Five Years is a long time to wait Day 8 & 9 Plans!

[PrncessA]

Just wanted to share our family vacation video from 2009. Nothing fancy or even really good, but makes our family smile!

Our Video

 

[Mmfan4]

Your video is wonderful!

 

[PrncessA]

Your video is wonderful!

Thank you!


I am in need of a serious Disney upper since DH and DS lost their championship game today, by three points. They were leading the entire game, up by 10 at a point, but it they just lost it in the last two minutes. It was very rough on the team, broke my heart for them. DS bounced back pretty quick, after just a couple of tears. It helped that we had a birthday party directly after with two the guys on the team who are his BFFs. 2nd place is still a lot to be proud of!

Both mine and DS's birthday's are this week, so another busy week... DH told me today that he would like to get me a D&B Disney bag for my birthday, but I had to pick it out. After looking online I couldn't decide, not going to do a big bag, but boy do I wish! I told him I would like to wait until we get to WDW and look at the park exclusive bags... by that time though I will most likely convince myself that it is way too much to pay for a purse!

So for my Disney fix I am going to go purchase our Memory Maker!

 

[Mmfan4]

Thank you! I am in need of a serious Disney upper since DH and DS lost their championship game today, by three points. They were leading the entire game, up by 10 at a point, but it they just lost it in the last two minutes. It was very rough on the team, broke my heart for them. DS bounced back pretty quick, after just a couple of tears. It helped that we had a birthday party directly after with two the guys on the team who are his BFFs. 2nd place is still a lot to be proud of! Both mine and DS's birthday's are this week, so another busy week... DH told me today that he would like to get me a D&B Disney bag for my birthday, but I had to pick it out. After looking online I couldn't decide, not going to do a big bag, but boy do I wish! I told him I would like to wait until we get to WDW and look at the park exclusive bags... by that time though I will most likely convince myself that it is way too much to pay for a purse! So for my Disney fix I am going to go purchase our Memory Maker!

Happy birthday! I may have to save my money for a bag when we go....

Have a great day!
Jen

 

[emmysmommy]

Happy birthday week! What a generous offer from your hubby for a Disney Dooney bag! I understand the dilemma of justifying and picking the right one.

I had a bit of catching up to do... what an adventure with the booking/rebooking and landing on dates in May/June! Sounds like an awesome plan. I'm a fan of YC and WL having stayed at both of those. Our next trip will be a 3 resort stay too so I have no problem splitting my stay. It's like 3 little vacations in one right?

Your 2009 Disney family vacation video was so sweet and captured the memories perfectly. Great job with that!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Congrats on both the savings and the upgrade! Video is not wishing to cooperate with the weakened cell service I get inside the gym, but I'll try to check it out later. (No I don't mean the exercise type, I mean the place where the girls do gymnastics and cheer. Don't want to start any wild rumors that I actually did an exercise. That might start a panic about an impending Apocalypse.).

 

[PrncessA]

Happy birthday week! What a generous offer from your hubby for a Disney Dooney bag! I understand the dilemma of justifying and picking the right one.

I had a bit of catching up to do... what an adventure with the booking/rebooking and landing on dates in May/June! Sounds like an awesome plan. I'm a fan of YC and WL having stayed at both of those. Our next trip will be a 3 resort stay too so I have no problem splitting my stay. It's like 3 little vacations in one right?

Your 2009 Disney family vacation video was so sweet and captured the memories perfectly. Great job with that!

My husband has been attempting to get me a D&B bag for years, but always talk myself, or him out of it because of the price. They are just so expensive! I really do want one, and when I find just the right one, there will be no stopping me! LOL

I am so excited to stay in three different resorts this trip (and trying out two new ones to boot!). The kiddos are super excited as well, although they think they have a lot longer to wait than we have told them. DH thinks I am crazy to want to pack up our bags to move on the last night. But you are right, it is like three vacations, and who can pass that up?? With a little luggage organization, it will actually save time on our last night there, since nearly everything will already be packed!

I love all of your photos of BLT! When we visited the CR, we thought it felt cold and not Disney, but for some reason BLT looks more homey! Maybe some day!

My kids had so much fun on our first trip, I can't wait to experience it through their eyes again. DS saw me looking up Star Wars Weekends, so he took it upon himself to research it. He said that he definately wants to go to WDW during SWW so he can meet Darth Maul. "Maybe next time," was my response.

Congrats on both the savings and the upgrade! Video is not wishing to cooperate with the weakened cell service I get inside the gym, but I'll try to check it out later. (No I don't mean the exercise type, I mean the place where the girls do gymnastics and cheer. Don't want to start any wild rumors that I actually did an exercise. That might start a panic about an impending Apocalypse.).

I am all for the savings! Even if it takes a bit more work for the set up!

Happy birthday! I may have to save my money for a bag when we go....

Have a great day!
Jen

Thank you!

 

[KatMark]

I LOVE the video!

 

[PrncessA]

Very quick update since work is crazy right now!

First I just have to say I rocked my midterm essay!!! 49/50 points! I also have to say that taking classes online is a lot harder than on campus! It is a good thing that I love to read, because that feels like all I do is read! I have decided to take a full course load during the summer, but take more classes on campus, during the evening.

Second I have to say... that I love the DIS! Without the DIS I would have never joined the June facebook group, and without them, I would not have found out about the Star Wars Character Dining the night before it was available! Now I know we are going during SWW, but that is just like a bit of icing on the cake for us, we would be going during this time anyway. DH and DS are Star Wars fans, but not fanatics. After booking our trip I told DH about SWW and he was excited to possibly experience a few things, but by no means are we planning our trip around it.

Out of the things that we were hoping to do, meeting the Disney Star Wars characters was my #1. I mean, Jedi Mickey is pretty cool and Storm Trooper Donald is just plain awesome! But we are not big on standing in lines for characters, which is why we have so many character meals planned. You have to eat right? Let's kill two birds with one stone!

I was up at 5am on Wednesday (my birthday as well!) to check online, then again at 6am to call Disney dining... after 35 minutes on hold we scored a H&V Jedi Mickey Fantasmic Dinner on June 6! Happy Birthday to me! This has taken some rearranging of a few ADR's but completely worth it in my opinon. Things on the ADR front are still changing...

Tomorrow is my DS's 9th birthday. He is having a Minecraft-athon with his two best friends in my basement, before we surprise him with his birthday surprise. A trip to Milwaukee to see the Miami Heat play! He is going to freak!

DD and I will not be going to the game, instead we will be dropped off halfway at Gurnee Mills! Home of one of my favorite phrases... "Mega Outlet Mall", lol. I see a long visit to the Disney Outlet Store in my future!!!

 

[PrncessA]

I LOVE the video!

Thank you! I am so thankful that we have so many wonderful memories and photos from that trip.

 

[RaisingTwoOnlies]

Subbing! I have read up to this point and I feel a little dizzy! Kudos to you for keeping up with it all! We are going over the exact dates you are, but we are staying at the darkside the first part of the week, and offsite the last part.

Look forward to reading more updates!

 

[disneyshea]

Subbing in. Over from the June FB page. Love your PTR so far. Your dining plans sound awesome!

 

[PrncessA]

Subbing! I have read up to this point and I feel a little dizzy! Kudos to you for keeping up with it all! We are going over the exact dates you are, but we are staying at the darkside the first part of the week, and offsite the last part.

Look forward to reading more updates!

I feel a little dizzy this morning myself! Turns out my FP+ opened two days before MDE said it was going to and now I am scrambling to figure out my plans and get a Elsa and Anna FP!! Updates are coming soon!

We will be taking a trip to the darkside in a couple of years. The kids are still too short for it to be worth the trip right now. But DH is DYING to visit the WWoHP!!

Subbing in. Over from the June FB page. Love your PTR so far. Your dining plans sound awesome!

I am afraid a few of my dining plans have changed with the addition of the SW dining being 2 credits and the meal I that I was looking forward to at Narcoocess's being taken off the menu or I imagined it to begin with... the latter is more plausible to be honest.

Many updates to come today... hopefully. The kids are at work with me today, since today is the first day of spring break and now I have FP's to figure out, oh and work to do...

 

[PrncessA]

What a weekend and more! We started our weekend out with DS's birthday Minecraft-a-thon. Which basically consisted of random boys sitting in my basement playing Minecraft for about 12 hours strait. I just don't get Minecraft . I actually like video games and enjoy playing them when i actually have time , but Minecraft I just don't get.

It was a long night. Only one boy ended up staying the entire night, but that was enough. At 1:30am I called it quits on the video games and popped in DS's new favorite movie, Planes. He woke me up at 3:00am to ask what they could do now! They could sleep was my answer. They were up at 7am or so and back to playing Minecraft until 2pm, only taking QUICK breaks for food, water and bathroom. I don't get it!

Anyway, we had other plans for the weekend. DS's birthday present was a trip to see the Miami Heat play the Milwaukee Bucks, (a little less than 2hours away from us). We had booked a hotel in Gurnee almost halfway between, home of a giant outlet mall. The plan was to drop DD and I off at the mall after hotel check in, and we would shop and eat before heading back to the the hotel, which was a very quick walk across the parking lot. Then DH and DS would head up to the game.



Well the plan worked out perfectly. DD and had a good time shopping till we almost dropped. We spent way to long in the Disney Store Outlet . They said that every time they get a shipment of Frozen merch. it is gone within hours of the store opening. They had a very slim selection of PJ's and swimsuits, all too small for my kiddos. They also had two Elsa wigs that my daughter BEGGED for but we walked away without.

We did pick up a few T-shirts (one that they will open as their surprise) and a talking Ariel camera. I hate those little junk trees that they place right before the check out, everything on them breaks within minutes of getting bought or before, but my kids LOVE everything on them. I also found a new pair hiking sandles for DD, and she is enjoying breaking them in before Disney! They were on clearance for $17, score! Then I spent slightly more on a pair of Tevas for me, which had to be special ordered since they were out of my size.

At some point we stopped for a pick me up at Dippin-Dots.


We were starting to wavier on our shopping mission so we headed to the Rainforest Cafe, which had a 45 minute wait. But the hostess said an outer bar area table had just opened up if we wanted that now, ummm YES! No wait and we were seated next to a large fish tank and I was hoping that their wouldn't be an incident like in the T-Rex.



First order of business is get one of these:

Yum!

DD had the popcorn shrimp and applesauce, which she really enjoyed.


I had the house salad (which was fresh and crisp, and I enjoyed) and clam chowder (which was had no flavor and was chewy and I did not enjoy):



Let's face it Rainforest Cafe is overpriced and the food is not the best, but you don't go for the food, you go for the ambiance, which for me means a large margarita and for DD was Dory and thunderstorms.

DS and DH had a great time watching Lebron James and made it back to the hotel before midnight. We shopped some more the next morning. Picking up DH two new pairs of shoes, some more Disney shirts and of course these things:






This week is spring break and so the kids are here with me at work, which is a blessing and a curse. It is hard to get things done with kids around ya know! Including the fact that when checked my mail Monday morning on my way out the door I got a reminder that my FP+ selections could be made Monday, March 31 (that day)... not April 2nd, like MDE said!

So next up is my FP+ adventures...

 

[PrncessA]

Oh so much has happened since our last installment... but first let's get a little update on our progress....



Then I saw this on a June Facebook group I am on and boy does it describe me!


That's right folks we are less than 2 months away from the day that will forever go down in history as The Witteck's Return to Disney! But each day feels like a month too me right now. So far the kids still have no idea that we have changed the date, and we are hoping to keep it that way. DS's reaction to his birthday surprise proved to us that a surprise is the way to go! If I ever have the patience it takes to let the video upload, I will show it to everyone.

My office/sewing room looks like a Disney Bomb exploded in it. I am glad the kid's think that we are going in August, because there is no way I could explain away the amount of Disney paraphernalia in that room!

Proof:


Trying to keep some order...


DD's finished princess dress:


Fabric for Mickey Head T's that I need to make.


Next project, a Minnie sundress for DD


Disney "stash" basket


DH found this shirt at the Disney Outlet store but they didn't have his size, so he ask me to find it for him... but I could not for the life of me remember what it said, and I wasn't going to ask him. LOL Soo after a bit of searching I found it:


The kids very rarely enter this room, so nearly ALL of the packing will be done in this room to keep prying eyes out of the way. It is a TINY room, so it is going to be interesting to see how I fit it all in.

Next is a quick little mini-TR, just a little non-Disney appetizer... completely non-Disney to my heartbreak! Explanation on that soon to come...

As I posted last time the kiddos were on spring break and it was not a bad time for me to take a day off so we decided to take a weekend trip down to Tennessee to visit my family and celebrate my Mema's 85th birthday. And in the same trip prove why we DON'T drive to Disney.

We left on Thursday evening, later than we wanted due to DH being stuck in a long meeting at work. We headed to IHOP because I am obsessed with their monthly special this month, cream cheese crepes. YUMM for me, DH hates them. Before getting on the road and fighting through Chicago traffic and making it to Indiana. No pictures... not sure why... just not in a picture taking mood... yet.

My... I mean our goal... was to make it to Louisville which is a little over halfway to our destination that night then stop and sleep for a couple of hours before continuing on our way. I did not book a hotel for us before leaving because I wasn't sure if we would 1. make it all the way to Louisville or 2. still want to drive after we reached Louisville. DH does all the driving, and he was tired. I however, was wide awake and willing to drive, but DH is stubborn! Maybe that is who I should blame the next stage on...

About 2 hours outside Louisville we decided we could make it. So I headed on my Orbitz app and looked for the best combination of these three criteria... 1. location close to the interstate 2. best reviews 3. cheap price. I found a Super 8 that had good reviews, was right off the interstate, and was moderately priced with breakfast. So I booked it and we pulled in to the Super 8 at about 1:30am, DH was dead tired since he had woke up at 4am, and the kids were sleeping in the backseat.

I checked in and it didn't look too bad. The front desk guy was even nice enough to give me a non-smoking room, although I had accidently booked a smoking one on Orbitz. I got the suitcase out of the car with the kids and DH parked. We headed inside to our room...101... and that is where the good ends and the call to the health department should have began.

Walking in it was smelly, musty and smelled of ciggertte smoke, but that was just a teaser. I was busy taking the kid's coats off and putting the suitcase away and before I knew it the kids were in one of the beds and I started looking around. First thing I do is look for bed bugs, luckily this one thing that I didn't find. To put it mildly, the room was DISGUSTING, by far the worst hotel room we have ever stayed in. Here is a list of just a few of the nasty things we encountered:
*There was no blanket on the beds, just a sheet and comforter. The sheet was threadbare and see through. Made better by the nasty stains and cigrette burn holes all over it.
* The bed it's self was like a memory foam matteress gone bad. Just compelely uncomfortable.
* The carpet was stained and looked like it hadn't seen a vacuum in years, there was stuff caked on the carpet everywhere. Which lead to the walls that had stuff splattered on them, not sure what though.
* The two unmatched chairs in the room had holes all in them.
Then the bathroom.... oh the bathroom. It was a treat!
*Unflushed toliet... use your imagination.
*Tub was GROSS, see photo.
* There was brown splatter on the wall all around the toilet... can only imagine what it was.

I was disgusted... and the rest of my family? ASLEEP! DH thought it was gross too, but he was tired and wanted to sleep. I however did not sleep... I kept waking up to cockroach motel nightmares.

We were out of there as early as I could get DH up and dressed! Breakfast was sparse... but cleaner than our room. I am writing Super 8 about the room tonight. We stayed the rest of our trip in a Super 8 that was super clean!

Here are some photos!













I was never so happy to leave a place in my entire life!

Next up: Did you know that there is a Disney Merchandise Warehouse in the middle of nowhere Tennessee?

 

[PrncessA]

Not a trip update but I have to add a bit of what is going on around here. My DS has been sick for the past week with what I thought was the stomach flu. It started last Monday night... then went away for a couple days. Then I had to pick him up at school on Friday because he was throwing up. Last weekend was HORRIBLE. Things were coming out all orifices.

By Sunday night he was feeling fine. Monday, fine, Tuesday, great... Wednesday woke up throwing up and other issues again So off to the doctor we go.

He has always had a "weak" stomach in the mornings, but this is different. He also gets car sick if he gets too warm. I have no idea what is causing this, but it is getting a bit worrisome as he is VERY skinny and we do all that we can to keep weight on him. He is below the 0% for weight for his age. ANY weight loss is an issue for him. We worked so hard 2 months ago to gain 2 pounds (he hadn't gained weight in a year) and now I am sure that weight is gone.

In the back of my mind I am also worried about our trip. It would be awful for Ethan to have to deal with feeling sick during the trip. I know that it is over a month away, but he is so susceptible to stomach issues.

Just venting a bit, hopefully his doctor will have some suggestions or ideas for us. I know it is common for kids to get sick, but DS has had a lot of things he has had to overcome physically, so it is a bit wearing.

 

[PrncessA]

Back from the doctor and he absolutely doesn't think that this is viral or bacterial, with the inconstancy of it's occurrences. Looking farther back we realized that Ethan was throwing up at the end of March, and then even further back it is obvious that he has had stomach flu's a lot more often than is normal. That mixed with his "normal" stomach problems are leading us to think that there might be more going on.

There are so many things that the doctor could be from allergies to more serious problems. DS was born early and very small, and VERY jaundiced. Not a normal, goes away on it's own or with a sun lamp jaundice, but a month long stay in Children's Hospital, many many test jaundiced. We went through a month of thinking something could be very wrong, only to be told that his liver and gallbladder were underdeveloped. This could or could not be part of DS's problems.

So for the next few days I am keeping a very detailed diary about DS. What he eats, how much he eats, when he eats, when he is hungry, if his stomach is hurting, if he gets sick... then on Monday his doctor is going to decided what type of tests he wants to run.

He threw out everything from milk allergy (I don't think that is it) to celiac disease to digestive problems and gastric inflammation. I hope that this is a quick process, since DS being sick while we are at Disney and on the DxDDP isn't the best situation and every day that DS throws up is a day that he loses weight which is bad!

Prayers for a quick diagnosis would be very appreciated and any advice from anyone who might have went through the same issues or had a child with the same symptoms...

 

[Pylegirl]

Following along!!!

 

[KatMark]

I'm sorry I missed this (we had Mark's surgery and then the kids were here and we were at wrestling for nine hours on Saturday and then, of course, Easter). I am so sorry to hear about your son. I hope the doctor comes up with a good plan for testing and you get results and an action plan before your trip so you know what you are dealing with. Please keep us posted.

 

[PrncessA]

Following along!!!

I'm sorry I missed this (we had Mark's surgery and then the kids were here and we were at wrestling for nine hours on Saturday and then, of course, Easter). I am so sorry to hear about your son. I hope the doctor comes up with a good plan for testing and you get results and an action plan before your trip so you know what you are dealing with. Please keep us posted.

I hope Mark is feeling better! I was following along on FB. Thank you for your thoughts on Ethan, I am about to post an update on him.

*********************************************************

So we had a busy busy weekend of course:

We started the long weekend out with me spending 8 hours at Panera studying and taking tests. My semester is winding down and I have had a lot of work lately. Luckily both DH and I had Good Friday off so he spent the day entertaining the kiddos while I did school work. It worked because I received a 50/50 on my essay and a 24.5/25 on my test. I also ended up at Panera after Ethan's doctors appointment for a couple hours working on another essay.

Saturday was our Annual Easter Egg hunt, which was fun... and scary. It is scary what a couple hundred kids who want Easter candy will do to get it. Then we headed to the new indoor swimming pool. Does anyone else feel like there are too many birthday parties nowadays? We had two birthday parties for the kids this weekend... which gets expensive. After the birthday parties I boiled two dozen eggs and headed over to a friend's house to have an egg coloring party. I took some cute photos but I haven't uploaded them yet. Easter was calm...

During all of this Ethan was fine. No sickness after Wednesday night. In fact he had regained his appetite and seemed like his old self. In fact he was eating more! We took him to his doctor's appointment on Monday and since he seems to be doing better the doctor is holding off on tests. In fact he gained back the 3lbs that he lost when he was sick! It is still concerning that he as been getting sick so often, but we don't want to put him through unnecessary testing. If he starts getting sick again, we will do the diary again, and go from there.

Tuesday morning I sent the kids off to school like normal, made it to work and "ring, ring" goes my phone... it's their school. I would have laid money it was Ethan, and I would have LOST! DD was sick, throwing up repeatedly in the words of the nurse. She sure was. After a good hour of being sick we settled on the couch to watch Netflix, and she was fine! The entire day and night. She ate normally after lunch and didn't complain at all. Maybe it was a virus.... BTW, anyone watched Teen Beach Movie? Don't it is awful, but DD LOVES it. Give me High School Musical any day, but TBM was horrible! Lorelai watched it... twice.

So that brings me to today, which I will be staying home with DD, because the school has a rule that they have to be illness free for 24 hours... But hopefully that means I can firm up some of my plans for our trip! My goal is to be posting a day or two of plans today! I also have to call Disney to add a dinner show....

As I was watching the Podcast yesterday I heard them talking about the parks for Gay Days. I didn't schedule our park days around them, because I had read that it doesn't really affect the crowd level. Then yesterday I heard the Podcasters (is that a word) saying that the MK day could be crazy busy... which I am planning on visiting that night for a couple of hours. There is absolutely no point in visiting for a couple of hours if it is so packed we can't do anything. Our plan had been to go to Narccossee's and then head over. But after some thought we are going to head to Ft. Wilderness for the HDDR instead! I am still on the fence about whether or not to do the Luau or HDDR, but every thread I have read says HDDR all the way... thoughts? It could still turn to the Luau.

I will be posting our first day or two plans up next!