Looking forward to a crowd-free Disney Trip! **Update 9/4**

I don't quite get the decision to replace Lotso with Pooh, there are already many different places to meet Pooh, seems like they could've picked someone who isn't already readily available all over the parks :confused3
 
I don't quite get the decision to replace Lotso with Pooh, there are already many different places to meet Pooh, seems like they could've picked someone who isn't already readily available all over the parks :confused3

I completely agree Michelle! I guess its because of the new Pooh movie being released this year.

The only reason that I'm happy to see Pooh there is because its one less line we'll have to wait in! :laughing:

We ALWAYS see Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore at Animal Kingdom (its my favorite Character Greeting so we never miss it!) and we'll also see Pooh this trip at Crystal Palace.

I'm surprised with all the new movies being released this year, they didn't choose another character. Maybe someone from Monsters Inc? I know they already have a greeting area, but they could've put an additional Monsters character there (maybe a new one!)

Oh, well...guess they won't listen to me...:rolleyes1

 
Hope!! I am so excited to be joining you as... yet ANOTHER Disney travel agent!! :lmao: At this rate there will be more agents than clients on these boards! I haven't finished my College of Knowledge yet, but still, I am SOOOO excited! So cograts to you too!!

What a great idea for how to guage what Luke will want to do! I have heard that Sam's Club or someplace has a set of DVD's like that... maybe I will look.

I need to go update my PTR now, it's been a while! Then back to "college"! :rotfl:

CONGRATS to you too Stephanie!!!! :cool1: :woohoo: :cool1: :woohoo: :cool1:

Check Sam's Club and also Amazon for the DVD's! The one that I bought was "unofficial" from some guy on ebay! It was honestly alot more professional than I thought it would be. It doesn't show everything & I was disappointed in the Epcot portion. Since its my favorite park, I wish they would've showed more of World Showcase.


Oh my gosh, I am going to school for early childhood ed so I LOVE reading about Luke and his reactions to things! The part where he gets excited about seeing other kids reminds me of my next door neighbor's little boy...I don't know exactly how old he is, but I'm guessing 3 going on 4. He absolutely loves to see my dog Caesar and often asks where Caesar is if he sees one of us and not Caesar. Once, when I was walking Caesar and stopped to talk to them, the little boy asked, "is Caesar a kid or a dog?" :lmao: Just the way he said it was so cute! I don't know if it's because Caesar is fairly small even though he's fully grown, or what, but it was adorable. I'm going to be working (well, interning, basically) with preschoolers next semester as part of the practicum for my major and I am SO excited!

Using the DVD's to figure out what Luke might like and what he might be afraid of is a really, really good idea. I don't blame him for being afraid of Dinosaur; I'M afraid of Dinosaur! :rotfl: I honestly don't know how some young kids do it. I love it, but it's major sensory overload for me. I HATE loud noises and darkness. I love the ride, but it scares me to death. The loud noises and darkness is why I can never, ever do Stitch's Great Escape again...the dark, the loud, unexpected surprises, and, on top of it all, being RESTRAINED so you can't move at all was too much for me. At least I can say, been there, done that, never again. :laughing:

I love the story about Caesar & the little boy!!!! How cute!!! :hug:

We definitely won't be doing Stitch OR Dinosaur on our trip!!! We actually attempted to take Luke to see his first movie at the theater. He LOVES E.B. the bunny in Hop so I figured he would sit through the movie. We didn't even make it to the first scene!!! He was screaming & throwing a fit...poor little guy was scared to death! He HATES the dark and loud noises. Also thanks for the reminder about Stitch -- I hate being restrained too which is why I hate alot of roller coasters!!! :eek:


Awe, Lukes reactions to the video were so sweet!!

I wish James talked enough to do that. Some words and phrases are perfect; most he just uses the same vowel noise for every syllable.

Love that his room is all Disney decked out!

The kids program sounds really cool! I'd totally go for that! We have a thing here in the summer where they throw a couple of kid friendly concerts at random local places. It's a ton of fun.

We send James to mothers day out one day a week. He LOVES the socialization!

I honestly am not sure if it was easier to plan a Disney trip when Luke couldn't talk or now that he can! :laughing:

It will be nice at the parks to already have an idea of what he wants to do, but I'm not looking forward to the "I want that" phase!!! I know we'll see ALOT of that this trip.


Awwwww, how fun that Luke enjoyed the DVDs so much! They are so cute at that age, I sure miss it sometimes.

Count me among the group of people afraid of Dinosaur, I don't blame Luke one bit for not liking that one :laughing:

I loved seeing Luke's reactions to the DVD's! Capturing his reactions to characters, rides, shows, etc. on vacation is ALWAYS my favorite & most treasured memories of our Disney trips too!!!

Since I've received such positive comments on here, I'm planning to let Luke watch some of the other Disney videos that I have & video it so everyone can see it for themselves! :goodvibes


Good idea about showing Luke the DVD's beforehand! :thumbsup2 Too cute what he liked and didn't like. Our first trip to Disney, Jeremy rode Winnie the Pooh and after it bounced like Tigger--he would not ride anything else. It scared the child to death. The only thing he wanted to do the rest of the trip was meet characters!

Hope you have fun at the Disney store! We no longer have one around us. :sad2:

Poor Jeremy! Does he still remember that happened?

I'm honestly afraid of that happening this trip. He seems more afraid of the dark & loud noises now than he was before. We have to figure out which rides to go on first to show him there's nothing to be afraid of (rides that are well-lighted, nothing dark or loud, nothing enclosed, etc).

I'm actually VERY nervous that he will be terrified of the characters this trip. He refused to have his picture taken with the Easter bunny for the first time since he was born AND he cried at Christmas when we got his pic with Santa! To be honest, the Character Greetings are definitely one of my favorite parts of our Disney trips!!!


I'm here Hope, I just have to go back and read now!

Hi Jen!!!! Take your time catching up!!! It will probably beawhile before I post another update!
 
Where do you find Pooh at AK? I am not sure I've seen Pooh there... but we have greeted Pooh in the Pooh greeting area in the back of that shop in the England Pavilion at EPCOT! pooh: And of course we saw Pooh the time we did the CP dinner. I am not sure that I'll miss Lotso though... but who I do miss is the old man Carl from UP!! I was so excited about meeting him, and then we got there about 5 min. too late, so I was not worried because I knew we'd be back in a few months.... little did I know that when we'd be back, UP would be replaced by Lotso and Sunnyside Daycare. :sad2: I hope they bring back the UP characters.... please.... for me.....:flower3:
 

I am SO trying to catch up on your trip report. I'm caught on the whole airfare thing. I rarely fly anymore. I DREAD the TSA thing! :scared1: Our local airport is Washington Dulles (the one that the plane was highjacked from and flew into the Pentagon)... so the TSA is super strict there. Anyway, are you saying that if you have say, a SW reservation for flight 5678 for which you paid $250 and later, you find that flight 5678 leaving on the same day and time is now $200, you can get a credit for that $50 to use later? I thought there were odious fees to make changes to your flight? Or would that be an odious fee if you change your flight from say Thursday to Saturday for instance? I thought most flights were non-refundable, unchangeable? The last time I flew to WDW was March 2008. I think we drove for the five trips since. I think I live at the upper Northern limit of a reasonable driving plan. You CAN do it in one day, but I don't recommend it. If you can get a credit if your flight price drops... how do you know it drops and how do you get the credit?

Heidi doesn't swim very well yet, so we haven't taken her to a water park yet. We'd end up stuck the whole day in the kiddie area. I'm not a huge waterslide lover, and she's so happy when we just take her to the pool that I don't think she's really missing anything. She's even happy with Pop's pool.

Co-sleeping! Its really great for some kids, and not for others. Our older two never slept in our beds... we'd bring their toddler bed in when they were sick, but not otherwise. One time when Max was a toddler, he was sick, so we had him in our room with his bed. We woke up with him sitting in the middle of our bed between us covered in red lipstick!!! :rotfl: He'd gone into our bathroom, taken out my favorite Estee Lauder (expensive) lipstick and schmeared it all over himself, the bedding and on Henry's back. Note... parent's rooms are not necessarily child proof!! However, Heidi sleeps in our room alot. She said her room is lonely! When I was nursing her, I often had her in our bed, and so she likes to be near us. Since we have a sitting room off of our bedroom, only separated by two Doric columns, she will frequently sleep on our couch. She's getting too big to sleep in our bed... but when we're at SSR with that big King sized masterbedroom bed, there's so much room she can sleep horizonally between us!! Alot of times, we'll let her fall asleep on our couch in the sitting room, and then Henry will move her to her bed after she's asleep.

almost forgot to mention. My friend Valerie was taking my advice and planning to go to Disney with her husband and DD8 this spring break, which started yesterday. She booked her Sheraton time share in Orlando, then started looking for airfare from Dulles, she said she couldn't find anything under $1000 a person!! :scared: With the unrest in the middle east and the rising oil prices, there's just no way airfare is going down. But this was a WOW!! in a bad way!

If I lived near D.C. or NY, there's no way I would fly ever again!!! I would be scared to death because of the large cities! Actually, I'm not even sure I'd fly out of CA! (which should be interesting if I ever want to visit Disneyland!)

With the airline price drops -- I only know how the process works with Southwest. You basically sign-up for an email called a "Ding!" which will alert you if/when the price drops. Southwest does NOT charge a fee for this. They will give you a credit on your account & I believe it currently states that you must use the credit within 2 years. Its a great feature!!! Between that AND free luggage, I'm not sure why anyone would want to fly with anyone other than Southwest! ;)

I hope that I explained that well enough, but if you want to read more about it, just check out their website! It's all explained there!

I STILL haven't decided about the water parks. Honestly I'm leaning towards Blizzard Beach, especially because I want to go to Winter Summerland to mini golf. I'm thinking we'd only spend a few hours at the water park, so we could always go mini golfing first & then walk over to Blizzard Beach. I am still undecided. I talked it over with my husband & we decided it will be a very last minute decision. If we do decide to go, we'll just purchase 1-day passes at the gate. I think we'd be fine with just spending alot of time at Stormalong Bay for this trip. I'm already starting to plan my 30th birthday trip next year, so we could always go to BB next year.

Thank you for understanding about co-sleeping!!! I appreciate that & thanks for sharing the stories about your kids!!! :goodvibes

What happened with your friend, Valerie? Did they end up going or staying home because of the cost of airfare???


We are technically at the YC, though since those two resorts share SAB we certainly might run into each other! I will be the insane redhead who is dragging her much maligned DH to the rope drop every morning. :lmao:

Right after I asked you, I followed the link to your PTR and found out for myself!!! :laughing:

Which reminds me that I need to catch up on your report...:rolleyes1


My DH, who has NEVER been a morning person in the nearly 30 years that I've known him, but has always aspired to be.... was amazed at how much you can get done in a day when you get up early. We left at dawn on our last WDW trip because my BIL is former Airforce and a very disciplined early to rise man. DH agreed to follow Doug's schedule to see how life was "on the other side"... he was awed.... but he can't do it on his own yet! :rotfl2: We have ALWAYS wanted to make a rope drop... but never have!! I asked DH if since we can't afford to go to Hawaii for our 25th anniversary in June, if we could stay at the "fake" one... Poly... but now I'm thinking... YC would be a better choice!

I'm glad to hear I'm not the ONLY Dis-er who hasn't made a rope drop!!!! :thumbsup2

AND I'm glad I'm not the only one who has to blame it on her husband! :rolleyes1

I would LOVE to tour the parks with my mom -- but I'm not sure I could even keep up with her! My parents make every single rope drop & don't leave the parks until after evening EMH's!!! I think they're half crazy, but I'd love to try it out for a week with them!!!

When is your anniversary? Mine is in June too!!!!!

I love the Poly & can't wait to see it when we eat at Kona! The Poly is definitely tied with Beach Club for #1 in my book!!!


I completely understand. James is the same way on the potty. He tries to make himself go over and over. And tells me he is not done. You are getting so great signs from Luke though. Hopefully it will go quickly and smoothly for you!

Yay for Luke!!!! I guess it really just depends on when they are ready! Congrats of Luke's potty accomplishments!! :cool1:

:cool1::cool1:Way to go Luke! He is making great progress!!! What an accomplishment!

:banana::banana:Yay for you too Mom! I know how exciting that is!

Yay Luke!!! :banana:

It's been awhile since I've had one potty training, but I remember the frustration going through it with Justin. Jared was easy, he wanted to be just like his big brother and do everything just like him.....

Yay for Luke!! I totally feel your frustration, it was a loooooong process, and then one day, it just clicked! Bribery is not bad!!! Congrats!!

Yay Luke! :banana: Good for you, too, getting him to use the potty!

Thank you all very much!!!!! I am soooo proud of him!!!

If he continues on his potty schedule, he will soon get his reward!!! E.B. bunny from Build a Bear (from the movie Hop!)


Usually prices will fluctuate up until about 30 days out - then they rise. Usually around 60 or so is when airlines will have sales. Are you a "member" on any airline sites? JetBlue sends emails all the time, they have some great sales! We usually end up buying somewhere between 60 and 45 days and get a good rate.

You are so sweet!!! I love that we are working at the same agency! It's been wonderful to chat and rely on each other and we both (along with Jen and the other new folks!) navigate this new career! :goodvibes

I think this is a good move. He's used to that stroller and will probably nap better because of it. :thumbsup2 We once had a Peg Pergo that had a tray, was light weight and all that - it was good Disney stroller! We got it off albeebaby.com for around $80. Love that website!

I just emailed you about this too... SO HAPPY FOR THE BREAK THROUGH!!! :dance3::dance3::dance3: Go Luke, go Luke, go Luke!

Thanks for the airline advice Brook! That's what I thought -- I've usually seen the best deals 60-90 days before our trips. I'm just so nervous this year with the constant rise of oil prices! I am a member of Southwest's rapid rewards & get all of their "ding" emails as well! We usually fly Southwest because of their free luggage and also no fees when we switch dates and/or flights! We only have 2 airlines that fly non-stop to Orlando daily -- Southwest and Airtran.

I definitely love all of the support from all of the new agents!!! I think its great that we can all share information & help each other as well!!!

You are right! We definitely saw a difference in how/when Luke napped last year vs. the year we rented the Disney stroller. It made a HUGE difference! Last trip, when we took his stroller, we would sit & people watch, go shopping, or eat a quick meal while he napped. And he was super comfy in his own stroller since it reclined & had the canopy so the sun wasn't in his eyes. Definitely a better alternative than the year with the hard, plastic Disney stroller. AND it was nice to have the stroller at our resort especially to/from the bus stops late at night!

Thank you for the email & for all of your support with potty training! Luke has been doing great with the potty! You know how frustrated I was so you can imagine how happy I am now!!! :goodvibes
 
Where do you find Pooh at AK? I am not sure I've seen Pooh there... but we have greeted Pooh in the Pooh greeting area in the back of that shop in the England Pavilion at EPCOT! pooh: And of course we saw Pooh the time we did the CP dinner. I am not sure that I'll miss Lotso though... but who I do miss is the old man Carl from UP!! I was so excited about meeting him, and then we got there about 5 min. too late, so I was not worried because I knew we'd be back in a few months.... little did I know that when we'd be back, UP would be replaced by Lotso and Sunnyside Daycare. :sad2: I hope they bring back the UP characters.... please.... for me.....:flower3:

I agree!!!! I honestly CRIED when I found out the UP characters were leaving DHS!!!!

I'll post some better pics tomorrow so you can see exactly where Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore are at AK!!! :thumbsup2
 
We hardly ever fly out of any other airport than Dulles because its less than 15 min. away. Although, when Max and Casey flew home for their spring break, we had them flying in and out of National Airport because it was cheaper by $150!! Henry didn't mind the extra drive though.

I haven't talked to Valerie since spring break ended, but I should see her this weekend since her daughter is coming to my house for the Brownie sewing workshop.

Yes, our anniversary is June 29th. We married in 1986, so this year is our 25th! We've been together since January 1982, so we can celebrate 30th years together on our cruise in Dec-Jan.

A few days ago Max called and asked us if he could bring Casey home with him for the summer. They haven't been able to find jobs in Orlando, and no jobs means they can't afford an apartment. They have to be out of the dorms on the 8th of May. So Henry is driving down in our big Silverado and will tow Casey's small car back with it. Henry is used to towing the boy scout's gear trailer, so he has no problem with that. They'll look for jobs here. She was hoping they could stay with her grandmother, but she isn't allowed to have them stay in her home that long. I think she lives in one of those 55+ communities. She can't go home to Kansas.. or doesn't want to, because it her rural town, there would be very little chance of finding a job. So they'll stay here!! I will certainly have a full house. I used to kid my MIL about her re-fillable nest.... and now I have one! :faint:

Our Disney plans were tied to bringing Max back to college, but the plan is for him to get his drivers license while home, so when they return in August, HE can drive the truck and pull her car. The two of them can take turns driving at that point. I probably will still plan our WDW trip for that weekend so that we can follow them in the van, so Henry would be there to help if needed. That means we'd be going to WDW about Aug 20th... I think that's the Saturday. I looked and found that I have plenty of points to stay in a studio that week with a few left over to bank for next year. I want to stay at SSR or OKW. I'd love to stay at the newly re-done rooms at OKW, but they still have a lack of sidewalks. I REALLY love the way you can walk all over SSR and walk to DTD, around the lake, we really do lots of walking on vacation. At OKW, the sidewalks just randomly end. We stayed in a building that was at the end of a street and the sidewalk ended after the next group of buildings (it only went around those buildings), so you had to walk in the street to the bus stop. There was also no sidewalk way to walk to the main building and main feature pool from where we were. At SSR the sidewalks connect to everything. I hope I'll be able to finalize plans and book soon, before we end up in waiting list city!!:eek: If we can't get in at DVC, we could always stay at Pop. I want to stay at a mod. but money is tight if I'm supporting all these extra young persons! :sad2:

If I were staying wth access to SAB, I wouldn't bother with a water park either. At least not until my child was old enough to enjoy most of it. Heidi isn't a strong swimmer yet, and she's very little, so she really has to be in the child safe area.

Now.. I should be in bed. I still have to go to the synagogue in the morning. Which is too soon!:scared1:
 
We don't do the DDP but I see SO many things I want to try! Like the banana split thingy from Starring Rolls (I think.) The school bread from Norway always looks really good, I just wish I could tolerate the texture of the shredded coconut :headache: I'm not exactly a texture based eater, I just have always had something about coconut!
 
We don't do the DDP but I see SO many things I want to try! Like the banana split thingy from Starring Rolls (I think.) The school bread from Norway always looks really good, I just wish I could tolerate the texture of the shredded coconut :headache: I'm not exactly a texture based eater, I just have always had something about coconut!

I know -- soooo many things look good!!! I will NEVER be able to make up my mind! :lmao:

I also came across TONS of pictures of the Boardwalk Bakery when I was looking for menus the other day. I can't believe all the options there -- and being so close is not going to be good for my diet! :lmao:

Yum -- Starring Rolls is the BEST!!! I love everything there, so its just a matter of what I'm hungry for at the time!

I've never tried the school bread & they were out last year. I'm not sure if I'll try it this year or not. The creme horns in Norway are delish as well as the almond/pear tart I found last year!!! I don't recommend the almond/pear tart if you don't like textured foods though -- the almonds are all over the top just like coconut on the school bread.
 
We hardly ever fly out of any other airport than Dulles because its less than 15 min. away. Although, when Max and Casey flew home for their spring break, we had them flying in and out of National Airport because it was cheaper by $150!! Henry didn't mind the extra drive though.

I haven't talked to Valerie since spring break ended, but I should see her this weekend since her daughter is coming to my house for the Brownie sewing workshop.

Yes, our anniversary is June 29th. We married in 1986, so this year is our 25th! We've been together since January 1982, so we can celebrate 30th years together on our cruise in Dec-Jan.

A few days ago Max called and asked us if he could bring Casey home with him for the summer. They haven't been able to find jobs in Orlando, and no jobs means they can't afford an apartment. They have to be out of the dorms on the 8th of May. So Henry is driving down in our big Silverado and will tow Casey's small car back with it. Henry is used to towing the boy scout's gear trailer, so he has no problem with that. They'll look for jobs here. She was hoping they could stay with her grandmother, but she isn't allowed to have them stay in her home that long. I think she lives in one of those 55+ communities. She can't go home to Kansas.. or doesn't want to, because it her rural town, there would be very little chance of finding a job. So they'll stay here!! I will certainly have a full house. I used to kid my MIL about her re-fillable nest.... and now I have one! :faint:

Our Disney plans were tied to bringing Max back to college, but the plan is for him to get his drivers license while home, so when they return in August, HE can drive the truck and pull her car. The two of them can take turns driving at that point. I probably will still plan our WDW trip for that weekend so that we can follow them in the van, so Henry would be there to help if needed. That means we'd be going to WDW about Aug 20th... I think that's the Saturday. I looked and found that I have plenty of points to stay in a studio that week with a few left over to bank for next year. I want to stay at SSR or OKW. I'd love to stay at the newly re-done rooms at OKW, but they still have a lack of sidewalks. I REALLY love the way you can walk all over SSR and walk to DTD, around the lake, we really do lots of walking on vacation. At OKW, the sidewalks just randomly end. We stayed in a building that was at the end of a street and the sidewalk ended after the next group of buildings (it only went around those buildings), so you had to walk in the street to the bus stop. There was also no sidewalk way to walk to the main building and main feature pool from where we were. At SSR the sidewalks connect to everything. I hope I'll be able to finalize plans and book soon, before we end up in waiting list city!!:eek: If we can't get in at DVC, we could always stay at Pop. I want to stay at a mod. but money is tight if I'm supporting all these extra young persons! :sad2:

If I were staying wth access to SAB, I wouldn't bother with a water park either. At least not until my child was old enough to enjoy most of it. Heidi isn't a strong swimmer yet, and she's very little, so she really has to be in the child safe area.

Now.. I should be in bed. I still have to go to the synagogue in the morning. Which is too soon!:scared1:

Congrats on being married 25 years!!! :goodvibes

That's terrible that Max & Casey couldn't find jobs in Orlando like they had planned! I know some people who recently moved down there & they are still job-hunting! Its a tough economy right now! :sad2:

You guys are wonderful parents to take your kids in once they leave home! You really will have a full house now! My brother has moved in & out of my parents house more times than I care to count! :laughing: Luckily, I was only involved in lugging his stuff in & out of the house a few times. My SIL on the other hand has moved at least 10 times since I met my husband 10 years ago AND we have helped with every move except for one. My brother doesn't ever take huge furniture with him when he moves, but my SIL has always had a full house including fridgerator, stove, couch, chair, table, bedroom sets, etc. It's always an adventure!!! :lmao:

I think its great that you love walking at SSR!!!! That is one thing that we really enjoy about vacations at Disney! We really enjoyed CBR last year because we had to walk no matter where we were going! The walk from our room to the bus stop was only right across the parking lot, which was nice in the mornings & after a long day at the parks. The walk to OPR and the pool was a bit longer, but it was so enjoyable!!! We would take that walk every night to fill up our refillable mugs! I think I'll miss that this year since we can fill them up right at the BC Marketplace in the main lobby. But we'll also have plenty of places to walk since we can walk to Epcot & the Boardwalk!!! My parents are the opposite, they don't like to walk around the resorts. They'd rather be "right there" for the pool, gift shop, eating, etc. which is why they have always stayed at AKL. They are choosing between POR and Pop right now & are leaning more towards POR. I told them that they will be doing alot more walking & they said its ok, so we'll see what they think!

I know what you mean about the water park. We've decided to just wait until we get there. Since we've never been, I have a feeling, we'll get so excited & really want to head over to Blizzard Beach. But at the same time, I just feel its such a waste of money for just a few hours when we'll only be going one day.

Ok, going to post an update now!!! :goodvibes
 
Sorry it has taken me so long to post another update! I actually have quite a lot to report!!! :goodvibes

First of all, Sunday I ordered our tickets for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party!!!! :cool1: :cool1: :cool1: :cool1:

I am super excited about it! My total cost ended up being $170 with the $5 shipping charge. You can pick them up at the Will Call window free of charge, but I feel better having them in my hand before we go on our trip, so I was fine with paying the $5 extra.

To be honest, I started to become a little hesitant about the additional $170 cost :confused3 I kept going back & forth, back & forth over this decision. I was so excited at first & it’s the main reason I waited until mid-September to go. I really, really want to experience both of Disney’s holiday parties at some point. But after adding up all the costs of the trip, I started to wonder if the extra $170 is really worth it when we could add park hoppers or the water park option for that same cost for ALL days of our trip.

I started looking at pictures of MNSSHP here on DIS and also on just about every Disney website I could find!

And I can’t wait to see all of the Halloween décor at MK!!!

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I’m also really looking forward to seeing Hallowishes!!!!

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I purchased the “MK Event Music CD” from the Disney Store last time I placed an online order. I :lovestruc it! Luke & I listen to it every single day in the car & he is even excited about it. I explained to him how he’ll hear that music next time we go to Disney!

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So, as you can tell, I changed my mind about doubting the additional cost of the party!!! I definitely think that the experience alone is worth the additional cost – and I’m saying this prior to even going!!! I’m sure it will be a great experience for all of us.

I can’t wait to see Magic Kingdom decorated with pumpkins & Halloween décor & see the characters in their costumes!!! The 3 main things I am looking forward to are seeing the 7 dwarves, Boo to You Parade, and Hallowishes!!! Now I just have to decide on costumes!

We have a 2:35pm ADR at Kona Café prior to the party & will then head directly over to MK on the monorail. I plan to take a while to walk around the Polynesian Resort because its one of my favorite resorts! The Beach Club & Poly are tied for first place for me! I love them both in different ways!

In addition to my purchase of MNSSHP tickets, I also researched the Wishes Dessert Party on DIS. I found out that tickets will be going on sale on June 1st for all dates in September. I cannot wait for this!!!! It is one of the highlights of the trip for me! :cloud9:

Sign to the party
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My favorite!!! Chocolate Covered Strawberries – YUM!!!
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I also read somewhere that you are able to schedule the Behind the Seeds Tour up to a year in advance. I’m planning to call tomorrow to double check this since the Tour Guide Mike site told me that its only 133 days until our trip!!!!

:cool1: :dance3: :cool1: :dance3: :cool1: :dance3: :cool1:

It has been sooooo hard keeping this secret! I’ve almost told my husband about it many times! I’m just so excited about it & he talks about Living with the Land all the time, especially now that we’re starting to plant our own garden! We went over the weekend to the greenhouse to buy our plants. Luke even picked out his very own Tiny Tim Tomato plants! My husband also asked me to put the pictures from our garden last year as well as the Living with the Land pictures onto his laptop for him…see how hard this secret is to keep?!?

Everytime I almost tell him I think of Reese! I have NO IDEA how you kept the secret from Devon all those months about your trip!!! :lmao: :lmao:

Here are some pictures of the Behind the Seeds Tour that I found online!

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I can’t wait to see the boats go through while we’re on the tour!
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I’m looking forward to seeing the pumpkins!
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These are neat!
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I also made 2 changes to our ADR schedule. The first is that I cancelled dinner at Teppan Edo and made a lunch reservation at:

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This steak looks soooo yummy! I might try it!
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Moose at Le Cellier – I think I want to get one of these for Luke!
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I also switched the day for our Captain’s Grill reservation. Originally I had it scheduled for our arrival day, but I changed it to our Animal Kingdom day. AK closes at 5pm on that day. We usually head out of the park right after the parade, so usually by 4:15 or so. This should give us plenty of time for our Captain’s Grill reservation at 6:30pm.

In order to make this reservation, I cancelled Kouzzina. I think I only wanted to eat there because its Cat Cora’s restaurant! I looked over the menu & there really isn’t anything there my husband or Luke would like and I’m not even sure about the food myself.

So, after a day at Animal Kingdom, we will be heading over to our Sister Resort, Yacht Club for our ADR at Captain’s Grill!

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I am planning to post a separate update about things we’re looking forward to doing at MNSSHP as well as a “shopping list.” We have a budget for this trip, especially since we upgraded resorts and I’m really trying to stick to it (although so far, its not working! :lmao:)

Whenever I purchased the Event Party CD, I also purchased this tank top. I LOVE it! I highly recommend it & think you all need to buy one!

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However, I would suggest hand washing it & not putting it into the dryer. I just washed it last night & some of the gemstones came off. Luckily I was able to find a few of them stuck to one of my socks so I am going to glue them back on with E-4000 super glue! The washing instructions state that you can wash it with similar colors in cold water & dry on low heat…but I really think you should hand wash it. Anyway, I love this tank & am so glad that Disney was listening to my suggestion about adding some tank tops to DisneyStore.com!!! Tshirts are just too warm for me to wear on our trips in the Florida humidity!

That being said, I also purchased this WDW 40th Anniversary Tshirt and am planning to bring it along on the trip! I’m thinking about buying one for my mom as a surprise before their trip because she really liked mine, but I have a few other ideas in store too which I will post in another update!

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I didn’t buy either of these tshirts but I might on the trip. I really, really love the yellow one! Its on & off the Disney website frequently. Everytime I go to order it, its off the site, so I’m thinking they’re trying to tell me something (like I’m not supposed to buy it until our trip! Lol)

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They also recently added these Vintage Gold tshirts – they have one of Minnie, Mickey, and Tink. I really like the Mickey one best!

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Also while finding these pictures to post on here, I came across my all-time favorite Disney purchase!!! The Four Parks, One World CD! I have it in my car, listen to it everyday, and also added the songs to my iTunes on my laptop as well as my iPod!

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And to wrap up my update, I wanted to post some pictures that I found on Google Earth! I was reading Brook’s TR and she posted a wonderful update about the Hess Station & the items you can find there! You should definitely check it out if you’re staying at one of the Epcot Resorts or if you’ll be driving past Hess! It could save a trip out of your way to the grocery store OR buying grocery items & having them delivered to your resort!

Last year, if you remember, we ordered from Garden Grocer. There was a delivery fee of I believe $10-15, but at the time, I felt it was worth it. We had a mid-afternoon/early evening arrival to our resort, so we didn’t want to bother running somewhere ourselves. However, this year, we will be arriving at the resort by noon & have the entire day to do whatever we need to do! I think a trip to Hess will be perfect!

Since I cancelled our ADR for the evening at Captain’s Grill, I think we will either eat QS at the Boardwalk or Hurricane Hanna’s. If we just want something light to eat, I looked at the menu of Boardwalk To Go & I think its perfect. My husband & Luke could just grab a hot dog & fries and I could get a chicken sandwich.

Hess Station
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I also noticed when looking at Google Earth that gas was only $1.59 at the time!!!! These pictures were taken in 2009…wow how things have changed! I bet when I take pics on our September trip, gas prices will be at least $4.05 or more.

Here’s a look of the Boardwalk & Hess Station from above. I copied the image from Google Earth and then opened it in Paint to make the circles. The left bigger circle is the Boardwalk & the right-hand side is the Hess Station! If you are unsure of where its located, go into Google Earth & search for Disney’s Boardwalk. From there, you can “walk” along the path to find the Hess Station! It looks like quite a walk from the BC, but I definitely think its doable. We’ll take Luke’s stroller with us as well as my carry-on bag.

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We also will be going to Fantasia Gardens at some point during our trip for mini-golf. I know that Winter Summerland seems like a better course, but we are so close to Fantasia Gardens that we will probably just go there. Who knows, we may change our mind at the last minute! In addition, if for some reason we do decide to go to the water park, we will head over to Winter Summerland first & then go to the water park in the afternoon. I can’t believe that I’m actually leaving flexibility in our trip this year, but I’m trying my best!

Fantasia Gardens
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And finally, here are just a few pictures of Disney for you to enjoy!!! It’s been raining here for what seems like weeks, so it was a lot of fun last night to see the beautiful Florida sunshine & palm trees!!! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

View of the sign headed to the YC & BC – can see the Swan resort off to the right
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Palm Trees!
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Magical Express driving down the highway
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Disney bus – wouldn’t you love to see this right now???
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Again, I just wanted to mention that none of the pictures used in this update are mine. I got them from Disney websites and Google Earth!



 
I don't have much time so I will come back and post more later. But, gas hit $4.19 a gallon here in southern Ohio yesterday! :scared1: I am really hoping it will get cheaper as we head south in June.:rolleyes1
 
Hey! I am caught up!! I love all your plans. I know the MNSSHP seems pricey, but it is so so worth it. I haven't bought my tickets yet... I did call Pirates League today and still couldn't get an appointment for after 4, the CM said to keep checking!

I sent you an email to you MWT email, did you get it? :) It was about business cards!
 
Congrats on ordering your MNSSHP tickets, you won't be sorry, it's a great event!

Oooooo, the Wishes Dessert Party
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I loved it, but DON'T eat a big meal the night that you go, I was miserable afterwards!!

I think you guys will have fun at Fantasia Gardens, WinterSummerland is probably easier for kids, but both are great, and the convenience of Fantasia Gardens will be perfect :thumbsup2

Cute tops!!
 
Excellent update Hope!! I have both those CDs too and I listen to them all the time! In fact, we were just listening to 4 Parks, One World in my classroom today! :)

I also love that yellow shirt from the disneystore website but just haven't brought myself to buy it.....yet!

So exciting to get the MNSSHP tickets!! I'm usually on it right away but since we are getting APs (upgrading 1-day tickets when we get there) I'm going to wait so we can get the AP discount. It's driving me crazy to wait but anything to save a few bucks!

Did you read about my Behind the Seeds tour experience?? We went on the 4th of July and did NOT book in advance! We just went to the desk near Soarin first thing and signed up for the first tour, which was 10:45 I think. I'm going to see if I can find the link to my TR where I wrote about it....

Okay, if you are interested, the two posts where I talked about signing up for and doing the tour (with pictures, of course!) are both on this page. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2506691&page=23
 
Wishes dessert party AND MNSSHP?! I am so jealous but SO excited for you! I really hope that they have the Wishes dessert party whenever we go -- it looks like we're going in January but haven't booked anything yet and I am so anxious to. Katie got to go to it on her October trip, I think. I remember getting pictures from her. I forget just how or when it started, but we send each other pictures of food to make the other jealous, especially if it's something not easily accessible to us, like cider slush or cider doughnuts to me and Sonic to her. :lmao:

That 40th anniversary t-shirt is really cute, I think my friend has a similar one :goodvibes It might not have the 40th anniversary logos on it but I love it!

4 Parks, 1 World...that is hands down my favorite Disney CD! That and the Wishes soundtrack. I actually have a playlist on my iPod that is all Disney music and those two CD's are on it. I LOVE "Legacy" b/c Epcot is my favorite park and whenever I listen to it I can picture just walking into the park. I want THIS on my iPod:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doGRqUVUzIM

It's only part of the Innoventions music loop but it brings back soooooo many memories! Especially of being in Epcot at night. :cloud9:

The Behind the Seeds tour looks really cool! Good luck keeping it a secret from your DH -- I am the same way with surprises...sometimes I'm just so proud of myself I can't keep my mouth shut :laughing:
 
Hi there Hope, just popping in to wish you a Happy Mother's Day - hope it was a great one!
 















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