If I say it out loud, will my wish come true.. PTR May 2011(Link to TR pg41)

[pinkxray]

That time of year, and with the deluxe plan, I'd get a few snacks, and watch wishes from main street. You shouldn't have any issues getting a decent spot. The chocolate covered marshmallows are AWESOME, and the caramel shop in Epcot.....well, I think I gained 5 lbs in the 15 minutes I was in line to get a strawberry and a piece of fudge. I ate the fudge right away, the strawberry I saved for today. Getting ready to eat it!!! YUM!!!! Pink, do you have facebook???

I think I might just grab a few snacks and watch it from Main Street. I am not going to cancel it for awhile though in case I change my mind.

I think I am the only person in the world not on facebook. Even DH is on there. I just figure I am online way too much and that would just force me to be on even more! One of these days I am sure I will be, but I am trying to stay away.

 

[ksl5f123]

Wow, so many changes! I am happy for you that you get to put some character meals back into your plan.

I can understand your concerns about the Wishes Dessert party. With deluxe dining, you are going to have so much food, I think it will probably be sugar overload. Maybe you can save that for the next trip.

 

[TinksThree]

Kids can be so indecisive sometimes that it drives grown-ups crazy! But I am glad you are discovering early enough that she wants to go to some character meals! I am glad my teenagers are still not "too cool" to go to the character meals! It is just a different experience.

I personally think the Wishes Dessert party looks so awesome but I have opted to not do it. I just think it is too much with all of our dining plans. So if I were doing the Deluxe DDP I would probably skip the WDP.

 

[pinkxray]

Wow, so many changes! I am happy for you that you get to put some character meals back into your plan.

I can understand your concerns about the Wishes Dessert party. With deluxe dining, you are going to have so much food, I think it will probably be sugar overload. Maybe you can save that for the next trip.

I am very excited she changed her mind. I have to give up breakfast at Kona and Kouzzina to do Chef Mickey and Akershus, but she's only 6 once.

I would love to do the WDP, but it will have to wait until next trip. It will be way too much with the dxdp. Plus, I really want to see the parade and Wishes from Main Street.

Kids can be so indecisive sometimes that it drives grown-ups crazy! But I am glad you are discovering early enough that she wants to go to some character meals! I am glad my teenagers are still not "too cool" to go to the character meals! It is just a different experience.

I personally think the Wishes Dessert party looks so awesome but I have opted to not do it. I just think it is too much with all of our dining plans. So if I were doing the Deluxe DDP I would probably skip the WDP.

Yeah, I don't know where she gets it from

The WDP looks great, but the desserts don't look like anything that special. I would rather get in the character meals then have Caitlin eating doughnuts and brownies at 10pm anyway. Maybe when she gets older we'll try it.

 

[crostorfer]

Personally, I think you should keep the Dessert Party, but that is just because I am going too, LOL! I just think it sounds much nicer to have a reserved seating area in a non-congested place than to fight the throngs on the street for good position, but that is just me. Plus, if you are on the tomorrowland side of the park you can use the sneaky route exit through the shops on that side and get around some of the crowd trying to leave after the show.

I re-added a Ohana after I noticed the put the turkey back on the menu! We are there on Sunday the 15th, which night do you have booked?

I start my full time gig today! I'm pretty excited. Nervous, but excited. I haven't had a full time job in so long I'm afraid I can't hack it now. I actually have to care now, LOL. There is a certain amount of freedom and irresponsibility that comes with working per diem, you can slack off a little more and get away with more apathy. Now, I actually have to show up on time. Oh, the humanity! LOL. My tombstone will read "She was 5 minutes late". I'm struggling now to make myself get off of the disboards and get ready for work here.

I hope those hours keep coming for you! We are at 88 days, it's so close I can taste it!

 

[crostorfer]

P.S. We're eating at Akershus Sunday the 15th at 9:40. It was the once princess meal Kass asked for again. Plus, I like being able to just walk over and ride the Maelstorm with no line when I'm done with breakfast.

 

[pinkxray]

Personally, I think you should keep the Dessert Party, but that is just because I am going too, LOL! I just think it sounds much nicer to have a reserved seating area in a non-congested place than to fight the throngs on the street for good position, but that is just me. Plus, if you are on the tomorrowland side of the park you can use the sneaky route exit through the shops on that side and get around some of the crowd trying to leave after the show.

I re-added a Ohana after I noticed the put the turkey back on the menu! We are there on Sunday the 15th, which night do you have booked?

I start my full time gig today! I'm pretty excited. Nervous, but excited. I haven't had a full time job in so long I'm afraid I can't hack it now. I actually have to care now, LOL. There is a certain amount of freedom and irresponsibility that comes with working per diem, you can slack off a little more and get away with more apathy. Now, I actually have to show up on time. Oh, the humanity! LOL. My tombstone will read "She was 5 minutes late". I'm struggling now to make myself get off of the disboards and get ready for work here.

I hope those hours keep coming for you! We are at 88 days, it's so close I can taste it!

P.S. We're eating at Akershus Sunday the 15th at 9:40. It was the once princess meal Kass asked for again. Plus, I like being able to just walk over and ride the Maelstorm with no line when I'm done with breakfast.

Good luck at work! There is a bit off being able to slack of as per diem. They posted a temporary full time 4-12 since the guy who had surgery will be out for a few months. I didn't apply and everyone thought I was crazy. Don't you want full time? Um, no I'm good. I worked full time for almost a month and I don't like it. Way too much. I am glad though b/c I have most of the money I need for our trip. This week the hours start to slow back down to 2-3 days a week and I am very happy to be back to that.


We are eating at Ohana May 15th at 6:10! What time will you be there?


I booked Akershus for 8:30 May 21. I had 9:35 but was able to move it up. I am really excited to try it. The food looks pretty good.

Do you see that our tickers say 2 months! I can't wait for Feb. to be over, then it will be so close.

I don't know about the dessert party. It just seems like too much, but I am going to think about it for a bit. Are you doing dxdp again or ddp?

 

[bouncycat]

WOOHOO for character breakfasts!! I love those, that's why we do the deluxe plan. It's alot of food, but it's well worth it. Plus you get mugs. So that's good too!!! 87 days, I'm jealous!!! I'm ready to go! Just took inventory in my closet on stuff that I've bought already, and chris says i'm cut off!!! I told him after beach towels, I"m cut off!!! HAHA He said that was fine. I just can't wait to get a hold of them babies!!!!! Especially after having Natalie's kids that are the same ages with us that one day. Just wow!!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Aw, so glad she's wanting to do some character meals! AND so glad you could get them!!

I have no experience with the WDP, so I can't be much help there!

 

[crostorfer]

We are just doing the regular dining plan this trip. The deluxe was great for our last trip because we got to eat at so many signatures, but this time we aren't doing any. It was nice because I never would have eaten at Cinderella's Royal Table without the deluxe, but honestly the only signature that would interest Aaron (husband), would be Artist Point and unfortunately the menu there is the same at any nicer place around here, so it isn't exactly like vacation food, lol! I do have to admit that at times I kind of felt chained to my reservations too. I was glad I had them and grateful that we got to eat everywhere we did, but at the same time there were several times that it would have been nice just to hang out and relax a bit at certain places instead of having to cut things short in order to make our ressies on time.

Our Ohana ressie is for 8:30pm, it was all I could get, so maybe we'll see you on your way out and our way in! We are planning on going to extra magic hours at the MK after our meal, so I am trying to get an earlier time if I can.

 

[pinkxray]

Alright, enough of this ADR changing talk. Let’s move on to some good stuff. Pictures!

I was talking with DH last night about when he plans on giving me the cash to get Discovery Cove tickets and it will most likely be the end of the month. I finally bought a new printer with a working scanner so I figured we’d take a little trip down memory lane.

June 2003
This was our second trip to FL together. We had gone down in May 2002. It was the week of my 21st birthday. We drove down from NC on my birthday and spent the week.

Here is our day at Discovery Cove

When you first arrive you check in a get a name badge. When you are going to swim with the dolphins they give you an assigned time that depends on when you book your package. We had the time of 8:45 which I believe was the first group.

Once you check in there was someone taking pictures in the entrance to the place that you could buy later. We skipped those and took a few pictures on our own.

After a few pictures they lead you to the locker area where you change into your swimsuit. They also give you the little vest you see in the picture. I think that they give you a wetsuit when the weather is chilly.

Since we were the first group we head right to our cabana. They have 3 little huts were you meet before your dolphin encounter. This is where they tell you the rules, maybe you watch a video. I don’t really remember. We were in the Sea Horse cabana.

After our instructions we went out to the dolphin area. The whole thing lasts only 30 minutes. I don’t remember much about what filled the 30 minutes. The instructor tells you about the dolphin (ours was Diego and he was from San Diego) and you get to pet them. Towards the end you get to do the swim across holding onto the dolphin and they take your pictures.

Afterwards we checked out the lazy river, the snorkeling with the fish and the stingrays
.

I think that when most people go to Discovery Cove they make a whole day of it. Not us. We spent a bit of time in the water. Lunch was included in the price so as soon as they opened we had lunch. I remember that I had a burger and that it was one of the best burgers ever! After lunch guess what we did? We left. Before 12. I remember the lady at the deck was shocked. She asked us if we wanted a hand stamp to return. Nope. I guess nobody leaves that early. We only went to swim with the dolphins.



This time I am going to try to spend more time there. They have beautiful, white sands beaches with hammocks and I plan on relaxing on there for awhile. They have also changed it to including free food all day including breakfast and lunch. (They only served lunch when we were there)

With the ticket you are able to get free admission to Sea World or Aquatica. We ended up going to Seaworld that night. This time I am going to get the Aquatica ticket but not tell anyone since we don’t have an extra day to go to a water park. I will tell them the night before the Universal day that if they want to go they can go on the Universal morning.

Anyway that’s our day at Discovery Cove. I am really looking forward to seeing how Caitlin reacts when we go there. She has mentioned that see wants to do it since we have the pictures on our wall, but we haven’t told her we are going to.

 

[pinkxray]

WOOHOO for character breakfasts!! I love those, that's why we do the deluxe plan. It's alot of food, but it's well worth it. Plus you get mugs. So that's good too!!! 87 days, I'm jealous!!! I'm ready to go! Just took inventory in my closet on stuff that I've bought already, and chris says i'm cut off!!! I told him after beach towels, I"m cut off!!! HAHA He said that was fine. I just can't wait to get a hold of them babies!!!!! Especially after having Natalie's kids that are the same ages with us that one day. Just wow!!

I love character breakfasts! I was thinking of maybe adding Park Fare, but I asked Caitlin to pick between Boma or Park Fare and she picked Boma.

I need to get some beach towels too. They have a couple of cute ones on the disneystore website, but I know as soon as I get them they will go on sale. I guess I'll wait a bit.

Aw, so glad she's wanting to do some character meals! AND so glad you could get them!!

I have no experience with the WDP, so I can't be much help there!

I was shocked that I really didn't have any trouble getting what I wanted. The only one that took a few days was Akershus. I booked 9:35(which would have been fine) but I really like getting breakfast done before the parks open. After a few days I was able to get an 8:15 the same day I also got 7:35 at Chef Mickey's and 8:10 at Crystal Palace. Sometimes I wonder why I lost sleep on my 180 day mark if I can do this 3 months out. The only ADR I can't get is a different day at Ohana.

We are just doing the regular dining plan this trip. The deluxe was great for our last trip because we got to eat at so many signatures, but this time we aren't doing any. It was nice because I never would have eaten at Cinderella's Royal Table without the deluxe, but honestly the only signature that would interest Aaron (husband), would be Artist Point and unfortunately the menu there is the same at any nicer place around here, so it isn't exactly like vacation food, lol! I do have to admit that at times I kind of felt chained to my reservations too. I was glad I had them and grateful that we got to eat everywhere we did, but at the same time there were several times that it would have been nice just to hang out and relax a bit at certain places instead of having to cut things short in order to make our ressies on time.

Our Ohana ressie is for 8:30pm, it was all I could get, so maybe we'll see you on your way out and our way in! We are planning on going to extra magic hours at the MK after our meal, so I am trying to get an earlier time if I can.

I hear you. I might end up doing the regular plan for the beginning of the week and adding the dxdp to the few days we are at the BCV. We have 2 adrs a day those days anyway. We'll see.

I have been trying to get an adr for Ohana on Monday, so if I ever find one I'll let you know when I cancel Sundays.

 

[TinksThree]

I would love to do Discovery Cove some day! I have always loved dolphins! I bet Caitlin will really enjoy this!!

 

[ksl5f123]

I love the pictures from Discovery Cove. I can't wait for my kids to be old enough to do that! Your hair was shorter then? It was cute.

Good job gettin all the early morning ADRs. I like the morning ones because they get you up and moving.

 

[tinacaplan]

Good news on the dining front! Discovery Cove looks so cool. I haven't even considered anything offsite and I probably won't for some time, but if I ever do, that would have to go to the top of the list.

 

[pinkxray]

I would love to do Discovery Cove some day! I have always loved dolphins! I bet Caitlin will really enjoy this!!

I hopes she likes it. I am very excited to see her reaction when we get there.

I love the pictures from Discovery Cove. I can't wait for my kids to be old enough to do that! Your hair was shorter then? It was cute.

Good job gettin all the early morning ADRs. I like the morning ones because they get you up and moving.

I am so excited she is old enough this year. I think it will be a great day.

I love 8am breakfast, esp. in the parks. It's nice to be up early and fed before the parks open. Empty park pictures don't hurt either.

My hair was shorter. It has gotten pretty long and when I saw the pictures I wished it was short again. I just hate not being able to put it back. It is so much easier having it long.

Good news on the dining front! Discovery Cove looks so cool. I haven't even considered anything offsite and I probably won't for some time, but if I ever do, that would have to go to the top of the list.

I am so excited we are adding more adrs. I food.

I saw somewhere that Discovery Cove is adding a new area in June. I know DH will see it and insist on going back again at some point. It stinks we will miss it by a month. I think it will cost extra though, like it doesn't cost enough already

I wish we could just have a Disney trip instead of having to do so much offsite. I wouldn't mind if we had like 2 weeks or something, but it is so hard to squeeze everything in. Caitlin said something about a waterpark the other day and I said we weren't going to a waterpark. DH was like "NO WATERPARK!!!???" He doesn't like long vacations (he insists that his dog misses him too much and that our last 10 vacation put a rift in their relationship) but wants to do Universal, Discovery Cove, a waterpark, and be able to sleep in and relax. I don't know why I have such a hard time planning this trip.


You are so close One more day of work and then off to Disney. I am so jealous! I wish I was waking up Sun. and going to Cape May instead of work.

 

[ksl5f123]

My hair was shorter. It has gotten pretty long and when I saw the pictures I wished it was short again. I just hate not being able to put it back. It is so much easier having it long.

I hear ya! I think once you become a mommy you get so busy that the hair either has to go super short or long enough for ponytails. There are just too many days where there is no time to style hair.

 

[crostorfer]

Your Discovery Cove pics look terrific! I can't wait for Kassidy to get a little older, she would really enjoy that!

Speaking of which, that reminds me, I need to put her in swimming lessons asap! Yikes! The time is flying here.

 

[pinkxray]

I hear ya! I think once you become a mommy you get so busy that the hair either has to go super short or long enough for ponytails. There are just too many days where there is no time to style hair.

You would think having shorter hair would be easier

Ah, to be 20 again and have an hour to blow dry and straighten my hair, and actually use body lotion and make up. I'm lucky if I get to go to the bathroom uninterrupted. "MOM, where's my (insert missing item here)????"

 

[pinkxray]

Your Discovery Cove pics look terrific! I can't wait for Kassidy to get a little older, she would really enjoy that!

Speaking of which, that reminds me, I need to put her in swimming lessons asap! Yikes! The time is flying here.

I hope Caitlin isn't too young to enjoy it. If I knew we would be back within the next couple years I would probably wait. They do get to wear life vests if needed.


I want to get Caitlin in swimming lessons too. She is getting much better than she was last year. We went to the YMCA yesterday and she spent the whole 45 minutes in the deep end. She jumps in and is able to get back to the side okay. She can swim back and forth across the pool, but can only swim underwater(face under anyway) . I am hoping it's good practice for the SAB slide. I know she has to be able to swim out by herself. I am going to try to take her swimming at least a few times a week to get her ready.