I Promise, This Time I Won't Laugh If a Bird Poops on Your Head" - A Spring 2010 PTR

[pacrosby]

alrighty............time to put some of this stuff on paper.

First up...................my little vent. I've been harboring this for awhile. Regarding this trip. This 'little' trip. I remember when they announced it at the studio in September; that 2010 was 'the year'. Of course I didn't have to ask Olivia twice, she jumped at the suggestion And at that point it'd been since 2005 since our first and only 'family' trip to WDW (sans Brennan who was still cooking in my belly at that point). I had been itchin' for a reason to go and now I had it While some families were going to make it a full family trip we decided that Liv deserved some 'girl' time. I mean having three little brothers isn't always so easy. Hey, and we could even 'drag' Nani along with us. She also jumped at the chance Perfect.

Ok, but how much is this going to end up costing us? We've got airline fees for three, and hotel (All Star Music @ 108 dollars per night) and park tickets (1/2 price deal on park hoppers) and of course food, but we're not fancy eaters. Not even Nani. Not bad. We decided to add two nights to the 'dancing' part of the trip making it a 5 nighter. No sense flying in all the way from Boston for the weekend, right? My mom insisted on paying for her airline ticket and 1/2 the room (I tried to fight her on that but she was having none of it). This really WAS going to be quite affordable! The studio did ask for a 50 dollar participation fee...............ok, I'll buy that. Really too good to pass up. We were on board.

The airline tickets were booked in January. Jet Blue. 178 pp (with fees and taxes 220). Done deal.

And then came the hidden costs

Oh didn't we tell you about the group picture? That'll be twenty dollars. And your share of the cost for the bus transportation for the dancers. That's thirteen. You're going to need a new pair of jazz shoes. Thirty dollars. And three costumes. That's seventy five dollars. A group dinner for fifty dollars per person (make one hundred fifty for me). And then rehearsal fees. At ten dollars an hour. Rehearsals started during vacation. Eight hours that week. There have been rehearsals every weekend since. Three hours every Sunday. Are you adding this up???????? Already I've got over two hundred and fifty dolllars in rehearsal fees jacked up and we've still got a month to go

So much for a cheap trip huh?



But that's ok, dd's worth it. And Nani's coming too

How's that go? A trip to WDW with your 81 year old mom for 10 year old dd to dance in Downtown Disney almost 2000 dollars. The memories you'll make?

Priceless.






.

 

[pacrosby]

Now for the itinerary.

We will be leaving on Thursday April 29th. I picked the latest flight I could (7:55 pm) so Liv could go to school (we have already missed 7 days of school for Matty's Wish trip ). Flight is non-stop and will get us in to Orlando at 11:00. Late I know, but what can you do? We'll be using Disney transportation and I'm hoping at that hour it's pretty timely. It'd be a bummer if we got in much later than midnight.

Friday - hoping to get to Animal Kingdom as early as we can manage. Definately something my Mom would enjoy. The goal is to do a full day tour and really enjoy what the park has to offer. No plans for meals as of yet. AK is open 9-6 so we'll look towards making plans for dinner outside of the park. We have to meet the 'group' back at the hotel at 9:00 pm. I'm sure we'll be in bed early.

Saturday - Liv has to be at Epcot at 9:00 am for a morning workshop with the Disney dancers so we'll be up early for breakfast I'm sure. A bus will take all the girls together so, once I see her off, Mom and I are on our own Obviously we will make our way over to Epcot as well. We'll try and take in some things that might be less of an interest to Liv in the morning hours and then meet her at around noon time. Definately need to do at least one Kim Possible mission (didn't do any in December). We have a reservation at Le Chefs France at around 2:00 for lunch. Mom's one request was for a quaint french restaurant (more for the ambiance than the food I think ). Really looking forward to spending lots of time in the World Showcase (which we also missed in December). My mom and I are really big gardeners and the Flower and Garden Festival will be in full swing so we're both really looking forward to that.

Sunday - the girls are doing their performance at the Waterfront Stage in Downtown Disney this day. Right now the actual performance time is up in the air. No matter what she will be off with the other girls early in the day so it's going to be me and Mom again. If Liv has a later performance Mom and I may go to a park (back to Epcot?) in the morning with plans to get to DTD in plenty of time for the performance. If the performance is earlier we'll probably just hang around DTD and "shop"!!!!! A group dinner is planned at Hollywood Studios for 7 pm. After that the 'group' will be going to Fantasmic but I'm thinking we'll skip that since we just saw it in December (and it wasn't my favorite). It appears right now that MK may have EMH so maybe we'll head over there for some late night fun!

Monday - we're on our own today. I'm tossing around the idea of doing Mickey's Magical Milestone Tour at MK at 9:00 and then staying there for a bit before hopping back over to Hollywood Studios. I don't have any reservations yet but I'd like to get us one at HS for dinner. I think HS has EMH tonight.

Tuesday - our last day but our plane doesn't leave until about 6:30. I've got a reservation for Chef Mickey's for a late breakfast at 10:30. We won't have a park ticket today so I was tossing around the idea of playing mini-golf at Fantasia Gardens. Since we're relying on the ME we'll have to leave by 3:30 though so it's really not a tremendous amount of time to fill up. We'll see. Sadly we have a layover in NYC on the way home and won't be in until after midnight. It's going to be an early morning for my Olivia when the alarm sounds for the school bus on Wednesday





I'll be thinking alittle more about food options next. Recommendations are always welcome...........................just keep in mind that we've got very simple palates


.

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

What a trip to remember Your plans look great. Its good that you and your mom will be able to do some things while she is with her group. The cost is certainly adding up but it will be so worth it

 

[yinyanggirls]

Thinking about French restaurants reminded me of Le Cellier. (Keep in mind I know nothing personally) Everyone raves about it, and even though it's in Canada it sounds French.

I am hoping we get to try Boma and Ohana but not sure yet. The Contemporary's CA Grill is supposed to be the "best" food, it's a little fancy so might be good for your group without little ones, and you can watch the fireworks if you're there at the right time.

Just a few ideas....

 

[pacrosby]

What a trip to remember Your plans look great. Its good that you and your mom will be able to do some things while she is with her group. The cost is certainly adding up but it will be so worth it

Yeah, so much for a cheap little getaway huh? It will be so worth it though you are so right about that. The opportunity to do things like this are, sadly, coming to a close. Right now she's healthy as a horse and full of life. We need to grab her while we still can. I'm still trying to get 'both' my folks to come with us in December (assuming it plays out as planned) but that might be a tough sell. Mom would go in a heartbeat; Dad? He can be a bit of a pill

Thinking about French restaurants reminded me of Le Cellier. (Keep in mind I know nothing personally) Everyone raves about it, and even though it's in Canada it sounds French.

I am hoping we get to try Boma and Ohana but not sure yet. The Contemporary's CA Grill is supposed to be the "best" food, it's a little fancy so might be good for your group without little ones, and you can watch the fireworks if you're there at the right time.

Just a few ideas....

Thanx much Melissa! Any and all thoughts are welcome. I had heard about Le Celier but ruled it out because it's seems to be mostly known as a steakhouse (not our thing) and it's in the cellar Le Chefs is street level and from the px look very much like you see of those cafes in Paris (dh and I were lucky enough to travel there before kids)

What kind of food is Boma and Ohana? I'll have to look it up. Thanks for the ideas.

Right now I'm looking for something for dinner after AK on Friday and something for Monday, probably late lunch/dinner.................my plan is to be at MK until mid-afternoon and then move on over to HS. Meals don't necessarily have to be at the park we're at.........................we're always up for an adventure

 

[yinyanggirls]

Boma is the African themed buffet at AKL. Heard nothing but wonderful reviews of it. Ohana is at the Poly resort, and is, well, polynesian food, mostly meat skewers, rice, nothing too bizarres. They have dancing and stuff going on around you so it's supposed to be fun atmosphere. You can also see the fireworks from that one if there at the right time.

 

[pacrosby]

Thanx for the info Melissa. I did look into those two at your suggestion. A bit more pricey then I was thining of plus we are not very adventurous when it comes to food. If we aren't going to sample the specialities of the restaurant it seems silly to go there (although you are right the atmosphere in Ohana does seem like it'd be fun)








After alot of going back and forth I think I've pretty much figured out the food situation. Not too too much has changed. To review:


Friday -

Breakfast: in the room
Lunch: at Animal Kingdom - 'Picnic in the Park' if it is available when we go otherwise Flame Tree Barbecue
Dinner: if we stay at Ak until close we will return to ASM and eat at the food court; if we leave by late afternoon we will park hop over to Epcot's World Showcase and eat at Boulangerie Patisserie in France


Saturday -

Breakfast: in the room
Lunch: in Epcot's World Showcase at 2:00 at Les Chefs de France
Dinner: assuming our feet are all walked out by early evening we will take the boat over to Hollywood Studios for a late dinner at 50's Prime Time Diner (7:55 reservation). We can always cancel it if we want to stay at Epcot.


Sunday -

Breakfast: in the room
Lunch: Earl of Sandwich in Downtown Disney (time is dependent on Liv's performance schedule)
Dinner: group dinner at Hollywood Studios

Monday -

Breakfast: in the room
Lunch: Afternoon Tea at the Garden View Lounge/Grand Floridian
Dinner: late dinner at The Plaza Restaurant at MK (7:30)


Tuesday -

Breakfast: Chef Mickey's Character Breakfast at 10:30
Lunch: with such a late breakfast, lunch may be nothing more than a quick snack before getting on the ME at 3:30 to get back to the airport. Option #1has us playing mini-golf at Fantasia Gardens............in this case the snack may be a quick-pick at the food court back at ASM before boarding the ME. Option #2 has us strolling around the Boardwalk for a few hours in which case the snack will likely be a stop at Beaches and Cream (I think I'm likin' option #2 more and more )




All the reservations have been made except for the Afternoon Tea at the Garden View Lounge/GF. Think I better call them tomorrow.





.

 

[pacrosby]

Gee whiz.................no one out there huh?

Should I take it personally????

I guess it's a good thing my parents blessed with me with a strong sense of self!

Anyway...................

My desire to do breakfasts in the room had me wondering what these nutritious delicious 'breakfasts' could actually consist of. Fortunately we are simple people, food-wise, but still..................I mean we do need to start our day off right, right?? I had read about the 'fridge swap' (what genius came up with that idea?) but sadly there is no availability for our dates. And I know we can 'rent' a little fridge for our room but at 10 bucks a day????? I don't know, that's 50 bucks. "I" can do alot better with 50 bucks. And then, finally, the lightbulb came on Why we don't need no stickin' fridge? Heck, for 3-4 bucks a day I can simply walk down to the 'store' in the morning and buy a pint/quart of milk. That's a whopping savings of about 7 bucks a day (I've told you this girl is cheap!). So the plan for breakfast? I'll pack our suitcases with a load of protein bars, protein drink packets, dry cereal, apples and bananas and with a pint of milk a day purchased fresh from the resort store we'll be golden. There. That settles that!


Procrastinator that I am I never did get around to reserving that Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian................but I will. That's definately something my Mom will enjoy and will be a nice 'girlie' thing to do for an afternoon break. I'm hoping it won't be tough to get given I am pretty flexible with the time. I also need to reserve Mickey's Magical Milestones Tour for that Monday morning. I figure it will be the last time we can see Mickey's and Minnie's country houses AND we'll get a private tour Hope I can stop taking pictures long enough to enjoy it in real time Nothing else to 'book' thank goodness but still need to figure out what attractions are must-do's at each location. Don't think 81 year old mom is into commando style touring! We keep warning her that if she can't keep up we'll be renting her a wheelchair or worse yet, an ECV!! Her response? Mom's much too proud for that. She's started regular walks down at the high school track to build up her endurance


Anyway..............Happy Easter everyone. And if anyone is really reading, feel free to at least give me a wave

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

Your itenerary sounds great! When we went in 08 dh kept the resort store's milk on the low side lol. Every morning he would have to go get a half gallon of milk. Chef Mickeys is still in the back of my mind. I really want to try them. I'm hoping somehow we could "try" to get reservations if I call the day we want to go. It's unlikely but worth a try.

I have started training for our trip too. More like trying to get my body to understand it needs to "move" lol.

 

[yinyanggirls]

Either I'm still learning the DIS boards or they do kooky things because every night I browse through all the "new" posts on the threads I subscribe to and it didn't tell me there was anything new here. Sorry! (I'm going to double check my subscription to yours too Tonya)

Anyway, I love the milk idea. I'm cheap too, unless something really seems worth it. The tea sounds fun for you guys. My family (even just us girls) are not at that point where a dignified tea is a place where we belong. Maybe someday!

All the others sound good. You guys are so flexible, you'll be fine whatever you end up needing to do.

 

[pacrosby]

Your itenerary sounds great! When we went in 08 dh kept the resort store's milk on the low side lol. Every morning he would have to go get a half gallon of milk. Chef Mickeys is still in the back of my mind. I really want to try them. I'm hoping somehow we could "try" to get reservations if I call the day we want to go. It's unlikely but worth a try.

I have started training for our trip too. More like trying to get my body to understand it needs to "move" lol.

Have you tried to get reservations for Chef Mickey's but found them to be booked already? Have you been real flexible with the time/date? For whatever reason I managed to get all the ones I wanted and I booked only 4-6 weeks out for both this trip and Matty's trip. Hmmmmmmmm I will have to admit though that it took alot of finagling with the time. My Chef Mickey's reservation this time was a tough one until I changed the time to much later in the morning. Don't give up!

Either I'm still learning the DIS boards or they do kooky things because every night I browse through all the "new" posts on the threads I subscribe to and it didn't tell me there was anything new here. Sorry! (I'm going to double check my subscription to yours too Tonya)

Anyway, I love the milk idea. I'm cheap too, unless something really seems worth it. The tea sounds fun for you guys. My family (even just us girls) are not at that point where a dignified tea is a place where we belong. Maybe someday!

All the others sound good. You guys are so flexible, you'll be fine whatever you end up needing to do.

I don't 'subscribe' to anyone's thread (still haven't figured out how although I'm sure it's not all that difficult) so I just scroll through the first few pages to see who's been chatting away. The Gingerbread Boy has had new installments recently too (nudge nudge wink wink).

Yes we are flexible. It'll be fun, like with the Wish trip, to come back when it's over and see how closely we actually followed 'the plan'






oh, and guess what? Another 'bill' came in the mail for rehearsal and costume fees. "Please fork over another 150 bucks Mrs. Crosby". What nerve











.

 

[kdzbear]

I am still here and reading along. I actually thought about you the other day when we were at the zoo. Some birds flew overhead and my daughter covered her head. I asked what she was doing and she said that she did not want me to laugh at her again like I did when the bird pooped on her head on the way to the Contemporary for breakfast at Chef Mickeys. I had forgotten all about it. I do remember laughing so hard that I had tears streaming down my face. This is my nine year old that it happened to.

I think that your breakfast plans are great. I packed pop tarts one year!

Happy Easter!

 

[pacrosby]

I am still here and reading along. I actually thought about you the other day when we were at the zoo. Some birds flew overhead and my daughter covered her head. I asked what she was doing and she said that she did not want me to laugh at her again like I did when the bird pooped on her head on the way to the Contemporary for breakfast at Chef Mickeys. I had forgotten all about it. I do remember laughing so hard that I had tears streaming down my face. This is my nine year old that it happened to.

I think that your breakfast plans are great. I packed pop tarts one year!

Happy Easter!

Ahhhh, glad to hear I'm not the only one who laughs hysterically instead of leaping to the victim's aid To this day every time I retell that story I can't stop laughing which invariably gets whoever I'm talking to laughing too. It's contagious!

Ooooooh pop tarts!!! Yummy. Unfortunately they are no longer on my list of accepted food items (wah wah wah...............). I started on a 'healthy eating kick' last month. No more coke, lots of fruits and vegetables and very little junk. Bummer huh?

Of course I can't disappoint the Easter Bunny so I get a pass this weekend

Anyway thanx for checking in I just read someone's TR who talked about how she felt like people were 'stalking' her when they 'lurked' but didn't post. It was soooooooooo funny but I kind of understood where she was coming from. You start wondering how it is that that that ticker keeps climbing (climbing slowly but climbing nonetheless LOL) and yet such a teeny tiny percentage ever say anything. Reminds me of that song from back in my day.............................."Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmm"

 

[pnutallergymom]

Hey Pamela!!!!

Yeah, I'm still alive...although, not kicking!!! Just avoiding the "other" thread......just not feeling the love if ya KWIM?? Its boring me. I'm having more fun laughing at the "I hate poolhoppers", "How dare the skywriter ruin my vacation" and "What do you mean my kid can't pee in the flowers" threads!! Much more personality over there!!! Don't worry though, I've still been "stalking" the gingerbread boy, and living vicariously through Melissa's depiction of DisneyLand!!!

Your itinerary sounds great!!! We might just have to hop on over to DD and watch Liv .....Brenna would love that!!

Can you believe all these fees for the sports etc?? Every day I feel like I am writing a check for something for someone!! I'm going to have to go back to work, just to keep up!!!

 

[wishin' on a star]

Okay...I know I posted here, and I thought I subscribed, but look, I haven't been here since my first post! I come on the DIS and I get so overwhelmed I don't know where to go first or next. I can't begin to keep up!

Your plans sound great! I like all of your choices a lot!

 

[pacrosby]

Hey Pamela!!!!

Yeah, I'm still alive...although, not kicking!!! Just avoiding the "other" thread......just not feeling the love if ya KWIM?? Its boring me. I'm having more fun laughing at the "I hate poolhoppers", "How dare the skywriter ruin my vacation" and "What do you mean my kid can't pee in the flowers" threads!! Much more personality over there!!! Don't worry though, I've still been "stalking" the gingerbread boy, and living vicariously through Melissa's depiction of DisneyLand!!!

Your itinerary sounds great!!! We might just have to hop on over to DD and watch Liv .....Brenna would love that!!

Can you believe all these fees for the sports etc?? Every day I feel like I am writing a check for something for someone!! I'm going to have to go back to work, just to keep up!!!

Talk about 'not feeling the love'? I'm talkin' to myself both here AND over there with the Gingerbread Boy Lost my 'fan base' over there when I started taking too long I guess Let that be a lesson to all of you who have yet to write their TR!!!!

oooooh, so you've been tracking all of those crazy threads eh? Do you respond too or just lurk? I've gotten sucked in in the past and invariably got myself in trouble (dry sarcasm doesn't translate well over a message board ). Now I just try and stay away (but I must admit I did catch the kids peeing in the bushes thread LOL)

If Brenna likes dance (or dances herself) she might enjoy spending some time at DTD that Sunday. I think the performances are running all day. I've no idea our performance time. Hoping I find out before we go.

And yes....................the fees!! Whose idea was it to have four kids???????? (oh yeah, that was me )

Okay...I know I posted here, and I thought I subscribed, but look, I haven't been here since my first post! I come on the DIS and I get so overwhelmed I don't know where to go first or next. I can't begin to keep up!

Your plans sound great! I like all of your choices a lot!

Hey, don't feel bad. I am doing such a bad job trying to keep up with people's threads myself.

Thanx for popping back in!










on a planning note can you believe I STILL have not called to make those final reservations??????? I have some concerns about the Mickey's Magical Milestone Tour because of the changes going on with the Expo Hall and ToonTown (the tour starts at the Hall and ends at ToonTown). I've read many say you just can't trust the info you get from CM's when you call so getting a reliable update when I try to book is probably out. I think I'll see if I can start my own thread and ask if anyone has been recently/knows anything about it. I'd hate to book it thinking it's going to be one thing only to find it ends up being something quite different.

 

[yinyanggirls]

Okay, if you have a PTR/TR that you just LOVE and want to be able to find easily....
at the top of the page of posts you'll see a tab that says "thread tools". Click on that and then click on "subscribe to this thread". To find your subscribed threads you go to "quick links" (top right of every page, underneath the WELCOME sign).

You really do like to be flexible if you haven't finalized yet. What dates are you going? I looked and couldn't find them....

 

[pnutallergymom]

And yes....................the fees!! Whose idea was it to have four kids???????? (oh yeah, that was me ).

Ok...time for TRUE CONFESSIONS!!

Would you believe me if I told you I just asked DH last night if we could have just one more??? Pretty, Pretty Please???

 

[pacrosby]

Okay, if you have a PTR/TR that you just LOVE

might you suggest the PTR by that lovely lady from Arizona with her two beautiful daughters??????????

trip dates? 4/29 - 5/4. I've got time. It's only the "Afternoon Tea" and the Tour that haven't been booked. And eep in mind I didn't get on here until 11/9 for our Wish trip for 12/9! Last minute Lucy..............that's me!

thanx for the tutorial on 'subscribing'

Ok...time for TRUE CONFESSIONS!!

Would you believe me if I told you I just asked DH last night if we could have just one more??? Pretty, Pretty Please???

Actually I would I bugged dh for 3 yrs after Bren was born for "just one more"! I had two 'close' calls that just weren't meant to be. At that point I was "really" getting old and figured it was time to just throw in the towel!

Olivia will never forgive me for not 'giving' her a sister

 

[yinyanggirls]

Ok...time for TRUE CONFESSIONS!!

Would you believe me if I told you I just asked DH last night if we could have just one more??? Pretty, Pretty Please???

You guys must have really laid back kids. We used to say we wanted 4 or 5, until Phoebe came along. With the time consumed by her special needs we said maybe 3. Then Tessa came along and (just like NOAH standing by the ark) said ONLY TWO! ONLY TWO!

I've been caring for a little girl for the last two years, since she was born, and the days that I have her it serves as a reminder why we made that decision.