June 2011 PT: Keeping the sanity on the long drive! (6/6 update, single digit dance)

[anjalee6]

Thanks for stopping by!

So how did you fare with the snow? We got probably around 3 inches here, but with the sleet that was underneath the snow they did go ahead and close schools for the kids. I had to come to work in Baltimore though...but our University opened at noon and I get off work at 3pm so I can manage that!

I went ahead and booked our train tickets anyway this morning. I want to make sure the prices don't increase and even though the kids' last day will be Tuesday right now, they get out early so we should still be able to make Lorton for the train between 2pm and 3pm.

We got about three inches. It started out as sleet and really piled up quick and then it really fizzled out. I expected way more the way they were talking. We just got a delayed opening which wasn't bad. Less work and don't have to make it up at the end of the year. Yay! for booking your train tickets. We thought about trying the Autotrain at one point, but I just don't like how long it takes to get there. I just like to get in the car, drive, and get there quickly. That's why we drive at night instead of during the day (less people and traffic on the road). You'll have to let everyone know how you like it and maybe we will give in and give it a try if it's any good.

 

[kittylady1972]

We got about three inches. It started out as sleet and really piled up quick and then it really fizzled out. I expected way more the way they were talking. We just got a delayed opening which wasn't bad. Less work and don't have to make it up at the end of the year. Yay! for booking your train tickets. We thought about trying the Autotrain at one point, but I just don't like how long it takes to get there. I just like to get in the car, drive, and get there quickly. That's why we drive at night instead of during the day (less people and traffic on the road). You'll have to let everyone know how you like it and maybe we will give in and give it a try if it's any good.

Yep, that sounds about like here but I think they would not have had the roads too passable in some areas by 8am if they had just done a 2-hr delay since that's when high school kids would get to school. The kids had no complaints about the day off, and my husband's work closed as well.

I agrree that the train does take a little longer, but since we weren't up for the driving overnight thing, our plan was to leave in the 3:30am range and then get there around dinnertime. Now we'll get to leave a day earlier and arrive much earlier, giving us all day Wednesday which I'm excited about having there. Since the rest of our group won't arrive until late Thursday, we'll have nearly two full days to do whatever we want which will be great. Maybe we'll even do a water park since we have some free tickets...we'll see.

I just know the kids are going to get such a kick out of this experience on the train and I think we will as well, so I will definitely report back with the details. I'm going to try to do some live blogging or tweeting while down there so I'll let you know!

 

[kittylady1972]

Ok, I think this is only the second version of our touring plan!

After revisting some dining reservations last night I realized we are pretty much stuck with what we have for the times and dates. However there are a few modifications!


DAY 1 (TUES): Nicolas will be graduating from 5th grade on this day! We will attend the graduation ceremony in the morning. After it is over, we will get the two other kids out of their classes at the same school and then take them home. Hope to get home before noon. We plan to pack the car right after the kids depart for school that morning so they will have no idea. They will hopefully still be under the impression that we are leaving EARLY Wednesday morning. We will head home, change cars and hit the road and make up something about why we are leaving early. An hour later we should be arriving at the train station in Virginia where they will then learn we are TAKING A TRAIN to Disney!

DAY 2 (WED): Arrive at the train station in Florida around 9:30am if all is well and drive to Disney from there. Should be at Bay Lake Tower before noon easily. We have the rest of the day to unpack and relax, maybe hit the pool, maybe hit MK and ride BTMRR. Thinking we may head to Downtown Disney for either lunch or dinner and try T-Rex since we've never eaten there and I think the kids would enjoy it.

DAY 3 (THUR): Another free day. Options include: Pool, waterpark or maybe we'll get a 3-day pass to Universal and head there. Not sure yet. Thursday evening the rest of the family should arrive and checkin at Bay Lake Tower in their rooms. Perhaps dinner with them that night?

DAY 4 & 5 (FRI & SAT): Universal Studios parks; kids have never been to either of these parks so they should enjoy it; it might be strange to come back to our room each night overlooking the Magic Kingdom park, but we know we'll get there eventually! Perhaps we can even wander over to the Magic Kingdom in the evenings if we are up for it...for dessert...DOLE WHIPS!

DAY 6 (SUN): Early morning breakfast with Chef Mickey with the whole gang and spend the day exploring Magic Kingdom; we may end up back at the room for a pool/lunch break...easy enough since we can walk right over; it's an extra evening day for Magic Kingdom so we can always go back later that night if we've had a break in the afternoon. Dinner that evening is at the Cape May Cafe for the Clambake!

DAY 7 (MON): This is an early entry day for Animal Kingdom, so I'm hoping we can be there close to rope drop since that park gets SO hot so quickly; we have a 10:20am breakfast at Tusker House...which will be more like a brunch since lunch starts at 10:30am there; back to the room in the afternoon for cooling off time and then we have a 7:25pm dinner at California Grill

DAY 8 (TUE): Early morning at Hollywood Studios - Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror, RnRC are the big ones to hit and anything else is a bonus; 12pm lunch at the Hollywood Brown Derby; back to our room in early afternoon for a break; head to EPCOT later where we have a 7:45pm dinner at Rose and Crown Pub and hopefully will view Illuminations there; it's an extra evening day for EPCOT so we can stay as long as the kids will tolerate

DAY 9 (WED): Possibly a morning at Magic Kingdom again; plan to hit EPCOT in the afternoon as we have a 5pm dinner at Chef de France and I'm hoping we catch Remy making his last rounds of the day!

DAY 10 (THUR): Morning is pretty open...so we can hit a park or just chill; perhaps hit the Main Street Bakery for breakfast! We need to head to Hollywood Studios sometime after noon as we have a 3:30pm lunch/dinner at Mama Melrose ast part of the Fantasmic! package. Watch Fantasmic! that evening.

DAY 11 (FRI): Our last full day...so plan is to spend it at Magic Kingdom again since it's close, then of course the packing and stuff to be ready for out trip home the next day; it's also an early morning at EPCOT so if we want to do a few things there first thing in the morning, we may do that

DAY 12 (SAT): Another travel day; probably leave early in the morning after a nice breakfast at our hotel for the long drive home

 

[amandaluvsgoofy]

Your plans sound great! And it's so nice you have a few "relaxed" mornings/days. I'm sure it makes the trip that much better!
Is Remy still appearing at dinner? I thought he stopped But it would be awesome if he's still there! I would love to see him!!

 

[kittylady1972]

Your plans sound great! And it's so nice you have a few "relaxed" mornings/days. I'm sure it makes the trip that much better!
Is Remy still appearing at dinner? I thought he stopped But it would be awesome if he's still there! I would love to see him!!

Oh I sure hope so...last time I read something he was appearing through sometime in the 5pm timeframe. I just saw in a January 2011 thread he was still there and makes his last round beginning at 5:20pm so hoping we arrive early for dinner and are seated a bit early too. That's the main reason we are doing Chef de France...but I think I'll enjoy the food too. We have a 'backup' reservation elsewhere though just in case 5pm is just not doable for us.

I figure with the June heat we will want/NEED that time by the pool to just relax. I think we're really looking forward to that part of the trip.

 

[kittylady1972]

Ok so over the weekend we were having a discussion about the non-theme park things to do in Disney. We've played mini-golf a few times. DH and I have played all of the courses and last time we took the kids to Winter Summerland but I think this time we'd like to introduce them to Fantasia Gardens since we really enjoyed that one on a previous adults-only trip.

We got on the topic of other excursions and I started reading about the Fishing excursions. My youngest just LOVES fish and fishing but we haven't had much luck finding places near our house for him to fish...well he has been able to FISH plenty but the catching still eludes him! Over the summer we rented a cabin in Tennessee with a Catch & Release pond but we had NO luck in there either!

So the Disney fishing trips sound like something DH and DS 6 would enjoy and I think my MIL and FIL may even want to go as well. Of course, trying to fit it into our plans might be tough but I'm going to work on it. It's also been a while since DH has done the DiveQuest thing at EPCOT, so we are going to try to squeeze that in as well for this trip.

Now the question was what could the other kids do since I don't think they would enjoy the fishing trip as much? I thought maybe surfing lessons at Typhoon Lagoon? Or maybe we'd just rent some kind of boat and go out on the water on our own? I just don't know yet...but I'm trying to figure out how to work it into our schedule.

 

[kittylady1972]

So about two weeks ago I decided to embark on a new personal challenge. My weight over the last few years has just gotten out of control and I'm tired of my clothing getting more uncomfortable. About a year ago I lost about 10 pounds or so for my brother's wedding...out of necessity! I had a bridesmaid dress and I didn't fit into it! I've since regained that weight and I am not happy about it. It's time for a change.

Beginning last week I started a 15 pounds in 15 weeks challenge for myself. I have decided that I want to lose at least 15 pounds before our upcoming trip in June which is about 15 weeks away.

For now, I am using an online tool called Calorie Counter to track my caloric intake each day. I'm finding it really helps me focus on the foods that I eat each day and so far it's working. I'm seeing results, though they are minimal. Every little bit helps and I feel confident that I can reach my 15-week goal!

Hopefully as the weather around here warms up I can incorporate some outdoor exercise to help in my efforts. For right now though, I'm just happy to finally see that scale moving down once again. Fingers crossed that it continues!

There are so many awesome meals I have planned for Disney and I want to be able to enjoy them. I know I can do that much better if my weight is a lot more reasonable than it is now!

 

[DisneyAsh32]

Good Luck on you weight loss! I'm trying to eat better and get in shape as well. It will feel so much better to eat all of those great meals in Disney knowing all of the work I put in before!

 

[amandaluvsgoofy]

Good for you for trying to lose weight and feel better! It's amazing how pounds can creep up on you!

I've been trying to lose a few pounds as well (my ultimate goal would be 10 or so from now, but we'll see). Food has always been my biggest obstacle, I LOVE to eat!! I feel I do have the workout stuff down for the most part (got a treadmill I hit up in the mornings around 4:30am crazy I know). But stick with it and I know you will do great!!

Did you guys ever figure the fishing excursion out?

 

[WDWCP96]

Good luck on your weight loss.

I think that the fishing excursion sounds like fun. I have always wanted to try the surfing lessons, I am hoping when the kids get older.

I hope you didn't too much ice from that storm last night.

 

[teachermommy78]

Good luck! I have the same goal for WDW. 15 lbs. I do great through the weeks, but then weekends kill me. I'm doing well, though!

 

[kittylady1972]

Good Luck on you weight loss! I'm trying to eat better and get in shape as well. It will feel so much better to eat all of those great meals in Disney knowing all of the work I put in before!

Thanks! That's my hope!

 

[kittylady1972]

Good for you for trying to lose weight and feel better! It's amazing how pounds can creep up on you!

I've been trying to lose a few pounds as well (my ultimate goal would be 10 or so from now, but we'll see). Food has always been my biggest obstacle, I LOVE to eat!! I feel I do have the workout stuff down for the most part (got a treadmill I hit up in the mornings around 4:30am crazy I know). But stick with it and I know you will do great!!

Did you guys ever figure the fishing excursion out?

Yes, I LOVE food myself! This is going to be a tough week since there are many birthday meals planned. Trying to pace myself...but admit I was not too good at dinner last night. Will try to do better today.

I can't believe you get up at 4:30am for working out. That's great! I wish I could do the same. Instead my nice elliptical sits in the corner of my bedroom collecting dust. I really need to start using it!

 

[kittylady1972]

Good luck on your weight loss.

I think that the fishing excursion sounds like fun. I have always wanted to try the surfing lessons, I am hoping when the kids get older.

I hope you didn't too much ice from that storm last night.

We didn't get any ice this week. Some parts of MD did, but we are a bit south of Baltimore and were spared!

Not sure we'll do the surfing lessons yet. We'll have to see. Definitely plan to book the fishing excursion, but will most likely not attend myself. Right now it will be DH, DS 6 and MIL and FIL. Will see if the other kids want to join and if not will find something fun to do with them.

 

[kittylady1972]

Good luck! I have the same goal for WDW. 15 lbs. I do great through the weeks, but then weekends kill me. I'm doing well, though!

Cool! Good luck to you too! Yeah weekend wasn't too horrible for me...but birthday dinner last night was not good. I caved into the good food...and felt horrible about it. Even with no dessert...the scale this morning was not kind. I'm going to do my best to do better tonight.

 

[kittylady1972]

We leave THIRTEEN weeks from today! Wow! So close yet SOOO far away!

Not much going on with the planning in the last week or so. My only update is that yesterday I read here on the DISboards that you could transfer miles over to Amtrak on a 1:1 ratio. DH has a good portion of miles accumulated. With the transfer, we just might be able to upgrade to a room on the Autotrain on our one-way trip. Unfortunately he tried last night to do the transfer online a few times with no success. I told him to just CALL and ask but he was too stubborn. I know he would love to get a room on the train so perhaps I'll just verify today myself that it can be done. He will still need to do it himself. Even if the miles cover ONE room I'd be willing to pay for a second one out of pocket. We'll see.

Kids are still working on earning their Disney money by the behavior chart. I think we were starting to be a bit too lenient and giving way too many second chances so we've cracked down a little bit. I still expect by next month I'll be handing out at least one $25 gift card...probably to my daughter. It is just AMAZING how much better she behaves when a reward is involved. Punishments don't deter her much at all but rewards...yeah she's all about those...especially monetary awards!

The only other news is that I'm working on getting some new cameras purchased before our trip. I actually bought one last week which I love...but I hated spending the money on it even though it's now $30 more on Amazon then when I bought it last week! I am returning it and trying to find the same model on Ebay for cheaper. I'm also selling off one of my other favorite Canon cameras and I'm trying to decide if I'll replace it with a newer model or try out the Panasonic Lumix instead...I've read great things about them. I am a complete camera geek...always have TWO of them with me. I LOVE taking photos. So we'll see what I do after I sell one of mine on eBay this week. I want to have the new cameras in my hands for a few weeks so I can practice using them BEFORE our trip!

 

[teachermommy78]

Yay for new cameras! How fun! Can you share more about your behavior chart? Maybe you did already and I missed it.

 

[kittylady1972]

Yay for new cameras! How fun! Can you share more about your behavior chart? Maybe you did already and I missed it.

Yep sold my old camera today...didn't get as much as I had hoped. Still trying to decide on it's replacement and find one in my price range. Returned the other one I bought.

Behavior chart...pretty basic. I have a spreadsheet with each day leading up to our Disney departure day. There is a column for each child and every day if they have GREAT behavior they earn a checkmark. Each check is equal to $1 they can use at Disney. Since it's just ONE chance per day there is a lot involved. I expect excellent behavior, keeping rooms cleaned, doing what they are told and NO ARGUING. Let's just say it's very hard to earn a checkmark and I try not to give too many second chances but do give warnings when they are in danger of losing theirs. So far it's worked pretty well. We still have over 90 days to go so it could get pricey for us! Hopefully not though!

 

[kittylady1972]

Ok so I bid on a used Canon SX130 camera and sold off my Canon SX110 IS. There are some improvements in the lens and flash and it has HD Video so I'm excited. I tend to use my cameras more and more for video these days and very rarely use my video camera unless I'm capturing actions shots from far away for kids and sports.

Now I just have to stop myself from upgrading my Elph as well. It works just fine...but the newer models are so much thinner it would be nice to have one. Must step away from Ebay!

As for the train talk...well I spoke to Amtrak yesterday and learned that they will allow a family of five to book two roomettes, even though it does not mention that as an option online. I guess since it would be one adult and two kids in one of the rooms, the two kids could squeeze on a smaller bed and my kids are small enough that would be fine. We would love to get a bedroom with the bathroom as well....but the cost is so much more. It would only cost us another $250 or so to add two roomettes for our trip. We really only need to be in the rooms for sleeping anyway. So yeah I will probably add that upgrade next month. I think we are travelling at a slow enough time that I could even add it when we arrive that day. I also checked out prices going from Florida back to Virginia and holy COW those have gotten EXPENSIVE! The only way we might book them is if we can somehow get Amtrak Guest Rewards points to book it. That is a possibility if we can transfer some of DH's contintental miles and then I applied for a Continental Credit Card which would give me about 30K miles to start. We could just book two bedrooms and the car on the trip back by combining my miles with his. The question is how soon can we get the transfer and the miles over to Amtrak. Still waiting...so stay tuned to see if we change that.

That means no driving at all on the trip in June...which will thrill DH!

 

[kittylady1972]

Presenting our THIRD version of our touring plan. I needed to squeeze in a fishing excursion for part of the group and that meant things needed to be shifted. I made several changes today...so here we go! Changes are in RED!


DAY 1 (TUES): Nicolas will be graduating from 5th grade on this day! We will attend the graduation ceremony in the morning. After it is over, we will get the two other kids out of their classes at the same school and then take them home. Hope to get home before noon. We plan to pack the car right after the kids depart for school that morning so they will have no idea. They will hopefully still be under the impression that we are leaving EARLY Wednesday morning. We will head home, change cars and hit the road and make up something about why we are leaving early. An hour later we should be arriving at the train station in Virginia where they will then learn we are TAKING A TRAIN to Disney!

DAY 2 (WED): Arrive at the train station in Florida around 9:30am if all is well and drive to Disney from there. Should be at Bay Lake Tower before noon easily. We have the rest of the day to unpack and relax, maybe hit the pool, maybe hit MK and ride BTMRR. Thinking we may head to Downtown Disney for either lunch or dinner and try T-Rex since we've never eaten there and I think the kids would enjoy it. Added a lunch ressie for T-Rex on our arrival day a while ago!

DAY 3 (THUR): Another free day. Options include: Pool, waterpark or maybe we'll get a 3-day pass to Universal and head there. Not sure yet. Thursday evening the rest of the family should arrive and checkin at Bay Lake Tower in their rooms. Perhaps dinner with them that night?

DAY 4 & 5 (FRI & SAT): Universal Studios parks; kids have never been to either of these parks so they should enjoy it; it might be strange to come back to our room each night overlooking the Magic Kingdom park, but we know we'll get there eventually! Perhaps we can even wander over to the Magic Kingdom in the evenings if we are up for it...for dessert...DOLE WHIPS!

DAY 6 (SUN): Early morning breakfast with Chef Mickey with the whole gang and spend the day exploring Magic Kingdom; we may end up back at the room for a pool/lunch break...easy enough since we can walk right over; it's an extra evening day for Magic Kingdom so we can always go back later that night if we've had a break in the afternoon. Dinner that evening is at the Cape May Cafe for the Clambake!

DAY 7 (MON): This is an early entry day for Animal Kingdom, so I'm hoping we can be there close to rope drop since that park gets SO hot so quickly; we have a 10:20am breakfast at Tusker House...which will be more like a brunch since lunch starts at 10:30am there;
This is where our excursions were added...so there will be no Animal Kingdom for this day! Instead some of the party (4 adults and one child) will do the Bass Fishing Excursion on Bay Lake beginning at 7am! My two other kids had no interest in fishing, so instead I've booked a Pirate Cruise for them that launches from the GF. I added my nephew here as well...just in case he's interested. So while the Fishing Excursion is coming to an end, I'll be dropping off two other kids for their 2-hour fun tour. Afterwards we are all heading to EPCOT where I have a lunch planned here at Chef de France! We can spend a little time at EPCOT before catching the monorail back to the room to change for dinner below
back to the room in the afternoon for cooling off time and then we have a 7:25pm dinner at California Grill

DAY 8 (TUE): Early morning at Hollywood Studios - Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror, RnRC are the big ones to hit and anything else is a bonus; 12pm lunch at the Hollywood Brown Derby; back to our room in early afternoon for a break; head to EPCOT later where we have a 7:45pm dinner at Rose and Crown Pub and hopefully will view Illuminations there; it's an extra evening day for EPCOT so we can stay as long as the kids will tolerate So I nixed the EPCOT evening and we have a free afternoon after spending time at the Studios. Perhaps we can make a trip over to the MK to ride a few things and catch dinner there at Columbia Harbour House? We don't usually make a full day out of the Studios park.


DAY 9 (WED): Possibly a morning at Magic Kingdom again; plan to hit EPCOT in the afternoon as we have a 5pm dinner at Chef de France and I'm hoping we catch Remy making his last rounds of the day!The Remy plan was moved to lunch earlier in the week so we can head to EPCOT at any time in the afternoon; we have a 6:30pm Rose & Crown Pub dinner and hoping to linger long enough to catch Illuminations...shouldn't be impossible if they seat us a little late!


DAY 10 (THUR): Morning is pretty open...so we can hit a park or just chill; perhaps hit the Main Street Bakery for breakfast! We need to head to Hollywood Studios sometime after noon as we have a 3:30pm lunch/dinner at Mama Melrose ast part of the Fantasmic! package. Watch Fantasmic! that evening.

DAY 11 (FRI): Our last full day...so plan is to spend it at Magic Kingdom again since it's close, then of course the packing and stuff to be ready for out trip home the next day; it's also an early morning at EPCOT so if we want to do a few things there first thing in the morning, we may do that

DAY 12 (SAT): Another travel day; probably leave early in the morning after a nice breakfast at our hotel for the long drive home