Mommy and Jack's 2nd Fall Adventure is canceled!

[stephielela]

Day 3~ MNSSHP
Tuesday, October 25
This is the day I have planned for MNSSHP. I am torn about buying tickets in advance. If it was September, I wouldn't because last year it was rainy the day we went, and I wished I had waited till the next party, but I had prebought the tickets, so I didn't have a lot of options. This trip since we have more time and flexibility, I want to not buy them, but I also know that the parties closer to Halloween sell out in advance. So I will probably buy them. It's just stressful!

We don't have any firm plans this day except breakfast at Kona Cafe. I scheduled it for 10:30 so we can get plenty of sleep and still get there for breakfast. I really enjoyed this meal last trip, and it's relatively cheap, and since I will be paying OOP for it, cheap is good!

I plan on letting Jack swim and play in the Goofy fountains this day, and exploring the resort, before taking a nap. I want him to get a nap in so we can stay late at the party. I want to get to MK right at 4 pm, since this will be the only time we spend there. We will probably eat a late lunch at Pop before we head to the party. If we need to we can leave right after the second parade, but if Jack's still going strong we will stick it out as late as posisble.

 

[stephielela]

Day 4~DHS
Wednesday October 26

DHS??? WHHAAATT??? Yup that's right! Since I added the night, this leaves us with a whole extra day, and I while I know there is planty of fun stuff to do outside the parks, I figured why not just make it to all 4 parks this trip! This will be another Plan A/Plan B scenario. If Jack is 40 inches, he will be able to ride Star Tours and Tower of Terror, so we will need to get there right at rope drop, which means leaving at 8 am. We will have been at the party the night before so this might be rough, but I am sure we can make it! We will stay all day either way, until 3 pm when the parade is. If Jack is super tired and worn out, we will go back to the resort and nap after the parade and spend the evening out. If he is fine, we will stay as long as he wants, and then head off to DTD for dinner, then back to the resort for swimming/playing. We will be going to bed early this night though. Fantasmic is not showing this night, and I'm not sure we would go back to it if it was. I'm not sure how into it Jack would be, and it's not my favorite show.

 

[stephielela]

Day 5~ AK
Thursday October 27

No longer departure day!!
When I redid our plans, I also decided to change our Tusker House ADR to a "Before-the-park-opens" ADR, so we are now going at 8:35 am. Last year, it didn't seem to matter when in the 8 o'clock hour your ADR was, everyone was let into the park at the same time, and pretty much got in line at the restaurant to be seated. I will plan on us leaving Pop at 7:30 to be at AK by 8, so at the very least, we arent' rushing in, and we can get some good empty pictures! After breakfast we will hit Kilimanjaro Safaris, and then work our way around the park. We will probably be pretty relaxed in our touring, since we won't be riding Everest. I am not sure he will be ready for Dinosaur, even if he is 40 inches, it's pretty tense. If he is we will FP that, but the only other headliner we will ride is Kali River Rapids, so I am not worried too much about lines here. I want to be able to stay for the afternoon parade, and then head out after. Depending on what we have accomplished at DTD, we might head there for dinner and shopping, or else back to the resort for swim time and packing.

 

[stephielela]

Day 6~Departure Day
Friday October 28
Our flight is at 9:35 this morning, so we will have to be on the ME at some ungodly hour. I will have everything packed and ready to go the night before and we will pretty much roll out of bed and go. We will get breakfast at the airport, and the we will get home at 11:25 am. Typically I would book a later flight, but we will have already had the extra day, and it will be nice to have the whole afternoon to get unpacked and relaxed, before I have to go back to work the next morning.

These are very brief plans, and many days are the same as the originals. I will look at actual touring plans etc, as I get closer, so everyone can give me input!!

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Whew caught up and straight with the changes you did make and the ones you almost made. Love the mini TRs and your plans look great so far. Your Mulan obstacle course had me laughing out loud!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Your plans look fabulous so far!

 

[stephielela]

Whew caught up and straight with the changes you did make and the ones you almost made. Love the mini TRs and your plans look great so far. Your Mulan obstacle course had me laughing out loud!

Lol, I can barely keep the changes straight myself!

Everyone had a good time embarrasing themselves on the obstacle course. I am hoping to do a rescue mission for Cars night this Wednesday!

Your plans look fabulous so far!

Thanks!!! I like getting lost in the planning, but I have to pace myself, otherwise I'd have the whole trip planned in one day! I think July will be when I hammer out meals, August I will do a tentative touring plan based on Jack being tall enough, and the I will do final plans in September! Plus I may have another trip in September to keep me distracted...

 

[jenseib]

Great plans...I just want to forewarn you that the last 6 months or more, it has been reported the the Goofy Pop jets are almost never running. And since March I haven't heard of them working at all. Doesn't mean they haven't but everyone keeps saying how they are mad they aren't.

 

[stephielela]

Great plans...I just want to forewarn you that the last 6 months or more, it has been reported the the Goofy Pop jets are almost never running. And since March I haven't heard of them working at all. Doesn't mean they haven't but everyone keeps saying how they are mad they aren't.

Wow! I wonder why??? This is interesting... it's one of the only reasons I decided to stay with Pop instead of trying AsMo... I wonder if there is any chance the refurb will be done by October... if it was I think we would switch!

 

[tlenzendorf]

I've read that about the jets as well, and haven't seen any explanations as to why they aren't working

 

[stephielela]

So I have been thouroghly depressed about the fact that I haven't scored free dining yet for this trip. There is no way we could have done September with the vacation time etc, and I am excited to go in October this year, but geez, is free dining too much to ask

I was then thinking back to last summer when I was waiting fro FD for our December Trip (ok, I know, I am spoiled with FD), so I went back to my Dec PTR (man there were some memories there!) and found that FD was released for later dates on July 6! That's not too far away, so now I have a (little) light at the end of the tunnel, right!?

 

[Mickey_Mom]

I've gotten spoiled with free dining too. Fingers crossed for you!

 

[stephielela]

I've gotten spoiled with free dining too. Fingers crossed for you!

Thanks!!!

 

[jenseib]

Wow! I wonder why??? This is interesting... it's one of the only reasons I decided to stay with Pop instead of trying AsMo... I wonder if there is any chance the refurb will be done by October... if it was I think we would switch!

I'm not sure if anyone knows why

So I have been thouroghly depressed about the fact that I haven't scored free dining yet for this trip. There is no way we could have done September with the vacation time etc, and I am excited to go in October this year, but geez, is free dining too much to ask

I was then thinking back to last summer when I was waiting fro FD for our December Trip (ok, I know, I am spoiled with FD), so I went back to my Dec PTR (man there were some memories there!) and found that FD was released for later dates on July 6! That's not too far away, so now I have a (little) light at the end of the tunnel, right!?

Yes and the year before that it was a week or so later, if I remember right, so you still have lots of time

 

[stephielela]

I'm not sure if anyone knows why



Yes and the year before that it was a week or so later, if I remember right, so you still have lots of time

I'm all about the power of positive thinking!

 

[stephielela]

Wednesday night was the much anticipated Cars night. We even had an additional guest, our friend Ms. Jane, who comes over for dinner every Wednesday night (her husband is in Afghanistan). She usually does the cooking on Wednesdays, but we just had her bring an appetizer.

We decided to go with the World part of the World Grand Prix theme. We had Italian, French, Japanese, and English dishes.

For our activity, we painted little wooden racecars! These kits were $1.99 for 2 cars, 2 brushes and 2 sets of paint at Target.

As you may notice, we also fell victim to the 40% off sale at the Disney store and bought their line of summer plastic dishes etc.

Representing Japan, we had Edamame as one of our appetizers.

Representing Italy, we had roasted tomato caprese salad and bruschetta.

Representing France we had ham, egg and cheese crepes.

Representing England we had Sheperd's pie.

And for dessert, France was represented again with sugar and butter crepes.
I didn't manage to get a picture of these, but I had also bought the Cars party plates at Target (they were on sale!) for our dessert.

This was Ms. Jane's first time ever seeing Cars, and she really liked it.

Jack also scored 3 new cars from the movie, Finn McMissile, Holly Shiftwell, and Francesco Bernoulli. Naturally I had already bought the first 2 before they went on sale.

We went to see the movie this morning before I came to work. I actually had to ask my boss if I could come in a bit late since I knew the movie would run longer with previews. I really liked it! Mater is really the main character of the new movie, and the whole movie was fantastic. The theater was packed, which is good, since that meant there were a lot of kids there, and the mood is a little more relaxed on the whole sitting still/not talking aspect

 

[stephielela]

I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th! I will be here at work, but it's ok, I will get home in time for fireworks and dessert Plus the holiday pay will come in handy! Especially if no good deals come out for my dates!

As far as my plans go, I have another dilemma. It was brought to my attention that the Goofy pop jets at Pop Century have been pretty much out of commission since we left last year (Thanks Jen!) There is actually a thread about it, and it doesn't look hopeful. These were one of the biggest reasons I decide not to try out a new resort, Jack really enjoyed them the last time, he would have spent the whole trip playing in them if I had let him. The only other reasons I chose Pop were the cheesecake, and the "newness" since it was recently refurbished. So long story short, I am thinking of switching to All Star Movies. It's under renovation now, and I think a lot of it will be done before we get there, so our odds are high of getting a refurbed room. Plus Jack is a Toy Story nut, so seeing Buzz and Woody in the Toy Story section would be awesome. I actually considered moving there last fall at the last minute, but it was within 45 days and I would have had to pay $50 to change.


So... What would you do???? I need advice! If a good deal comes out next week, I might just make a whole new reservation and then I can decide between the two...

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Honestly, if the reason you guys were going to stay at Pop is no longer valid, then don't stay there Stay at the All Stars

 

[Sappermont]

Your trip sounds so exciting! Jack is adorable. Have you eaten at Tusker House before? The last time I ate there it was a quick service. I'm curious what it's like now that it's an all-you-eat!

 

[stephielela]

It occurred to me I never posted any pictures for the Grad part of our trip, since it was just a quick update, so here are the pictures from San Antonio, and then I will finish Day 1 of the cruise!

This is me and Jack, up before the sun (again) for our trip

On the plane...

He likes to know all the details!

We didn't have anyone sit with us this leg of the trip, so we had extra space!

Once we got to San Antonio, my sister picked us up at the airport and we went to Magnolia Pancake Haus for breakfast. Awesome doesn't even describe it!
My sister the grad, and my mom

After breakfast we checked into our hotel (which was AWESOME) and got our first towel animal of the trip!!!

We had a small gathering at the hotel with my aunt and uncle, my mom's dad and his wife (my step-grandmother) and us.

My aunt and uncle took Jack to the zoo while the rest of us went to graduation. She could only get 5 tickets and there is NO WAY Jack would have sat through it anyways.

After graduation we met up with my aunt and uncle and my dad, sister, Jack and I headed to Earl of Sandwich!!!! I have NEVER made it there at WDW, so I was super thrilled. The rest of our people went to visit with some relatives in town.
Jack had grilled cheese

My dad and I split the ham and brie and the hawaiian one.

After a fabulous delicious lunch, my sister went to finish packing while Jack, my dad and I went on the riverboats. Someone actually handed us 2 free adult tickets so we only paid for Jack's!

That night we had dinner at another of our San Antonio fave's, La Margarita! Some of us took the cheap and handy bus system while the others walked.

Food was awesome as usual

The next day we flew to Fort Lauderdale. I am not a fan of this airport. When we got to the hotel we went for a swim, and Jack tested out his life jacket, which ended up being super helpful, so he could swim around on his own without us holding him etc.

And now we are caught up!