May 2010 Pre-Trip Report--Bay Lake Tower, here we come! *TR link posted! 6/8*

[Bridora]

Hi B! I love Cold Stone too! YUM! Sounds like you had a fun birthday weekend!

One day with no plans sounds magical to me...I'd probably find something to ruin it though. My OCD kicks into overdrive and I can't have a blank day.

We are already talking about things we can do that day! Right now I think we could fill a whole day with *nothing*, but once we get there, we may be bored without *something* to do.

I LOVE THOSE CONVERSE!!!! How awesome are they?!?!

I think we are all in the same boat right now...figuring out what we need to get, what we already have, etc.

I'm glad to hear that Max decided what to do with the RPDE. I'm glad also that you get a blank day! What fun!

Yeah...the bridge isn't too attractive.

I'm only scared of the Converse because they are white!

I'm glad you agree about the bridge.

We used Garden Grocer last year and were very very pleased with them. It was nice not to drive to the store, shop in an unfamiliar store, put our bags to the car and then haul the groceries to the resort room. Well worth the delivery fee Garden Grocer charged.


I love the Converse tennis shoes. Lacey bought some white Converse one year and had all of her friends in youth group draw on them. They ended up being so cute.

I think we're probably going to use Garden Grocer...probably.

Lacey's shoes sound so cute! What a great idea!

Just to chime in a bit here:
~The weather this year has been crazy for almost everyone. We are in VA and usually have 1 snow day but this year we had 7! Yep, 7. So, they are working on taking away Spring Break days, making the kids attend Saturday school or extending the school year.....none are good choices as far as i'm concerned!
~I am so happy that you got your DVC! I have been begging for one for a while but we just cant do it now.
~I love your VB bag, my sister has the same one and swears by it!
~The pictures of packing the Prius are amazing, I don't have that kind of mind so its a mess when we travel!
~I love the thought of a pool day! I asked DH if we could have one and he said that we live next to a water park so why waste a day in a pool on vacation! I guess thats true. We live right by Water Country USA and Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Our summers are spent between the parks! We are lucky to have the Military put us right here!!!
~MmMmMmMmMm Cold Stone, Cake Batter ice cream...need I say more?!?!?!
~OMG, I freakin love the shoes! I want a pair for myself! I grew up in Converse!!! Those are fantastic.
~I love the shirts. We found an outlet on one of our trips to PA. They sell WDW stuff that has either been discontinued or didn't sell well. They also sell items with previous years stamped on them. Last year I stopped there and bought all types of shirts and stuff for almost nothing. I also got my Pirate Princess watch that I had seen in DTD! Got it for 15 bucks! Great place for anyone up that way!

I can't wait to hear more PTR as well as the TR once you get home! As far as the groceries go, no idea here. Ive only been to WDW once and we only ate breakfast on our room

Hi Pyrate_Pryncess!

They have just added on days to the end of the school year here. I'm glad they didn't cut into Spring Break! Ours is this coming week. The original last day of school was the 24th, but now it's the 28th. At least the last two days, they'll be getting out at 1:30, so my kiddos won't be missing too too much. I've already told their teachers about it, and they had no problem, so we're good to go!

We love having a pool day. We used to laugh at the idea, but after we had one, there was no going back!

Thanks!

I love the shoes! They are too cute!

I have read about Garden Grocer, but have never needed to use it! With my SIL right there in Orlando, she is our Garden Grocer! We send her our grocery list and she brings it to us at the hotel!

I love shopping for vacation! And packing! I have picked up a few things for the trip, but not too much yet...I can't wait to get a bit more serious about it!

Thanks!

That's nice to have your SIL be able to do that for you!

Happy belated birthday!

Those Converse sneakers are so great! Hehe, I'd put Disney World on one side and HowWeird on the other

Thank you!
Awwwww....your Converse would be cute, too!
Are you ready for your trip?!?!?

 

[wdwgirl03]

Just realized I haven't posted on your thread for a while...sorry! Still here though. Almost 2 months to go!

 

[Bridora]

Just realized I haven't posted on your thread for a while...sorry! Still here though. Almost 2 months to go!

Thanks for stopping by! I'm under 2 months, now! You are almost at one week!

 

[Bridora]

I can’t believe I missed my own “two month” dance day! How about having an under two month dance party with me?

On the planning front, I’m still sitting in front of that wall. It’s just not time to climb it or to knock it down yet. I have been chipping away at a few bricks here and there, though. The kids now have some new clothes to wear during the warm weather. I’ve got a huge packing list printed. I’m still waiting on Luke’s Disney t-shirt to come in. The latest email says it’s expected to ship April 20. I don’t know what I’ll do if it doesn’t come in by our trip. Search for one in Downtown Disney I guess. But, I’m not going to worry too much about that right now. (Sounds like I already am, though, doesn’t it?)

Remember that extra day, free of plans? Well, it’s an Epcot Evening Extra Magic Hours night. We will have moved over to the Boardwalk to spend that night. How perfect would that be for our last night at Disney? We could take all the time we wanted to mosey our way out of Epcot, and be able to just walk back to our room. There has also been a lot of “water park” talk in our house lately. I originally thought we’d wait another year to do a water park, but now it looks like we’ll be trying out Typhoon Lagoon this year! Instead of a 5 Day Park Hopper, we will most likely be purchasing a 6 Day Park Hopper with the Water Parks & More Option. Holy cow! New territory! Please give me any tips or need to know info. that you’ve got on the water park situation.

We’ve got 8 full weeks and couple of days left before we leave for Florida. During those weeks I’m going to post some pictures from our past trips, starting with our 1st trip in 2003. I’ll try to post a picture or two a day, or at least every other day. One week = One year. We’ve been 7 times, so that will just about work out. Let’s get on with it, shall we?




***2003***

It’s July. We are staying for 3 nights/4days at All Star Movies. Allison is 3. Luke is 1, almost 1 ½.

Allison, Luke, and me in Epcot. Loved that Jeep stroller!

 

[mickeystoontown]

First off.....got my under two months now dancing shoes on....

We opted not to get the water parks and more option this year simply because we'll have my 76 year old "I'm terrified of water" mother with us this trip. We have been to Typhoon Lagoon twice though and have loved every second of our visits. We arrive at the park at opening, go straight to the slides and then do whatever we want after that. I've found that the water park gets pretty crowded by lunch time so we leave about 1:00 or so. But, since we get there early, we are able to get everything done (some multiple times).

 

[leamom2princesses]

Cute pic B! I love looking at old Disney pics. Just a thought...is it cheaper to use your DVC discount for a one day pass at the waterpark rather than adding the Waterparks & More option? I don't know that it is but seems like I read somewhere that if you're only going one day you're better off just buying a one day pass with your discount. I don't know that to be a fact though as I haven't looked it up.

 

[Bridora]

First off.....got my under two months now dancing shoes on....

We opted not to get the water parks and more option this year simply because we'll have my 76 year old "I'm terrified of water" mother with us this trip. We have been to Typhoon Lagoon twice though and have loved every second of our visits. We arrive at the park at opening, go straight to the slides and then do whatever we want after that. I've found that the water park gets pretty crowded by lunch time so we leave about 1:00 or so. But, since we get there early, we are able to get everything done (some multiple times).

Thanks, Lisa! Great advice on Typhoon Lagoon.

Cute pic B! I love looking at old Disney pics. Just a thought...is it cheaper to use your DVC discount for a one day pass at the waterpark rather than adding the Waterparks & More option? I don't know that it is but seems like I read somewhere that if you're only going one day you're better off just buying a one day pass with your discount. I don't know that to be a fact though as I haven't looked it up.

Hey! DVC discount never even occurred to me! You can tell I'm new, huh? I will have to check that out. We decided to add the option vs. buying a one day ticket, but that was without the discount. I'm going to look into that right now! Thanks!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

Woo-Hoo for being under 2 months!!!

I have to say that we have visited both waterparks. We enjoyed TL and I would agree with mickeystoontown. We always tried to get there first thing and then left around lunch time. We are skipping water parks this time. I don't think DS will get too much out of it at 13 months. The resort pool and slide should be just fine this trip!

Your plans for EMH at Epcot sound nice! A nice relaxing walk back to your resort as opposed to the mad dash to the busses and being packed in like sardines for the ride...thinking about this is making me happy that we are taking our own cars this year...

 

[wdwgirl03]

Yay for less than 2 months!

Your last night at Epcot sounds like a good plan. When we were at the Beach Club it was so cool being able to stay for Illuminations and then just head out International Gateway and be right there.

 

[RachelNinja]

Dancing with you! Woohoo!

I love that idea of being able to walk out of Epcot to get to your room! Right now I'm trying to figure out how Weird and I will get to and from the timeshare and DHS. My fam's not planning on going, so I'll have to figure out the shuttle thing or taxi; both would be an extra cost. How wonderful would it be to just not worry about transportation!

 

[MaryAz]

Yay for under 2 months! We priced the difference between buying a single day and adding it last year and it was cheaper to just buy them seperate. We did not have DVC yet...
Mickey Heads going in the mail tomorrow, got the last few colors this weeknd!!

How cute were ur little kiddos!!

 

[Bridora]

Woo-Hoo for being under 2 months!!!

I have to say that we have visited both waterparks. We enjoyed TL and I would agree with mickeystoontown. We always tried to get there first thing and then left around lunch time. We are skipping water parks this time. I don't think DS will get too much out of it at 13 months. The resort pool and slide should be just fine this trip!

Your plans for EMH at Epcot sound nice! A nice relaxing walk back to your resort as opposed to the mad dash to the busses and being packed in like sardines for the ride...thinking about this is making me happy that we are taking our own cars this year...

Thanks for the advice! We'll probably try to get there when they open, too.

That's one thing we like about driving to Disney--having our own transportation! We usually start out on the buses, but by the end of the trip, we are driving ourselves.

Yay for less than 2 months!

Your last night at Epcot sounds like a good plan. When we were at the Beach Club it was so cool being able to stay for Illuminations and then just head out International Gateway and be right there.

I can't wait! Pretty soon, I'll be saying "next week" like you are right now!

Dancing with you! Woohoo!

I love that idea of being able to walk out of Epcot to get to your room! Right now I'm trying to figure out how Weird and I will get to and from the timeshare and DHS. My fam's not planning on going, so I'll have to figure out the shuttle thing or taxi; both would be an extra cost. How wonderful would it be to just not worry about transportation!

Too bad your timeshare doesn't have a free shuttle. It is nice to have Disney transportation and our own car available.

Yay for under 2 months! We priced the difference between buying a single day and adding it last year and it was cheaper to just buy them seperate. We did not have DVC yet...
Mickey Heads going in the mail tomorrow, got the last few colors this weeknd!!

How cute were ur little kiddos!!

I'm going to have to go back and do the numbers again. I looked a bit yesterday, but didn't re-figure everything like I should have!

Thanks again for the Mickey Heads.

The kids were so little then, thanks!

 

[Bridora]

This picture is of our family plus my nephew. My brother & sister-in-law also made the trip down to Florida that year. They brought my mother-in-law and DH's Grandma down with them. We stayed together at a house on the beach for a few days, then went to Disney. We stayed on at ASMovies, but the rest of them only did the one day at Magic Kingdom. They also did a day at Sea World. This was taken on our very first day there. It was hot!

 

[leamom2princesses]

The kids do look hot in that pic. What a cute bunch though!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Isn't it neat to go back and look at old Disney pictures. I can tell that the kiddos were hot just by looking at their little red cheeks. Still cute as a bug though!

 

[RachelNinja]

Oy, Florida heat can get to be so unbearable! I'm carefully monitoring the weather to see if I need tank tops!

 

[Bridora]

The kids do look hot in that pic. What a cute bunch though!

Thanks! Florida sure is hot in July!

Isn't it neat to go back and look at old Disney pictures. I can tell that the kiddos were hot just by looking at their little red cheeks. Still cute as a bug though!

I have had so much fun going back and picking out pics to post here! Thanks!

Oy, Florida heat can get to be so unbearable! I'm carefully monitoring the weather to see if I need tank tops!

Hopefully, it won't be too hot for you next week!

 

[Bridora]

One day closer! I'm going to be making out a list of miscellaneous things we'll need soon. Little things like spiral notebooks for the kids to doodle on while we are in the car, and those little travel sized Kleenex packs keep popping into my head. If I don't write them down soon I will forget! ('cause I'm so old now! )

Here is another pic of my babies!

I'm sure you won't agree with my DH, who called Luke "mullet-boy"!

 

[DisneyMomma09]

I know what you mean about writing things down. My mom kept saying 'wait till you have kids'. Boy, was she right! Ever since I had DS I can hardly keep track on anything! One day I was looking everywhere for DS's eyedrops...I could not find them...until 3 hours later when he was already at the babysitters and I was at work...they were in my pocket the whole time!

I keep thinking I should start writing those little things down as well, but I still have over 2 months...I would probably loose my list before I needed to go shopping!

I love all the pics from your old trips! What a fun way to count down to Disney!

 

[leamom2princesses]

Awwww what a cute pic! I realized a week ago that the Excel workbook I've used the last four years for my packing list was lost when my computer died two months ago. I'm starting from scratch this year.