Island Hopping: A WDW PTR for Sept. 2012-- Link to TR! 10/10

[LifeIsDis]

I am sending positive thoughts to Brynn and your whole family!

The online system was down when we tried to make our ADRs at 180 days. Don’t these people know that us DISers are crazy when it comes to ADRs?! I guess not!

I think all of your ADRs are great!

My mom and I are also trying ‘Ohana for the first time in August. It looks amazing!

 

[Dancegrl624]

Great ADR's! We adore Chef Mickey's, but have only been there for breakfast (well, I ate dinner there when I was about 10 years old). We love the characters and all the choices. My DH does not like dinner buffets, so we stick with breakfast. Besides, breakfast is our favorite meal of the day!

Garden Grill-Our absolute favorite meal from our last trip! The characters are so darn cute and the restaurant was not busy at all. The food was amazing and you didn't have to order OR leave your seat! Double bonus!

Crystal Palace-Another must do on every trip...empty Main Street, great breakfast food and cutest characters.

CRT-Ate dinner there on our last trip and we weren't overly impressed by the food, but the atmosphere and characters were wonderful.

H&V- Had a horrible dinner experience there and that is why we don't do dinner buffets anymore. Have heard wonderful things about the Disney Junior bfast/lunch though!

Sci Fi- My DH and I love it there, but when my DD was 6 the movie clips terrified her and I think she's scarred for life. LOVE those milkshakes!

'Ohana- Never had dinner there but loved breakfast!

 

[shan23877]

Sending positive thoughts and good vibes your way, poor Brynn!

Love your ADRs!!!! They sound very familiar to me! I'm interested to see what you think of Garden Grill-that's the one that we just keep skipping.

We did breakfast at H&V, I don't want to give to much away, but I think that the kids will love it!

Yay CRT!!! There's just something about it...

I hope that you love 'Ohana as much as we did, we are also a Hawaii obsessed family!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

I am sending positive thoughts to Brynn and your whole family!

The online system was down when we tried to make our ADRs at 180 days. Don’t these people know that us DISers are crazy when it comes to ADRs?! I guess not!

I think all of your ADRs are great!

My mom and I are also trying ‘Ohana for the first time in August. It looks amazing!

I'm starting to be less and less of a fan of the online system. We had problems last year, too, because my laptop was using firefox and the system didn't like it.
I can't wait to try 'Ohana! If you don't like it, don't tell me!

Great ADR's! We adore Chef Mickey's, but have only been there for breakfast (well, I ate dinner there when I was about 10 years old). We love the characters and all the choices. My DH does not like dinner buffets, so we stick with breakfast. Besides, breakfast is our favorite meal of the day!

Garden Grill-Our absolute favorite meal from our last trip! The characters are so darn cute and the restaurant was not busy at all. The food was amazing and you didn't have to order OR leave your seat! Double bonus!

Crystal Palace-Another must do on every trip...empty Main Street, great breakfast food and cutest characters.

CRT-Ate dinner there on our last trip and we weren't overly impressed by the food, but the atmosphere and characters were wonderful.

H&V- Had a horrible dinner experience there and that is why we don't do dinner buffets anymore. Have heard wonderful things about the Disney Junior bfast/lunch though!

Sci Fi- My DH and I love it there, but when my DD was 6 the movie clips terrified her and I think she's scarred for life. LOVE those milkshakes!

'Ohana- Never had dinner there but loved breakfast!

We went to H&V at lunch on our first trip and it was not great. I figured that if I make a breakfast ADR it won't matter much because I am not a breakfast person, really, and my kids could survive on fruit and pastries if I let them!
I hope my kids don't suddenly develop a fear of Sci Fi! This was one of their specific requests, but I think mostly because of the Tom and Jerry clip and the fact that you get to eat in a car. I hope it lives up to their memories from last trip!
So happy to hear Garden Grill was good. I have forgotten about it in the past and decided this is the trip to try it.

Sending positive thoughts and good vibes your way, poor Brynn!

Love your ADRs!!!! They sound very familiar to me! I'm interested to see what you think of Garden Grill-that's the one that we just keep skipping.

We did breakfast at H&V, I don't want to give to much away, but I think that the kids will love it!

Yay CRT!!! There's just something about it...

I hope that you love 'Ohana as much as we did, we are also a Hawaii obsessed family!

Great minds think alike!
I'll let you know about Garden Grill. I never think about it, but once I remembered it's there I wanted to jump on it! Plus we've only ever done Epcot one day in the past, but we're doing two days this trip and had time for it. It ended up being the one Epcot ADR we kept, since we dropped Akershus (I know, I know) and San Angel Inn.
There IS something about eating inside the Castle.
We will try our best to enjoy 'Ohana...sans MIL! LOL!

 

[mxkris]

ADRs sound great!! We're also trying Ohana, since we're Hawaiian obsessed! I just can't wait to go to the Poly and check out the grounds and everything!! We're also trying CRT! We'll be at CRT on the first night, the 15th, and then Ohana on Monday, the 17th!!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

ADRs sound great!! We're also trying Ohana, since we're Hawaiian obsessed! I just can't wait to go to the Poly and check out the grounds and everything!! We're also trying CRT! We'll be at CRT on the first night, the 15th, and then Ohana on Monday, the 17th!!

Great minds think alike! Are you going to be around MK on the 15th? We might be able to meet up!

 

[jojosmom23]

joining in on your thread. Enjoying your post already. We will be in the world sept 20-30! will be eating at poly on the 20th and 21st who knows we may run into each other! Good thoughts for some good doctor results for your beautiful daughter

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Your ADR's sound great!!! Yay for getting the CRT reservation!!!

 

[tabrizia]

Joining the thread. Yay for restaurants. We love Chef Mickey's I have a request for going 2 or 3 times our next trip, from DH (though the kids like it too). I may have to do H&V for the characters too, since I will have two in the right range for it (possibly three depending on DS1's interests at 6).

I hope you get answers for the medical stuff. I didn't find DS' MRI too scary of course that could have been because he was in PICU at the time so a MRI was one of the least frightening things going on. When he needs another one, which I think they want, I know they want another CAT scan, in a few months it will probably be more scary. Good luck on the results, I hope you get the information you need.

 

[mxkris]

Great minds think alike! Are you going to be around MK on the 15th? We might be able to meet up!

Yep!!! We're leaving around 4-5 in the morning and should arrive HOPEFULLY around 12-1 at CBR!! I'm hoping everyone will be as enthusiastic as me and wanna head straight to MK!! Our CRT ADR is that night so we gotta get over there sometime before 8:00!!

I'd love to meet up sometime on the trip either at CBR or at a park!!

 

[katt789]

Great list of ADR'S there! The only character meal I have that you guys don't is Tusker House! Haha, great minds think alike! Those pics are adorable, gotta love it. I'm excited to read more!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

joining in on your thread. Enjoying your post already. We will be in the world sept 20-30! will be eating at poly on the 20th and 21st who knows we may run into each other! Good thoughts for some good doctor results for your beautiful daughter

Thank you! It would be very cool to run into another Disser.

Your ADR's sound great!!! Yay for getting the CRT reservation!!!

I freak out every year about CRT, and there's only one visit that I didn't get an ADR, which was our first trip and I didn't know about it until close to time. I think I hold onto that fear.

Joining the thread. Yay for restaurants. We love Chef Mickey's I have a request for going 2 or 3 times our next trip, from DH (though the kids like it too). I may have to do H&V for the characters too, since I will have two in the right range for it (possibly three depending on DS1's interests at 6).

I hope you get answers for the medical stuff. I didn't find DS' MRI too scary of course that could have been because he was in PICU at the time so a MRI was one of the least frightening things going on. When he needs another one, which I think they want, I know they want another CAT scan, in a few months it will probably be more scary. Good luck on the results, I hope you get the information you need.

Chef Mickey's is awesome! Like I said, we will eat just about anything, but I thoroughly enjoyed the food there and LOVED the characters, of course!
Medical stuff in general is scary. I don't think the actual MRI scared me, but I think I wasn't prepared for how fast the sedation would happen. She was sitting up and fussing about the medicine burning when it went into her IV, and less than ten second later she went limp and was out. I knew it was going to be fast, but not that fast! Plus, she's a kid who never stops moving, so seeing her so still threw me for a loop. Best of luck to you and your little guy, too.

Yep!!! We're leaving around 4-5 in the morning and should arrive HOPEFULLY around 12-1 at CBR!! I'm hoping everyone will be as enthusiastic as me and wanna head straight to MK!! Our CRT ADR is that night so we gotta get over there sometime before 8:00!!

I'd love to meet up sometime on the trip either at CBR or at a park!!

Sounds great!!

Great list of ADR'S there! The only character meal I have that you guys don't is Tusker House! Haha, great minds think alike! Those pics are adorable, gotta love it. I'm excited to read more!

I want to try Tusker House so badly! I've read so many great reviews on it lately. It's all I can do not to make yet another ADR!

 

[katylady]

Hopping over from your trip report. I'm looking forward to hearing about this trip of yours. Thats awesome that youll be at the Poly! We hope that one day theyll open DVC there so we can add on points (not too soon, though, so we can afford it!) Your ADRs sound good to me! We will be trying Garden Grill And Crystal Palace for the first time this coming trip. We'll also be doing Chef Mickey. I just hope my daughter has gotten over her fear of the characters! No princesses for us this time. Maybe the trip after that. My husband also keeps vetoing Sci-fi. Did you make any ADRs for the second part of your trip?

Hope you get good news for Brynn. The waiting is the worst.

Katy

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Hopping over from your trip report. I'm looking forward to hearing about this trip of yours. Thats awesome that youll be at the Poly! We hope that one day theyll open DVC there so we can add on points (not too soon, though, so we can afford it!) Your ADRs sound good to me! We will be trying Garden Grill And Crystal Palace for the first time this coming trip. We'll also be doing Chef Mickey. I just hope my daughter has gotten over her fear of the characters! No princesses for us this time. Maybe the trip after that. My husband also keeps vetoing Sci-fi. Did you make any ADRs for the second part of your trip?

Hope you get good news for Brynn. The waiting is the worst.

Katy

So glad you're here! I am hoping none of my children suddenly develop character fear--they've always loved them in the past, but that doesn't mean a new fear won't emerge! I'm not sure what we'd do about dining in that case! The girls love the princesses, and really so does Sawyer (especially "Cimbawella"). I did take out one princess meal, though, because the other characters are much more important to them. I hope your husband comes around about Sci-Fi; the reuben and milkshakes are sooooo delicious!
Nope, we have no ADRs after Wednesday. The one we had on Thursday (San Angel Inn) was cancelled when we changed around our resort packages. Not only that, but we aren't completely sure what our plans will be at the end of the week, since we will have been to every park at least once by then. We don't have park hopper tickets, so if our plans changed we would end up cancelling the ADRs anyway. Who knows where we'll end up!?

 

[KTgE]

OH MY GOSH. I just saw that you're from Dallas! We're in Canton!

I'm finally back from a crazy last two months and hopping over from your last TR but I wanted to pipe in that I'm in ROME. Not far from either of you.

Finished your TR and caught up on this PTR. Hooray, for no special dining requests this go around. I know you are probably ecstatic to have that off your plate. Literally. I'm excited for Brynn that she get's to have some new dining experiences even at places that are old favorites to y'all. By the way, love your ADRs.

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

I'm finally back from a crazy last two months and hopping over from your last TR but I wanted to pipe in that I'm in ROME. Not far from either of you.

Finished your TR and caught up on this PTR. Hooray, for no special dining requests this go around. I know you are probably ecstatic to have that off your plate. Literally. I'm excited for Brynn that she get's to have some new dining experiences even at places that are old favorites to y'all. By the way, love your ADRs.

GIRRRRLLL! We moved to Canton from...ADAIRSVILLE! Like seriously close to 53. I could SPIT to Rome from there! It was right on the Floyd County line! IT'S A SMALL, SMALL WORLD!!!
Anyway, now that I'm regaining my composure, THANKS, and I am so glad you're here!

 

[KTgE]

Bahaha...nice! And I'm quite familiar with Adairsville...we know people that live there. We both grew up in Gwinnett and we didn't meet till college. We both went to Berry and somehow ended up staying in Rome. Which if you had asked me that in college I would have laughed. BUT Rome is a great place to live and raise a family in...the longer we stay the more I never want to leave. And my parents are still in Gwinnett...so every time we go back I'm like I don't miss this. Well, maybe shopping at the Mall of GA because let's face it Mount Berry Square Mall is NOTHING to write home about.

Are you from up this way originally? Or are you are transplant?

And yes, it's a very, very SMALL WORLD!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Bahaha...nice! And I'm quite familiar with Adairsville...we know people that live there. We both grew up in Gwinnett and we didn't meet till college. We both went to Berry and somehow ended up staying in Rome. Which if you had asked me that in college I would have laughed. BUT Rome is a great place to live and raise a family in...the longer we stay the more I never want to leave. And my parents are still in Gwinnett...so every time we go back I'm like I don't miss this. Well, maybe shopping at the Mall of GA because let's face it Mount Berry Square Mall is NOTHING to write home about.

Are you from up this way originally? Or are you are transplant?

And yes, it's a very, very SMALL WORLD!

I'm originally from Dalton (well, Rocky Face, but nobody's heard of that), and Brandon is from Woodstock. Ah, Mount Berry Square! That's the mall that's never crowded where we took a baby Julia to ride the carousel! Memories!
Do you know where Oak Grove Subdivision is in Adairsville? I think it was off 140? I know there was an abandoned gas station next to the turn-off. We bought a house there when the housing prices were at their highest because we could get a lot of house for not much money. Brandon commuted to work every day, which was horrible. I did my student teaching at Adairsville Elementary and I was a fifth grade teacher at Clear Creek in Cartersville until I quit teaching to be a stay-at-home mom. When Brynn was born, we decided we would move closer to Brandon's work and family, and since we had a newer house with an amazing basement, we were able to sell it for what we wanted and move here. Adairsville was not for us, but Rome would have been more our style. I have friends who went to Berry who stayed in town. Brandon's sister went to Berry, too! SUCH a small world!
Okay, now that I've written a book, I think I'll go to bed!

 

[mxkris]

It is a Small World! Wow!!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

So, quite a bit has been happening around here in the last week or so. It's been kind of crazy in a good kind of way! This update will be about things that have happened and things we've done this week for the trip.

First things first. I want to thank so many of you for thinking about Brynn and praying for her when she went for her MRI and EEG. Luckily, they both showed nothing of concern and nothing epileptic! However, our neurologist thinks that her SPD goes even further and believes she has Asperger's. Believe it or not, this is spectacular news for us! When she "just" had the SPD diagnosis, there were worries that the school system would be able to deny her many of the services she needs because her cognitive functioning is so very high, but now that we know it's more than that, there's really no way she can be denied interventions, accommodations, and therapies. We are even hoping they might offer to begin services this year in a preschool setting. We'll see!

On Saturday, our little baby Sawyer turned 2! Can you believe that!?! I know I can't! Here are a couple of shots from his birthday party, which was Yo Gabba Gabba themed. If you don't know what Yo Gabba Gabba is...well...I'm guessing that you haven't lost as much sanity as I have! Really, though, it is a show that's full of music and odd creatures and features some really great indie bands. All my kids love it and love to dance to it. As far as kids' programming goes, it's a little out there, but I think it's less annoying than most.

As you can see, he's getting hair and will need his first haircut soon! Luckily, his awesome Mommy has made an appointment for him at the Harmony Barber Shop on Friday, September 21!

Out of the blue tonight, the girls announced that they wanted to do Pirates League. Uhm...hello...how do you even KNOW about Pirate's League??? We've barely spent any time in Adventureland, you Princess-obsessed-pretties! Turns out that the Disney Planning DVD includes pretty much an infomercial on the place. Brynn insists she wants to be a mermaid and Julia wants to be an empress. They even said they'd choose this over BBB! Honestly, that makes me pretty happy. It is cheaper. And it also does not involve strange hairstyles.

Soooooo, I ran to the phone and called. Did you know that they give an entire pirate spiel when you call!?! So cute! Or so fierce? Either way, it was neat. I waited for about five minutes for someone to answer. Out of all the millions of days we will be at MK this trip, there was only one time slot open. ONE. Anyone care to guess when that is???

I won't keep you in suspense. It's 9:15 on Saturday, September 15.
YEP. You read that right. The very first thing we will be doing on our very first day in the parks is going to Pirates League! That's either going to be spectacular or horrible. Well, I spilled the beans to the girls, and they are both extremely excited. Plus, it has the added benefit of breaking up the already-occurring fight over what we'll be doing first. Brynn's been insisting on IASW (did you see that one coming?) and Julia's wanting to get back on Barnstormer first. Now that battle is over. One down, a billion to go.

On the shopping front, I've purchased a shirt for our AK day for myself, and Sawyer got an outfit for his birthday that he'll wear one of the days. I'm in the process of finding out what fits from last year so I'll know what I need to buy because, let's face it, shopping is the super fun part of planning. Pictures later.

In other have-we-lost-our-ever-lovin'-minds news, we bought a video camera. And you know what? I didn't even put up a fight about it! I only recently watched clips we took on our point-and-shoot camera last trip, and they were horrible. The picture quality and sound quality were pretty much unwatchable. Brandon saw the weakness in my eyes and pounced. The next day we were the proud owners of a Canon Vixio Something or Other? I don't know. It's a camera. Our anniversary was on Monday, so I was able to let him know that it counts as his anniversary gift. And also Christmas. And most likely the next three birthdays. I am festive like that.
Brandon's spent the last few days trying to learn as much as he can about all things video, and he swears we are going to have a famous vacation video when we return. MARK HIS WORDS. I really, really hope so. I hope to be able to share that with you. I hope this camera was worth it. I hope I don't go insane if he makes me watch another tutorial.

That's it for now! I'm sure I'll be on here more often now that our trip is only TWO MONTHS AWAY!!!