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

[DisMomAmy]

Sorry your last day was a little lack luster (especially compared to the one you had in January). I'm interested in hearing your final thoughts about the trip because I remember how you were feeling right after you got home.

I don't think you'll be surprised by any of my final thoughts.

Amy I am so sorry your trip ended that way. It can be very draining when behavioral issues are going on. Thank you for sharing your trip with us. Looking forward to your final thoughts.

Thanks Tracy! I hope to finish up the last two posts (souvenirs/pins & final thoughts) within the week. Anxious to get my new PTR going.

Sorry your departure day was less than magical, hopefully your upcoming trip will make up for it

I'm be very anxious to read your new plans and your TR after it, as I had the same feelings about the tram/monorail to get to and from MK

We're going to do a lot of things differently in the future - more on that in my final thoughts.

The last day is always sad. I'm sorry you were in a funk....been there!

I hate a funky day at Disney!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Bummer on forgetting to upgrade to APs, Amy. But don't feel too bad. I would have done the same thing. Moms shouldn't have to remember everything, all the time for everyone. Yet that is expected of us.

So nothing is open for Toontown until 2012? Wow. Does that cut a good chunk of MK out for you or not too much? I know my girls will be bummed not to see Mickey or Minnie's houses on our October trip.

 

[mousescrapper]

Sorry your last day was a little lack luster (especially compared to the one you had in January). I'm interested in hearing your final thoughts about the trip because I remember how you were feeling right after you got home.

stinky about not being able to upgrade the tickets...but guess it make sense...the new toontown entrance preview sign looks cool, can't wait for that!

sorry once again the last day was a sad day...

 

[Angies1274]

Great updates!

Wow! I can't believe you rode RnRc 9 times!!! That so cool! I can't even get the boys to ride it once. Hoping to change that next trip!!

I've really loved looking at all your F&G pictures! I missed seeing them this year! The Toy Story ones are very cute.

Glad you enjoyed your LeCellier lunch. Love your MSEP pics!! UGH..line jumpers.

Aww...so sorry about your last day.

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Funky days at Disney are the worst! However with each trip we notice what works for us even more than the last. Plus, there's always next time!

 

[irish dancer]

So sorry for the stinky last day, those are hard enough and especially so when there are other factors. Been there, done that but happy to report it didn't carry over to other trips.

Can't wait to hear about plans for your next trip!

 

[Charleston Princess]

So sorry to hear about the bad case of Disney blues on your last day.

You have since reconsidered and are still going back this fall, right?

 

[DisMomAmy]

I guess I'd better get this TR wrapped up... it was temporarily moved over to the completed TR board this weekend. I hope to be back later today with an update.

Bummer on forgetting to upgrade to APs, Amy. But don't feel too bad. I would have done the same thing. Moms shouldn't have to remember everything, all the time for everyone. Yet that is expected of us.

So nothing is open for Toontown until 2012? Wow. Does that cut a good chunk of MK out for you or not too much? I know my girls will be bummed not to see Mickey or Minnie's houses on our October trip.

It's not that I forgot to upgrade the tickets - I just didn't feel like it. Which is so not like me... anywhere I can save a dollar & I'm usually there.

I dont' think anything is opening until 2012... some of the things aren't expected until 2013.

stinky about not being able to upgrade the tickets...but guess it make sense...the new toontown entrance preview sign looks cool, can't wait for that!

sorry once again the last day was a sad day...

Thanks Julie!! Definitey a cool sign - I can't wait to see all of the new stuff!!

Great updates!

Wow! I can't believe you rode RnRc 9 times!!! That so cool! I can't even get the boys to ride it once. Hoping to change that next trip!!

I've really loved looking at all your F&G pictures! I missed seeing them this year! The Toy Story ones are very cute.

Glad you enjoyed your LeCellier lunch. Love your MSEP pics!! UGH..line jumpers.

Aww...so sorry about your last day.

If I could just get the boys on Tower of Terror again! I can't believe they are both scared of it now!

I always love the F&GF.

That line jumper was CRAZY!! I couldn't believe my eyes! Just not something I'm used to seeing at Disney.

Funky days at Disney are the worst! However with each trip we notice what works for us even more than the last. Plus, there's always next time!

Yes - there's always next time.

So sorry for the stinky last day, those are hard enough and especially so when there are other factors. Been there, done that but happy to report it didn't carry over to other trips.

Can't wait to hear about plans for your next trip!

Thanks Anne Marie - I hope our not-so-great trip doesn't carry over to next time.

So sorry to hear about the bad case of Disney blues on your last day.

You have since reconsidered and are still going back this fall, right?

Oh we're definitely going back this fall!! I hope to have a PTR started this week. Lots of good stuff going on.


****************************************************************************************************
And a shout out to Mickey_Mom who wanted to reply but couldn't because my report got closed. Thanks for letting me know Tracy!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

First up... The two ride photos we purchased... sorry, I still can't get them to scan right so you get the redneck versions:

Now onto pins!!

This is my lanyard:

Two pins from January - the autism awareness pin is a gift I gave everyone & the purple Mickey is a gift from Julie:

These are two I purchased - the AKL one is from January and the F&GF is from our last Epcot day in March:

These are Alex's pins:

Zach has become quite the pin trader & definitely has the most pins:

Snowy was trying to help:

More that aren't on his lanyard:

And the display in his bedroom:

Continued...

 

[DisMomAmy]

Continued from previous post...

Here are a few more of the souvenirs we purchased:

Both of the boys got a "Snowy" Yeti Cat:

The rest of these are Alex's:

I always say I'm going to take pictures of souvenirs as we buy them or at the end of each day and I never do... now I can't remember what else we bought...

I also wanted to share a few pictures from Easter:

Snowy thought there was something interesting in my nephew's shoe:

Last but not least, here are a few shots from our stay at the Mount Washington Hotel this past weekend. We were up there for the NH Family Support Conference. It was a really nice weekend. I wish I'd taken pictures of the year-round outdoor pool - it was so warm - like bath water!

I didn't think to take room pictures until after we'd rearranged furniture to make room for the kids' air mattresses (they only had king rooms left when we registered for the conference) and trashed the room. It was gorgeous, even if you can't tell here:

Here is the view from our room, we were in a corner room with four windows:
Mount Washington:

And the view from the giant porch on the back of the building:
Again that's Mount Washington with all of the snow still on it:

Stay tuned... I'm going to try to get my final thoughts posted later today!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Wow, that's a pretty awesome pin collection your family has going! How fun!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Wow, that's a pretty awesome pin collection your family has going! How fun!

Zach has had a lot of fun with the pins!

 

[DisMomAmy]

This trip was a tough one for us. I think there were several factors working against us. First of all I'd been to Disney two other times in the five months prior to our family trip. I'd seen & done everything fairly recently so I felt like this was my family's trip, not mine. Because of this, I let everyone else make most of the calls... which ended up with us riding a lot of the same rides over & over, zig zagging across parks & skipping some things that we probably shouldn't have. Lesson #1 learned!

Second, we've been visiting Disney at the same time of year for several years now, maybe things were getting too routine & expected. But I'm ready to change things up now.

Also, I often complain about vacationing with extended family but maybe we appreciated the days alone better after spending time with them? We don't really repeat rides when we have other people to worry about - we save that for our alone days. Maybe we need to tour a little more like that even when we don't have family with us.

I think I took for granted that the boys have been to Disney so many times so I didn't schedule things enough for them. I didn't emphasize the picture schedules & visuals as much as I have in the past. Another lesson learned.

On top of all that, Alex wasn't feeling great for most of the trip. That definitely effected his behavior. Not much we can do about that other than cross our fingers that it doesn't happen next time.

So how will this effect our plans for future trips? First of all we're going to switch things up a bit by visiting in November & keeping the emphasis on doing things we can only do in November - MVMCP, Osborne Lights, Food & Wine. We're also going to work in a night off for Tim & me to celebrate our anniversary. Plus we're staying on-site at BWV or BCV!!

We'll also plan to switch things up again for our spring trips. We love getting out of New Hampshire in the spring (mud season here in NH) but next time we'll visit Universal & add in some waterparks.

I also picked up some great ideas from a couple of my fellow spectrum moms. Heidi suggested "Repeat Passes" allowing the boys to repeat their favorites - but in a more limited fashion! Jessica’s idea of a daily reward/souvenir might work out better for us than giving the kids their own spending money. They'll really have to be accountable for their behavior in order to earn their "prize!" Julie has always made wonderful guidebooks for her son Nathan so I may be asking her for some help as I create new books for my boys.

So that about sums this trip up!

Thanks for reading & please join me on my new PTR!!

Finally getting to see the lights! A Nov 2011 Anniversary/Holiday/F&W PTR

 

[JPFamilyMom]

That is some pin collection, wow We had that phineas and ferb pin a long time ago but it got lost (it was on Jack's backpack-it was the only phineas and ferb merch available back then)

Wow your mountain vaction looks like it was so much fun and I'm sure very educational, we need to do something like that, we had a conference near us recently but we had bad weather and I was sick

So looking forward to the new plans, all your final thoughts and changes are great

- the reward thing only worked for us the first day (mostly because we really didn't make it into too many shops), and Jack carried that buzz around the whole week, though he did work hard for ice-cream each day (food/treat rewards, which we are still using at home even today over a month after our trip)

 

[DisMomAmy]

That is some pin collection, wow We had that phineas and ferb pin a long time ago but it got lost (it was on Jack's backpack-it was the only phineas and ferb merch available back then)

Wow your mountain vaction looks like it was so much fun and I'm sure very educational, we need to do something like that, we had a conference near us recently but we had bad weather and I was sick

So looking forward to the new plans, all your final thoughts and changes are great

- the reward thing only worked for us the first day (mostly because we really didn't make it into too many shops), and Jack carried that buzz around the whole week, though he did work hard for ice-cream each day (food/treat rewards, which we are still using at home even today over a month after our trip)

Food rewards are a great idea too!! We all know Alex loves his Itzakadoozie popsicles!!

We always put locking backs on the pins the boys want to keep.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I have really enjoyed your TR. I LOVE your new plans!! (November is especially awesome. Lower crowds, gorgeous weather, Osborne lights!) What a way to switch it up. Heading over to your PTR now Amy.

 

[DisMomAmy]

I have really enjoyed your TR. I LOVE your new plans!! (November is especially awesome. Lower crowds, gorgeous weather, Osborne lights!) What a way to switch it up. Heading over to your PTR now Amy.

Thanks Kelli! I'm really excited for November!! I'm hoping for low crowds but I'm prepared for it to be pretty busy between Jersey Week, Veteran's Day & the end of Food & Wine!

 

[MRYPPNS]

Thanks for the snort laugh!!!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Zach (and you and Alex) have a great pin collection! So many neat ones!

That RnRC Mickey is a hoot! I hadn't seen him before.

Awww, Snowy is too funny in that shoe.

The Mount Washington Hotel looks lovely! When was it built? It looks very historic.

Wonderful final thoughts. I think the November trip will be lots of fun because you will be doing all sorts of new things. I really like the idea of rewards and reapeat passes. I bet those would be a tremendous help.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Thanks for the snort laugh!!!!

Pretty funny, huh? It's really more about the glasses getting wet than it is the hair... Alex likes to make fun of me!

Zach (and you and Alex) have a great pin collection! So many neat ones!

That RnRC Mickey is a hoot! I hadn't seen him before.

Awww, Snowy is too funny in that shoe.

The Mount Washington Hotel looks lovely! When was it built? It looks very historic.

Wonderful final thoughts. I think the November trip will be lots of fun because you will be doing all sorts of new things. I really like the idea of rewards and reapeat passes. I bet those would be a tremendous help.

Zach had a blast trading pins this time - he even took a lot of Alex's traders.

The Mount Washington Hotel was built in 1902 & recently taken over by Omni. It has undergone a huge renovation & expansion so it's the best of both world. Great service too - I'm not used to turn down service. Plus the housekeeper brought the kids milk and cookies one night when they were already asleep. She remembered and brought them by earlier the next day.

Hope to see you on the new PTR.