Healing at our Happy Place: making GOOD 2017 memories: Mar, May, Aug, Oct, Dec TRs (3/24 UPDATE)

kittylady1972 · Feb 14, 2017

So I've decided to stop cluttering my current Trip Report from November 2016 (still a work in progress...see link in my sig below) with updates on our upcoming trips. With the exception of a few fun outings, the last part of 2016 was not good to our family and the beginning of 2017 is equally NOT good. My husband and I will both be without our moms most likely very soon. My mom just passed earlier this month after a very long battle with cancer...and his mom is also in the final stages of her cancer battle. It sucks for us and for our kids...and while we knew his mom most likely wasn't going to finish out 2017 due to her prognosis, my mom's loss was not expected this soon. We purchased our DVC APs during our November 2016 trip because we figured we'd need a return to Disney after losing his mom...and now that we'll be losing both moms we need our happy place even more.

And so, for now we already have our first 2017 trip booked for May. We have also booked a stay at Disney's Vero Beach Resort in August, with plans for that to be a place for some downtime after another few days at Disney parks but I have yet to decide. I think we also want to return in October for the Halloween party and in December because I'd love to see Candlelight Processional again. Disney is going to be our place to heal this year for sure.

So feel free to follow along as I plan out our 2017 Disney adventures!

kittylady1972 · Feb 14, 2017

Healing at our Happy Place THE LINKS
Now updated each PTR/TR below with links since this is such a crazy long trip and pre-trip report. This should make it easier if you just want to read a single trip report without searching the entire thread!

TRIP #1: MAKING MAY MEMORIES

So our plans continue to fall into place for our 1st 2017 Trip to Walt Disney World. This one will take place in May. I'm utilizing not only our DVC points to make the room "free" to us, but we also used some airline "points" to book our flights. Most of the time we make the long drive to Florida from Maryland for our Disney trips, because paying for flights for FIVE people is NOT cheap. We have not flown to Florida since September of 2014 and the kids have been itching to take a flight again. Because this May trip is only 4 nights...it made more sense to consider flights this time around. I stalked the airline websites for a while, tracking the prices of possible flights, and finally just a few weeks ago I pulled the trigger once flights dropped again. And so we'll get back on an airplane for this upcoming trip. The kids are excited.

As for the room, I had originally booked 3 different nights for our time there. I had a Friday night at Beach Club, a Saturday night at Poly and then Mon-Tue night at Poly but every time I looked I had NO luck getting anything for Sunday night in any DVC resort, or at least not in a Studio for the five of us. I am trying to save our points up for multiple trips so a studio is the best way to minimize our point spending. I had us on a waitlist for Poly as well as Beach Club for the additional nights...but didn't think I had a good chance at getting Beach Club but maybe Poly. Admittedly my heart was set on Beach Club, because I figured Memorial Day weekend we'd be anxious to spend time at the pool there and the kids haven't been there since 2009!

Then some magic happened, and I have to say it brought me to tears. My mother passed away on a Friday morning earlier this month. The day was spent at their home coordinating all of the arrangements for her. That evening, when everything had been settled, I checked my email...and found a notification welcoming me to Beach Club Villas for my future stay...the entire STAY. I just knew it was magic from above. My mom took me to Magic Kingdom for the very first time. I had held it together pretty well most of that day...but I completely lost it when I got that message.

So we have Beach Club Villas booked, airlines booked, and several dining reservations as well. Kids have requested Chef Mickey's as it's a tradition we've had forever, but we skipped it in November in favor of Crystal Palace and Tusker House. I feel that we are beyond character meals, and paying adult prices for the buffets is crazy, but it will be our one splurge for meals I guess so it's booked.

I also have meals for Via Napoli, Beaches and Cream, Rainforest Cafe, Tusker House and Skipper Canteen. I will drop Tusker House most likely because that is a Rivers of Light Package and I'm hoping we can just get a FP for Rivers of Light instead. I'm not sure if we'll get to Skipper Canteen but I'd like to try it. The others are repeats for us but some we haven't been to in a while.

I have another month or so for my FP+ reservations, we already have our MagicBands...really looking forward to this trip!

TRIP #2: AUGUST FAREWELL TO SUMMER

This one isn't set in stone quite yet. I have booked a few nights at Disney's Vero Beach Resort using our DVC points. It will be nice to have a beach trip planned. Also my youngest son would really like to visit the Space Center and it's expensive...and an all day thing. I think we all might enjoy it a little bit so that will be a planned hop while at Vero which isn't too far away. Still I'm anticipating Vero will be a place to unwind AFTER a few days at Disney parks. However I haven't booked any Disney park resorts for August yet.

TRIP #3: HALLOWEEN PARTY DO-OVER

So one of our favorite trips have involved attending Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. The thing is, with my husband and I having an October wedding anniversary, we've done most of those trips without the kids. A few years ago we decided to take the kids in September for the purposes of having them attend the Halloween Party and our favorite part of it...the Halloween Parade. We attended the party and decided to skip the FIRST parade...and do rides and such...just to watch the later parade. As we lined up for that second parade...the announcement came over that it was delayed and then cancelled due to impending weather. Minutes later the skies OPENED UP. So...no parade and our kids still talk about it. So we want to not only see the parade...but also attend the Food and Wine Festival again, another favorite. We're hoping to do this in October. Nothing planned yet.

TRIP #4: NEEDING SOME CANDLELIGHT

Another favorite memory was a trip many years ago where we had the chance to do a Candlelight Processional Dinner Package. It was such a magical experience and one that I'd love to see again. Plus I'd love to be able to take the time to listen to more of the Holidays Around the World storytellers. Last but not least, there is a planned DVC after hours event at EPCOT in December and it seems the perfect chance to see all of that. Again nothing planned yet for this one.

BONUS TRIP: March 2017 Girls Surprise Trip

kittylady1972 · Feb 17, 2017

A quick update on this trip:

TRIP #3: HALLOWEEN PARTY DO-OVER

So one of our favorite trips have involved attending Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. The thing is, with my husband and I having an October wedding anniversary, we've done most of those trips without the kids. A few years ago we decided to take the kids in September for the purposes of having them attend the Halloween Party and our favorite part of it...the Halloween Parade. We attended the party and decided to skip the FIRST parade...and do rides and such...just to watch the later parade. As we lined up for that second parade...the announcement came over that it was delayed and then cancelled due to impending weather. Minutes later the skies OPENED UP. So...no parade and our kids still talk about it. So we want to not only see the parade...but also attend the Food and Wine Festival again, another favorite. We're hoping to do this in October. Nothing planned yet.

We were talking with some friends at a funeral yesterday. The father of a good friend of mine mentioned he'd love to go to Walt Disney World. He's been doing a lot of traveling since his wife passed away about two years ago and he thinks it would be fun to visit. His daughter (not my friend...but her sister) also mentioned she'd love to take her 17yo son as well for his first visit. When we talked about our October trip and maybe doing the Food and Wine Festival...they were on board so now it looks like we may have a group for October! I would love if this all comes together so I've already starting looking into plans for that trip. I'm thinking we could all say at Shades of Green since I don't think we'll have the DVC points to stay anywhere else by that time. We could book rooms for everybody. Wouldn't you know it, as of today SOG isn't available for two of those nights that we want (a Wed and Thurs night) so looks like I'll be stalking the SOG site for a bit to try to book them.

Would also like to put this offer out to some other friends to see if they'd like to join us. A group trip sounds like a good idea to me!

We'll see what happens.

kittylady1972 · Feb 22, 2017

MAKING HAPPY MEMORIES IN MAY 2017

I thought I'd give a quick little update about our May 2017 plans for now. We all know things can...and surely will...change but this is my current thought on our trip.

SATURDAY: We have an early morning flight...it leaves at 6:55am. Now thankfully we live only about 20 minutes max from the airport. Unfortunately my husband and I differ on how much time we really need to spend in an airport before a flight. He has done far more travel, mostly for work, than I have and he has a routine that he enjoys and that includes SITTING at the airport. We've already started the discussions on this and I *THINK* he has allowed us to leave by 4:45am. If you glance back at my Thanksgiving Trip report you'll note that we also had to be in the car at a CRAZY early time...and we did make it for that one. Anyway provided flights are all okay (we are flying Memorial Day weekend) we should arrive just after 9am in Orlando. We'll pick up our rental car (it's so easy to do there) and head directly to the Beach Club Resort. With any luck, we'll be there before 11am. If our room is ready, we unload and check in and then grab a quick snack and head to the pool for a little while. If our room is NOT ready...then we may drive over to the Contemporary and maybe walk over to MK for a bit. We have a late lunch reservation (technically brunch) at Chef Mickey's so we'd want to hang close to the Contemporary, and we can of course walk to MK from there. After lunch/brunch we'll head back to our resort hopefully for checkin. We may do some time at HS that evening, catching a bus over there, or do the pool if we didn't do it earlier.

SUNDAY: Magic Kingdom morning. I'd like to arrive close to opening and do as much as we can as I don't plan to make FPs for this park. So we'll probably do the BIG rides that we didn't get much of last time (the mountain rides) and when crowds get crazy we'll head back to the resort for pool time. We can grab lunch at MK or at our resort. Around 3pm or so, we'll head out to EPCOT probably via boat. I'm hoping to make a few FPs here such as Test Track which we didn't do last time. I'm doing my first DISBOARD meet here ever...having dinner with somebody and her family at Via Napoli which should be cool! Maybe the 7 of us will hang out after dinner at EPCOT for a bit as her son is about the same age as my youngest.

MONDAY: Ok here's hoping this is the day the crazy crowds from opening weekend of Avatarland go away right?? As of NOW I have a ROL dining package with lunch at Tusker House. We really loved Tusker House at Thanksgiving so I'm okay with keeping it if I need to, but hoping honestly I just book a FP+ reservation for ROL either this day or Tuesday. If I keep the dining package then this will become our AK day and I imagine it might be hot and crazy. So my thoughts are hitting AK early in the morning and doing some favorites (EE, Safari) and once those are done without FP+ we'll have our lunch at TH. Then we'll head back to Beach Club for what else...pool time! We have a Beaches and Cream reservation that I originally thought would be late lunch/early dinner but if we just had TH at 12-ish this may just be dessert instead. We will hang out for a bit at the resort and then maybe head to AK around 5pm. I'll probably make some FP+ reservations for the evening here.

TUESDAY: If our plan had us at AK yesterday, then I'll probably try HS today. If it did NOT have us at AK, then this would be our AK day and I have lunch at the Rainforest Cafe here which we've never done...and surly will be cheaper than the TH ROL dining package. If we are at AK, then the same plan as Monday would apply but without the stop for TH lunch...it would be Rainforest instead. If we are not at AK, then I'd probably make some FP+ for rides at HS around lunchtime, but we'd try to hit the park as early as possible. However if we were at AK until late the night before, no real rush. We'd do some rides at HS and then head back to our resort for a while for...what else? Pool. Our evening would be either AK (if we didn't do it already) for ROL or we'd head to MK and I have a late dinner at Skipper Canteen for us to try that. So it's either AK/pool/AK for Tuesday or HS/pool/MK for Tuesday.

WEDNESDAY:The dreaded LAST day of vacay for us. If the previous day was MK, then today we'd probably focus on EPCOT and HS since they are both near each other and near our resort. If we didn't do MK the previous day, we may do some early morning to afternoon MK time instead. We have to depart the parks by about 2:30pm for our 5:30pm flight home.

So still some up in the air stuff and I can already feel how short this trip will be but that's okay. This is our mini escape from reality for a while and it's all good.

kittylady1972 · Feb 22, 2017

MAKING HAPPY 2017 MEMORIES PLAN 1.0

Just ignore that previous post! :duck:

I put together my spreadsheet with dining plans and started running numbers...and immediately looked at our food costs and just had to say...NO! With probably 2 or 3 more 2017 trips, I'm simply not going to push it about getting ROL by paying for a dining package for all of us. If we don't get a FP+ for it, we'll consider standby though I know that will be crazy...or we'll just wait until the next trip!

SATURDAY: We have an early morning flight...it leaves at 6:55am. Now thankfully we live only about 20 minutes max from the airport. Unfortunately my husband and I differ on how much time we really need to spend in an airport before a flight. He has done far more travel, mostly for work, than I have and he has a routine that he enjoys and that includes SITTING at the airport. We've already started the discussions on this and I *THINK* he has allowed us to leave by 4:45am. If you glance back at my Thanksgiving Trip report you'll note that we also had to be in the car at a CRAZY early time...and we did make it for that one. Anyway provided flights are all okay (we are flying Memorial Day weekend) we should arrive just after 9am in Orlando. We'll pick up our rental car (it's so easy to do there) and head directly to the Beach Club Resort. With any luck, we'll be there before 11am. If our room is ready, we unload and check in and then grab a quick snack and head to the pool for a little while. If our room is NOT ready...then we may drive over to the Contemporary and maybe walk over to MK for a bit. We have a late lunch reservation (technically brunch) at Chef Mickey's so we'd want to hang close to the Contemporary, and we can of course walk to MK from there. After lunch/brunch we'll head back to our resort hopefully for checkin. We may do some time at HS that evening, catching a bus over there, or do the pool if we didn't do it earlier.

SUNDAY: Magic Kingdom morning. I'd like to arrive close to opening and do as much as we can as I don't plan to make FPs for this park. So we'll probably do the BIG rides that we didn't get much of last time (the mountain rides) and when crowds get crazy we'll head back to the resort for pool time. We can grab lunch at MK or at our resort. Around 3pm or so, we'll head out to EPCOT probably via boat. I'm hoping to make a few FPs here such as Test Track which we didn't do last time. I'm doing my first DISBOARD meet here ever...having dinner with somebody and her family at Via Napoli which should be cool! Maybe the 7 of us will hang out after dinner at EPCOT for a bit as her son is about the same age as my youngest.

MONDAY: Still hoping this is the day the crazy crowds from opening weekend of Avatarland go away...but not betting on it. I may TRY for a ROL FP for this day, and if so get 3 evening FPs for AK setup. I'd love to ride EE at night, so that would be #2 FP and probably the safari for #3, all around dinnertime or after. Since we have a Beaches and Cream reservation for the late afternoon, I'm not sure what our morning plans will be right now. It would make sense to do EPCOT or HS on this day, but we'd have to do it early and WITHOUT FP+ most likely. So park, then back to resort for maybe some pool time, then early dinner/late lunch at Beaches and Cream. If we get ROL reserved, then head to AK around 5pm and stay as late as possible.

TUESDAY: If we didn't get ROL for Monday, the same thing will apply to AK for Tuesday night...get a ROL FP and some other rides so this would be our evening. If we already knocked that out Monday, then I'd probably make some FP+ for rides at HS or EPCOT around lunchtime, but we'd try to hit the park as early as possible. However if we were at AK until late the night before, no real rush. We'd do some rides at HS or EPCOT, then head back to our resort for a while for...what else? Pool. Our evening would be either AK (if we didn't do it already) for ROL or we'd head to MK and I have a late dinner at Skipper Canteen for us to try that. So it's either AK/pool/AK for Tuesday or HS/pool/MK for Tuesday.

WEDNESDAY:The dreaded LAST day of vacay for us. If the previous day was MK, then today we'd probably focus on EPCOT and HS since they are both near each other and near our resort. If we didn't do MK the previous day, we may do some early morning to afternoon MK time instead. We have to depart the parks by about 2:30pm for our 5:30pm flight home.

kittylady1972 · Feb 24, 2017

TRIP #2: AUGUST Farewell to Summer Update

So what do you do on a 7+ hour road trip?

Well if you are like me, you plan vacations.

So I was trying to decide what else to do in August other than our 4 nights in Vero Beach. Since the summer 2018 Disney Cruise prices came out this week, I had cruising on my brain.

Then I priced the 3 and 4 night Disney cruises for summer 2017 and I just couldn't bring myself to spend that.

However we do want to cruise and we'll be close to the cruise ports in Florida. Why not try Royal Caribbean?

So right now I'm considering a 4 night cruise out of Miami on RC and then we'd disembark from the ship and drive to Vero for 4 more nights.

That means no Disney parks in August....and I guess I can deal with that. We could always make a day trip out there from Vero if we wanted to do a park right?

Oh and I did end up booking Shades of Green for our October trip already. I saw it became available yesterday and I snagged a room there. I've invited others but not sure if we'll get any takers...and that is fine too.

Plus December is also still in play for a Disney trip.

That's my current plan!

kittylady1972 · Feb 26, 2017

So we are making the drive back home to MD after spending the weekend with my dad and brother and family. Friday was a wonderful evening at my parents' golf club celebrating my mom's life. We had a large turnout there and I met so many friends of my mom and dad who of course loved my mom. It was just so nice.

Saturday we spent the day cleaning out most of mom's stuff with my dad. We emptied out their closet of most of her clothing and between myself, my aunt and my sister-in-law we kept some items that we could use and had many many bags of items to donate. We went through her jewelry and other various collections of items. We are definitely returning to MD with more stuff than we left with and we need to return and get some other things at some point. I don't know if that will happen this month or maybe next month for Easter.

We are still discussing what to do with our August trip to Florida other than Vero Beach. I just don't know what to do there yet.

There is definitely a lot more travel to do in the next several months for us.

Right now our main concern is back with my MIL who is having a hard time again mentally as she continues her fight with cancer. She has bounced back from similar situations plenty of times but we know it's just a matter of time before she doesn't recover from her issues because her body has also been through so much already.

Anyway that's life for us right now.

kittylady1972 · Feb 28, 2017

TRIP #2: AUGUST Farewell to Summer Update

So remember that talk about a cruise?

Let's just forget about that shall we?

Now we are looking into spending a few days somewhere tropical...BEFORE we spend a few days at Disney's Vero Beach Resort. Extra beach time? Crazy! However I have kids who love the water and love to snorkel, and a DH who loves to scuba dive...and so he threw out the idea of the Virgin Islands. During our DISNEY Fantasy cruise, the ship stopped at St. Thomas and we then made our way over to St. John via ferry boat and eventually ended up here:

This is BEAUTIFUL Trunk Bay on St. John. It was absolutely stunning. We could have spent all day there.

Kids snorkeling:

Just wonderful:

Ok man I'd love to go back...but it's quite a journey, you have to fly into St. Thomas then take a ferry over to St. John...and when I looked up prices I just couldn't bring myself to do that this time around.

We looked into other tropical areas and DH came up with Grand Cayman.

Ok I totally think I could spend a few days here.

For the price of a cruise, we could pair airfare and spend 3 or 4 nights here instead. I'd be fine hanging at the pool(s) and sitting on the beach and the kids could do the pool and snorkel and DH could dive.

It's not Disney...and that's okay. We'll most likely try to bookend this trip with a few nights with my dad in North Carolina where we'll spend time at Myrtle Beach while there. Then we'll do Grand Cayman and then Vero Beach and the Kennedy Space Center.

Maybe we'll sneak over to Disney from Vero Beach one day...it's quite a drive but not out of the question...and maybe not.

Still have to narrow down some dates and such but currently this looks like our August trip and the only Disney there will be Disney's Vero Beach Resort.

And that's our AUGUST 2017 TRIP UPDATE!

kittylady1972 · Mar 1, 2017

The more I talk about Grand Cayman the more excited I get about that trip. We haven't even mentioned it to the kids but I know they will also love it. Still really can't book anything but I have my handle spreadsheet with numbers now for it. I'm not in any hurry to wish away summer, although it's supposed to be 74 degrees here in Maryland and severe thunderstorms...today...in MARCH! That high is crazy. We really haven't had much of a winter at all and believe me I'm not complaining. The nearby ski resorts are really hurting though and I imagine today won't help.

They are still talking about a chance of some snow and gusty winds on Friday morning though and back in the 40s all weekend with lows in the 20s.

That certainly makes me want to head to the beach now.

We are now in the month that I can make FP+s for May, but not until the end of the month. I think my park plans are okay for now:

SATURDAY: MAGIC KINGDOM afternoon or evening FP+s (must be before 2pm or after 3:30pm); optional: evening FPs at HS instead (after 6pm)
SUNDAY: MK park in the morning; EPCOT afternoon so FP+s at EPCOT before 4:30pm or after 7pm
MONDAY: Hoping to get a ROL FP for this day as well as maybe EE. Any FP+s have to be before 2pm at AK or after 5pm
TUESDAY: If we didn't get FP+ for ROL for Monday, then I'd look for FP+s here for that since it would be our last night. If we did AK the previous day, then today we'd make FP+ for rides at either HS or EPCOT in the morning/afternoon. Optional we could do some FP+s at MK instead for late afternoon/evening since we have a 7:30pm dinner there.
WEDNESDAY: Last day of vacay, so we'd probably do FP+s at EPCOT or HS.

That's the MAY 2017 TRIP plan as of right now. Obviously the plan could change depending on the FP+s that I am able to book.

Not to mention, I can also look into booking a possible DVC room for October...in just a few weeks. I'm not sure we'll change but I will look into it. We are currently book at SOG.

And in May...I can book DVC for December

I should probably just keep a list of these but I do have reminders in my online calendar.

iheartbelle87 · Mar 1, 2017

I'm here and possibly the first one?! that NEVER happens! Loving all of the trips you have planned... so envious!

kittylady1972 said:
I'm utilizing not only our DVC points to make the room "free" to us, but we also used some airline "points" to book our flights.

Amazing!

kittylady1972 said:
That evening, when everything had been settled, I checked my email...and found a notification welcoming me to Beach Club Villas for my future stay...the entire STAY. I just knew it was magic from above

That is such wonderful news <3 Clearly you guys have been through a lot this year and totally deserve this!

kittylady1972 said:
he has a routine that he enjoys and that includes SITTING at the airport. We've already started the discussions on this and I *THINK* he has allowed us to leave by 4:45am.

I have a mother like that... two hours early for for EVERYTHING!

kittylady1972 said:
and so he threw out the idea of the Virgin Islands.

AHH I LOVE LOVE LOVE the US Virgin Islands.

kittylady1972 said:
During our DISNEY Fantasy cruise, the ship stopped at St. Thomas and we then made our way over to St. John via ferry boat and eventually ended up here:

St John is just the best!!

kittylady1972 said:
his is BEAUTIFUL Trunk Bay on St. John. It was absolutely stunning. We could have spent all day there.

Trunk Bay is amazing! Honeymoon Beach is our favorite, there is no way to drive to the beach so everytime we've been it hasnt been at all crowded! You can either hike from where the ferry drops you off, of my preferred method it to take a cab to Caneel Bay Resort and walk to the beach from there. AhMAZING! We stay at the Marriot in St Thomas when we go and its amazing!

kittylady1972 · Mar 1, 2017

iheartbelle87 said:
I'm here and possibly the first one?! that NEVER happens! Loving all of the trips you have planned... so envious!
Amazing!
That is such wonderful news <3 Clearly you guys have been through a lot this year and totally deserve this!
I have a mother like that... two hours early for for EVERYTHING!
AHH I LOVE LOVE LOVE the US Virgin Islands.
St John is just the best!!

Trunk Bay is amazing! Honeymoon Beach is our favorite, there is no way to drive to the beach so everytime we've been it hasnt been at all crowded! You can either hike from where the ferry drops you off, of my preferred method it to take a cab to Caneel Bay Resort and walk to the beach from there. AhMAZING! We stay at the Marriot in St Thomas when we go and its amazing!

WELCOME! So nice to think I'm not just writing/talking to/for myself. Although if that's the case...so be it!

We will see if all of our trips come to fruition. Honestly I think we can manage most of them and having APs makes it a bit easier in some ways...that and DVC. We just have to make the drive to make it almost "free" for us but the kids are looking forward to flying in May for sure.

So you feel my pain a bit with the early airport arrival. pirate:

ARGH! Drives me nuts! :crazy2:

Yes the VI area is really nice. We absolutely LOVED Trunk Bay. The adventure getting there was pretty crazy though. Maybe one day I'll recount that story. We may have to check out Honeymoon Beach in the future. Perhaps one day we'll stay at St. Thomas and spend more time there.

Thanks for stopping by!! :wave:

kittylady1972 · Mar 1, 2017

Nostalgia...the last time we stayed at Beach Club Resort I wrote this post:

piglet1979 · Mar 3, 2017

Your plans look good. We were going to do a Disney cruise in the summer of 2018 but the prices were just too high. Not sure what we will do now. I am trying to talk my husband into going Disney this year. If we could get free dining and book at CBR to get the $75 gift card per night of stay it would be cheap but I can't get him to say yes yet.

xlsm · Mar 3, 2017

First, I want to offer my condolences for the loss of your mother. I am so, so sorry that both you and DH are having to go through any of this :hug:

I hope that the title of your thread is right, and that you can all heal together at your happy place! I love how BC came through for you.

As for Disney and trip related things...

I'm heading down in May, too, AND October! By myself in May (was supposed to take my mother in law) and with my mom in October.

I look forward to following along with your plans!!

OH, and your St. John pics are gorgeous!

kittylady1972 · Mar 3, 2017

Guess where I'm going right NOW??

I'm waiting to board the last leg of my flight to Orlando!

My daughter and I will attend the DVC Member party tonight!!!

I promise to do replies when I have more time.

We don't even have a hotel booked yet.

We have a rental car and our APs.

Stay tuned for more details....

kittylady1972 · Mar 4, 2017

It's 3am..and should probably get some sleep.

DVC Moonlight Magic athe MK was Awesome!

More fun at Walt Disney world Tomorrow!

kittylady1972 · Mar 4, 2017

GIRLS TRIP: SURPRISE!!

Good morning from Walt Disney World!

So yes my daughter and I are doing a surprise last minute girls weekend here again the parks. We arrived yesterday and will fly home tomorrow.

It is currently just above freezing at home in MD.

Yesterday was a totally crazy day.

I went to work at 6am...and left at 8:30am.

At 9am at home I looked up flights...and booked one to Florida at 9:15am for both of us. One way connecting in Charlotte NC with a 3 hour layover.

We arrived again the airport around 10am. Then airline kiosk wouldn't print our boarding passes for our 12pm flight. The airline customer service guy told me to try again around 11am. So we grabbed a quick bite to eat.

Tried again just after 11am...still no luck. Talked to the same airline guy who got on the phone with the airline people. At just after 11:20am we had boarding passes. Thankfully security line was very short. Plus I have TSA Precheck so we didn't have to take off our shoes.

We arrived at the gate around 11:30am as flight was boarding and were soon off. Oh and since we booked late...all middle seats for us and not together.

Arrived in Charlotte around 1:15pm. My brother lives in NC and works in the Charlotte area as a travel salesman for construction sites. Texted him to see if he was working in the area. He said he'd pick us up in 5 minutes. So then it took us 10 mins or more to find where he was having no idea about this CLT airport. We found him and he drove us to a small Mexican restaurant near the airport and bought us lunch then dropped us back off. Oh and before we met him we printed our boarding passes at the kiosk for our next flight.

While waiting at the gate to board...I finally booked our return flight home. We still had NO hotel in Disney but I was looking and had a few ideas. I thought I also booked a rental car...but I would learn later I didn't.

Flight to MCO was fine, landed on time around 6:20pm. We sat on tarmac on plane until after 7pm waiting for a gate. Plus we were seated near the back of the plane so we were almost the last ones off.

Headed right to rental car booth where I learned...I did not actually have a reservation. Guy there gave me the price to book right then, but also mentioned I might be able to get it cheaper online (wink wink). The rental car place was pretty busy but we stepped aside and I booked the car via my phone (battery still draining fast!) but it saved me about $15. The rental car guy points out our car...it's the LAST one of that size and almost one of the last cars they have there! Get into the car...and the maintenance light is on but don't have a choice we believe, so we drive off. Oh and it sounds like the tires are a little off too. Our poor little Ford Fiesta! We keep our fingers crossed and head off to the Magic Kingdom and since my GPS on my phone is having a hard time tracking us...I just head off on the toll road and hope for the best!

We arrived at the gates of the Magic Kingdom by just after 8pm. Oh and since I brought my Sunpass with me for tolls I'm heading through the toll road and no booths, but then I see the sticker on the rental car for tolls (but I didn't prepay for that from them) so I'm worried about how that will be billed to me later.

Did I mention I also had no battery in my phone, no backup battery with me (but was charging phone in car with my car charger I brought along) and still no hotel booked?

So in the parking lot of MK I finally booked a hotel. Then we went into the park with both of us at under 20% battery on our phones.

We headed right for Space Mountain. My daughter had booked a FP for it that had ended at 8:45pm but I was sure we would be in the park to make it. We weren't.

Along the way we stopped at TTA first...waited in line. We got to the bottom of the ramp and they stopped us because the ride was stopped. We waited about 10 minutes and then they said they were evacuating it and made us all get out of line.

So on to SM.

We had some photos done...

then went on the ride..posted was 35 mins I think and we were on in about 25 mins.

Then I think we did TTA. Then it was after 10pm so Moonlight Magic had started and we had free food to eat. We hadn't had food since lunch at the Mexican place in North Carolina with my brother!

Headed to Cosmic Rays. Line wasn't too bad and moved somewhat quickly. This was all free...Oh I already ate the hotdog in the far left corner.

We got an extra soda to fuel us since we were dragging and we had 3 hours to go!

Let's see I think we did the Speedway next...girl loves this one. While in line I was looking up the characters and was puzzled by Bowler Hat guy. The woman in front of us in line says she was confused too...but it's the guy from Meet the Robinsons. Oh...cool. I tell my daughter we have to go see him so we head back towards Space Mt.[/COLOR]

The line was too long to wait but I snapped a photo with my camera.

Next we headed towards Fantasyland and rode Pooh and then the Carousel. Then we headed towards Main Street for the special midnight fireworks.

I couldn't believe how NOT packed it was around the castle. We got some photos right before the show started.

Next we headed towards BTMRR and rode that with about a 10 minute wait.

Then we headed towards Pirates but it was nearing 12:30am and Pirates showed a 25 min wait with line outside the doors. We skipped it and instead headed to Haunted Mansion, there was nobody I line. We walked all the way up to the doors and no CM even outside them. Doors opened and she walked out. We had the whole place to ourselves. It was awesome.

She told us we COULD take flash pictures and mentioned this was probably our ONLY time to do that! We had her take some of us alone in the Stretch Room! They are on my camera which also has a dying battery but I'll post them eventually. My daughter was very freaked out about riding HM all alone. Apparently that is the only time it is Scary!

We left the ride and made our way to the park exit, music playing in the parks and people dancing.

So much Fun!

Headed to our hotel and checked in around 2am.

And here we are...she is still snoozing and she is the one who made our FPS for today. All at EPCOT and none before 11am. We will see how long she snoozss.

We will see if later I can update again, in just about 26 hours we will depart for the airport with much less money but some memories to share forever.

ariane37 · Mar 4, 2017

I'm finally here Dina, so sorry it took me so long!! And omg had no idea you went down for the DVC event, how awesome :goodvibes

My head is spinning with all your trip plans lol but all your ideas sound great. I am sorry your MIL once again isn't doing well and I hope she bounces back. It's too soon for you guys to have to go through this again :hug:

kittylady1972 · Mar 5, 2017

piglet1979 said:
Your plans look good. We were going to do a Disney cruise in the summer of 2018 but the prices were just too high. Not sure what we will do now. I am trying to talk my husband into going Disney this year. If we could get free dining and book at CBR to get the $75 gift card per night of stay it would be cheap but I can't get him to say yes yet.

Yes agree the Disney cruises are so expensive..But so great. Now I can only bring myself to book if I can get a discount. I hope you can convince your husband to do a Disney trip...GOOD LUCK!

xlsm said:
First, I want to offer my condolences for the loss of your mother. I am so, so sorry that both you and DH are having to go through any of this

I hope that the title of your thread is right, and that you can all heal together at your happy place! I love how BC came through for you.

As for Disney and trip related things...

I'm heading down in May, too, AND October! By myself in May (was supposed to take my mother in law) and with my mom in October.

I look forward to following along with your plans!!

OH, and your St. John pics are gorgeous!

Thanks for your kind words. I have done a solo trip before...It was nice so enjoy! How nice that you can do a mom trip too. This is my first mom-daughter trip right now and it's really been nice with my girl. I can see us doing it again in the future as she gets older...I hope!

ariane37 said:
I'm finally here Dina, so sorry it took me so long!! And omg had no idea you went down for the DVC event, how awesome
My head is spinning with all your trip plans lol but all your ideas sound great. I am sorry your MIL once again isn't doing well and I hope she bounces back. It's too soon for you guys to have to go through this again

Glad you could make it here! And thanks for your kind words also.

Yes this was a crazy crazy last minute trip but it really has been nice. I'll have more to write soon about our weekend and my opinion on off-site hotels as well. Today is our last day and we are hoping to spend a few hours this morning in HS and hit only the big stuff before heading to the airport. This will be our first rope drop so fingers crossed!

Jenny Sanders · Mar 5, 2017

Hi Dina! What a whirlwind!!!! Sometimes, last minute trips are the best!!!

Healing at our Happy Place: making GOOD 2017 memories: Mar, May, Aug, Oct, Dec TRs (3/24 UPDATE)

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