Groundhog Day at Walt Disney World - New 5/2 - pg. 20 - 3 Updates/new PTR link

[disneyfan61]

We interrupt this TR to introduce.....
Yay for another trip to plan!!
My new ticker!

DH has given me the green light to plan an anniversary, F&W, MVMCP, Osborne Lights November trip!! We're looking at sometime the second week of November. Probably late Tuesday 11/8 - Sunday 11/13. We'll be there for the last week of the F&W Festival and our 15th anniversary is 11/9. We're hoping, based on last years dates, that we'll be able to attend a Christmas party and see the Osborne Lights.

But this isn't your typical anniversary trip... we'll have the kids with us! I know, not very romantic, but we'll do something special back at home before or after to celebrate with just the two of us. Maybe a night away in the summer or earlier fall. I also have a special Disney anniversary dinner on my list of must-dos... I've been looking into the kids clubs as a possibility. The kids don't have school Thursday & Friday and have a half-day on Wednesday so they'll probably only miss a half day. It's going to be a complete secret until the day we leave, or shortly before. It's so hard for me to do, but after our October 2007 trip I swore I wouldn't plan a trip early in the school year because Alex had a really hard time settling into his school routine that fall. So mum's the word!

I'm not sure where we'll be staying at this point. Tomorrow I'll figure out when we can book our flights on Southwest (tomorrow they open through 11/4 and announce the date of the next booking window).

I'll share more as our plans start to come together.

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Yay for another trip to plan!!

We went to Universal back in 1999 but they were still building IOA so we are just going to IOA for our arrival day & check out day then head over to POFQ.

I have thought about a PTR but haven't done it yet.

 

[DisMomAmy]

this is the best picture

well glad for the most part (except the crying to sleep part) that your mini visit w/ Jeff and family was a good one. glad you had a fun evening visiting too

Yes - we may need to leave the straw cups in the luggage & buy a plain straw next time!

YAY! We're heading to Florida the weekend after Thanksgiving to take the boys on a cruise. Too bad we'll miss each other!

I'm waiting for SW to open flights too.....let me know what you find out!

You guys are going to have so much fun on your family cruise! But yes - bummer we'll miss each other!

Flights into January open May 26th but I'll be checking that whole week - the new schedule opened today but was supposed to be tomorrow.

Woo hoo for your ticker!

I've been stalking SW for my flights too and the new booking window is open now.

Thanks for the info Tracy! Julie was planning to book flights tomorrow morning so I set her into a tailspin this morning when I texted her with your info!

for the new ticker! I love Christmas time in the world. However, I also love F&W, so you will be getting the best of both worlds!

SW's new booking window is out for our dates today but definitely not worth booking right now. 2 RT tickets are over $600! Considering the last 2 trips we've paid less than $400 RT, I'll wait. Plus, DH just started his new job today so we need to make sure those dates are 100% okay before we purchase airfare.

Good luck finding lower rates... I'm always too nervous to wait. We are also pretty specific in which flights we want. We have always flown direct with the boys & usually want first thing in the morning. My dates aren't open yet but Southwest updated their site with WHEN my dates will be open... May 26th. October flights ranged from $82 - $168 one way per person. Most were around $134 which is a little higher than we usually pay but still within the budget. Hopefully the prices won't be way higher in two months with all of the gas issues going on.

I found your TR!!! Looking forward to following along. It was so nice to meet you guys and the stickers you brought for all the Dis kids was so thoughtful.

Yeah for a new ticker. We went that same week in 2009 - it was a great week!

It was so fun to meet you guys & everyone else too! I can't believe we filled a whole boat... We would have sunk if Julie, Claire & her mom had made it on time!

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Yay for another trip to plan!!

We went to Universal back in 1999 but they were still building IOA so we are just going to IOA for our arrival day & check out day then head over to POFQ.

I have thought about a PTR but haven't done it yet.

We're going to check out Universal & IOA as soon as both boys are over 54 inches... hopefully next year. We're at 52 & 53 inches now.

I hope you decide to start at PTR soon.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Flights into January open May 26th but I'll be checking that whole week - the new schedule opened today but was supposed to be tomorrow.

Thanks for the information Amy. Why does May 26th seem so FAR away??

 

[DisMomAmy]

Thanks for the information Amy. Why does May 26th seem so FAR away??

I know...

 

[Native NYer]

You are so brave to ride that coaster!

Yay for an anniversary trip to Disney.

 

[Angies1274]

Great update Amy!

Wow! That roller coaster!! I'm not sure I would have been quite that brave. Glad you got a chance to ride it.

Aww....so sad that Zach cried himself to sleep. It is really hard to say goodbye to family.

Yay for a new ticker!! So exciting! We added one over the weekend..a little different from our other trips.... but still fitting in a couple days at Disney too! Can't wait.

 

[IheartDDuck]

Yay on a new ticker!

I love the F&W festival, I have to say it's my absolute favorite time to go.

 

[3lilpiggies]

Busch Gardens looks amazing. I would love to visit there. Maybe we need to take a detour and go there for a day or so.

 

[mousescrapper]

love the new ticker Amy

 

[irish dancer]

Yay for a new ticker!!

We did a surprise trip in Oct 08 and it was GREAT. The kids loved the surprise and hope we do it again. It was hard though to keep the secret but I'm glad we did, the reveal was fun.

 

[dekkerdisneydreamer]

Hooray for the new ticker!! It always puts a smile in my heart to see new ones!

Ooh, that roller coaster looks awesome! I would get on that one in a heartbeat! I'm glad you got the chance to experience that.

I love the pictures of the boys with the primate statues. They genuinely look intrigued!

Sorry to hear there was a not so good night of crying. Hopefully, that isn't a re-occuring event.

 

[Charleston Princess]

Oh, goodness! What a bummer that Alex's cup exploded all over you! Hope it wasn't too much of a mess!

You are one brave woman riding that roller coaster! Just looking at the pictures makes me say, "No way! No how!"

Poor Zach crying himself to sleep -- he must have had a lot of fun with Jeff and Karen!

Hurray for a new ticker! I love that you are already planning another trip!

 

[DisMomAmy]

You are so brave to ride that coaster!

Yay for an anniversary trip to Disney.

It was the craziest coaster I've ever been on!

I'm super excited to plan for November.

Great update Amy!

Wow! That roller coaster!! I'm not sure I would have been quite that brave. Glad you got a chance to ride it.

Aww....so sad that Zach cried himself to sleep. It is really hard to say goodbye to family.

Yay for a new ticker!! So exciting! We added one over the weekend..a little different from our other trips.... but still fitting in a couple days at Disney too! Can't wait.

Thanks Angie!! I'm not sure I'd ride Sheikra again...

Zach's a pretty emotional little guy but fortunately he was all smiles again the next day. Smiling update coming soon.

I noticed your new ticker! Congratulations!!

Yay on a new ticker!

I love the F&W festival, I have to say it's my absolute favorite time to go.

I'm excited to show Tim the F&W Festival!

Busch Gardens looks amazing. I would love to visit there. Maybe we need to take a detour and go there for a day or so.

Busch Gardens was pretty cool! I'm sure we'll go back sometime just not next year.

love the new ticker Amy

Thanks Julie!!

Yay for a new ticker!!

We did a surprise trip in Oct 08 and it was GREAT. The kids loved the surprise and hope we do it again. It was hard though to keep the secret but I'm glad we did, the reveal was fun.

Thanks Anne Marie - I'm excited to really surprise the kids this time. We've said we were going to do it before but caved in early. I won't let myself this time - it's really better for them if they don't know.

Hooray for the new ticker!! It always puts a smile in my heart to see new ones!

Ooh, that roller coaster looks awesome! I would get on that one in a heartbeat! I'm glad you got the chance to experience that.

I love the pictures of the boys with the primate statues. They genuinely look intrigued!

Sorry to hear there was a not so good night of crying. Hopefully, that isn't a re-occuring event.

Thanks!! I'm excited for all of the new things we'll get to see & do in November!

The coaster was scary! In one of those pictures Zach has his finger stuck in a hole in the back of the monkey.

Yes, Zach will cry again, but that's not a major recurring these to this TR.

Oh, goodness! What a bummer that Alex's cup exploded all over you! Hope it wasn't too much of a mess!

You are one brave woman riding that roller coaster! Just looking at the pictures makes me say, "No way! No how!"

Poor Zach crying himself to sleep -- he must have had a lot of fun with Jeff and Karen!

Hurray for a new ticker! I love that you are already planning another trip!

I think we have the cups figured out - leave them open on the plane & the pressure doesn't build up!

I'm guessing Sheikra wouldn't be your kind of ride!

Zach loves his cousins & aunt & uncle. He's always sad when we say good-bye.

I'm so excited to finally visit Disney when some of the Christmas decorations are up! We won't get to see Epcot all decked out but I think Tim would rather see F&W than Christmas decorations.

 

[DisMomAmy]

So I've decided to just go in chronological order... it's easier for me that way... but I'll try to keep things moving along.

Sunday 2/27: Disney arrival day!!

Today we got up, packed up and headed out. We were on the road by 9:00am. While we were packing up the kids were out on the front porch and a basketball got thrown around and Zach ended up crashing into the stucco wall and scraping up his arm. This is another continuing theme… Zach fell several times during the trip and always managed to scrape up that same arm!

Our drive was uneventful but we did see this crazy auction place along the highway. It was an auction house and had hundreds of pieces of construction equipment - I didn’t get the camera out quick enough on the way there but managed to get a couple pictures on the way back to Tampa.

We knew we wouldn’t be able to check-in until at least 2pm so we headed directly to Animal Kingdom and arrived there around 11am. Unfortunately I don’t have too many pictures today – my park bag wasn’t fully organized yet since all the Disney stuff was in a separate suitcase and everything was still in the car. Here are a few of our arrival into Orlando & Disney World:

After parking at AK we went to Guest Services to get the boys’ GACs. Then we headed straight to Dinosaur.

Zach didn’t want to go so he & I took a ride on Triceratops Spin while we waited for Alex & Tim.

I love the view!

Zach told me AK isn’t his favorite park because there’s not so much that he likes there. He changed his tune a bit after we went crystal shopping in the Dinosaur dump shop. We snagged this picture while we waited for Tim & Alex:

After Dinosaur & Triceratops Spin it was time to meet a certain Yeti. We took a ride on EE & everyone loved it! Then it was time for lunch. Off to Flame Tree BBQ! Tim had the pulled pork sandwich, Zach had the kids drumstick meal and Alex & I shared a ½ chicken. It was all good! Alex & I should have each gotten our own chicken since he ate most of it! Sorry I have minimal food porn in this report!
After lunch it was time for our last ride – Kali River Rapids.

The queue for Kali is where Zach fell and scraped up his arm for the second time! Darn crocs! He seemed to get over it pretty quickly.

I’m not a huge fan of this ride because of how wet you get. It was a nice day so I was a good sport and rode along. And of course, I was the one who got soaked! Zach wasn’t happy because he didn’t get very wet, but he took care of that at the fountain just outside the ride exit.

Up next: We arrive at our home for the week!

 

[Stasieki]

We were at AK this day, too, and could have been at Dinoland the same time (about 11:00 to 12:00) and we rode the Tri Spin about 3 times during that hour and then we were at Kali around 2:00 (always our last ride before we leave the park). I very quickly agreed to stay with Ellie, so I just stood on the bridge and watched everyone else

 

[disneyfan61]

Looks like a beautiful day.

Poor Zach with his arm.

Figures the one that does not want to get wet on Kali gets wet & the one that wants to doesn't.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

What a great start! I know your boys love AK....or maybe Zach has changed his tune. Too funny how fickle kids can be!

I love all the pictures of the drive into Orlando! All the signs just make it more and more exciting as you get closer!

Lunch at FTBBQ sounds great....I'm hungry!

 

[dekkerdisneydreamer]

Yea for arriving!! I love Dinosaur, and I love getting people on it that have never been on before. I think that's just a little bit naughty of me.....

Flame Tree BBQ!! Yummy yummy! Hopefully there weren't too many birds to deal with while you were eating.

Boo for poor Zach and his arm. I'm glad he was able to recover quickly!

Can't wait to see pics of your room!

 

[MRYPPNS]

AK is always a nice way to ease into a vacation!

 

[DisMomAmy]

We were at AK this day, too, and could have been at Dinoland the same time (about 11:00 to 12:00) and we rode the Tri Spin about 3 times during that hour and then we were at Kali around 2:00 (always our last ride before we leave the park). I very quickly agreed to stay with Ellie, so I just stood on the bridge and watched everyone else

That's funny! I noticed from our photopass pictures that we were on Test Track on Monday around the same time too!

I used to be happy to sit out Kali when Zach didn't like it... unfortunately he enjoys getting wet now.

Looks like a beautiful day.

Poor Zach with his arm.

Figures the one that does not want to get wet on Kali gets wet & the one that wants to doesn't.

It was so nice to arrive at Disney!

What a great start! I know your boys love AK....or maybe Zach has changed his tune. Too funny how fickle kids can be!

I love all the pictures of the drive into Orlando! All the signs just make it more and more exciting as you get closer!

Lunch at FTBBQ sounds great....I'm hungry!

It's so fun to start seeing the signs of Disney as you approach Orlando.

Zach enjoyed AK - he can just be a negative Nelly sometimes!

Yea for arriving!! I love Dinosaur, and I love getting people on it that have never been on before. I think that's just a little bit naughty of me.....

Flame Tree BBQ!! Yummy yummy! Hopefully there weren't too many birds to deal with while you were eating.

Boo for poor Zach and his arm. I'm glad he was able to recover quickly!

Can't wait to see pics of your room!

I like Dinosaur and was disappointed that Zach didn't want to ride - it's a fun one to ride together. But don't worry, I got to ride it later in the trip... more than once.

AK is always a nice way to ease into a vacation!

Life was good.