It's going to be a long winter... time to head to the world! A January 2013 PTR

[shalom]

The trip planning is pretty quiet at the moment as we play the waiting game.

I'm back in active mode after a long "too busy to really think about it" period. I think that on-again, off-again planning is the nature of the beast.

I've been waffling on the ADR thing. I hate commitment. Also can't eat Disney food too many days in a row -- too rich! I'm hoping I'll be able to get lunch at the resort TS restaurants without a reservation, and if I don't, not a big deal, but I may break down and do a reservation at Kouzzina, because it's only open for dinner. Or I could wait until I'm there, and if I can't get in while I'm doing Hollywood Studios, make a reservation whenever I can get on on a non-park day.

 

[DisneyLifer87]

Time to bring to you a little update and beginning planning our Disney days. I'm trying to get back into the spirit of things as the holidays approach. Speaking of which *minor update* our little kitten Alex turned 8 months old on Friday. He has since knocked down 14 Christmas tree ornaments and shows no signs of stopping this nasty habit. It seems to be less and less, but thus far the tree has yet to fall. Hopefully we will make it through the holidays without me abandoning the tree and storing it for the year early!

Moving on with the updates....

Day One - January 19th (Saturday)

Day One will not have an early start because our plane is a little later in the afternoon. I was supposed to have class this morning and I had initially planned to do a half day when we booked our flights. Now it turns out my class has been moved and I no longer need to go, which is nice. I doubt I would have focused anyway! Our flight is set to leave at 1:07pm and arrive in Orlando at 5:40pm (we lose an hour with the time change). Our ride for the airport (aka, my mom) will be picking us up and getting us to the MSP airport around 11:00am. I hate that she cuts it so close, but we've only had one minor delay in security and even then we still sat for 30-45 minutes before boarding.

As it is, the daily schedule looks roughly like this:
While in Minnesota...
9:00am - get up, get dressed, finish some last minute packing. Make sure the kitties are fed and well stocked on food/litter/water for the day. Make sure the house is neat and orderly (we will clean the night before).
10:15am - be picked up for the airport and head on out
11:00am - arrive at the airport, get through security (check in online the night before), and enjoy a nice lunch at whatever fast food place is closest to our terminal. Usually it's an expensive Subway.

Once in Florida...
5:40pm - Land, hopefully on time. Travel to the mini-monorail, then to MVE! hopefully feeling some warmth in weather temperatures.
7:00pm (rough estimate) - Arrive at our home for the week, Pop Century, check in briefly (having done so online prior) and head to our room to drop off our carryon items. Snap some pictures, grab what we need for the night, and off we go to the buses.
8:00pm (rough estimate) - Arrive at Downtown Disney and find some dinner. We'll most likely use 2 QS credits this evening before we wander into DisneyQuest and see what that's all about. We may poke around in shops if we have the time, but ultimately this is just a relaxing evening.
11:00pm (at the latest) - leave Downtown Disney for the hotel. Unpack our luggage and head to bed ready for our first full Disney day

Usually day one with travel is the only day that we follow any plans I make. I guess it's the only predictable day aside from when we leave. Hopefully will update our next day soon!

 

[DisneyLifer87]

It's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS around here....

As in my previous post, I did mention that our little kitten Alex is having one heck of a time leaving this tree alone. If you look carefully near the bottom of the tree, you will see the strand of lights he has tugged from the lower branches.

I spent my day yesterday with my sister and three nephews. We baked cookies, letting the kids cut out sugar cookies. It was a bit of a mess but a lot of fun. I enjoy being an auntie because I get to leave when the crabbyness begins. My nephews are Adam, aged 4; Christopher, aged 3; and Joey, aged 1. Adam and Christopher were the two who helped - Joey slept through most of the baking process and only woke up afterwards when we were cleaning up. I stayed a little while after to watch Elf with them. DH was out of town at some airsoft game (I have no idea what this is but it involves bb guns...) so I had some free time.

Little Joey is quite the cuddle when it comes to movie time. He was fascinated by my phone, as well.

48 days to go!

 

[DisneyLifer87]

Just a little mini update. I'm sitting at home getting a few mock unit and lesson plans finished in the quiet of an empty house. I was sitting here, typing away with Alex lying next to me and I realized that our little kitten has grown by leaps and bounds! He turned 8 months old last Friday (I found his adoption card) and it turns out that he weighed 4lbs. when he was adopted. Now I do not have the most accurate of scales and he is not the most cooperative but I weighed him today and he's right around 8 lbs. of solid kitten fluff. He used to be half the size of Simba, but now they're the same height and length. Alex is of course fatter than Simba, but he's a growing boy so who am I to judge? It's just insane how quick the time flies and how big our once little boy has become

 

[PoppyGirl]

Love your little kitties. We have two indoor....and a bunch of farm kitties outdoor. Boo and Mocha Latte are our indoor kitties. Mocha is sitting next to me purring right now.

 

[MEK]

Weird - for some reason I can't get to page 2 of your TR. I guess its my computer acting wonky.

Anyway - congrats to paying off your trip. that's awesome! You must be so excited since your trip is getting closer by the day. Nice!

 

[MEK]

It's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS around here....

As in my previous post, I did mention that our little kitten Alex is having one heck of a time leaving this tree alone. If you look carefully near the bottom of the tree, you will see the strand of lights he has tugged from the lower branches.


48 days to go!

OK - NOW I'm on the second page. Cute tree. When I saw it the first thing I wondered was whether your kitten was climbing it. When my cats were young they always climbed the tree and this resulted in multiple broken ornaments and tip-overs.

Yeah for 48 days!

 

[shalom]

He has since knocked down 14 Christmas tree ornaments and shows no signs of stopping this nasty habit.

We figured out various ways to keep the cats out of the tree proper (tape sticky side out usually does the job), but never did figure out how to keep them from playing with the ornaments and lights on the lower branches. One of our cats would break one (and only one) ornament every night, so we'd just sweep up in the morning.

When our kids were little, didn't want to risk the broken glass (the cats were smart enough to stay out of it -- kids, not so much), so we'd just do the nicer ornaments up top, while the lower branches had home-made ornaments -- 3-d paper ornaments or stars made of glue and glitter, rather than homemade-with-pricey-stuff. One year the kids wandered off with most of the homemade ones, and replaced them with things like stacking rings, and those big pop bead thingies for garlands. For some reason the cats did not find those as interesting as glass balls they could knock down and break.

 

[DisneyLifer87]

We have had two days of ornament free mess but I'm not ready to trust him quite yet

 

[DisneyLifer87]

Updating live from the arctic.. polar... MinneSNOWta weather. We were victim to a brutal dumping of 15 inches and it's starting up again today. Between that and DH's car breaking down, things have been a little hectic here.

But, there is a little light at the end of the tunnel. We got our luggage tags and DME tags in the mail today! It's always nice to get a little Mickey mail and though the commute tomorrow to work will not be fun, I feel a small fraction better.

Anyway, short update this evening. DH and I are working through our planning journal and finalizing some items for it. I'll return later in the evening to post some more on our itinerary hopefully.

 

[DisneyLifer87]

Day Two (1/20/13) - Animal Kingdom and an Epcot evening

As we enter into our Disney days, I will be making plans that are very likely to change multiple times when we're actually there. How crazy is it that we leave one month from today!?

For our first full Disney day, we intend to wake up fairly early and grab some breakfast in the pop century food court. Usually this consists of snack credits or OOP charges as well as a refill on our resort mugs. Animal Kingdom opens at 9am today so we will hopefully arrive in the parks around this time if not a little afterwards. First stop is Expedition Everest which I will ride solo because DH is still too afraid of roller coasters to attempt it
Afterwards we usually like to wander some of the trails and snag fastpasses for the Safari. I'm a little excited this year that they have changed it around and taken out the poacher theme. That story was sadly getting a bit dull. Our Animal Kingdom must do's:

-Dinosaur
-Expedition Everest
-Festival of the Lion King (a repeat treat)
-Flights of Wonder show (we saw this for the first time last September and actually enjoyed it)
-Kilimanjaro Safari
-Maharajah Jungle Trek (I love love love tigers )
-Pangani Exploration Trail

Admittedly Animal Kingdom is not our most favorite park. We usually only do a few hours here and leave after the parade if we elect to watch it (which usually involves prodding a crabby DH into it and rarely flies). We will leave the park around 2-3pm assuming no parade at the latest so DH and I can get some rest prior to our Epcot dinner. We will leave for Epcot around 5:00pm and walk the World Showcase, shop a little bit, then hit our ADR:

7:00pm - Le Cellier Steakhouse

I'm super excited for this ADR. We have never been and all I hear are wonderful things about it! Once our dinner is finished, we will grab some French goodness (Grand Marnier?!) and find a spot for Illuminations. It's a great welcome back into Disney life and I'l be shocked if I do not tear up in happiness

 

[DisneyLifer87]

Day Three - Disney's Hollywood Studios

Our second Disney day is scheduled to be at Disney's Hollywood Studios. I like to get here at rope drop because the opening show is always entertaining. We also prefer rope drop so we can grab fastpasses for TSM and also ride it. This is the only ride in Disney that we hit again and again. Afterwards we usually plan our day around the various shows we like to see. Outside of TSM we really don't do much riding at DHS - DH does not like roller coasters and I'm afraid of heights for Tower of Terror. That being said, our Must-Do's are:

- Beauty and the Beast stage show
- Indiana Jones Stunt Show
- Legend of Jack Sparrow (Obviously our first time but we're excited)
- American Idol Experience (I hear this is good so I'm working to convince DH to go)
- LMA Stunt Show
- Star Tours

We have another half day planned at DHS so it is ok if we miss some things in this first trip. We will most likely do a nap/break halfway through the day before heading back for our ADR:

5:45pm - 50's Prime Time Cafe

We have been here on our previous trip and are very excited to return. Last time we got stickers for cleaning our plates and our waiter wasn't that into his character, but the food was amazing.
After dinner we will head over to Fantasmic! and then call it an evening.

 

[DisneyLifer87]

Just posting a minor update today. We have both been really busy with the holidays and luckily that is now starting to slow down. Our Christmas party traveling will finally end tomorrow with one last get together. Retail sales is yet another reason why I've been lacking in my updating and Disney spirit. Unfortunately, I tend to lose my planning steam when we hit less than a month away, but it usually comes back in full force around 14 days out. Not quite sure why that is but it's been a common thing for the past 2 trips.
DH and I decided not to exchange gifts this year because we wanted to just save our spending money for Florida. He told me I could take my pick between a new Dooney clutch or a new zip-up hoodie. I have no idea how to choose!!! I did break down though and I gave DH a Xmas present last night in the form of a new camera for us to use. I'm not really big on camera technology - I mean, I sell them with phones, but outside of MP I don't know much. But I think I snagged a good enough one for what we want to use it for. The reviews are great outside of draining batteries but we'll pack some rechargables and buy some lithiums. Problem solved.

Well... off to work!

 

[shalom]

Unfortunately, I tend to lose my planning steam when we hit less than a month away, but it usually comes back in full force around 14 days out. Not quite sure why that is but it's been a common thing for the past 2 trips.

I'm not quite on the same schedule, but I tend to do a fade and then a rush like that, too.

I do think planning a vacation so close to Christmas adds to the challenge; we like to travel in January but usually do it the years we aren't traveling for the Christmas before. This time we're leaving for Orlando a week after we get back from our Christmas trip.

 

[DisneyLifer87]

Hoping everyone had a Happy New Year! We are less than 2 weeks out now Which means I'm back on the planning train, right!?!

Correct you are except for one minor detail - Homework
As previously mentioned I am working for a Master's Degree and this Disney trip is kind of a celebration of sorts because shortly after we return, I will begin student teaching and be licensed to teach 5-12 English
Unfortunately, my two courses at the moment have heavy workloads and I've been trying to get ahead so I actually have a school-free vacation.

Anyway, I did start some work on the planning journal DH and I intend to use in the parks. We are usually passporter people, but that isn't released for this year until February so I decided to make my own. I'll post pictures when I finish it. If I ever get the chance with my hectic work schedule and class load.

Day Four coming up tonight (I hope)

 

[DisneyLifer87]

Day Four - Epcot
We are returning to Epcot (though previously we didn't do much on day one of Disney) and we will be hitting rope drop. DH and I actually love Epcot for the food (big surprise) and the drinks (even bigger one). We will be starting in Future World and heading first to the new and improved Test Track. I'm pretty excited to try this out, though honestly it's too Tron-like for my preference from the pictures I've seen. From here it's to Soarin' and then a few other must do's on our list:

-Spaceship Earth (always a classic)
-World Showcase food stops"
-fish and chips (UK)
-Tacos (Mexico)
-Pretzel (Germany)
-Teriyaki Chicken (Japan)
-Rosa Regale (wine - Italy)
-Grand Marnier (drink - France)
-Margarita (drink - Mexico)

As you can see, this will be quite a meal day leading up to our ADR:
6:20pm - Coral Reef

Chocolate waves and steak galore. That's the usual plan for me, though DH prefers the fish. I'm picky so it will depend what their catch of the day is.

That's all for tonight! Back to work on the planning journal which I'll post soon.

 

[DisneyLifer87]

My ticker is a little confused. I count 11 days, but it says 10 even though I triple checked the date for January 19th.

Anyway, there's a nasty 24-hour bug going around work and unfortunately I just fell victim to it today. But, I suppose better now then next week. As it is, I am using my free day off from work to do some homework and Disney planning. I could clean, but I'm a little too sore to do much movement. At least it'll be a productive day regardless and I'm off the next two days, so I will not complain if I clean on one of those!
The planning journal is moving right along. I'm a little slower than I want to be on it, but with 11 days out I know I'll have it finished before we leave. Speaking of which, I'm anxiously awaiting the weather details because rumor has it Minnesota is expecting a cold snap right when we leave. This is exciting for us (we love leaving for warmth) but I hope it does not play out like January of 2009 when the cold snap stretched to Orlando and it was only 40-50 everyday I mean that's better than the -15 it reached at home, but still!

2.5 hours until I'm leaving for class this evening (yes, even the deathly ill must still suffer through a night class).

 

[DisneyLifer87]

Single Digit Dancing

 

[DisneyLifer87]

6 days to go and wouldn't you know it - I get stuck with the flu.

I did get my flu shot this year, but Minnesota has unfortunately fallen victim to a secondary strand that is plaguing those who thought they were safe. Luckily the whole mess began yesterday with a fever and I was able to get into the doctor and get a prescription filled for an anti-viral. She told me and all but promised that I should be feeling better by Wednesday and should be perfect by the trip. pixie dusting on this one.

DH is a little mad at me because I keep forcing vitamin c supplements (Airborne) on him. I understand he thinks he's immune, but I would rather a crabby DH now and a healthy one on vacation. So, needless to say it's a very depressing time for yours truly. I am still working because I do need to gain some commission before vacation, so this will be a tiring last 4 shifts. I'm also still trying to do double duty on homework so I can be free on vacation, but sadly sleep needs to take a lead at some point. Hopefully I can nip this real quick!

 

[momma2gap]

I was searching for some PTR's for January to help me out with my day to day planning and found yours.

We're there when you are (well, we're Friday -Wednesday) and my DD6 tested positive for Flu A on Friday.

Luckily (thank you Target Minute Clinic) we were all given Tamiflu (for prevention since we are traveling, they wouldn't have done it otherwise). So hopefully, no one else gets it. She's doing well, no more fever and my stress level has dropped, whew. So sorry you got it, but hope the meds work as well for you as they did my DD.

The kids don't know about our trip, we're going to dinner the night we leave and I'm going to have the hostess deliver "Mickey mail" to the kids at our table with a letter telling them we are headed to WDW. I can not wait.
Feel better!!!