Last Minute PTR

[haleofafamily]

The next couple of days will be very relaxed. My hope is to do everyone's favorites from each park.

Day 6 Back to AK - We will see or ride whatever we didn't have time to do on Sun. Then rest and go to another park or swim at resort. I have no idea, but it already sounds so relaxing! My mom and I are willing to split up if some kids want to one thing and the other kids another.

Day 7 We have a 9am ADR at Whispering Canyon Cafe, my mom leaves, we check-out of VWL, and check-in to the Dolphin. Most of that will be done before 11am! We will also try to hit a couple of parks then explore the Dolphin and the Boardwalk. If I am feeling overwhelmed having the kids all by myself then we will just stay at the resort.

Day 8 Time to leave I know we will be sad to go, but we will also be very excited to see Aaron! Our flight isn't very early so we will be able to take our time getting ready. I am debating an attempt at an earlyish morning swim. We will travel to the airport in a limo so we can end our trip in style

 

[bellebookworm9]

We're splitting up DHS over two days. We might have been able to fit everything in one day, but we'll be able to take a slower pace and meet lots of characters this way. Last time we ate at ABC Commissary, and it was just okay. This time we're going to try Backlot Express because the veggie sandwich looks really good. Studio Catering Co. just changed their menu, and I hear Starring Rolls has pretty good sandwiches.

I totally agree that Sunshine Seasons is one of the best counter services in the "world". I still dream about their turkey & cheese foccacia and butterfinger cheesecake. IllumiNations is definitely a great end to the night. We'll watch it both nights we're at Epcot, one of which is the last night of our trip. It's our favorite soundtrack and we listen to it constantly.

Your relaxing days sound great. When I was planning the "Ultimate Trip of a Lifetime" (which will still happen, it just might be awhile!) I was planning a day just to explore the resort and I'm sad we won't get to do that. But, I think we have enough days that end early/start late that we'll be able to check out some of its offerings!

I'm sure that even if you just chill out at the Dolphin that you will have more than enough to do. Have a great trip!

 

[tinkgirl26]

Your trip is sounding awesome!! I am heading to disney with my aunt and cousins tomorrow...my cousins (8 and 2 1/2) Have no clue that we are going and we are going to surprise them at the airport tomorrow. I can definitly understand trying to get things done with out people knowing . I hope you have a great trip and looking forward to reading more about it!!!!

 

[haleofafamily]

This time we're going to try Backlot Express because the veggie sandwich looks really good. Studio Catering Co. just changed their menu, and I hear Starring Rolls has pretty good sandwiches.

I totally agree that Sunshine Seasons is one of the best counter services in the "world". I still dream about their turkey & cheese foccacia and butterfinger cheesecake. IllumiNations is definitely a great end to the night. We'll watch it both nights we're at Epcot, one of which is the last night of our trip. It's our favorite soundtrack and we listen to it constantly.

It seems like every time we go to Backlot Express and/or Studio Catering Co. (I think) they are closed. Are they only open seasonally?

The butterfinger cheescake sounds yummy! I'll have to try that one.

I love the Illuminations soundtrack too. My DH even listens to it on his Zoon.

I can't believe we leave tomorrow.

 

[haleofafamily]

Your trip is sounding awesome!! I am heading to disney with my aunt and cousins tomorrow...my cousins (8 and 2 1/2) Have no clue that we are going and we are going to surprise them at the airport tomorrow. I can definitly understand trying to get things done with out people knowing . I hope you have a great trip and looking forward to reading more about it!!!!

Are you on your way yet? Maybe we will run into each other!

Surprises are great. Can't wait to hear how yours goes.

 

[haleofafamily]

PREPARATIONS AND PACKING

I am a huge list maker. I can't remember when it started and I have no idea where it came from, but I make a list for everything. Probably because I do everything last minute and having a list helps things go smoothly.

So for a few months I have had a notebook that I have been making list and notes in. I knew it would come in handy because my packing would have to be done in secret and quickly.

Last night Aaron took the kids to a park (I told them I was too tired to go.) I gave them 10 minutes after they left before I started getting things out. That way if they forgot something and came back nothing would be out yet. No one returned so the madness started

I had suitcases and clothes all over the living room floor and I had my handy dandy notebook. It took me an hour to get everything in place. Then I started putting it in the suitcases. My goal is to get everything into 3 suitcases...I have to go check my mom in online - be right back.

 

[bellebookworm9]

It seems like every time we go to Backlot Express and/or Studio Catering Co. (I think) they are closed. Are they only open seasonally?

The butterfinger cheescake sounds yummy! I'll have to try that one.

I love the Illuminations soundtrack too. My DH even listens to it on his Zoon.

I can't believe we leave tomorrow.

I don't think Backlot Express is seasonal, but Studio Catering Co. might be. The cheesecake was awesome, but I don't think you can wrong with any dessert at Sunshine Seasons. Every time I look at the food pictures I go "Oh that looks fantastic!" I think we'll be trying to key lime pie, the fruit tart, or possibly the strawberry shortcake. We're eating two meals there to try all the yumminess.

Glad to hear your secretive packing went well. Have a fantastic time!

 

[haleofafamily]

That didn't take long and I got her in A group. I called to tell her and she was very excited. Then she said, 'I never received my ME tags.' I had to think fast - the limo is a surprise for her. So I said, 'I never got mine either. Just hold onto your checked bags tickets and we will give them to the ME people and they can get our bags.' She didn't suspect a thing. Funny thing is Disney has all our flight info because originally we were going to use ME and I really never received our ME stuff. I have no idea what happened.

BACK TO THE PACKING
So the kids are gone, everything is spread all over the living room and I have my handy dandy notebook. Usually I hate packing for our big crew, but this time everything went very smoothly. I'm going to let you in on a secret - we are huge NERDS...we wear matching t-shirts. Aaron's secretary goes to WDW with her family a lot as well and when they were talking about it one time she said please tell me you are not one of those families that walk around in match t-shirts. Uhh yep we do! Actually it has been very helpful a couple of times when a child has gotten off a ride and gone the wrong way. It's very easy for the CM's to tell who he/she belongs too. So I just grabbed a pile of matching shirts, find shorts from another pile that matched and put it in the suitcase. Then filled around it with all the other junk we might need while we are away. I packed by day so Suitcase 1 has day 1 clothes, swimsuits, PJ's... Suitcase 2 has days 2, 3, 4. Suitcase 3 has days 5, 6 , 7 and 8. AND I got it all in 3 suitcases. I may have to take a carry on, but I hope not. I have enough carry ons with the kids. Now all I have left is last minute stuff.

I can't believe we leave tomorrow!!

I will try to post updates while we are there. Now I have to get things ready for Ashlynne's 3rd birthday today. But don't worry I have a list

 

[lala3291]

I'm joining in! We leave in 8 days! We are so excited. I think that leaving the trip a surprise for your kids is a great idea! I wish I had done that for my kids, but I can't keep a secret for my life I hope that you have an amazing trip! Looking forward to reading about your trip!
~Lauren

 

[haleofafamily]

I don't think Backlot Express is seasonal, but Studio Catering Co. might be. The cheesecake was awesome, but I don't think you can wrong with any dessert at Sunshine Seasons. Every time I look at the food pictures I go "Oh that looks fantastic!" I think we'll be trying to key lime pie, the fruit tart, or possibly the strawberry shortcake. We're eating two meals there to try all the yumminess.

Glad to hear your secretive packing went well. Have a fantastic time!

Thanks! I hope too.

I keep meaning to tell you that I am so excited that you are staying at Kidani. We LOVED it there! I'm sure we will enjoy VWL, but we are going to miss AKV.

I'm joining in! We leave in 8 days! We are so excited. I think that leaving the trip a surprise for your kids is a great idea! I wish I had done that for my kids, but I can't keep a secret for my life I hope that you have an amazing trip! Looking forward to reading about your trip!
~Lauren

Welcome!

I don't know how many times I have almost slipped and told them. Then there have been many times when I didn't want to keep it to myself, but I would think about how often I would hear the kids ask how long til WDW and so I would keep my mouth shut.

I hope you have a magical trip!

 

[bellebookworm9]

I keep meaning to tell you that I am so excited that you are staying at Kidani. We LOVED it there! I'm sure we will enjoy VWL, but we are going to miss AKV.

We're really excited too. We really wanted to stay at POR, but because of our budget, we were going to do ASMu. However, I remembered about renting points, and AKV was the cheapest for that (which surprised me because OKW and SSR are cheapest in cash). The theme is growing on me and I'm really looking forward to it now.

 

[haleofafamily]

LAST MINUTE DRAMA

We are leaving in less than 30 minutes but I had to fill y'all in on our last minute activities and drama.

Jake (6) has had some 'scratches' on his leg this past week and then a couple of days ago he said he was getting warts. Well Aaron looked and them and didn't make any comments so I didn't think anything about it. Well this morning I was snuggling with Jake on the couch and looked at his legs and he has a horrible patchy rash spread all over his legs.

Now I am starting to panic -what could this be? I look up all the urgent care facilities in our area and none open til 9am on Sat. It's a little before 8am. I am running around trying to figure out what to do. So my DH says lets tell them now and then you can take him to an urgent care place. So I run around putting the clues in the spots they go in.

We gather the kids in the living room and I read the first clue and we are off on the hunt. I am such an idiot because I put clues as far from each other as possible. We went outside, down to the basement, all the way upstairs, down to the garage...you get the idea. By now I am sweating and out of breath, we are upstairs with the final clue attached to the floating balloon - "This is so exciting your going to scream and flip, pack your bags now we're going on a Disney World trip!"

Reactions: Seth and Zach are stunned but huge smiles, Cade was calm but with a smile, Jake was jumping up and down and the girls were clueless because they were enamored with the balloon. Then they get excited and Cade starts sobbing because he realizes Aaron isn't going.

Back to Jake's problem -Aaron is making breakfast, so I put Jake in the car and go to find an urgent care facility. I thought it was near our hospital but I couldn't find it so I go into the emergency room to ask where it is. It's all the way across town I decide to have him looked at at the ER. There was no one there and they said we could get right to him. We were literally talking to a PA 7 minutes later. Diagnosis - he has poison sumac or something. We are cleared to go on vacation. He just has to wear jeans on the airplane. We get our prescription and are back home within the hour. Crisis averted!

Everyone is walking out the door.

I will try to update on Sun.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Oh my goodness, I'm so glad it's nothing too serious, and glad to see the treasure hunt went well, for the most part.

 

[lala3291]

I am so glad it was nothing too serious! Have a magical trip! Can't wait to hear all about it

 

[__disneygirl]

I'm so glad everything ended up working out for you! I can not wait to read about your trip!!

 

[Olallamom]

Your pre trip report was so wonderful. I hope that your trip is going great and I can't wait to read your updates.

 

[haleofafamily]

Oh my goodness, I'm so glad it's nothing too serious, and glad to see the treasure hunt went well, for the most part.

Aaron was videotaping the treasure hunt and at the end he catches me muttering, 'that was anti-climactic' and hanging my head. It was fun, though.

I am so glad it was nothing too serious! Have a magical trip! Can't wait to hear all about it

Me too! I'm going to try to update today.

I'm so glad everything ended up working out for you! I can not wait to read about your trip!!

Can you believe the drama? Of course my mind went to worst case scenario right away.

Your pre trip report was so wonderful. I hope that your trip is going great and I can't wait to read your updates.

Welcome and thanks. I'm hoping to update soon.

 

[haleofafamily]

UPDATE: DAY 1

We are here and things are great!

First of all our flights were on time and uneventful. When we got to the airport our limo was waiting and we were upgraded to stretch Lincoln Navigator. It was AWESOME. We watched a movie and sipped sodas all the way to POP.

We checked in and got our requests - connecting rooms and close to an elevator. We are hungry so we went straight to the food court. Everything looked good. My mom got the chicken penne pasta and I got the vegetable lo mien. My mom said hers was really good and mine was ok.

After dinner we went swimming. The pool was crowded, but the water felt so good and we really enjoyed it. We took the kids to the kiddie pool for a little while and they loved it. My older boys really missed having a slide. They closed the pool for cleaning and didn't know if they would open again for the night so we went to our rooms.

The little ones went to bed and my mom and the older boys went to the arcade and to get a snack. It was after 9:30pm and my mom was shocked at how crowded it was. It took them a while but the boys were on a sugar high so they didn't care.

DAY 2

I was surprised at how late every one slept, but we still made decent time to AK. Bell Service came and got our luggage very quickly and there was a bus waiting so we got right on. When we got to AK it took us a little while to get our AP vouchers transferred to AP's. But we finally made it into the park and on our way to the Safari.

While I took the kids to the Safari, my mom went the opposite way to fast pass Dino and EE. She met us in the line and we went on our safari. Love, love, love this ride! We stopped and played the drums on our way to Asia. Then we noticed people stopping and staring at the bushes. It was Devine! We have seen her one other time, but she was leaving the park and just stopped briefly. This time she was in her element. On my goodness is she ever amazing. My mom and I could have watched her forever. Morgan was fascinated too and even went up to her and Devine reached down and held her hand. The boys were ready for the rapids so we went and did that next.

Ashlynne was finally tall enough to ride so this was an exciting time for her. She was so proud of her 'bracelet' and stamp. Next was EE. Jake rode this and Dino for the first time. So him and Ashlynne got the bravery awards for the day! We played in the Boneyard for a little bit then had lunch at Pizzafari.

I could tell everyone was getting tired so we left for the day. I was hoping our villa would be ready, but I knew odds were against us because it was 1pm and it takes a while to clean a 2 bedrm.

We arrived at WL and went in. It is so beautiful. My mom took the kids to look around while I checked in and guess what...our room was ready. So we went over to the villas and we have a great location right around the corner from the elevator.

The kids were dying to go swimming, but our luggage hadn't arrived from POP yet. So we rested, then walked around. When we came back the luggage had gotten here, but now we had to wait for our groceries.

Finally it was time to go swimming! The pool was very crowded, but felt so good. We swam for awhile and then decide to eat.

Roaring forks the CS at WL was crazy. Nicest people working there, but there was only one person at the stations so it took forever! Good food, though.

I put the younger ones to bed and then took Seth and Zach to the beach to watch the Electrical Water Pageant. It was a good ending to the day.

Next: Day 3 - MK

 

[mickeystoontown]

So good to hear that you've arrived and things are going great so far!

 

[haleofafamily]

WE'RE HOME NOW!!

BRIEF DAILY UPDATES.

Sorry I quit updating while we were on the trip. I just didn't have time. Our plans changed considerably because of the heat. It sapped the energy right out of us!

You already know about our arrival and Animal Kingdom day so off to day 3.

DAY 3 MK

We were there for rope drop. My mom and kids watched the opening ceremony while I went to get as close to the entrance as possible. I wanted to get the GAD fastpasses as quickly as possible. Everything worked out great and we were off to Fanastyland - rode Peter Pan, It's a Small World, Haunted Mansion, Snow White, saw Mickey's Philharmagic, rode Pooh. Then Tomorrowland - rode TTA twice (Mom and older boys rode once then went to Space Mtn), rode Buzz and I scored my personnal best - 9's all the way across. I was so excited!! Lunch at Peco's Bills - we were there a little after 11 so it wasn't crowded and we got our food very quickly. Decided to head across to Adventureland - on our way the Celebrate...Parade was passing Main Street so we got to watch it for a little bit. Looked like fun. Rode Pirates then left the park for rest time. We took the boat to VWL and it was very peaceful.
Some of us napped, some went swimming. Then we went back to MK and headed straight to Columbia Harbour House for dinner. Rode Peter Pan again, then I rode It's a Small World with girls and Cade while Mom and others went to Splash Mtn, met back up and I went on Big Thunder mtn with boys. We were going to go to Tom Sawyer Island but it was closing so we went back to resort for more swimming and then to bed.

DAY 4

HUGE DEPARTURE FROM SCHEDULE

Because of the heat, we decided we needed a day to relax. So today we slept in, went swimming, then to Downtown Disney. We ate at Wolfgang Puck Express for the first time and WOW it was great! We shopped, then went back to resort for swimming. We all went down to the beach to watch the Electrical Water Pageant and everybody loved it. It was fun to hear the OOH's and AHH's.

DAY 5 EPCOT

We were a little late getting there. I decided that since we had the GAD fastpasses being at rope drop wasn't a necessity. So we would sleep in a little and then head to the parks. We rode Spaceship Earth, then off to the Seas for Nemo, the kids wanted to explore the fish tanks instead of seeing Crush. Then we went over to Figment ride and played with the Kodak stuff for a little bit. We went to the Land and mom and boys rode Soarin while I waited with the girls. It was a very long wait so instead of having them wait while I rode it - I sent mom to the Simba movie with most of the kids. Cade and I rode Soarin together. It was wonderful. One of my favorites. We got done a little before them so we waited. Then we all went to Living with the Land. Then lunch at Sunshine Seasons. I took the girls back to resort for a rest time while my mom stayed with the boys. They did Mission:Space and Test Track, played in the Innovention pavillions, ate ice cream and signed up for a Kim Possible Mission. We met back up at Mexico and rode the boat ride. Started the Kim Possible Mission and the boys LOVED it. We did one mission in Germany. Seth and Zach wanted to continue but the rest of us were hungry so we gave the older boys my mom's cell phone and let them head off to a mission on their own. They were so excited! Walked to America for dinner for the kids. After they had their food and were seated, I walked over to Japan to get food for mom and me. Good stuff. Seth and Zach met up with us after 2 missions. By now my mom is shot after a full day in the park so we decide to ride Maelstrom and then leave. The ride was fun but terrified my girls. On our way out we watched the dancing water fountain for a little bit.


Up next: the rest of the story (trip)!