Food & Wine & Friends, or 'Wishing a Year Away'. October 2012 PTR *NEW 11/18 TR link!

[Joyciemc]

IASW gives me nightmares. The song drives me nuts, Epic Mickey made the ride creepy, and reading about the children attacking people in the Kingdom Keepers series freaked me out. So yeah, I'm over IASW.

Everything else looks fun!

I still have a little nostalgia-factor for IASW, and the fact that there is no wait often means we end up riding it when we are hot at need to sit down!

Haha - your Christmas Eve bar crawl sounds like a blast. I hope Mark enjoys SAI! After our great meal there on the honeymoon it is one of our favorites.

Ben and I loved our meal at SAI, so I am excited to go back!

Ok all caught up!! Now I understand your day-by-day plans and how you already know the hours! They're for your May trip!! That's sooo awesome that you get to go twice next year - prompting an AP and possibly a TiW card. If I had a TiW card I would NOT miss V&A's as that meal basically pays for the card in the savings you get! I don't think I can convince my DH we *have* to return within a year of our Oct trip though LOL. Oh well...

Have a great New Years pub crawl!! I think those days are behind us LOL. We've done a few first nights though (Boston & Providence) and have enjoyed them. This year we're taking it easy (I'll be about 5 weeks to due date) at a friends house. I've never been big on new years though anyway, christmas is def our holiday!

This extra May trip is very exciting! The only down-side is that Ben can't take any more time off work, so he can't go.
I would imagine V&A is a great use of the TIW card! We don't do fine dining well (our recent foray into Boston to eat at Menton had mixed results...), so I think the experience would be wasted on us!

Our bar crawl is Christmas Eve- so the local bars are fairly empty and it's mostly just our friends enjoying time together until we have to go to our respective families.
New Year's is spent at home. We'll have people over here so we don't have to deal with the craziness of going out!

I'm sure you'll have an extra special holiday season, knowing that your little girl will soon be here!

 

[Imagineer5]

I still have a little nostalgia-factor for IASW, and the fact that there is no wait often means we end up riding it when we are hot at need to sit down!



Ben and I loved our meal at SAI, so I am excited to go back!



This extra May trip is very exciting! The only down-side is that Ben can't take any more time off work, so he can't go.
I would imagine V&A is a great use of the TIW card! We don't do fine dining well (our recent foray into Boston to eat at Menton had mixed results...), so I think the experience would be wasted on us!

Our bar crawl is Christmas Eve- so the local bars are fairly empty and it's mostly just our friends enjoying time together until we have to go to our respective families.
New Year's is spent at home. We'll have people over here so we don't have to deal with the craziness of going out!

I'm sure you'll have an extra special holiday season, knowing that your little girl will soon be here!

Sorry I didn't see you do the bar crawl on christmas eve!! LOL. So much for getting all caught up, I must have really been skimming...

LOL about your trip to Menton. We haven't eaten out much in Boston, as we live closer to Providence. I loveee eating out at fancy places BUT with being such a picky eater I rarely have options. Even vegetarian menus don't excite me as I don't really like veggies that much. LOL. (Yes, my poor DH has to put up with my horrible eating habits, and I do feel pretty bad for him but oh well!).

It sounds like you're going to have a fantastic time in May even w/o Ben - I wish I had a friend who loved disney so much to go with! You're lucky!

 

[klacey1]

Haha I love that you can tie a bar crawl to any holiday! Our Christmas Eve is spent running around-- brunch in the Bronx with my dad, dinner with my uncle and his family, party/overnight with Zach's parents and extended family. No time for daytime boozing! (Although I make up for that when we get to Zach's parents' place!)
I've seen some very yummy plates at San Angel. Hope your meal is fabulous! Um yup, don't think I've ever been to an MK rope drop at which I DIDN'T bawl!

 

[ronnmel]

Joyeux Noel to the both of you!!

 

[annmarieda]

I think I have dd in this same pose. Too funny!

Looks like your plans are really starting to come together. What fun to go with a friend!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Hope you guys had a great Christmas bar crawl!!!

I love tormenting DBF by going on it's a small world!!

 

[Nermel9]

I hope your bar crawl was fun! We used to go to the bar every Christmas when this band we used to see would play, but that stopped a couple of years ago, but it was SO much fun!

Haha...oh man, you're mature just like my friends and I are, taking pictures of the melted kaki gori because it looks like poop...that is so something we would do!

 

[Joyciemc]

Sorry I didn't see you do the bar crawl on christmas eve!! LOL. So much for getting all caught up, I must have really been skimming...

LOL about your trip to Menton. We haven't eaten out much in Boston, as we live closer to Providence. I loveee eating out at fancy places BUT with being such a picky eater I rarely have options. Even vegetarian menus don't excite me as I don't really like veggies that much. LOL. (Yes, my poor DH has to put up with my horrible eating habits, and I do feel pretty bad for him but oh well!).

It sounds like you're going to have a fantastic time in May even w/o Ben - I wish I had a friend who loved disney so much to go with! You're lucky!

Ben's family is in N Attleboro and Woonsocket and the friends we are going to WDW with in May live in Pawtucket, so we are in RI fairly often- any places you'd recommend?

I am lucky to have friends that 'get' Disney. I am responsible for Mark, though- I made him tag along on a trip I took years ago with my boyfriend-at-the-time. He became addicted.

Haha I love that you can tie a bar crawl to any holiday! Our Christmas Eve is spent running around-- brunch in the Bronx with my dad, dinner with my uncle and his family, party/overnight with Zach's parents and extended family. No time for daytime boozing! (Although I make up for that when we get to Zach's parents' place!)
I've seen some very yummy plates at San Angel. Hope your meal is fabulous! Um yup, don't think I've ever been to an MK rope drop at which I DIDN'T bawl!

Of course we can! Our families are just far enough away that we don't get together on Christmas Eve, but we have friends that live in the same city, so this tradition is perfect! Plus, there's beer!

Joyeux Noel to the both of you!!

Thanks, Mel! Hope you and Ron had a wonderful holiday!

I think I have dd in this same pose. Too funny!

Looks like your plans are really starting to come together. What fun to go with a friend!

Great minds think alike!

Hope you guys had a great Christmas bar crawl!!!

I love tormenting DBF by going on it's a small world!!

We had a blast, thank you!
Hope your holidays were fantastic!

I hope your bar crawl was fun! We used to go to the bar every Christmas when this band we used to see would play, but that stopped a couple of years ago, but it was SO much fun!

Haha...oh man, you're mature just like my friends and I are, taking pictures of the melted kaki gori because it looks like poop...that is so something we would do!

Yup, our friends are a troop of kids pretending to be grown-ups. It's pretty great. Glad to hear we're not the only ones!

 

[Joyciemc]

Holy cow, it's 2012!! I cannot believe how quickly time is going by. My past few weeks have been insane, with Christmas and New Year's.
I figure a little life update to cover the past few weeks I've been MIA is in order:

Our Christmas Eve bar crawl was a lot of fun

Before heading out, my friends exchanged gifts... which we've never really done before but without even discussing it, we all bought for each other. And we ended up with some great stuff!
I got a miniature version of the leg lamp from a Christmas Story!

One of our friends got this super-cool pair of sunglasses, which Jake is modeling here.

Side note: Jake is a morbidly obese cat that I am fostering in hopes of getting some of that weight off of him. He's pretty awesome, but can't move very well because he is so big. We're working on it!

Christmas was fairly low-key, and I had to work in the afternoon. Some of my awesome friends came with us and helped walk the dogs, so we were done pretty quickly.

New Year's Eve was a party at our house. Lots of Twilight Zone, beers, and fun! We had a blast! Mark was there, as were Hilde and Sebastian, so there was quite a bit of WDW talk. This all made me super-super excited for both of my upcoming trips!

Now that the holidays are over, though- I am freaking out a bit.
My best friend is getting married in March, and her shower is in 3 weeks at my house Only a tiny portion of people have RSVP'ed, so I have no clue who to expect. And coordinating with the other bridesmaids has been a big pain. They won't answer emails sometimes, and I just have to make decisions and hope for the best. But then I get a call from the bride's sister freaking out because I didn't answer her email immediately (hello, it was New Year's- I was busy!). Drama I am not at all used to!

Then there is our February trip to Puerto Rico. And it seems we finally have a plan, of sorts. At least a house rented. I plan on spending every day at the beach, so that's easy enough.
In preparation for this trip, I realized that I need to seriously start doing something about the weight I've gained in the past few months. I don't fit in a lot of my clothes, so there is no way I will fit in my bathing suits!
Enter P90X! I did the first day yesterday, and I am sore! But in a good way, I think I'll be able to stick with it...

The wedding is in March, and that is the last of the craziness, I hope! By then it will be almost time for WDW in May!

I still don't have a flight, because they are just so expensive! Mark wants to wait till the trip is closer to see if flights go down, but I want it settled. We'll see what happens!

For the big trip in October, the next big event will be in 2 months when we can try to switch our booking to the Boardwalk. Hilde and I were talking and while we'd like switch, she is very excited about staying at Bay Lake Towers if we can't. We also agreed that a split stay would be an option, if that's how the availability works out.

AND.... in other news... I think there will be a 3rd trip squeezed out of the AP I plan on getting! Ben and I tossed around the idea of a trip to St.Lucia next year, and asking our friends to see if anyone would like to go. But then Ben realized that it would make a lot more sense financially to take another WDW trip while I still had the AP, and do a non-Disney trip after that.
Right after we had this talk, Ben immediately sent an email out to our group of friends asking them if they are interested. I guess it's safe to say Ben is officially addicted to WDW.
Because 'normal' people don't plan vacations over a year out (bizarre, I know!), no one is able to commit yet but they seem interested. So we'll see!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Those are pretty awesome sunglasses! They look great on Jake!

You definitely have some busy months ahead of you! But that'll make your trip come even sooner!!

 

[jenny105]

Those are some awesome shades.

Wow! You have plenty to keep you busy until October!

 

[annmarieda]

The lamp makes me giggle. I gave one like that as a gift once...

And all your plans... the trips... AWESOME. I envy you being able to go with friend. (even if they all can not commit so far out) Just last night I was thinking about planning a trip for April and I thought...that really is a bit soon... maybe I should think NEXT April. I used to be able to plan a trip in a short time. Now after planning the last one for a year.. it just seems like that is the best way.

 

[Nermel9]

Looks like you had a fun Christmas! Those sunglasses are so cute! Well, on a cat, anyway!

Wow you're going to be busy this year, time is going to fly for you, and pretty soon your October trip will be here!

I'm impressed you're doing P90X...Brandon has it, and he made it through like, 3 days before giving up, it's crazy! I really need to start the Couch to 5K again, I need to lose some weight before I go back to WDW!

 

[Joyciemc]

Those are pretty awesome sunglasses! They look great on Jake!

You definitely have some busy months ahead of you! But that'll make your trip come even sooner!!

The sunglasses look pretty good on people, too! They are hilarious.

Those are some awesome shades.

Wow! You have plenty to keep you busy until October!

Yeah, I am freaking out a little thinking about it all.

The lamp makes me giggle. I gave one like that as a gift once...

And all your plans... the trips... AWESOME. I envy you being able to go with friend. (even if they all can not commit so far out) Just last night I was thinking about planning a trip for April and I thought...that really is a bit soon... maybe I should think NEXT April. I used to be able to plan a trip in a short time. Now after planning the last one for a year.. it just seems like that is the best way.

I never in a million years would have thought we'd be lucky enough to take so many trips to WDW. Traveling is definitely a priority for Ben and I, though, and now that he has become as into Disney as I am- watch out!

Looks like you had a fun Christmas! Those sunglasses are so cute! Well, on a cat, anyway!

Wow you're going to be busy this year, time is going to fly for you, and pretty soon your October trip will be here!

I'm impressed you're doing P90X...Brandon has it, and he made it through like, 3 days before giving up, it's crazy! I really need to start the Couch to 5K again, I need to lose some weight before I go back to WDW!

Yup, October is going to sneak up real quick, I think!

I'm about to go do day 2 of P90X, we'll see what happens! I did have to modify some things (I am way too weak to do a real push up at this point!), but it was a good workout and the time went by quick. Hope I see some results fairly quickly, that will help me stick with it!

 

[Joyciemc]

Breaking news! Mark texted me today that he found a Southwest flight for $229. That still sounds like a lot to me, but the same flight was $260 a week ago. And with SW, if the price goes down you can just book it at the lower fare. Nothing beats their cancellation policy! And I am determined to check in for our flight early this time!
So we have tickets booked!!

We leave Hartford at 6am and get to Orlando around 9am. I am really excited to be getting in so early, but now I know we absolutely will need to take a nap. And late night EMH at MK is less and less likely.
So my trip will start early-ish on Saturday by driving out to western Mass to hang out with Mark and go to sleep as early as we can manage.

While talking to Mark today, I also realized that I had no idea what park ticket he was planning on. I assumed he'd have a hopper when I made my plans! The good news is that he got an AP when he went on a trip this past fall, so plans work as is. Phew!

 

[ronnmel]

It's so exciting that you have several trips planned /almost planned!

 

[klacey1]

Love the sunglasses! Poor Jake-- I hope you can get some of that weight off him!!
Your holidays sound like a blast-- we also partook in some Twilight Zone before going out!
You definitely do have a lot coming up soon! Augh, I hate when people don't RSVP. Also hate trying to coordinate an event with others-- it always ends up that people are non-responsive and yet insulted that you don't include them . That's why I like to just do things myself...
Boardwalk or BLT-- you can't go wrong! Yay for ANOTHER WDW trip!

 

[Imagineer5]

Holy cow, it's 2012!! I cannot believe how quickly time is going by. My past few weeks have been insane, with Christmas and New Year's.
I figure a little life update to cover the past few weeks I've been MIA is in order:

Our Christmas Eve bar crawl was a lot of fun

Before heading out, my friends exchanged gifts... which we've never really done before but without even discussing it, we all bought for each other. And we ended up with some great stuff!
I got a miniature version of the leg lamp from a Christmas Story!

One of our friends got this super-cool pair of sunglasses, which Jake is modeling here.

Side note: Jake is a morbidly obese cat that I am fostering in hopes of getting some of that weight off of him. He's pretty awesome, but can't move very well because he is so big. We're working on it!

Christmas was fairly low-key, and I had to work in the afternoon. Some of my awesome friends came with us and helped walk the dogs, so we were done pretty quickly.

New Year's Eve was a party at our house. Lots of Twilight Zone, beers, and fun! We had a blast! Mark was there, as were Hilde and Sebastian, so there was quite a bit of WDW talk. This all made me super-super excited for both of my upcoming trips!

Now that the holidays are over, though- I am freaking out a bit.
My best friend is getting married in March, and her shower is in 3 weeks at my house Only a tiny portion of people have RSVP'ed, so I have no clue who to expect. And coordinating with the other bridesmaids has been a big pain. They won't answer emails sometimes, and I just have to make decisions and hope for the best. But then I get a call from the bride's sister freaking out because I didn't answer her email immediately (hello, it was New Year's- I was busy!). Drama I am not at all used to!

Then there is our February trip to Puerto Rico. And it seems we finally have a plan, of sorts. At least a house rented. I plan on spending every day at the beach, so that's easy enough.
In preparation for this trip, I realized that I need to seriously start doing something about the weight I've gained in the past few months. I don't fit in a lot of my clothes, so there is no way I will fit in my bathing suits!
Enter P90X! I did the first day yesterday, and I am sore! But in a good way, I think I'll be able to stick with it...

The wedding is in March, and that is the last of the craziness, I hope! By then it will be almost time for WDW in May!

I still don't have a flight, because they are just so expensive! Mark wants to wait till the trip is closer to see if flights go down, but I want it settled. We'll see what happens!

For the big trip in October, the next big event will be in 2 months when we can try to switch our booking to the Boardwalk. Hilde and I were talking and while we'd like switch, she is very excited about staying at Bay Lake Towers if we can't. We also agreed that a split stay would be an option, if that's how the availability works out.

AND.... in other news... I think there will be a 3rd trip squeezed out of the AP I plan on getting! Ben and I tossed around the idea of a trip to St.Lucia next year, and asking our friends to see if anyone would like to go. But then Ben realized that it would make a lot more sense financially to take another WDW trip while I still had the AP, and do a non-Disney trip after that.
Right after we had this talk, Ben immediately sent an email out to our group of friends asking them if they are interested. I guess it's safe to say Ben is officially addicted to WDW.
Because 'normal' people don't plan vacations over a year out (bizarre, I know!), no one is able to commit yet but they seem interested. So we'll see!

Happy 2012!! So glad you had fun on your bar crawl! Cute gifts too, and how sweet of you to foster the kitty to get his weight down! Do you work at an animal shelter?? I bet that is really rewarding, but difficult at times. Animals are definitely my passion (though you'd never know it - I'm an engineer). My dream is to win the lottery and use the $$ to open a shelter like the one featured in the show Dog Town. Ahh that'd be so amazing

You officially suck!! Ok not really. But I'm totally jealous! Another Disney trip! When are you thinking? sometime early 2013? See, I just need a reason to get an AP, and then my DH will be doing stuff like that too, right?? well, maybe not. But that's awesome, I'm so happy for you! Boardwalk in October would be really nice, too, for the F&W! We stayed at the BCV last time in October and just LOVED the proximity. We're looking forward to BLT this time though. Good luck trying to switch!

Hmm good restaurants in the Providence area...well I am always looking for Groupons to try new places. We have enjoyed Bacaro (tapas), plus just about every restaurant we've been to on Atwells (Providence Oyster Bar comes to mind as fantastic).

Breaking news! Mark texted me today that he found a Southwest flight for $229. That still sounds like a lot to me, but the same flight was $260 a week ago. And with SW, if the price goes down you can just book it at the lower fare. Nothing beats their cancellation policy! And I am determined to check in for our flight early this time!
So we have tickets booked!!

We leave Hartford at 6am and get to Orlando around 9am. I am really excited to be getting in so early, but now I know we absolutely will need to take a nap. And late night EMH at MK is less and less likely.
So my trip will start early-ish on Saturday by driving out to western Mass to hang out with Mark and go to sleep as early as we can manage.

While talking to Mark today, I also realized that I had no idea what park ticket he was planning on. I assumed he'd have a hopper when I made my plans! The good news is that he got an AP when he went on a trip this past fall, so plans work as is. Phew!

Congrats on the tickets being booked!! That's awesome! Where will you fly out of in October? At least the flight will get you there early, and Hartford is a small airport so you don't have to get there too early. So wait, lemme get this straight - your May trip is practically free (minus the airfare) with your AP and Mark's DVC? That's just amazing! LOL. How'd you pull that off?? Oh, and you might just get some extra energy to at least enjoy some of the MK EMH, even if you don't close out the park!


Good luck with the bridal shower planning, trip to PR planning, and wedding planning! Man a busy couple of months ahead! What a fun 2012 for ya!

 

[annmarieda]

Yay for having the flight booked!!!

 

[Joyciemc]

It's so exciting that you have several trips planned /almost planned!

I seriously can't believe it!

Love the sunglasses! Poor Jake-- I hope you can get some of that weight off him!!
Your holidays sound like a blast-- we also partook in some Twilight Zone before going out!
You definitely do have a lot coming up soon! Augh, I hate when people don't RSVP. Also hate trying to coordinate an event with others-- it always ends up that people are non-responsive and yet insulted that you don't include them . That's why I like to just do things myself...
Boardwalk or BLT-- you can't go wrong! Yay for ANOTHER WDW trip!

Jake is more mobile than he used to be, but he still weighs the same. I hate to cut back his food even more- he gets so little!

Happy 2012!! So glad you had fun on your bar crawl! Cute gifts too, and how sweet of you to foster the kitty to get his weight down! Do you work at an animal shelter?? I bet that is really rewarding, but difficult at times. Animals are definitely my passion (though you'd never know it - I'm an engineer). My dream is to win the lottery and use the $$ to open a shelter like the one featured in the show Dog Town. Ahh that'd be so amazing

You officially suck!! Ok not really. But I'm totally jealous! Another Disney trip! When are you thinking? sometime early 2013? See, I just need a reason to get an AP, and then my DH will be doing stuff like that too, right?? well, maybe not. But that's awesome, I'm so happy for you! Boardwalk in October would be really nice, too, for the F&W! We stayed at the BCV last time in October and just LOVED the proximity. We're looking forward to BLT this time though. Good luck trying to switch!

Hmm good restaurants in the Providence area...well I am always looking for Groupons to try new places. We have enjoyed Bacaro (tapas), plus just about every restaurant we've been to on Atwells (Providence Oyster Bar comes to mind as fantastic).
Congrats on the tickets being booked!! That's awesome! Where will you fly out of in October? At least the flight will get you there early, and Hartford is a small airport so you don't have to get there too early. So wait, lemme get this straight - your May trip is practically free (minus the airfare) with your AP and Mark's DVC? That's just amazing! LOL. How'd you pull that off?? Oh, and you might just get some extra energy to at least enjoy some of the MK EMH, even if you don't close out the park!

Good luck with the bridal shower planning, trip to PR planning, and wedding planning! Man a busy couple of months ahead! What a fun 2012 for ya!

Yep, I work at an animal shelter in Brockton. It is rewarding, but also frustrating and tiring! Sure does make the days go by quickly, though!

you're right- I do suck! Honestly, I never would have thought I'd get to go so often... the stars aligned perfectly this year! It doesn't hurt that DH has become just as addicted as I am.
The May trip is sorta free- I'm going to pay for Mark's food to make up the difference in him using his points.

In October we will probably fly out of Providence. We really like Southwest (free bags and AWESOME cancellation policy), and they don't have direct Orlando flights from Boston. We may stay in Pawtucket over night if our friends haven't moved yet (the offer they had accepted on a house fell through, so they are still looking)

Yay for having the flight booked!!!

I know! It is a load off- and with great times. It's a short trip, so I wanted arrival and departure days to be able to be park days!