Jedi, Princesses and Disney Geeks...Oh My!! The Sweet Sixteen go to Disney!6-11 New

[FairyGodmotherJen]

Monday - Epcot Future World

My favorite ride is in this park - Soarin'! I can't wait to ride it, and I'm hoping to do it as a group with whoever makes it to the park with us that morning. We might just grab FastPasses and come back - it will depend on how early we actually get there. I have to check on the height requirement for Will, though.

Haley wants to do Test Track again and, at the moment, Jack says he wants to do it too. Other than that, I think we might hit the Imagination Pavillion and stroll around Innoventions. Bryan will want to do Mission Space with whoever will go with him. Oh, and no trip would be complete without visiting these guys...

We love Turtle Talk, too. At least one of the kids has been picked to ask a question the two times we've been...I wonder if we'll be able to keep the streak going!

The only other thing I'm pretty sure we'll do is...get wet!

Jack got COMPLETELY soaked last trip - we stayed through Illuminations (I think we got back to the room a full 8 hours after he got wet) and he was still damp! I'm sure his younger brother will be following him in this time, too. I'm packing bathing suits this year!

We'll probably head back to the hotel for at least a swim this afternoon, if not a nap. As Shelley said, we have ADRs at Chef Mickey's this evening. This is a tradition for us. My family always went to Chef Mickey's when I was little, so it was one of two ADRs I made for our 2005 trip. DH immediately fell in love with it, and it's now a tradition for us as well (we actually went twice - once for Breakfast, once for dinner, in 2008). I've heard some not-so-great reviews as of late, though. I hope they get things straightened out before we get there!

(This is from 2007)

It'll all depend on the kids as to what we do from here. I'm going to try hard to only push them when I think I can...or when it's our only chance left to see a show/parade!

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

Ok, I swore I wasn't going to just go back over everything Shelley said...and I think that's kind of what I'm doing. So I'm going to combine the next two days to be sure I'm not getting too boring!

Tuesday - MK EMH!!

We're fans of morning EMH here - we can usually get Fantasyland knocked off our list on this day. The kids have several favorites, which I'm going to put in another post of everyone's must-dos. I want to add meeting Tink and co. this trip - Haley is a huge fan, and I'm sure Ruby will enjoy it, too. I know we need to line up a little before ten, and be ready to run! I figure I'll leave the boys with some of the others and take off.

I'm looking forward to LTT, too. After lunch, there's a chance we could go to AK. Since we don't have a dinner reservation, this would probably be the best time to do it. See, it's NOT our favorite park - mainly because it is just so hot!! But my kids have never seen Festival of the Lion King, and I've never ridden Expedition Everest. So I'm keeping it penciled in just so that we have the option. If not, I'm guessing we'll head back to the room and chill out. I'd love that adult night out, too...if it's a choice between AK and the adult night out, well...FOTLK will still be there next time, right???

Wednesday - Epcot World Showcase

My mom and aunt actually have the Segway tour this morning in WS before it opens. I tell you, I'd pay good money to get to see my mom on a Segway! I think we'll lounge in the room this morning, and I'd like to be there close to when WS opens up. I'm looking forward to leisurely exploring and maybe finding some characters at that time of day. And, of course, Le Cellier sounds sooooo good. I'm sure we'll stop and make masks...

Although, whose idea was it to have Sharpie sponsor those Kidcot stations???

Kim Possible is on Haley's must-do list. She's always been my kid that enjoys scavenger hunts - I can even get her to clean up without arguing if she thinks she's on a secret mission. So we can't wait for that. And, of course, Illuminations! (which I have absolutely no pictures of, so you'll have to scroll back up and look at Shelley's ) I've been to Disney four times since it began in 2000, but didn't make it to a showing until our last trip in 2008. And then, the globe was being refurbished! So, hope for a little pixie dust for good weather so that we can all watch Illuminations together that night!

Ok, I'm caught up now, and it's midnight...gotta turn in. Thanks for reading along, everyone! I'll be back to comment later on this weekend, I promise!

 

[belle8306]

I love your pictures Jen! I can't believe how much the kids have grown! I am glad you can fill in the gaps where my memory fails me on our itinerary. I am glad we have this all written down. Between the two of us we should be able to remember everything!

DH and I are at Bryan and Jen's house. In addition to spending time with them and seeing Jack's first baseball game, Jen and I are scrapbooking. Actually, we are doing a lot of scrapbooking. We are attending a two day crop with the intention of finishing our last Disney books before we go on our next trip.

 

[belle8306]

Friday, June 18
DHS

I picked some random pictures from my photobucket. Please forgive me if the don't match the park.

We are going to hit the EMH and catch up on anything we might have missed on Sunday. Plus, we can hit all of our favorites again. Tonight we are going to Ohana's. It was one of our favorite meals in 2007. The kids really enjoyed being able to participate in the coconut races. We even learned how to hula (sort of).

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

Jen, Great shots of the kids. Shelley, I LOVE Ohana! I am sure that you won't forget your plan. Do you have a notebook? I can't remember. If not, you can just print out all of your posts that have your plans. Besides, as long as you remember your ADR's, it doesn't matter.

Hope you ladies are having fun scrapbooking.

 

[dismagiclover]

All of your plans sound fabulous! June needs to hurry up and come

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

Jen, Great shots of the kids. Shelley, I LOVE Ohana! I am sure that you won't forget your plan. Do you have a notebook? I can't remember. If not, you can just print out all of your posts that have your plans. Besides, as long as you remember your ADR's, it doesn't matter.

Hope you ladies are having fun scrapbooking.

We had a ball! I've never participated in a crop that was that long before. You had to make sure you got up and wandered from time to time!! But we got a lot done. I'm not finished with our 08 trip, but I wasn't even started before Saturday morning and I now only have a few more layouts, so I made real progress!

All of your plans sound fabulous! June needs to hurry up and come

Yes, it does! I am so ready to be heading out! Well, we have ISTEP testing this week. I'm sure that'll give me some time to daydream about Disney while I'm walking around in endless circles watching my students fill in bubbles...

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

Okay, Shelley and Jen, I am all caught up! Did you order a photopass? (With your group it is probably a great idea.)


Shelley, Love the pics of the cruise! I am surprised you haven't done TSM- try to get a fast pass before you ride. If you are like us, you will enjoy it and want to do it again soon! Muppets is being refurb, so you might even love it more! We caught a 6:00 out of Phila last Feb and arrive at CSR around 10. We were exhausted. It was wonderful waking up at Disney!

Jen, Cute kids! Your driving plan looks great. Your stash for the kids is quite large! I have to purchase some items for my girls (8); I think I will pick up the Hidden Mickey book for them. They aren't into Disney items, and we are driving 17 hours (leaving a 6 pm so driving through the night.) They won't need too many trinkets. I think we will pack a soccer ball. We are going to stop on the way home. The adrenaline will be pumping on the way. Jen, I don't know if you checked out my list: someone posted about window markers and windex wipes and I loved this idea!!!

Photopass is on my list for this week. I have to send an email to our group about it tonight...
You're doing well to drive overnight. My DH and I can't do it...we tried when we drove home from New Mexico in 2005. Of course, it was on the way home (and Jack was in his "I'm not going to sleep in a porta-crib" stage), but we found ourselves stopping about every 45 minutes to change drivers around 2 or 3 o'clock. Not pretty...I hope having an early start makes a difference!

It sounds like such a fun HS day! I'm sure I don't need to tell you to head over to TSM first thing. It is a madhouse over there! We've been to Sci Fi a couple of times and really enjoyed it too. Especially on a hot day (which I'm sure it will be in June.)

We hit TSM first on our trip in 2008 - it worked well. Of course, DH is talking about sending the rest of us that way while he and his brother head to the Star Wars store before all the good collectibles run out...

That sounds like a perfect day If you do Sunshine Seasons for lunch get the Strawberry Shortcake. It is yummy!

I have never eaten there - I'm looking forward to it!

I LOVE the first Epcot pic!

They take some pretty cool pictures, don't they? I swear, I'm going to pay more attention to details this trip...

That sounds fun to have an adults night out! I vote for dinner at one of the MK resorts and then head over for the parade and fireworks!

It would be awesome to hit California Grille or something like that, and then head to MK to do the nighttime stuff and some of the rides my kids won't do yet (Pirates is the main one I'm thinking of, since they won't go near that one). Plus, I'd have time to notice all those details I was talking about! I've read quite a bit about the parks and their history - I'd really like to take the time to look at the windows on Main Street!

Have fun touring the Epcot resorts. Beach Club is our home (but we haven't been there yet.) On our first trip, we rode the boat to HS and couldn't understand why anyone would want to stay at BC.

When deciding which DVC location, the Beach Club was a logical choice. We had always had plans to buy a beach condo. When we looked at the properties (online), the BCV spoke to me. I am excited that we are trying AKV, BCV and BWV this summer.

I think an adults night will be very enjoyable! You might feel like you have a private dining room at Le Cellier. It is that small! Cheese soup is delicious!

Beach club is one that I'd love to see if we go resort hopping. I dropped in back in 1992 when I was on spring break with a few friends. We were impressed by Stormalong Bay even back then!

Le Cellier is yummy! And I love Tangieriene Cafe in Morroco for CS!

DH and I did Tangierine Cafe in 08. We both got a combo platter (I got lamb, and DH got chicken). Yummy! We'd done Restaurant Marakesh back on our first trip in 2005, but we haven't been able to get back there since. It was a nice taste of it. There are some other places I'd like to try that evening, as well...it's going to be tough to make a decision!

 

[belle8306]

Jen, Great shots of the kids. Shelley, I LOVE Ohana! I am sure that you won't forget your plan. Do you have a notebook? I can't remember. If not, you can just print out all of your posts that have your plans. Besides, as long as you remember your ADR's, it doesn't matter.

Hope you ladies are having fun scrapbooking.

We had a great time scrapbooking. We were both very productive. Ohana is so much fun! I like the idea of printing my posts and putting them in my trip binder!

All of your plans sound fabulous! June needs to hurry up and come

We are SO ready to be at Disney. We have been planning our trip for 3 years so we can't wait!! I am sure you are excited too!

 

[belle8306]

Jen and I had a great time scrapbooking this weekend. We have plans to do it again after our trip.

June 19
Saturday
MK

We will begin our day with Pooh and Friends at CP. We have an early ADR so we can get the empty Main Street pictures. Tim and I have never been to CP. The breakfast gets a lot of good reviews. The rest of the day will be spent catching up on anything we may have missed.

Our tradition on our last night is to watch the parade and Wishes. We will meet back here in the evening. Sunday will be spent traveling back home.

 

[dismagiclover]

We'll be at MK this day too! We're eating at CP for lunch not breakfast. Though I do love that before park breakfast. Instead we will be there at rope drop running for Dumbo. I'll keep my eye out for your clan. If all sixteen of you are together you might stick out a bit

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

I enjoyed CP. We went for an 11:00 ADR. I debated and debated about making an early morning ADR to be in the empty park for pics. Enjoy!

Even reading a ptr, I am so sad about the travel day home!

 

[belle8306]

We'll be at MK this day too! We're eating at CP for lunch not breakfast. Though I do love that before park breakfast. Instead we will be there at rope drop running for Dumbo. I'll keep my eye out for your clan. If all sixteen of you are together you might stick out a bit

I hope we run into each other! We will probably have on matching T-shirts to make us stick out even more! I am glad you enjoyed CP. I am looking forward to it!

I enjoyed CP. We went for an 11:00 ADR. I debated and debated about making an early morning ADR to be in the empty park for pics. Enjoy!

Even reading a ptr, I am so sad about the travel day home!

I am so glad that CP gets such good reviews! The travel day is such a bummer! I told Jen we have to start planning our next trip even if it isn't for a while. I just NEED a trip to plan!

 

[belle8306]

I officially have 23 days of the school year left!

I thought I would do a small update on our trip planning.

*T-Shirt designs are almost complete. Right now, we have plans for 3.

*Our Disney scrapbooks for our last trip are almost complete.

*I started making our mint matchbooks to use as a small thank you for outstanding CM's.

*We have our pins (bought on Ebay) to trade. DH really got into this on our last trip.

*My BIL made a nice template for a daily itinerary for each person in our group. We plan on giving one to each person with list of special activities and ADR times for each day.

*Everyone has paid off their trip!!!!

*I am updating my packing list as I purchase items (or think of new ones).

*I am still hunting for a decent sun hat. I don't look good in baseball hats. So far, I haven't had any luck.

I guess that isn't a huge update. The main decisions have been made. We are just tweaking the details.

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

I officially have 23 days of the school year left!

Can I be obnoxious and brag that I only have 20? Sorry... The lady that used to work as our assistant had what she called "Carmen Time" (her name was Carmen). She didn't count days we had field trips, Sports Day, or several other miscellaneous days. She still works at school, just not with fourth gradesad2: we miss her terribly), and according to her, we only have 15 days left! All I know is, ISTEP testing ended for my class today!! No makeups, so I can turn the books in and be done!

I think we're really headed in the right direction with all we have done! Now that I've got my class almost done, and Jack is sleeping again (all that coughing he was doing at night last weekend ended up being walking pneumonia ), I should be able to get my big packing list together...like I said I was going to about two weeks ago!

As far as our last three days go, Shelley pretty much covered it. BBB on Thursday is at the top of Haley's most-excited-about list. Jack is pretty psyched about going to Disney Quest with his dad and uncle, too. I'm looking forward to a more relaxed day, and shopping DTD during the day when it's less crowded. 1900 PF is a new thing for all of us except for Bry's cousing Nora, and I'm really looking forward to it. I think I'm going to make my mom and aunt t-shirts from the creative Disigns board - they're of the two stepsisters. That should get us some good character interaction!


Friday - after hitting DHS in the morning to catch what we missed this time (I think we're going to save Jedi Training Academy for this day to skip the SWW crowds - what do you think?), I really hope we can hop over to the Epcot resorts and do some looking around. I wouldn't argue with Beaches and Cream for lunch, either. And of course, we get to sample the updated menu at 'Ohana that evening. I enjoyed it last time, but I hear some of the changes were really good. Honestly, as long as they still have that bananas foster bread pudding, I'm happy!

Saturday - we just loved CP last time. Bry can't wait for the puffed French toast, and I can't wait to get everyone in front of the castle for a picture without a crowded background! I also want to stroll leisurely down Main Street and really look at those Imagineer windows. This is our day to hit whatever else we want to before we leave. The last few trips we've taken, we've attempted to hit multiple parks this day (we actually made it to three on our 2005 trip), and I'd like to avoid that today. The drive back will be long enough as it is without trying to pack every minute of the day in. Maybe being there seven days will help that. As for Sunday...I'm not going there yet! Not looking forward to that long drive home....

Ok, this is two updates in a row without pictures from Shelley and I! I'm going to stop until I'm back on our main computer and can upload some more. Thanks for hanging in there with us, everyone!

Saturday

 

[IluvXU]

I like the "Carmen Time" I will have to count that down tomorrow. We have a few more days left than you!

Your plans look great!

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

I like the "Carmen Time" I will have to count that down tomorrow. We have a few more days left than you!

Your plans look great!

Did you guys have a lot of snow days this year? We used all our built-ins, but didn't have to have any more tacked on at the end, thankfully.

Carmen time is great, except for when she takes extra days off that we don't to help her girls move back home from college. Then Carmen time doesn't apply to us, and it's not quite as much fun!

 

[belle8306]

20 days! I am so envious!

Jen was right we need some pictures. Here ya go:

My DH and DBIL at Star Wars Weekends in 2007.

On our trip in 2007 we were there for the last day of the Flower and Garden Festival.

On the boat at POR. We love it here!

The "Make Your Own Treat" at Goofy's Cand Co.

Star Wars + Muppets = Fun!

DH at his favorite Star Wars store.

The streets at DHS.

I love the fall decorations!

These games look fun!

This topiary is so cute!

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

I officially have 23 days of the school year left!

Can I be obnoxious and brag that I only have 20? Sorry...

I don't like either of you very much right now.

We have 32.

 

[belle8306]

I don't like either of you very much right now.

We have 32.

I am sorry Debby! Did you have a lot of snow days this year? We used three of our 4 built in days.