March 2012: Spring Break, Here we come! Threadjackers take over the world!

[oopsiDAISY]

Chef Mickey's was our first ADR on our arrival day last March. This was my kids' very first Disney experience, we had not yet gone to a park, and it will always hold a special place in our hearts...I still have the light-up ice cube from my "big people" beverage that night! Come to think of it, maybe that is why my memory tells me it was such an awesome experience!

 

[cogero]

That is scary that commercial tax preparers don't have to be licensed.

We use a CPA since our taxes are always a little bit complicated and I am sure once I get Js medicaid squared away they will be even more complicated.

 

[Lidian]

Aw love the photos at Chef Mickey's. This is the one tradition we have kept in all of our years going, at least when it's more than just myself and DH is that we ALWAYS have a meal at CM (usually breakfast) and we ALWAYS buy the photo, so we have a timeline of all of our trips based on the CM photos! It's fun to view them all.

However for the March trip, it's just DH and myself and we won't be doing a CM meal at all. In fact, NO character meals. I used to enjoy Crystal Palace but I haven't even booked that this time around as I've heard the food has gone downhill (we used to go for dinner) and it's just so expensive. I will be hunting down Tigger though (probably at EPCOT as usual) and getting my photo with him at least. That's MY thing to do! Plus I need to make sure DH and I get at least one photo with Mickey.

What a great story!!! The timeline will be amazing, I'm sure!!!

We have always done the DDP, so I don't have to worry too much about the cost of meals. However, if we were paying for all our meals OOP, that would be a different story. We do have some OOP meals this year, but I just remind myself that I'm paying for food and the experience.

Our FIRST experience with CM was by far our best! We had a last minute addition to our party...doubled in size actually, so the girls went to CM while the guys went to McDonalds! (More their style anyway!)

We arrived early, for our 5 pm dinner. The littles were dressed in their Minnie inspirerd sun dresses....with me and my DIL in our red Mickey tees. The CM's asked us if we would like to be the family of the day...of course we said yes!

It was fantastic! Mickey himself escorted us to our table, after the girls cut the ribbon opening the restaurant! Then Mickey signed our autograph books while the photo pass photogs were snapping away, and then the highlight of my 2 year old grand daughters trip...MICKEY ASKED HER TO SIGN HIS BOOK!!! She was beyond over the moon.She has gone on three trips since then, but this is the first memory she talks about when we start talking about another trip!

Ah yes...that was our best visit to CM...the last one...Not so much!

Nini

What a great story!! I'd love to be a "family of the ___" something. But I won't hold my breath on getting that lucky. So I'll just settle for being happy while at WDW. That's adorable that Mickey asked for her autograph!

I'm sure my DH would rather go to McD's ... but I love the characters and I love to see my kids get immersed in Disney.

Less than one month to go! Can hardly wait

Huzzah for less than one month!

Where are you staying? Are you all packed and ready?

Chef Mickey's was our first ADR on our arrival day last March. This was my kids' very first Disney experience, we had not yet gone to a park, and it will always hold a special place in our hearts...I still have the light-up ice cube from my "big people" beverage that night! Come to think of it, maybe that is why my memory tells me it was such an awesome experience!

Aww, what a sweet story! Did you enjoy your "adult beverage"?

That is scary that commercial tax preparers don't have to be licensed.

We use a CPA since our taxes are always a little bit complicated and I am sure once I get Js medicaid squared away they will be even more complicated.

Well, keep in mind that it's IRS regulations, and may not necessarily be the company's policy. So if you go to a chain company, the company itself may require education and/or other criteria. It's more or less stating, anyone can start up their own business. So FYI for everyone, be leary of "John Doe's Tax Service". He may only have a second grade education, but he can legally file your tax return. Scary, huh?

And if you go to a CPA, then you're golden. CPAs not only have to have a degree, they have to pass a special test for the title. My step-mom is wanting to take the CPA exam. She's nervous, and keeps backing out. Hopefully she'll do it this year, though. I, on the other hand, don't think I'd do it.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Threadjacking because I was instructed to threadjack...

Hey check me out, I have a new PTR!!! Click the link below for an ahhhhhmazing PTR!!!!

 

[Corrine 1973]

Threadjacking because I was instructed to threadjack...

Hey check me out, I have a new PTR!!! Click the link below for an ahhhhhmazing PTR!!!!

Good job Threadjacking Oopsi


You know Liddy, for someone who doesn't start packing until a couple days before your trip you are sure obsessed if other people have started their packig.

 

[Moodyzblu]

Joining in ! Am going back to read through .. sounds exciting so far !!

 

[Moira222]

L -- I had no idea how far behind I was! I am all caught up & just loving all of your plans and days.

My thoughts on CM - if you are going for the characters, that's one thing. But if you are going for the food, don't. My recollection of the buffet was that I loved making my own salad & they had delish tomato bisque soup. But nothing on the hot bar thrilled me, a few things looked like they came out of a can, and even Katie pretty much stuck to buttered noodles. The desserts were yummy

CBR address:
900 Cayman Way
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830

Please disregard if you've already left your data on my Facebook.

I see you already ran your stats but I am 1079 miles from CBR. Your stat reports look really nice. I remember my statistics class...in the early 90's. the histograms & reports were not nearly so pretty. I hope you get an A!!!

I really like your spread sheet. I think I am going to rearrange mine so that my dates are columns & events are rows -- I have it the other way around but yours is much easier to follow. thanks for posting your screen shot!!

When I went last time, I ordered a couple sizes bigger T-shirts on clearance at Disney Online for all of my daycare kids - they were all white and had something Disney on the front. I took 2 shirts into each park on each day and wrapped them around a small clipboard when it was time for the characters to sign. Sometimes I was able to get the character to sign both shirts and sometimes not. When we got home, I gave each of the kids their shirt and they loved it. Because I bought it big, most of them wore them as PJs - which was fine with me. Each shirt was different, it just depended on which characters we saw that day, and the kids loved them. So, that's my vote. You wouldn't even have to do a shirt - you could do a fabric item of any sort... Oh, and I used a Sharpie - but if Nini or Marianne were here, they would tell you to use an actual fabric marker - and if I were to do it again - I would use a fabric marker too

D~

OH! I am totally stealing your idea!! We are not taking DD with us in June, and this would be a fantastic souvenir for her!!


as far as matchy shirts, I am going to share my cheapo creative matchy idea:

take a solid color tee that has spots on it but is otherwise nice. ( I am forever getting grease splatters on my tees when I am cooking) loosely follow the posted plans for tie dye mickey only trace the mickey shape with a bleach pen. then rubberband your shirt as desired and soak it for a few hours in bleach. then you get to re-use a tee, and have a very funky bleach out mickey shirt. I did mine with a long sleeve purple tee and it came out awesome. I get compliments on it all the time. I just ruined a nice red tee the other day, guess what I am going to do with that one?

and CONGRATS ON MAKING DEAN'S LIST! That is very very exciting. I think you deserve an extra slushie while you are in Epcot to celebrate

 

[Lidian]

Threadjacking because I was instructed to threadjack...

Hey check me out, I have a new PTR!!! Click the link below for an ahhhhhmazing PTR!!!!

WEAK! You can do better than that!

Good job Threadjacking Oopsi


You know Liddy, for someone who doesn't start packing until a couple days before your trip you are sure obsessed if other people have started their packig.

What can I say, I'm an odd one.

Joining in ! Am going back to read through .. sounds exciting so far !!

Single moms are very dear to my heart. Please, make yourself comfortable. Oopsi is in charge of snacks this week.

L -- I had no idea how far behind I was! I am all caught up & just loving all of your plans and days.

My thoughts on CM - if you are going for the characters, that's one thing. But if you are going for the food, don't. My recollection of the buffet was that I loved making my own salad & they had delish tomato bisque soup. But nothing on the hot bar thrilled me, a few things looked like they came out of a can, and even Katie pretty much stuck to buttered noodles. The desserts were yummy

I see you already ran your stats but I am 1079 miles from CBR. Your stat reports look really nice. I remember my statistics class...in the early 90's. the histograms & reports were not nearly so pretty. I hope you get an A!!!

I really like your spread sheet. I think I am going to rearrange mine so that my dates are columns & events are rows -- I have it the other way around but yours is much easier to follow. thanks for posting your screen shot!!

OH! I am totally stealing your idea!! We are not taking DD with us in June, and this would be a fantastic souvenir for her!!

as far as matchy shirts, I am going to share my cheapo creative matchy idea:

take a solid color tee that has spots on it but is otherwise nice. ( I am forever getting grease splatters on my tees when I am cooking) loosely follow the posted plans for tie dye mickey only trace the mickey shape with a bleach pen. then rubberband your shirt as desired and soak it for a few hours in bleach. then you get to re-use a tee, and have a very funky bleach out mickey shirt. I did mine with a long sleeve purple tee and it came out awesome. I get compliments on it all the time. I just ruined a nice red tee the other day, guess what I am going to do with that one?

and CONGRATS ON MAKING DEAN'S LIST! That is very very exciting. I think you deserve an extra slushie while you are in Epcot to celebrate

Thanks for checking back! I don't remember a salad bar from 2009 (I think DH may have found it, but not me). But I can live off the salad bar, so that's good. The biggest appeal about CM to me is the characters for the kids. DH will probably hate it (he goes for the food).

Thanks for offering your input on my completed stats project. I hate this class, but it can be very interesting to see it in action. We actually have required software that we have to use for our homework. We still have to learn how to do everything "long-handed", but we also have software that does the work for us, too. (We have to do "long-hand" on the tests.)

Thanks for the compliments on the spreadsheet. My Excel classes are starting to pay off. Next years will be unbelievable. I tried my rows as columns and vice versa, but it was easier for me to read with dates across the top and details along the side. But I know some people think it's harder to read and prefer the other way. Just gotta check out both ways and see which one flows better for your situation.

I love your idea of taking a ruined shirt and "bleaching" it out! I have a polo that I could do that on. It's a gorgeous blue, and I've not had the heart to get rid of it (it's my favorite polo). I'd be up for experimenting on a different ruined shirt first. As far as grease splatters, invest in an apron. I recommend a Mickey one. (I use a generic, cheap one from Walmart when I'm cooking, because I'm prone to spills and splatters. But this year, I'm buying a nice Minnie one.)

Thanks for the grats for Dean's List. I'm very proud of myself, and my parents are stoked!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

WEAK! You can do better than that!



What can I say, I'm an odd one.



Single moms are very dear to my heart. Please, make yourself comfortable. Oopsi is in charge of snacks this week.



Thanks for checking back! I don't remember a salad bar from 2009 (I think DH may have found it, but not me). But I can live off the salad bar, so that's good. The biggest appeal about CM to me is the characters for the kids. DH will probably hate it (he goes for the food).

Thanks for offering your input on my completed stats project. I hate this class, but it can be very interesting to see it in action. We actually have required software that we have to use for our homework. We still have to learn how to do everything "long-handed", but we also have software that does the work for us, too. (We have to do "long-hand" on the tests.)

Thanks for the compliments on the spreadsheet. My Excel classes are starting to pay off. Next years will be unbelievable. I tried my rows as columns and vice versa, but it was easier for me to read with dates across the top and details along the side. But I know some people think it's harder to read and prefer the other way. Just gotta check out both ways and see which one flows better for your situation.

I love your idea of taking a ruined shirt and "bleaching" it out! I have a polo that I could do that on. It's a gorgeous blue, and I've not had the heart to get rid of it (it's my favorite polo). I'd be up for experimenting on a different ruined shirt first. As far as grease splatters, invest in an apron. I recommend a Mickey one. (I use a generic, cheap one from Walmart when I'm cooking, because I'm prone to spills and splatters. But this year, I'm buying a nice Minnie one.)

Thanks for the grats for Dean's List. I'm very proud of myself, and my parents are stoked!

Do sit back and enjoy my PTR. Snacks today will be some lovely cream cheese pretzels from the Magic Kingdom and Lapu Lapus (with a double shot) from the Poly. Today I will use my PTR to advise you on treating grease splatters (for those of us who never think to put an apron on, Mickey apron or otherwise... ) Dawn dishwashing detergent applied as a pretreatment works wonders. Thank you for taking the time to follow along on my wonderful PTR and do have a good day...it should be VERY GOOD after drinking one of those "special" Lapu Lapus!

How's that for threadjacking, Liddy? Do I get a gold star yet?

 

[DMGeurts]

Do sit back and enjoy my PTR. Snacks today will be some lovely cream cheese pretzels from the Magic Kingdom and Lapu Lapus (with a double shot) from the Poly. Today I will use my PTR to advise you on treating grease splatters (for those of us who never think to put an apron on, Mickey apron or otherwise... ) Dawn dishwashing detergent applied as a pretreatment works wonders. Thank you for taking the time to follow along on my wonderful PTR and do have a good day...it should be VERY GOOD after drinking one of those "special" Lapu Lapus!

How's that for threadjacking, Liddy? Do I get a gold star yet?

You would have to have the Cream Cheese Pretzels for snacks today... I am sure you are well aware that those are my favorite thing in the world to eat...

D~

 

[oopsiDAISY]

You would have to have the Cream Cheese Pretzels for snacks today... I am sure you are well aware that those are my favorite thing in the world to eat...

D~

Yes, I was aware ...I am also aware that they are on Liddy's must try list for this trip. I am a good little Diser friend. I only want to serve snacks I am sure everyone will enjoy!

 

[Corrine 1973]

Cream Cheese Pretzels????? Where???? I might have to try those as well. Is there a lot of salt on the pretzels? I don't like overly salted pretzels.

 

[Lidian]

Do sit back and enjoy my PTR. Snacks today will be some lovely cream cheese pretzels from the Magic Kingdom and Lapu Lapus (with a double shot) from the Poly. Today I will use my PTR to advise you on treating grease splatters (for those of us who never think to put an apron on, Mickey apron or otherwise... ) Dawn dishwashing detergent applied as a pretreatment works wonders. Thank you for taking the time to follow along on my wonderful PTR and do have a good day...it should be VERY GOOD after drinking one of those "special" Lapu Lapus!

How's that for threadjacking, Liddy? Do I get a gold star yet?

You're getting much better! I see you're taking notes and learning from all your masters! Good job little grasshopper! Good job!

You would have to have the Cream Cheese Pretzels for snacks today... I am sure you are well aware that those are my favorite thing in the world to eat...

D~

I promise not to leave you any when you arrive.

Yes, I was aware ...I am also aware that they are on Liddy's must try list for this trip. I am a good little Diser friend. I only want to serve snacks I am sure everyone will enjoy!

Definitely on my must try list! Along with a billion other things.

 

[Lidian]

Cream Cheese Pretzels????? Where???? I might have to try those as well. Is there a lot of salt on the pretzels? I don't like overly salted pretzels.

Lunching Pad at MK has them (according to D). I've not tried one before. Hoping they are as delish as they sound!

 

[mblc14]

What about the Dole Whips?? Any of you guys had one before? Sounds like its something I need to try this time around.

 

[DMGeurts]

Yes, I was aware ...I am also aware that they are on Liddy's must try list for this trip. I am a good little Diser friend. I only want to serve snacks I am sure everyone will enjoy!

You are such a great Diser friend... Hmmm... Who will be in MK on the day of our DISmeet??? Maybe I can sweet talk them into bringing a cream cheese pretzel to Yee Haw Bob's... BTW... Has everyone friended him on FB??? We should probably warn him that we are coming???

Cream Cheese Pretzels????? Where???? I might have to try those as well. Is there a lot of salt on the pretzels? I don't like overly salted pretzels.

Lunching Pad at MK has them (according to D). I've not tried one before. Hoping they are as delish as they sound!

Yes, they are at the Lunching Pad in MK - however, I have confirmed reports that they have them available in a jalapeño version at AK... I still need to figure out the exact location... I suspect those would taste like a jalapeño popper with more cream cheese...

What about the Dole Whips?? Any of you guys had one before? Sounds like its something I need to try this time around.

I have tried the Dole Whips at Capt. Cooks in the Poly, but not at Aloha Isle in MK - I have heard they are the same thing, and yes, they are delicious. I can imagine them being more delicious on a hot day.

D~

 

[Lidian]

What about the Dole Whips?? Any of you guys had one before? Sounds like its something I need to try this time around.

I'm not a fan. I'm sure we'll try them again, because I'm always up for giving things a second chance ... but we didn't really care much for them as a family. I do recommend trying them though. You may love them.

You are such a great Diser friend... Hmmm... Who will be in MK on the day of our DISmeet??? Maybe I can sweet talk them into bringing a cream cheese pretzel to Yee Haw Bob's... BTW... Has everyone friended him on FB??? We should probably warn him that we are coming???

Yes, they are at the Lunching Pad in MK - however, I have confirmed reports that they have them available in a jalapeño version at AK... I still need to figure out the exact location... I suspect those would taste like a jalapeño popper with more cream cheese...

I have tried the Dole Whips at Capt. Cooks in the Poly, but not at Aloha Isle in MK - I have heard they are the same thing, and yes, they are delicious. I can imagine them being more delicious on a hot day.

D~

I friended him! I say we don't warn him and just take over. Remember, I'm going to rush the stage.

I definitely won't be trying a Jalapeno one. My tummy groans just thinking about it.

I've heard they're the same thing, but as I said above, I didn't care for them. But we did eat it all ... it was very hot that day.

 

[DMGeurts]

Oh, that's right Liddy... How about you rush the stage right before I walk in... I really hate when I walk into a room and the whole room turns in unison to look at me... big fear of mine... So, I volunteer you to create the distraction while I walk in and take my seat.

D~

 

[mblc14]

Just read this nice little bit of info....

http://www.wdwmagic.com/Other/FASTPASS/News/06Feb2012-Big-changes-coming-to-FASTPASS-in-March.htm

 

[NiniMorris]

Just read this nice little bit of info....

http://www.wdwmagic.com/Other/FASTPASS/News/06Feb2012-Big-changes-coming-to-FASTPASS-in-March.htm

Hmm... this is not the first time this has been rumored. I'm sure glad you March people will go and let me know if this is true before I go in Sept...or November....


Nini