"Mom, this is like a whole new Disney!" New 7/30 - pg 43 - Final Thoughts & PTR Link

[mousescrapper]

are you there? I'm thinking school wrapped up this week and you have a been a crazy Mama...

 

[saintstickets]

It was my first time on Kali so I wasn't sure what to expect... I knew it would be wet & I'd heard that it was short. As long as we plan to do it last, I'll definitely ride again!

The front seat was a great view for the safari! It was our first time in the front. I've ridden in the back before & it's not so fun with all the bumps! My back was feeling much better that day, but I was afraid it would be huring again if I rode in the back.

Looking forward to more posts. We were at WDW three weeks ago and also rode in the front for the safari and got some good pics for our TR. As for Kali River Rapids, it is one of my favorite rides in all of WDW...and I agree, it is too short. It needs to be about twice as long as it is! We are returning in Nov/Dec and unless it is freezing, I will definately ride it as many times as I can!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Great AK update!! Front row on the safari

That is great how you ran into some friends from home. When we were going through one of the gates one of the CM's said "I think we have the whole state of NH here right now" Of course we were there right after that week so I think most of the "NH" visitors had left but it was kinda funny.

Date night

There were definitely a lot of granite staters there that week! It was really funny to run into people from home!

Hi Amy still here...

good to hear you have a little more info on the whole AP thing..and glad the rest of your AK day went well...did you buy those balloon balls

J~

I'm still here too!

okay need to go catch up AGAIN, but read your last update...what a great day at AK. I think the whole talk of the animals being out mostly right in the morning is a myth...I've gone at weird times of day and had good luck and have gone right at opening and had bad luck....

Don't you wish Kali was longer?

OOOO...shula's

Hi Jordan!! Glad to see you! I'm way behind on all of my DISing, but hope to get caught back up soon!

I agree about the safari & Kali... Kali should be longer & the safari was great later in the day!

Kali definately should be longer. Years ago, it seemed longer than what it is now.

This was my first time so I don't know how to compare it to previous rides, but longer would be good.

HEY AMY! Hope you're doing okay! Can't wait for the next update!!

I'm great... just really busy!!

I love afternoons in AK! And Kali is an awesome way to end the day for sure. How nice that mini golf and pool time were included as well. Sounds fun!!

I don't think I'd like to ride Kali then walk around all wet, so the end of the day was perfect!

are you there? I'm thinking school wrapped up this week and you have a been a crazy Mama...

You're right! Last day of school was yesterday! Between field trips, field day, ice cream social, kindergarten graduation, the school variety show & about 5000 other things, not to mention work, I've been super busy! It was all fun, but I'm glad it's over & I'm glad they don't ask for volunteers at summer camp!

Looking forward to more posts. We were at WDW three weeks ago and also rode in the front for the safari and got some good pics for our TR. As for Kali River Rapids, it is one of my favorite rides in all of WDW...and I agree, it is too short. It needs to be about twice as long as it is! We are returning in Nov/Dec and unless it is freezing, I will definately ride it as many times as I can!

Thanks for reading along... even when I've been MIA! I'm going back at the end of September, but AK is the one park we plan to skip. My friend has never been to DHS or Epcot! I can't wait to play tour guide!

 

[DisMomAmy]

I tried to post this update Thursday, but none of the swirly faces seemed to take... they were all showing up normally! But it seems as though photobucket is cooperating today so here you go...

I know I've been a bad DISer lately... so I thought I'd post a few pictures of what we've been up to:

Field Day - last week:

Alex & his best friends:

One of Zach's two recent field trips... we went to the science center:

Zach & his best friend:

Alex's baseball banquet:

Wednesday was Zach's kindergarten graduation:

Yesterday was the last day of school & there was a variety show. Zach broke a board (his karate teacher actually came in to help him!). Now we have a week off before camp & summer school start. We'll be taking our annual camping trip up north next weekend!

I've also been really involved with the hiring of the new principal for our school. I am horoned that I was asked and never would have said no, but it took up a HUGE chunk of my time. I'm glad it's done and we have a great new principal ready to start in a few weeks.

In other news, Zach was finally diagnosed with autism. We knew it was coming so I'm happy to finally have the diagnosis so we can move on with getting him the services he needs... which is another thing I've been working on lately... more paperwork!

So I promise I'll be back soon to post my date night update! I did take the photos I needed & have them ready to go in Photobucket.

I hope to get lots of updates posted this week before I start forgetting things! Thanks for hanging in there with me!

 

[Peter Pan Fan 22]

Great field trip and field day pics! It's so hot here, I wish I could be playing in that water right now! They look like they're having so much fun!

Enjoy your camping trip!!

 

[MRYPPNS]

Thanks for the life update! Are you going to Storyland next weekend? We're going on Wednesday

 

[DisMomAmy]

Great field trip and field day pics! It's so hot here, I wish I could be playing in that water right now! They look like they're having so much fun!

Enjoy your camping trip!!

Field day was so much fun this year. The past couple years have been cold or rainy. Two years ago they actually cancelled the second half of the day and bussed everyone back to school. It was perfect weather this year.

Thanks for the life update! Are you going to Storyland next weekend? We're going on Wednesday

Yes!! We're planning to be there Friday afternoon & Saturday. We might go to the Flume on Sunday so Zach can get the nature hike he's been asking for.

 

[carissanboys]

Glad I'm not the only one who has been a bad Diser. Looks like you've been busy with some fun stuff! Look forward to hearing about your date night.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Hi Amy! You've been a busy girl. Good to hear from you.

 

[Cory's Gal]

Love the field day pics and the happy graduate in a tie...SO CUTE!!!! You have been SUPER busy, holy cow!!! Looking forward to hearing about date night when you have free time!!!

 

[jordanyosh]

I'm the last one to be balking about someone taking time off from the DIS, so take your time. We'll still be here.

Glad Zach's diagnosis came in and you are able to get the ball rolling on services

Can't wait to hear about Shula's. I don't hear too much about it here so it will interesting to see what you think...I love a good piece of steak...

 

[DisMomAmy]

We ended up seeing Toy Story 3 today!! We had planned on tomorrow, but Alex was OK with going along with us, so we decided to give it a try since it was super hot today. The last, and only, movie Alex went to in a movie theater was Cars... four years ago. We had to leave early (when we saw Cars). Luckily he did much better today!! I wanted to get a good seat so we got there at about 1:45 for a 2:15 movie. Alex played games on my iphone until the movie actually started, which was around 2:30. Then he turned it off for a little while, but started getting bored about 20 minutes into the movie. We were sitting in the back row, so we let him play with the phone and sort of shielded it with his sweatshirt. I don't think anyone noticed. If they did, they didn't mind... I guess you have to expect some distractions at a kids movie. That kept him busy for about another 20 minutes or so and he started complaining that he wanted to go. Luckily we got over the hump & we made it through to the end!! I DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE!!

We loved the movie!! I was teary a couple times & Zach was scared at a couple points. For those of you who have seen it, he thought he was going to have nightmares about a monkey with cymbals tonight!

Glad I'm not the only one who has been a bad Diser. Looks like you've been busy with some fun stuff! Look forward to hearing about your date night.

It's a busy time of year! And we all go through phases of less frequent visits to the DIS... but we all come back!

Hi Amy! You've been a busy girl. Good to hear from you.

Good to be back! I should be able to get another update posted tomorrow.

Love the field day pics and the happy graduate in a tie...SO CUTE!!!! You have been SUPER busy, holy cow!!! Looking forward to hearing about date night when you have free time!!!

Zach is sooo funny about wanting to look "handsome"! He calls that his handsome tie! Fortuantely I was able to tie it... Tim wasn't able to make it to the 10:30 ceremony (I recorded it for him) and I usually have him tie the tie the night before, but I forgot!

I'm the last one to be balking about someone taking time off from the DIS, so take your time. We'll still be here.

Glad Zach's diagnosis came in and you are able to get the ball rolling on services

Can't wait to hear about Shula's. I don't hear too much about it here so it will interesting to see what you think...I love a good piece of steak...

Thanks for taking the time to stop in!!

Shula's will be coming up in the morning... I can tell you it was mmmmmmmm good!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Your boys have definitely been keeping you busy lately!!!

I am glad you finally were able to get a diagnosis and can move forward!

Had to laugh about Zach saying that about the monkey -- Chelsea said the same thing, and she's 12.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Your boys have definitely been keeping you busy lately!!!

I am glad you finally were able to get a diagnosis and can move forward!

Had to laugh about Zach saying that about the monkey -- Chelsea said the same thing, and she's 12.

I'm looking forward to the next few days... we have a few appointments, but we'll mostly be hanging out at home.

The diagnosis was a long time coming...

I hope Chelsea slept better than Zach did last night... he was up at 5am with a nightmare & never got back to sleep.

 

[Charleston Princess]

Poor Zach! I am sorry to hear he woke up so early! Connor somehow ended up squished between us in our bed last night -- not sure what happened there.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Finally it was time for date night! After getting the kids settled we were on our way. I think we left around 6:00 and got there really early. Luckily they were able to seat us early!

We sat in a room like this:

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures in the restaurant... I know... BAD DISer!!

The dinner was expensive, but FANTASTIC! And we got 20% off food & drink with the Tables in Wonderland card. We ordered a couple cocktails and enjoyed some delicious bread, followed a wedge salad for me & lobster bisque for Tim. Then we each had a fillet mignon and shared a huge baked potato.

Here is a picture of a fillet from their website (we didn't get the lobster with it, that would have required a second mortgage ):

We also pre-ordered the apple crisp since it takes so long to cook. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so much! We picked at the apple crisp and enjoyed some coffee to finish off the meal.

There are photos on their website if you care to check them out.

I don't have the itemized receipt, but the total including the TIW 20% discount was $139.85 plus tip ($33 based on the original total before the discount) for a grand total for $172.85! But boy was it good!!

After dinner we rolled ourselves out to the valet then headed to DTD!! I was so happy we had time to fit this in because the kids can’t stand shopping & they make it miserable for the rest of us!

This giant McDonalds cracked us up...

Even McDonalds is fancy at Disney!

We ended up doing all of our shopping here:

We bought quite a few things that night with my 10% off shopping discount (Visa or AP)

More grocery bags ($2.95 each):

A million of these lollipops for the kids' classmates ($66.45):

Set of 2 kitchen towels & spoon rest for me ($14.95 & $8.95)

Kitchen towel & measuring spoons for my mom ($$5.95 & $7.95)

(And a sneak peek at the windchimes we bought her later in the week at Epcot.)

Tim & I each picked a mug ($8.95 & $6.95):

And to top it off, I finally found a new watch!! I loved my old watch and wanted something similar, but I also wanted a Disney watch, but something that didn’t scream Disney.

My old watch:

My new watch ($265):

Plus we bought a beach towel for $10.95 as part of some special going on. Sorry... no picture. We spent a total of $386.15 including the 10% discount & tax.

After shopping we headed back to the condo… Jeff, Karen & K were scheduled to arrive!!

When we got home we moved Alex out of the 2nd bedroom onto the second air mattress in our room. Jeff, Karen & K arrived about 15 minutes later!! I was worried we’d be waiting up for them but it worked out perfectly! We did end up staying up until around 11:30 but enjoyed visiting before bed. That was the only night we heard a lot of noise upstairs above us. There were little feet running around between 11:30 & midnight. I’m guessing they’d been out watching some evening entertainment at the parks that night. But the funny thing was, we heard more loud noises around 3am! It almost sounded as though the kids were home alone.

Daily recap: A great leisurely day at Animal Kingdom & a wonderful date night at Shula’s & DTD. And I finally got a new watch!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Poor Zach! I am sorry to hear he woke up so early! Connor somehow ended up squished between us in our bed last night -- not sure what happened there.

I hate when that happens! I'm sure Zach will get to bed early tonight.

 

[Charleston Princess]

What a great date night! Dinner sounds incredible!

Hurray for shopping at DTD! The new watch is fabulous! I also like all of your new kitchen things and mugs -- I always say I am going to get some stuff for the kitchen when we are down there and never do. Maybe this will be the trip I manage to pick up some things.

 

[MRYPPNS]

I'm so glad you got to go out shopping without the boys! Boy oh Boy did you make up for lost time! lol I loved everything you got....especially the watch

....but please tell me that 66 dollars for lollipops is a typo

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Wow what a wonderful date night! So glad you got to enjoy a night out. And all the shopping!! Nice watch!