she's been in remission for almost 3 years and is happy, healthy, and ready to travel!

So why the title??? because our trip planning always involves a million changes and bumps along the way...

​

 

[jesridge]

MEET THE CAST
it is with deepest pride
And greatest pleasure that we welcome you tonight
And now we invite you to relax, let us pull up a chair
As the dining room proudly presents...the cast
​

DD17: DD is a senior, she's a cheerleader, runs track, writes for the school paper, is a member of the foreign language and Interact Clubs and competes in pageants. She is currently stressing about taking the SAT this weekend and getting into college (she has two acceptances so far Ball State and Ole Miss) She wants to be a journalist or maybe a lawyer. She loves all things Disney, and her favorite character is Stitch.

DS20: DS is a Sophomore in college majoring in Business, he is excited for our trip except that we aren't staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge, I am going to plan a trip for his 21st in June so he can stay there

And lastly me: mother, teacher, disney lover

 

[jesridge]

.The Details
I can show you the world
Shining, shimmering, splendid...
He was talking about Disney World...Right?
​

WHERE: Polynesian
WHEN: March 24th-31st
TICKET DETAILS: 3-DAY HOPPERS, 2-DAYS AT UNIVERSAL
OTHER: We are trying to fit in some beach time

ITINERARY:
24th: Arrive in Orlando@ 11:42 pm
25th: Magic Kingdom (We always start a trip at the Magic Kingdom)
26th: Morning Epcot until (approx 2 pm) hop to the Animal Kingdom 7:00 pm ADR @ Yak & Yeti
27th: Hollywood Studios/Animal Kingdom (need an ADR)
28th: Beach day
29th: Universal
30th: Universal
31st: 8:40 am O'Hana -Flight home @2:44pm

 

[Eeyore daily]

Following along!

 

[jesridge]

I've fallen behind a little in keeping this moving and planning DD has come up with a list of must do's but that as far as planning has gotten. The last two weeks have been busy ones, DD took the SAT on the 5th, she cheers football and is on competition cheer so she's had practice, games, and competition. Her team competed last week and got second, this Friday is senior night and Saturday she has another competition (a couple of college coaches are coming to see her-so stress), on top of that SAT scores come out tomorrow, we were lucky enough to tour the University of Notre Dame yesterday, beautiful campus and dd fell in love (I think it's moving up the list). We have agreed to dedicate some time on Sunday around her ACT studying to make some definite plans...So stay tuned for that

and because I have nothing Disney related to share here are some pics from our very first trip (January 2007) and now i've made myself sad at how much I miss them being little

 

[jesridge]

“Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, in the most delightful way!”
​

It was a very unproductive planning weekend unfortunately DD got sick on Thursday, she coughed her way through senior night but was able to pull it together to compete on Saturday where her squad got second place and she was invited to check out two college cheer squads (super excited) but all the energy use took its toll and she slept the majority of the rest of weekend. We did order some cute Disney stuff and my DS sent me his list of must do's so we can start an itinerary, the major planning is that flights are booked and a rental car is reserved

 

[jesridge]

"This much I know. If you are what you eat, then I only wanna eat the good stuff."
​

I got some planning done this weekend, we have picked the places we want to eat and I have started reservations I made our BE OUR GUEST reservation for March 25th @ 7:40 pm, Our Yak and Yeti's reservation for March 26th @ 5:15 pm (DD and DS love yak and yeti it's been our tradition since our first visit to eat there) and O'Hana for March 29th at 8:30 am (this was requested by DD who loves stitch) that's all the planning I got done this weekend as it was super busy DD cheers and our football team is in sectionals (projected to go to state), she took the ACT of Saturday but mostly we just celebrated because she got in to three more colleges including one of her top two University of Alabama, she also got in to University of Missouri and Manchester!!! We have plans to have Thai and make Disney decisions tomorrow night so I'll have a better update later this week.

 

[DisneySweetTooth]

Following along. Congratulations to DD, sounds like she has worked hard and her dedication is paying off.

 

[jesridge]

The only thing predictable about life is its unpredictability​

It's been a while since I have updated and due to the unpredictability of life, I have been so busy and have done exactly 0 planning. I have spent the last few weeks visiting colleges with DD, she has been accepted to quite a few more and has been offered some very nice scholarships including 2 full-ride academic scholarships to University of Indianapolis and Bradley University, she also threw a huge curveball at me when she informed me that she was changing her major and had a few colleges she wanted to apply to that better fit the change, this situation definitely took me by surprise, she's wanted to be a writer since she was very little but she feels the world of fashion is calling her name and like any good parent I'm cautiously supporting the change. DS, DD and I have made plans to have lunch and "talk Disney" this weekend, with her football team continuing into semi-state this Friday and the start of basketball season (today being the 1st game) we have barely had time to touch basis on anything let alone Disney planning and as I'm a planner/worrier having a few more concrete plans will set aside some of this anxiety and help me plan a budget (yes I am currently planning a trip with no set budget).

On Disney related news we did get Disney+, We had a snow day the day it was released so DD & I spent a few hours watching some classics and I'm slightly embarrassed to admit DD had never seen Lady and The Tramp (despite the fact that I have sung the Siamese cats song to her since she was really little ). DD also has planned her Disney outfits (thank you Pinterest) and now I have to order a bunch of shirts from Etsy.

One question I do have has anyone done the Spirit of Aloha? If so what did you think? DD has expressed interest in it so any help with that would be great!

 

[CoffeeKitten]

I hope you get a chance to finally talk Disney. Luckily, my DD isn't a busy teenager so we get to talk Disney nonstop! And Disney+! She spent some time this afternoon adding movies to my watch list.

 

[jesridge]

I hope you get a chance to finally talk Disney. Luckily, my DD isn't a busy teenager so we get to talk Disney nonstop! And Disney+! She spent some time this afternoon adding movies to my watch list.

I definitely miss the preteen years they were much calmer

 

[jesridge]

Sometimes things have to change and maybe sometimes they're for the better...​

DD was sick the other day so we stayed home and did a little research and planning and I changed our itinerary a little because we discovered there was a Villians After Hours one night of our trip and even though the reviews haven't been great we still want to give it a shot. I also moved a few of our ADRs to better fit our schedule. I will update my itinerary post but here are the new details:
24th: Arrive (still deciding on a dinner reservation DD & DS are trying to decide between spending the evening at Disney Springs or City Walk)
25th: Magic Kingdom 7:40 ADR@ Be Our Guest (We always start a trip at the Magic Kingdom)
26th: Morning Epcot until (approx 2 pm) hop to Animal Kingdom 7:00 ADR@ Yak & Yeti
27th: ADR 8:10 @O'Hana, Aquatica until 3 pm, late lunch@ (Disney springs or City Walk), 7 pm Magic Kingdom Villian's After Hours
28th: Hollywood Studios/Animal Kingdom (need an ADR)
29th: Universal
30th: Universal
31st: Flight Home

I'm pretty happy with this but it may change when I figure out our dining plans.

 

[jesridge]

.​

 

[jesridge]

When life throws you a rainy day play in the puddles​

Our football season finally ended this Saturday but not with the outcome we had hoped for we are state runners up, it was a great experience for DD, she transferred schools sophomore year and had been to a state game with her previous high school freshmen year but they didn't allow freshmen to cheer at the game, so this was her first experience cheering at Lucas Oil Stadium and to say she loved it would be an understatement, I, however, was very sad realizing it was her last high school football game
She is now thankfully not cheering for 2 sports and competition season is over so our free time has opened up drastically yay!!
We are thinking of making a few tweaks to our schedule DD would like to drop Aquatica and the Villians Party and spend the day at the beach, crazy because she won't swim in the ocean (afraid of sharks ) and after looking over the Be Our Guest Menu we decided lunch fit our tastes better than dinner and we are thinking of either doing CRT or Spirit of Aloha instead...not sure which one yet.
Also DD was accepted to Michigan State with a very nice scholarship so I have my fingers crossed she might stay a little closer to home Alabama is so far away

 

[sheri18]

Following...congrats on the college acceptances...Spirt of Aloha was fun...we did it last year. But for us it’s. One and done .
the cheer thing is real time consuming...2 of my granddaughters cheer. Ages 7 and 11
and because of an added competition they are missing out on 3 days of our Disney trip..(which in all honesty..I am not happy about). I feel that family time is more important...but hopefully they do well enough someday to get scholarships out of it.
have fun

 

[jesridge]

It's been a very long time since I have had the time to update, I started a new job and it's been busy, DD has had me visiting soooo many colleges but we are thankfully down to a final 3 Purdue, Indiana University and the University of Alabama, so a 66.6% chance she'll stay close to home Basketball

season ends this week and with it DD's high school cheerleading career, I'm getting very sad as we just entered her last trimester of high school, I had

to order Cap and Gown recently, we bought her final prom dress last week and I am starting to plan her graduation party, oh and did I mention we are

moving to our new house the week before we leave for Florida pretty certain I overbooked this month little

Our trip is now a mere 22 days away and I honestly feel so behind, I haven't started a packing list yet, I need to buy new luggage as ours has mysteriously

disappeared. I have accomplished finding someone to look after our cats while we are gone it's going to be a hectic 3 weeks!

 

[jesridge]

Apparently I was right when I said it would be a bumpy ride, to quote my DD "First the Bachelor finale, now Disney's closing, it's a disappointing week" and

she's definitely not wrong. So far she still is having school and track practice but her indoor meet was canceled this week and her teachers are preparing

them for Skype classes, She had narrowed her college choices to IU or Purdue (Yay!!! for staying closer to home) but our visits and events have been

canceled so she'll be making that decision without a visit. She is currently worried Prom and Graduation will be canceled, as her awards banquet was

canceled last night, I totally get the sentiment she and her friends have worked hard and here we are at the end of the chapter and they have been looking

forward to this for a long time, her 8th-grade graduation and trip and spring break were ruined by cancer and now her senior year is being messed up by

coronavirus. I am trying to figure out something to to do to raise her spirits and our plan is to try our Disney Trip again after graduation (if there is one)

​