How many acronyms can we fit in 1 trip?MNSSHP,F&W,WWOHP,&HHN-Update 10.21-TR started!

[PrincessInOz]

Gosh! Every PTR I've looked at tonight - everyon seems to be adding more days!

 

[jenny105]

Hi! I saw you on another PTR and I'm joining in. I'll be leaving Disney the day you arrive!

I can't believe you've never been on Space Mountain! That's one of my favorites. And TSM is GREAT! I think you'll love it

 

[arbolita]

Hello everyone - just here to make a quick update. I'm hoping to have some time this weekend to do a proper update here and to catch up on all of your TR's and PTR's. Things have definitely been interesting here the past few days. On Tuesday my family found out that my sister is expecting her second child, and then on Wednesday she had a fire at the house she's renting which completely destroyed the second floor, which is where all the bedrooms are. Most of their possessions on that floor are ruined either from the fire itself or from soot/smoke damage. My parents helped today with sorting through things, and they are doing their best to wash some of the clothes now to see what can be kept. I'm going up there tomorrow to help pack up things from the rest of the house and take some clothes and shoes I've collected so far for them. My mom and aunt who have both seen the house said that everyone was very lucky that were all able to get out of the house unharmed.

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Oh my goodness, how scary! I'm glad no one was harmed though!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Wow. That sucks. At least everybody was OK.

Congratz on your sister's baby on the way!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Oh WOW! Glad to hear that everyone is safe and sound.....I bet your sister is glad to have the family helping her out.

 

[HeatherBelle614]

Oh no! I'm glad to hear that everyone is safe, though!!!

 

[arbolita]

Thank you everybody for your kind words. The past week has definitely been one of the most emotional I've had in awhile. I'm exhausted but at the same time I don't feel like I can sleep.

I spent the majority of Saturday at my sister's house, packing up things from the first floor to go into temporary storage. I was able to take a couple pictures of the damage to the house:

These two are from where the fire started, in the bathroom. The fire department said that the official cause was old/outdated wiring.

This is the first floor below where the fire was - the ceiling started to fall in pieces from all the water from the fire hoses:

We've already had many people donating clothes, books/toys and money to my family, or let us know that they are in the process of collecting things for them. The early estimate for when the house is going to be finished is sometime in September or October, so in addition to obtaining smoke-free clothes, their other big priority is finding a place to stay for the next few months. They've been switching between my parents house and my brother-in-law's mother's house, but neither really has the room for them to stay for the whole time. I hope they are able to figure something out soon though, because I can imagine it's not easy on any of them, my nephew included, to feel displaced like that.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Those pictures are very sobering! And for someone who is a lot of miles away, they show that there is a lot of damage and the potential was disaster is HUGE.
I'm so glad that your sister's family made it safely out.

 

[onelilspark]

So glad everyone is safe!

 

[jenny105]

So sorry to hear about the fire but the most important thing is that everyone is safe!

 

[glennbo123]

Oh my gosh! That was awful! I'm glad everyone is okay.

 

[arbolita]

Oh my gosh! That was awful! I'm glad everyone is okay.

So sorry to hear about the fire but the most important thing is that everyone is safe!

So glad everyone is safe!

Those pictures are very sobering! And for someone who is a lot of miles away, they show that there is a lot of damage and the potential was disaster is HUGE.
I'm so glad that your sister's family made it safely out.

Thanks everyone. They've received a lot of support from people near and far over the past week. They still don't know what their temporary living situation is going to be, but at least they have the basics to get through the day to day stuff.

I think it's time for me to do a Disney update, because I do have some exciting news on that front!

 

[arbolita]

Updated ADR's

As mentioned in my previous post about our extended plans, we also have some newly added ADR's, as well as one restaurant change from our previous list.

If you want to refer to our original ADR's, click here.


Here's the new list:
Saturday, October 9
Jiko 5:45 PM

Sunday, October 10
Coral Reef 12:05 PM

Monday, October 11
Raglan Road 6:45 PM

Tuesday, October 12
Whispering Canyon Cafe 9:35 AM

Wednesday, October 13
Yachtsmen Steakhouse 6:30 PM

Friday, October 15
Le Cellier 12:45 PM


I am really excited about the additions we made, especially Jiko. I todl Mr. Arb about the breakfast skillet at WCC, and he all but demanded we find a way to add it in to our schedule also.

I also found out last night that my former roommate is arriving at Disney the day before we leave! She's going for a birthday trip, and hasn't been to Disney since she was a kid. I can't wait to help her plan!

 

[glennbo123]

Your ADR list looks like a meat-lovers dream!

I also found out last night that my former roommate is arriving at Disney the day before we leave! She's going for a birthday trip, and hasn't been to Disney since she was a kid. I can't wait to help her plan!

Lucky!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Oh my goodness - I can't believe those pictures! It is so scary to think that bad wires can cause all of that damage.

You've got some good looking ADR's! And how fun you're going to get to help a friend plan! I would love to do that - but I don't have any friends that go to Disney anymore.

 

[KatMark]

Sorry I've been missing (Mark had his surgery this week). Those pictures are just awful...but so glad everyone is safe. I'll be curious to know what you thought of WCC for breakfast (we went for dinner and really detested it, but I'd be willing to give breakfast a try, but I don't hear much about the breakfast).

 

[HeatherBelle614]

Those pictures are so sad. I'm glad that people are being so generous, though. Hugs to your family!

The ADRs look fantastic!!!

 

[arbolita]

Those pictures are so sad. I'm glad that people are being so generous, though. Hugs to your family!

The ADRs look fantastic!!!

Thanks! I've gotten a few more things in the mail and from coworkers to bring to my sister. I'm going to take them up to her next weekend since we'll be together at my cousin's graduation party.

I'm very excited for the ADR's - we've only been to two of the places before (Yachtsmen and Raglan Road), so I'm really eager to try the others.

Sorry I've been missing (Mark had his surgery this week). Those pictures are just awful...but so glad everyone is safe. I'll be curious to know what you thought of WCC for breakfast (we went for dinner and really detested it, but I'd be willing to give breakfast a try, but I don't hear much about the breakfast).

Did everything go well with the surgery?

I've heard mixed reviews about their dinner also - I researched it quite a bit before the honeymoon because it was something we really considered, but opted not to do. But Mr. Arb can't say no to all-you-can-eat bacon

Oh my goodness - I can't believe those pictures! It is so scary to think that bad wires can cause all of that damage.

You've got some good looking ADR's! And how fun you're going to get to help a friend plan! I would love to do that - but I don't have any friends that go to Disney anymore.

I've always loved the idea of moving into an old house because of the charm and uniqueness, but because of the wiring issues my sister had, I've seriously been reconsidering that. It's been emotional enough just experiencing it through her.

I surprisingly have quite a few friends who are still into Disney - the only problem is that they go often enough they don't need my opinions, ha. I have to say that as excited as I am now to help my friend with some ideas, I am already mentally preparing for when I get to take my nephew (and soon-to-be neice or nephew) on their first trip. My sister hasn't been since we went when she was 7, so she'll be rediscovering everything too. It's going to be the Best. Trip. Ever. It probably won't happen for another 3-5 years, but you can bet I'm mentally taking notes every trip I make =)

Your ADR list looks like a meat-lovers dream!

I joked with Mr. Arb that I'm only letting him come on this trip so he can get all his steak needs out of his system for a few months. I'm just excited to go to Jiko to get my ostrich filet. There is an unsurprising limited number of places where you can get ostrich in Maryland.

 

[arbolita]

New Toys and a Tour?

We've been accumulating quite a few things to get us ready for our trip!

A couple weeks ago, Mr. Arb bought me the Canon Powershot S90 that I had been eying. I'm at the tail end of my summer course, so I haven't had much time to play around with it, but I love all the available settings and I've noticed a real difference in the quality of images compared to my old camera.

I also ordered this DVD set from Amazon:

It contains six different DVD's -
Disc #1 -- Walt Disney Resort: Behind the Scenes
Disc #2 -- Disneyland Resort: Behind the Scenes
Disc #3 -- Ultimate Walt Disney World
Disc #4 -- Disney's Animal Kingdom
Disc #5 -- Disney Cruise Line
Disc #6 -- Undiscovered Disney Parks

They are essentially updated versions of the shows the Travel Channel plays, so there was not a ton of new information, but I'm happy to have it to get me excited for this trip, and for my Disney-fix while I'm between trips. One of the DVD's showed a clip of the Keys to the Kingdom tour, and after watching it, Mr. Arb said that it would be fun to do the tour, especially so we could visit the tunnel system. Have any of you done the tour? Is it worth it? I'm not sure which day we'll go yet, but we do have several options.

I think our countdown is about 66 days out! I'm still trying to hold off on finalizing my daily plans until we get the schedule of Deminars for the F&W Festival, but I don't know if I can wait another (possible) three weeks!