January 2012 - no husbands allowed

[GrammyJudy]

We will be there at the same time...staying at ASMovies and can't wait. Only 52 more days!

 

[lledman]

We will be there at the same time...staying at ASMovies and can't wait. Only 52 more days!

Awesome, time is really flying by. I think I'm more excited about our Disney trip than I am about Christmas - and I LOVE Christmas time.

 

[Moira222]

I'm baaaccckkkk.....sorry I have been AWOL for oh, the whole fall! ITs been busy! but it lets me catch up on all the changes all at once!

This trip is getting closer and closer - the fact that we've changed plans yet again and moved up the date a week is helping but time really is ticking away too. I can't believe that Disney has the January park hours posted already.

About the change in plans, we are now going to visit over MLK week – hopefully it won’t be too terribly crowded. But good news is we are actually saving money on our lodging by traveling a week earlier – go figure we’re saving money by going over a holiday.

We've done MLK weekend - it does get more busy than other January times, so pick a "slow park" that weekend, but I think you have done that.

Your many changes crack me up --- but mostly because I am laughing with you. when I wrote them all out I have 5 different possible trip plans, with some of them having built in variations ...and I think that I have 2 new variations to add!!!

Look what I found at the thrift store today - brand new in it's package for only $5 - still has the $29.99 Disney Parks sticker on the bottom of it

That is so cute!!! Great find!

Another day another change - no surprises there right

Christy and Parker are no longer going to be joining us. Just too much going on for their family right now to make it all fit together.

Janet would still like to find another friend to join her and help offset the cost of her room (double occupancy is a killer if you only have one adult - since Jess & I have teens we don't feel the punch as bad b/c they are already charged at an adult rate for tickets and stuff - we are used to it)

If that doesn't pan out then my DH may be joining us for our "No Husbands Allowed" trip - how is that you may ask - I know I ask myself so don't feel bad He's been "grumpy" acting whenever the topic of our Disney trip comes up. For a man who said he has no desire to ever go to Disney again he's certainly not excited to be left behind - lmao. So if Janet doesn't find anyone to share her room he will be added onto her reservation and I'll pay her something to offset the double occupancy charge that she is facing. We don't want to upgrade our room b/c the rest of our GG will be staying at Pop and I can't imagine paying the price to have 2 rooms when there is space in with our friend - from camping experiences we already know the kids are going to just bunk where every having a sleep over every night so our rooms will never have the assigned sleepers anyway.

Jessica's husband has a friend that lives in Tampa that he's been trying to make it down to see. As long as his college classes pan out the way he's planning he's going to tag along for the drive down and then spend that week visiting with his friend - this will save on fuel or airfare plus give an extra adult to help with the long drive so it's a win/win situation for them.

Nothing like complicating issues!

So I've been busy browsing through the Creative DISigns section here. I love all the designs and think it's amazing that people share them freely.

Your personalized items AWE me. seriously! these are just amazing! I'm curious about the scavenger hunt items - for the parks or exclusively for your resort? that seems a fun thing for adults to do too! Can you steer me in the right direction?

And one last photo - Devin had a family project to disguise a turkey from the farmer to save it on Thanksgiving - check out our family's turkey

This is such a great disguise

We've all weighed in and Chef Mickeys has been canceled. I really enjoyed our breakfast there on our last trip but I think I will enjoy the free evening with no ADR more.

We were not fans of Chef Mickey for dinner, so I for one think you won't be sorry!

Received my trading pins from ebay (62 cents a piece is a lot easier to stomach than the $8+ at the parks - I buy lots from ebay and then the kids can trade them for ones that they really want).

I ordered a batch for our last trip as well. I've read that there are "pin purists" who frown on batch buying because sometimes you get seconds or knock offs -- frankly, I just think its fun to trade them I am not a big collector or anything like that, so I will just continue to do the batches. I like your little cards for distributing them. cool idea!

Your latest version of your trip sounds like fun! I hope to be following along a little more closely now that you are in real countdown mode, and I have no more doggy house guests.

 

[lledman]

I'm baaaccckkkk.....sorry I have been AWOL for oh, the whole fall! ITs been busy! but it lets me catch up on all the changes all at once!

Welcome back! There have definitely been some changes since you were last here but I think we are done with the changes (haha). I mean I’m very happy with the way we have things planned out now. Sometimes things seem good and then the more you think about them the less appealing they really are, but I think everything has been analyzed and then analyzed again and it’s to the point now where I’m just excited to be going and don’t care about the details anymore. This is supposed to be a laid back, enjoy the slow season trip, so I’m trying hard to not plan out too much but with upgrading dining plans that’s proved hard b/c I need to have ADRs.

As for the scavenger hunts – I just did an advanced search for scavenger hunt in the Creative DISsign section. For the hotel one it was already created - http://www.4shared.com/dir/18428241/4b39460d/sharing.html#dir=33999974 – Travel Games – Hotel Scavenger Hunts and here is the one that I used for Tom Sawyer Island - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2331283&highlight=scavenger

 

[lledman]

I’ve seen these photo challenges on a couple of pre trip reports I’m following so I thought why not start doing one here.

Day 1: A picture of you at Disney with 10 reasons you're a Disney lover

I don’t know if I can list 10 reasons, as I’m really not quite sure why I am a Disney lover but I know that I am, I think it either is inside you or it isn’t. Luckily the kids and I have it in us, DH not so much. I think about Disney all the time, can relate the littlest thing back to a Disney memory or association. Heck, last night we grabbed dinner out at Burger King, Tyra picked up her drink for the 4th time and said hey look mommy it looks like Mickey on the table - the sweat from her drink left 3 rings on the table that looked like a hidden Mickey - that is how I can tell that we are Disney lovers.

 

[lledman]

Day 2: A picture of the character you’re most like

Off the top of my head I would say Goofy – I always mean well but things are sometimes awkward - lol

 

[lledman]

Day 3: A picture of your favorite Disney memory
Oh gosh there are soo many. I guess I will go with my first glimpse of the castle

Wait a minute there goes Terk – hey we are right in the middle of a character spot – who knew – darn first timers who didn’t read the DIS back in 2004 that’s who - let’s try that first castle shot again.


Still not what I was going for - oh well - I tried

 

[lledman]

Time for a sad trip update.

I just called and removed Tyler from my reservation. I haven’t posted it here but his grades have really slipped this year. I’m not sure if it’s just the age or what but it’s not to be tolerated. He got his first D ever on his report card last marking period. I’ve been following his grades online and he’s not putting forth any more effort than he did earlier in the year. I warned him when he bought home his first report card that at our 45 day mark (tomorrow) he better have all As & Bs or he wouldn’t be going to Disney. Well I don’t know if it doesn’t matter to him or if he didn’t take me serious but there hasn’t been much improvement (some but not a lot). I know he is capable of better. I’ve always been the push over parent but as hard as it’s going to be I’m sticking to my guns this time. If he’s slipping now – taking him out of school for a week is not going to help matters any.

I guess I still have 10 more days to add him back if he can pull off a miracle since the free dinging booking promo ends on the 17th but I really don’t see that happening. Why does doing the right thing as a parent have to be soo hard????

 

[lledman]

Day 4: A picture of the way you know you’re at a Disney park
After over 850 miles on the road this is how I know I’m finally there

 

[Marshay]

Welcome back! As for the scavenger hunts – I just did an advanced search for scavenger hunt in the Creative DISsign section. For the hotel one it was already created - http://www.4shared.com/dir/18428241/4b39460d/sharing.html#dir=33999974 – Travel Games – Hotel Scavenger Hunts and here is the one that I used for Tom Sawyer Island - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2331283&highlight=scavenger

Thanks for the TSI scavenger hunt. I think my DD6 will love that. I also need to check out this thread.

Time for a sad trip update.

I just called and removed Tyler from my reservation. I haven’t posted it here but his grades have really slipped this year. I’m not sure if it’s just the age or what but it’s not to be tolerated. He got his first D ever on his report card last marking period. I’ve been following his grades online and he’s not putting forth any more effort than he did earlier in the year. I warned him when he bought home his first report card that at our 45 day mark (tomorrow) he better have all As & Bs or he wouldn’t be going to Disney. Well I don’t know if it doesn’t matter to him or if he didn’t take me serious but there hasn’t been much improvement (some but not a lot). I know he is capable of better. I’ve always been the push over parent but as hard as it’s going to be I’m sticking to my guns this time. If he’s slipping now – taking him out of school for a week is not going to help matters any.

I guess I still have 10 more days to add him back if he can pull off a miracle since the free dinging booking promo ends on the 17th but I really don’t see that happening. Why does doing the right thing as a parent have to be soo hard????

Wow, I'm sorry. As a parent that is just so hard to know that one of yours can't come on your trip. But I really do believe you are doing the right thing. I mean if he tried his best and got low grades, at least you know that he tried and then can take different steps ... but if you know he can do better and also is borderline failing, then a week away could be very disastrous.

But I know you'll miss him...a lot.

Hopefully his missing this trip will be the impetus (sp) for him to really work hard on his grades.

As for switching Chef Mickey, I, too, think that's a great thing. We went to CM once and thought it was ok. If I recall though, it is more expensive than other character meals so saving money, still seeing basically the same characters =

 

[Colleen27]

Time for a sad trip update.

I just called and removed Tyler from my reservation. I haven’t posted it here but his grades have really slipped this year. I’m not sure if it’s just the age or what but it’s not to be tolerated. He got his first D ever on his report card last marking period. I’ve been following his grades online and he’s not putting forth any more effort than he did earlier in the year. I warned him when he bought home his first report card that at our 45 day mark (tomorrow) he better have all As & Bs or he wouldn’t be going to Disney. Well I don’t know if it doesn’t matter to him or if he didn’t take me serious but there hasn’t been much improvement (some but not a lot). I know he is capable of better. I’ve always been the push over parent but as hard as it’s going to be I’m sticking to my guns this time. If he’s slipping now – taking him out of school for a week is not going to help matters any.

I guess I still have 10 more days to add him back if he can pull off a miracle since the free dinging booking promo ends on the 17th but I really don’t see that happening. Why does doing the right thing as a parent have to be soo hard????

I'm sorry to hear that. We're dealing with some similar problems with Stitch this year and I'll admit to being very, very relieved when his academic adviser/counselor recommended we NOT use the trip as leverage regarding his grades. It sounds like your situation is a little different, though, because I know Stitch is really trying and he has some documented issues that are increasingly complicating his school work now that he's at a level where his science, math, geography teachers reject work for poor grammar & spelling. If it were purely a motivational issue I'd leave him home with his grandparents in a heartbeat!

One possible ray of hope for you, though - the free dining deadline doesn't matter in terms of adding him back. As long as you already have the room booked under the offer you can make changes to who is in the room, within occupancy limits of course, at any time. There generally won't be a fee to add someone within 45 days because it makes the total package price increase, but on very short notice (I think within 2 weeks) they do often impose a change fee regardless. So if seeing that you really did remove him from the trip is enough to get him in gear you'll still be able to add him, even if the free dining offer has expired by the time you see results.

 

[lledman]

One possible ray of hope for you, though - the free dining deadline doesn't matter in terms of adding him back. As long as you already have the room booked under the offer you can make changes to who is in the room, within occupancy limits of course, at any time. There generally won't be a fee to add someone within 45 days because it makes the total package price increase, but on very short notice (I think within 2 weeks) they do often impose a change fee regardless. So if seeing that you really did remove him from the trip is enough to get him in gear you'll still be able to add him, even if the free dining offer has expired by the time you see results.

That is good to hear. Tyler too has an IEP for his reading/spelling but that’s no excuse for not turning in assignments, I could understand if he was falling behind and trying his hardest but I don’t think that is the case.

 

[lledman]

Sorry I was off the computer for a couple of days so I owe you for the photo challange.

Day 5: A picture of your least favorite ride or attraction
That's an easy one. I am not a fan at all of the free-fall - this totally freaks me out. I've rode twice and hated it each time. The 2nd time was so that Devin would ride - he wasn't a fan for free falling either. Tyra was tall enough this last trip but fell asleep and missed out on riding - I guess that means I have a 3rd try in my future - just great



Day 6: A picture something you've never ridden/seen in the parks

I would love to do one of the drawing classes at the Studios. I don’t think the kids are old enough to sit through it just yet. I did get a taste of this though at Disney Quest on this last trip.


Devin gave up half way through the class and did his own thing.

 

[lledman]

Day 7: A picture of your favorite in-park character
It all started with a Mouse right??? Any trip to Disney just doesn’t seem right without a visit with Mickey








We also had the pleasure of meeting the fire chief on one visit. Hubby has been a volunteer fireman since he was 18. Tyler thought he was really cool – spent a lot of time talking with the boys.

 

[lledman]

Hopefully his missing this trip will be the impetus (sp) for him to really work hard on his grades.

Thanks for the words of support. I think something did spark for him as his grades are slightly improving, funny how those assigments finally got turned in, well most of them. Still not sure how long it will last though.

 

[lledman]

We kicked off our weekend with Tyler’s 8th grade Chorus Holiday Concert. The little 2 were well behaved and the chorus & band sounded wonderful.

Friday I had off so I went to school with Tyra where her class made gingerbread houses.

And later that night Santa came rolling down our street on a fire truck – it’s becoming tradition that we meet my mom, sisters, and all the cousins at my grandmothers house (she lives across the street from the entrance to a neighborhood and it’s a better spot in the road for the truck to stop than at the bottom of a hill for my mom’s driveway or the top of the hill for ours). Anyway we waited outside for an hour but he finally came.



(from the looks of this shot I’m not too hopeful for night time parade photos on our trip to Disney)

Saturday we cleaned and put up our Christmas tree. 2 sets of lights needed to be replaced so when I picked Tyra up from a birthday party I stopped in a local store and picked up new ones. Wouldn’t you know it that ½ the lights on that new strand didn’t work either. That night we had our annual 4-H club Christmas pot luck dinner. This year the kids each bought in donations for Toys for Tots instead of exchanging gifts with each other.

After the party I stopped in Walmart and wouldn’t you know it that they had no clear lights with green strings – ahhhh. Time to change the tree over to color. Bought 3 strands of color (the last 300 set they had and 2 150 sets). Sunday when we woke up to finish decorating the tree guess what – one of the 150 light sets didn’t work either. Luckily the other 2 sets were enough but still – what are the odds that we would have 4 strands of ½ working Christmas lights – 2 of which were new).
We had breakfast with Santa at our local rescue squad yesterday after decorating our tree. Not sure what Tyra whispered that she wanted but Devin told Santa he wanted a reindeer??? Where on earth did that come from – I thought he really wanted a real tool set and the race track that he can stick on his bedroom wall????

 

[lledman]

Thanks for the TSI scavenger hunt. I think my DD6 will love that. I also need to check out this thread.

I also just stumbled across this hunt at the Studios - not sure if I'm going to make up books for the kids as we only are planning 1 day here but I might.
http://s940.photobucket.com/albums/ad245/bababearbucket/Hollywood Studios Hidden Mickeys/

 

[Marshay]

I also just stumbled across this hunt at the Studios - not sure if I'm going to make up books for the kids as we only are planning 1 day here but I might.
http://s940.photobucket.com/albums/ad245/bababearbucket/Hollywood Studios Hidden Mickeys/

Cool! We're definitely still into the rides and shows but I can see as the kids get older that doing the hunts would be a ton of fun! I mean, "I" want to do them!

 

[lledman]

Day 8: A picture of the ride you miss the most

Not really a park ride – but I miss riding in the front of the monorail – something not everyone knew you could do and my children loved.

 

[lledman]

Cool! We're definitely still into the rides and shows but I can see as the kids get older that doing the hunts would be a ton of fun! I mean, "I" want to do them!

I know what you mean, I sometimes have to think about how much of this is for me and how much is for the kids

I also stumbled across this hut as well for at the MK - http://s940.photobucket.com/albums/ad245/bababearbucket/Magic Kingdom Treasure Hunt/