Is it December Yet?? Cancelled with a Heavy Heart!

I am in Tigard (graduated from OSU)! We are going Dec 8-15th! (It's a) Small world!!! I am getting ready to do the PTR today. Looking forward to reading yours!

:wave2: Awesome!!!! My son used to be in Tigard, but they (him & his fiance) are in Lake Oswego now. We're up in Portland quite often for Doernbecher appts. Where are you staying?? Let me know when you get your PTR up & running (I'll keep an eye out for it as well) :banana:
 
Yea!! I'm so glad you got everything booked so easily! AND, the fact you didnt have to call in...bonus!

Sounds like you all had a nice get together before Derek left. His choice of meals sounds yummy!! I wish him the best in the program and hopefully he can give you lots of great trips to make your WDW trip even more magical :)
 
Yea!! I'm so glad you got everything booked so easily! AND, the fact you didnt have to call in...bonus!

Sounds like you all had a nice get together before Derek left. His choice of meals sounds yummy!! I wish him the best in the program and hopefully he can give you lots of great trips to make your WDW trip even more magical :)

:goodvibes It went really smoothly....I would have freaked out about the 2 Epcot ones if I hadn't been pre-warned that those restaurants are blocked at this point.

We had a fun day~~good food, family & sunshine...don't get much better than that!! :cloud9:
 
Thought I'd share a few pictures from our party for Derek. We had a beautiful day, sunny but not hot.....so we spent hours in the front yard playing wiffle ball, football & just messing around. We had a BBQ rib dinner with potato salad, corn on the cob, Hawaiian rolls & Smore's parfaits for dessert. It was a great way to spend Derek's last day at home....having all my kids together!!

Michayla:

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Shyann:

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Addy:

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Anthony on Derek's shoulder:

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Derek:

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Tyler:

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Nick & Marie:

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Brotherly love~Nick & Derek:

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Addy & Anthony getting a ride on Derek:

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Derek doing a flip!

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A family shot: Mike & I with all 7 of our kids & soon to be daughter in law!!

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Glad you got everything you wanted.

Your itinerary looks great :thumbsup2

Looks like everyone had a great time at Derek's farewell BBQ

:goodvibes
 
Really love your plans, Laurie! :thumbsup2 I am so glad that you chose Cali Grill! The fireworks are truly amazing up there!

Hoping that you will get all you want once they finally open EPCOT. From what I am reading, this is the first year that they have blocked everything like this. How frustrating for you! I would hate it. Will keep an eagle eye out on the Reservations board.

I think I am more excited for your trip than I am for ours! OK, maybe not MORE excited, but certainly equally excited!
 
Really love your plans, Laurie! :thumbsup2 I am so glad that you chose Cali Grill! The fireworks are truly amazing up there!

Hoping that you will get all you want once they finally open EPCOT. From what I am reading, this is the first year that they have blocked everything like this. How frustrating for you! I would hate it. Will keep an eagle eye out on the Reservations board.

I think I am more excited for your trip than I am for ours! OK, maybe not MORE excited, but certainly equally excited!

The night of our Cali Grill is a MVMCP night...so hoping the 8pm dinner ressie will have us up there at the right time. I believe the fireworks were at 9:30ish last year.

I sure hope they open up Epcot soon.....not sure why they blocked out even the non-dining package times. :confused3 I wonder if they're gonna widen the eating window. The 3 times seem pretty short. Anyways....I'll be happy to have those 3 meals reserved!!

:rotfl: I'd be concerned if my trip was more exciting then your own......lol I'll take equally excited!! :thumbsup2 See now you know how I was feeling on your trip to DL!!! Nice to have someone around to help guide you with all the newness!! :hug:
 
The night of our Cali Grill is a MVMCP night...so hoping the 8pm dinner ressie will have us up there at the right time. I believe the fireworks were at 9:30ish last year.

I sure hope they open up Epcot soon.....not sure why they blocked out even the non-dining package times. :confused3 I wonder if they're gonna widen the eating window. The 3 times seem pretty short. Anyways....I'll be happy to have those 3 meals reserved!!

:rotfl: I'd be concerned if my trip was more exciting then your own......lol I'll take equally excited!! :thumbsup2 See now you know how I was feeling on your trip to DL!!! Nice to have someone around to help guide you with all the newness!! :hug:

And it is nice to read the plans and feel the excitement of a first timer! I love planning our trips and we are doing many things this year that we have never done before but we will never have another first trip, ya know? Well, I guess with Andrew's kids!

I think you will be good for Cali! That is the one reservation that I made back in February that I have not messed with!
 
And it is nice to read the plans and feel the excitement of a first timer! I love planning our trips and we are doing many things this year that we have never done before but we will never have another first trip, ya know? Well, I guess with Andrew's kids!

I think you will be good for Cali! That is the one reservation that I made back in February that I have not messed with!

I think every trip is kinda new.....especially for the twins....we just don't know how much they remember and how they'll react. We always find something new to do on each trip too.

So on the December check-in thread, someone mentioned that the Epcot restaurants would open up for ADR's on June 26th. That's the first time I've seen an actual date. So I may need the biggest of favors if that's true.....we're going to be at a special needs camp that entire week & I won't have access to a computer to make the rest of our ADR's. I was hoping I could give you my information & you could make them for me if they DO open then.
 
Now that the ADR's are set, I have an idea of how many resorts we'll be getting to for meals and which ones we'll need to go see on our "Resort Day". We are renting a vehicle and this will let us go visit all the different resorts to see their Christmas Decorations & Edible Displays.

So there are 22 WDW Resorts (I've included the Swan & the Dolphin) (but not including the villas):

We are staying at 3 of them: Pop Century, Port Orleans~French Quarter & Art of Animation.

We are eating at 5 of them: Polynesian, Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Beach Club & Port Orleans~Riverside.

We will go see these 6: Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom, Swan, Dolphin, Boardwalk & Yacht Club.

So we will see a total of 14!!! Not to shabby!!

The ones we won't be going to: Ft Wilderness, Caribbean, Old Key West, Saratoga Springs, Coronado Springs, All Star Sports, All Star Movies & All Star Music.
 
I know he was a tad disappointed in being assigned to the food service.....but he's so thrilled to be given this opportunity he'll do it with a smile on his face. He's gonna give the auditions a shot....he'd like to be a "furry".....lol

Oh, do tell about your celebrity autograph thing!!!!! popcorn::

That's great he's thrilled. No matter where he starts, I'm sure he will have a great experience. Is he starting out with CS or TS?


For Star Wars Weekends we woke up early to get celebrity fast passes. DS got to see James Arnold Taylor, Ashley Eckstein, and Michonne Bourriague. DH got an autograph for ds by waiting 2 hours in the blazing sun in the walk up line for Nika Futterman.


Well my first attempt of doing ADR's online was a SUCCESS!!!!! :banana: I was able to make all my ressies for pretty much the times I wanted & the dates I originally picked (didn't have to go to any of my back up plans). The only ones I was unable to do was the Epcot ones. So no go at this point for the Garden Grill or Coral Reef. I will try LeCellier for the CP dining package when it comes available. I'll just have to keep my eye on the threads to see when they open up the dining times for these restaurants. Will list out the restaurants, dates & times after I go get some sleep!! Night everyone!! ;)

That's awesome! I hope the Epcot ones open up. Coral Reef is one of our favorites. We have Tables in Wonderland and eat at the Coral Reef often. Ask if Illiana is working if you score an ADR. She is an awesome server!! Only downside is she gone to school to be a flight attendant and is only seasonal now. The mahi mahi is dh's favorite and mine is the vegetable strudle.
 
That's great he's thrilled. No matter where he starts, I'm sure he will have a great experience. Is he starting out with CS or TS?


For Star Wars Weekends we woke up early to get celebrity fast passes. DS got to see James Arnold Taylor, Ashley Eckstein, and Michonne Bourriague. DH got an autograph for ds by waiting 2 hours in the blazing sun in the walk up line for Nika Futterman.




That's awesome! I hope the Epcot ones open up. Coral Reef is one of our favorites. We have Tables in Wonderland and eat at the Coral Reef often. Ask if Illiana is working if you score an ADR. She is an awesome server!! Only downside is she gone to school to be a flight attendant and is only seasonal now. The mahi mahi is dh's favorite and mine is the vegetable strudle.

Oh, ok.....I've seen the first Star Wars......lol I enjoy the new & improved Star Tours at Disneyland....but other than that....I don't know much about the whole saga.

I'll be disappointed if we can't get the Coral Reef for either a lunch or on the Candlelight Processional Dining Package.
 
Now that the ADR's are set, I have an idea of how many resorts we'll be getting to for meals and which ones we'll need to go see on our "Resort Day". We are renting a vehicle and this will let us go visit all the different resorts to see their Christmas Decorations & Edible Displays.

So there are 22 WDW Resorts (I've included the Swan & the Dolphin) (but not including the villas):

We are staying at 3 of them: Pop Century, Port Orleans~French Quarter & Art of Animation.

We are eating at 5 of them: Polynesian, Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Beach Club & Port Orleans~Riverside.

We will go see these 6: Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom, Swan, Dolphin, Boardwalk & Yacht Club.

So we will see a total of 14!!! Not to shabby!!

The ones we won't be going to: Ft Wilderness, Caribbean, Old Key West, Saratoga Springs, Coronado Springs, All Star Sports, All Star Movies & All Star Music.

Sounds great!! I need to make a list of the ones we would like to see the Christmas decorations... I am thinking we will do the Deluxe Resorts and maybe SSR since we own there.
 
Sounds great!! I need to make a list of the ones we would like to see the Christmas decorations... I am thinking we will do the Deluxe Resorts and maybe SSR since we own there.

:banana: I needed to actually write it all out to see where we were already going so that way I would know which ones to hit on our resort day!! I'm just as excited to seeing all the decorations as I am on seeing the parks!! :woohoo:
 
I think every trip is kinda new.....especially for the twins....we just don't know how much they remember and how they'll react. We always find something new to do on each trip too.

So on the December check-in thread, someone mentioned that the Epcot restaurants would open up for ADR's on June 26th. That's the first time I've seen an actual date. So I may need the biggest of favors if that's true.....we're going to be at a special needs camp that entire week & I won't have access to a computer to make the rest of our ADR's. I was hoping I could give you my information & you could make them for me if they DO open then.

Of course I will! PM me with the applicable info ... or maybe email would be better? Give me all of your first and second choices & times, etc. Actually because of Garden Grill, I will need a credit card as well. Maybe you would rather "chat" and give that to me via phone? Whatever works for you! I will gladly help!
 
Of course I will! PM me with the applicable info ... or maybe email would be better? Give me all of your first and second choices & times, etc. Actually because of Garden Grill, I will need a credit card as well. Maybe you would rather "chat" and give that to me via phone? Whatever works for you! I will gladly help!

:thumbsup2 NICE!!! We don't leave until the 24th, so if things don't open by then......I will get ahold of you with all the info. I really appreciate it!! :hug:
 
So Derek checked in for the college program & will be living at the Patterson Apts (which is lovingly known as the "retirement home"). This is the one they tend to put the older participants at......cause Derek is so old at 22......lol :rotfl: He had arranged prior to arriving, 3 guys he'd like as roommates & they all got to room together. You gotta love the connections you can make on the internet!! He also got his casting assignment~~~~Quick Service at the All Star Movies Resort. :rolleyes1 Well, working at one of the resorts was at the bottom of his list....so a tad disappointed not to get into one of the parks.....but he also looks at the bright side of all of this......HE'S ON THE DISNEY COLLEGE PROGRAM AT WDW!!!!!! :banana:

He'll be fine and hopefully he'll do well enough at the character auditions to get a change of assignment.

 














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