MVMCP-Dec 2010- Cape Cod & Fall photos-Update 11/16

[aprilisis]

I'm re-posting my TR w/o the poll. It was getting too distracting at the top of every page.
Hi- my name is April & I am a Disney-holic. I’m 34 & taking a (so far) solo trip from October 4th through the 11th. My birthday is the 12th. I’ll be staying at Yacht Club & I know I will definitely be going to MNSSHP & the Food & Wine Festival . Epcot is my favorite park. I want to get to see the new Harry Potter area at Islands of Adventure & haven’t decided whether or not to visit Halloween Horror Nights at Universal. I know I want to spend some time in the pool during this trip. I also want to do something different- like horseback riding at FW or Dolphins in Depth at Epcot. In order to do that, however, I want to lose about 50 pounds. One thing you will notice is that I take WAY too many photos! I took this in the parking lot of Shaw’s (with my phone) on Saturday morning.

I’m sure I will have many mini-TR’s within this PTR. I am going to the MGM Grand at Foxwoods in CT in March with my BF, John & I am meeting my friend in NYC in April. I’m sure we will go somewhere in the summer- maybe even Vegas! (This is Vegas

In the meantime, I am losing my marbles waiting for the park hours for October to come out. I usually plan my days around the PM Extra Magic Hours.
I still haven’t booked air- I’m waiting for Southwest & right now they are only booking through August. Car rental prices are outrageous for that week right now, so I am holding off on those.
As far as dining goes, I will DEFINITELY be going to Artist Point & California Grill. Some possible visits will be:
Cape May Café
Donald’s Safari Breakfast
1900 Park Faire (for breakfast)
Brown Derby
Sci-Fi Dine In
Boma
Jiko
Yachtsman Steakhouse
Citricos
The Wave
Sanaa
Kouzzina
I know that’s a long list, but I will narrow it down when the October park hours come out. I feel awfully guilty leaving my dog, Isis, home for a week, but she will be in good hands with my mom. This is Isis in her best Disney gear:

I will post a recent photo of me if I ever let anyone take one. Thanks for stopping by!!

 

[aprilisis]

Uhhh…Has ANYONE ever seen this before?????

Our apologies...

Alamo is completely sold out of vehicles at:

Orlando Intl Arpt from 010/4/2010 to 010/11/2010

That is a first for me!!! And it is a bad sign as far as crowd levels!!!
Well, so far the diet is going ok. I had oatmeal this morning & I had a salad with Boston lettuce, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, scallions, sugar snap peas, strawberries & a little bit of feta & cracked black pepper for lunch.

I had lemon tea, 1 cup of white grapefruit juice, 1 bottle of water, and iced coffee with skim milk & 2 splenda, too. I’m not sure what we will do for dinner, but I’ll try to stick with it. I didn’t exercise last night. I used an incident at work as an excuse to not exercise when I should have used it as fuel to make me work harder. I tried to do something to make her life easier & she took it the wrong way. Don’t you hate drama?? Someone I work with blows everything WAY out of proportion because she thinks she is queen of the world. It is getting a little unbearable, so I am avoiding her like the plague today.
Anyhoo…back to the rental cars…at Orlando International AND Sanford airports, the rental cars are over $300 for the week for an economy! That is too pricey for me. I know I usually get a car for $200. So I guess my “plan” is to wait until the last minute & if I get a car, I get one. If I don’t, I don’t. I’m also very impatiently waiting for Southwest to come out with October airfare.
I’m also excited to be going to NYC in April. I’m meeting my friend, Sarah (who is from Scranton, PA) there on the 16th & coming home the 18th. I’m taking the Acela train from Providence. It will be a 2 hour & 55 minute ride. I’m hoping to meet up with my friend, Renata (she lives in NYC & works for Comedy Central), too. We plan to see the Tim Burton exhibit at MoMA & try out a few restaurants…and SHOP! I need a new purse, so I will be going to Canal Street. I have a few photos from my last trip:

And from 2002:

New York is a blast, but the last trip nearly killed me! I'm too old to stay out until 3am now. I had SUCH fun at the comedy club & all of the places we went. I had no idea how nice Brooklyn is! I’m also going to the MGM Grand at Foxwoods next week with John. I won’t be able to take a ton of photos, but I will take what I can & have a full report on craftsteak for you!

 

[aprilisis]

I thought I would just throw in some “fun” photos today. They were all taken at Madame Tussead’s Wax Museum in Las Vegas.
Johnny Depp:

Matthew McConaughey:

Billy Idol:

Jon Bon Jovi:

JLo:

Julia Roberts:

Liberace:

Elizabeth Taylor:

Lucy:

Madonna:

Marilyn Monroe:

Oprah:

Princess Di:

Sean Connery:

Sinatra & Dean Martin:

Spiderman:

The Rock:

Tony Bennett:

Elvis (my favorite of the bunch):

I thought they looked pretty good over all- except a few didn’t really look like who they were supposed to. Johnny Depp doesn’t look enough like the real one. I was there in July 2008 & it was SO hot. In fact- I almost passed out at the Hoover Dam because it was 107 degrees. I might post more Vegas photos tomorrow if I can.
Last night I did so-so on dinner. I got a sandwich with cheese, tofurkey (not as bad as it sounds- it is NOTHING like tofu), onions, avocado, and cranberry mayo- which was most likely about 600 calories…BUT I was good in getting sugar snap peas instead of fries. Today so far I ate the other half of my sandwich & an apple. I have vegetable soup for dinner tonight- I will still be at work. Thursdays are my LONG days. Monday through Wednesday I work 7:30am until 4pm, Thursday is 7:30am-7:30pm, and Friday is 7:30am-11:30am. The only bad part is that I have an hour drive each way. So Thursday I get home at about 8:45pm & I am exhausted by the end of the night. Well, I have to get off of my behind & start exercising. I got my Ab Circle Pro in the mail & I want to try it- I just have to put it together first! That will be my Friday afternoon project. I hope everyone has a great day!

 

[aprilisis]

Not much is going on with the October Trip yet- I’m just waiting for Southwest to come out with airfare for October & for October park hours to come out. I DID, however, sign up for a price watch on rental cars for that time frame on Hotwire- Thank you, RockinDisney! It is all just a waiting game now, which makes me nutty.

This weekend was a little crazy. I was VERY tired Friday after work & tried to nap. That doesn’t work so well, though, when you have a geriatric Siamese cat who is extremely vocal. John came over & we went to dinner at a steak house with the BEST salad bar around. He gets his steak & I get my salad & half of a cheese quesadilla. Saturday I got up WAY too early because Isis has been waking me up on the weekends- now, she doesn’t wake me up because she wants to go out…she wants an animal cracker. I don’t know why or how this started, but it is making me crazy. I put together my AbCircle Pro & I used it for 35 minutes. It is WAY tougher than it looks! Here it is:

Please excuse the hairy carpet. When you have 2 dogs & a cat you can vacuum every day in the Spring, but the hair magically reappears two minutes later.
So while I was using the machine & watching some horrible tv (“Real Housewives of NYC”- trust me when I say there was NOTHING on), this is what the animals were up to:

I did ok as far as food goes- I had an egg white omelet for breakfast with tomatoes, scallions, and fresh crushed red pepper; a veggie burger for lunch; sugar snap peas & hummus for a snack; about 40 cups of lemon tea; tons of water & crystal light iced tea; and a veggie sub with mustard & cheese for dinner.

Sunday was pretty much the same- I did EA Sports for the Wii for 48 minutes while the animals slept away after littering the house by pulling out every dog toy we have:

I had the same stuff in my omelet for breakfast; Weight Watchers mac & cheese for lunch; more of the same beverages; and I made this enchilada casserole for dinner with black beans, corn, tomatoes, jalapenos, cheese, tortillas, enchilada sauce, and spices. I know it is the healthiest, but it isn’t TOO bad. John ate two bowls of it. I watched the Oscars & fell asleep. What an exciting weekend!

This morning I woke up late. I have my alarm set to “radio” and I must have hit the tuner because it was just static- which did NOT wake me up! I got up 30 minutes late today, so I will work through lunch. I will go home, take a quick shower & change, then John & I are off to the MGM Grand at Foxwoods for craftsteak & blackjack (for him). We’re staying overnight & might go to the Titanic artifact exhibit there the next day.

 

[aprilisis]

I haven’t made any progress on my WDW plans for October. It is frustrating to wait for park hours to come out and for Southwest to release dates past August. It seems like they have been holding at August 13th forever now. While I am waiting for park hours to come out, though, I can give you a mini-TR from our overnight trip to the MGM Grand at Foxwoods. Monday night after work, John & I made the 60 or so mile drive down to the MGM. We took advantage of the free valet parking & checked in quickly. They put us in room 7101- a Director’s Suite. We walked quickly to the room to change for dinner.

We didn’t use the jacuzzi because it is like taking a sleeping pill! I loved the bathroom setup, though. The Jacuzzi room is bigger than it looks in the photo. When you step in, the shower is off to the right. There was a separate room with the toilet & a phone.

Pardon our mess- we just dropped everything as soon as we got there.

Umm---$12 cashews?!?!? No, thanks!!!!

(I don’t know if any of you watch “Top Chef”, but Tom Colicchio has a restaurant called “craftsteak” at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods. It is a little pricey, but VERY good.) Before leaving the house and knowing John as well as I do, I called & changed our reservation from 8:30 to 9. I didn’t tell him this until after I changed my clothes for dinner. We sipped a glass of champagne & headed downstairs. We were seated immediately. The restaurant is pretty dark with paintings of cow faces hanging all over.

We ordered drinks- John got some citrus drink:

I got a blood orange margarita:

By the way- sorry for the photo quality- it was VERY dark in there!

Continued in next post….

 

[aprilisis]

They brought us this bread & John ate almost all of it immediately!

I ordered onion rings (I know…SOOO fancy):

Cauliflower:

And Gratin potatoes:

John got Yukon gold (potato) puree:

Creamed spinach (no photo), and the ribeye:

The bread was delicious and the Yukon puree was fantastic. The Gratin potatoes were good, the cauliflower was ok, the spinach was too salty, and the onion rings were kind of soggy. You know me if you have read my reports before- I am rarely disappointed by food, so they must have been having an “off” night or something. The drink I had was great, though! John said the steak was VERY good. We were too full for dessert. All in all, the atmosphere of the place is awesome. I like it a lot.
After dinner, John got a cup of coffee and I found a SATC (an HBO show whose name would get censored if I typed it out..."something and the city") slot machine. They must know that the fans will play it- but these machines are NOT designed to do you any favors. After losing a bit on that machine, I tried a Jaws machine & quit when I was up $20. John decided he wanted to play a blackjack machine, so I played another one in the same area- I forgot what it was called, but I made back everything I lost on the SATC machine & quit. I was happy to be even! We went back upstairs & watched tv.
Darn! I knew I forgot something! I forgot to take breakfast photos. We ordered room service. John had Eggs Benedict and I had an egg white omelet with peppers and onions and a side of sliced tomatoes. Both came with very good breakfast potatoes and I had sourdough toast. I also had grapefruit juice & we both had coffee. It was all very, very good! Here are a few shots of our view- which was not GREAT, but I can’t complain:

We showered, packed up & checked out. We had to drive over to one of the other resorts to get to the Titanic exhibit. We parked & walked in & to my surprise, it wasn’t a far walk. This casino is HUGE & it usually takes forever to get where you’re going. I was disappointed that photography wasn’t allowed. We went into the exhibit & they handed us a card with information when we first walked in:
Back:

Front:

It contained information about a passenger that was actually on the Titanic & you could check & see if your passenger made it at the end of the exhibit. The exhibit started with items like personal effects- compacts, handkerchiefs, toiletry items, etc. There was even a bar of soap still in the case! They had a cabin set up like one of the first class cabins & one set up like the third class cabins- what a difference. The third class cabins had two sets of bunk beds & were either male or female, so a lot of families could not stay together. There was actually a postcard with the stamp STILL stuck on it. I learned that a first class parlor suite ticket cost $4,350 ($69,600 today), a first class berth ticket cost $150 ($2,400 today), a second class ticket cost $60 ($960 today), and a third class ticket cost $40 ($640 today). They were a lot more expensive than I thought! There were some dishes that they found still perfectly stacked because the wooden cabinet disintegrated around them. One of the workers told us that one man drank very heavily because of what was happening & he survived 2 hours in the water because his blood alcohol level was so high. The alcohol in his blood was like antifreeze. At the end of the exhibit, we checked to see if the person on our ticket made it off of the Titanic. John’s guy (who boarded 3rd class alone) did not make it. My second class lady & her daughter made it, but her husband didn’t. We looked through the gift shop at the end and John got me a little silver necklace with a piece of coal retrieved from the Titanic. The packing:

The necklace:

I really like it. I am fascinated by the Titanic and, while very sad, this exhibit is great. There are several throughout the world & I think the Vegas one has most of the jewelry. Now I really want to go to Las Vegas to see that!
Well, I had better get back to work. I will report more when I have some WDW news.

 

[aprilisis]

Well, my curiosity got the best of me & I did a Google search of “when will southwest release October 2010?” and I actually found a link to the Southwest site saying that they will be releasing dates through October 30, 2010 on March 23. So….guess who will be online at midnight on March 23rd?? If I can’t stay up that late, I will just book at 6am when I get up. I have to narrow down my dining choices, so I am ready to book dining when the park hours come out. I don’t think I will book a table service meal at EPCOT since the Food & Wine will be going on there. I will fill up on that stuff too much to want a big meal. I know I definitely want eat at the following places:

Artist Point
California Grill
Garden Grove (breakfast)
Boma (breakfast or dinner…maybe both?!?!?)
Yachtsman Steakhouse
Jiko
Donald’s Safari Breakfast
Kouzzina (breakfast)
1900 Park Faire (breakfast)
I think I might want to try the “Dine With an Imagineer” at Brown Derby, too

Some of my “maybe” places:
Sanaa
Cinderella’s Royal Table (I think I like the MK counter service options too much to go here, though)
The Wave
Bluezoo

Besides this, I have decided that I am going to spend a day doing things I have never done. The three things I have decided on are Dolphins in Depth (9:45am at Epcot), a trail ride at Fort Wilderness (I haven’t been horseback riding since I was 14), and a facial at one of the spas- most likely Mandara Spa at the Dolphin since it is the closest. I am definitely making a trip over to Universal & IOA to see the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I am undecided on whether or not I will go to Halloween Horror Nights, though. Of course I will be visiting all 4 Disney parks, attending Mickey’s Not-so-Scary Halloween Party, and the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot (at least twice!). I am DEFINITELY planning to visit Stormalong Bay. That is one of the main reasons I booked at YC- the pool is amazing. Some pool photos from this past trip:

Now I just have to wait & be patient (yeah, right!) for park hours, Halloween party dates, extra magic hours, and airfare to come out. I’m too impatient. I want to plan, plan, plan…NOW!!!

 

[aprilisis]

Before I forget to mention it, I found the COOLEST app for my phone! I can create postcards & have them sent using just my phone! I take a photo on my phone, upload it to this website & Send it to whomever I want- all for $1.89!!!! Isn’t that cool?!?! I’m SOOO using that in October!
So far- the diet is good, but the exercise has been nonexistent. I have to get back into a routine. Though- John is NO help diet-wise. We went to Five Guys burgers last night & I got the veggie sandwich with mustard (everyone makes fun of me & calls it the “condiment special”), but John got 2 bacon double cheeseburgers & 2 large fries!!!! If you have ever been to Five Guys, you know large fries there fill a whole bag. So we walked out of there with a HUGE bag of fries. I only ate about 10 & even John couldn’t finish them. Not even close, actually. But you guys have seen his photo. For those of you who haven’t:

Only one question comes to mind- WHERE DOES ALL OF THE FOOD GO?!?!!?!? He is SO skinny & he can eat whatever he wants. I eat a flipping carrot & gain 10 pounds.

Still nothing exciting here- Just more waiting. *sigh* Oh…So here are a couple of photos of the Harry Potter area construction from September of 2009:

We really couldn’t see much. I can’t wait to see the area this October! I’m completely impatient. Thank goodness for the trip reports on these boards to tide me over until my next vacation!

 

[aprilisis]

I am SO scatter-brained lately from stress. A little back story: A co-worker asked me last July if I could take his turtles because he couldn’t keep them. He said he had them for a year & they were teeny-tiny when I got them:

Their shells were probably about 2 inches across. I have had them since last July & now they are about 3.5 inches across! I guess they were living in a tank with no filter, no basking light & no heater. I got them those things right away. I also got a book on turtle care. I got them a 40 gallon tank in January (they were in a 10). Well, the new filter I got for the huge tank worked for a month & now it doesn’t work. John fiddled with it Sunday night & it worked for a day, but then stopped working again. I have to try & find a new one ASAP, but John keeps insisting he wants to fix the one I have. I don’t think it can be fixed, but I will give him one more try and then I will buy a new filter. The water will start to STINK if it isn't filtered. Those guys are seriously little eating & pooping machines! I would love to be able to let them go in a Lake, but #1- it is too cold here for their breed & #2- I don’t think they would survive out there since they have never had to fend for themselves. So I am stressing about getting their water nice & clean & filtered.

Monday night I was watching tv while John & Isis were sleeping and I heard some scritchy, scratchy noise coming from the attic. We had just gotten about 5 inches of rain over the weekend & I think a squirrel took up residence in our attic. I am borrowing a have a heart trap from work & I am going to set it up later on. All I can think of is the movie “Christmas Vacation” with the whole squirrel scene because I KNOW Isis would be chasing that thing all over the house if it ever got out.

Yesterday I got a notice in the mail about a recall on my Santa Fe- which is a 2003- because the front subframe apparently rusts & perforates from all of the road salt we use in the “Rust Belt” area of the country. I asked John how important it is & he said “Well, it DOES keep your engine in your car, so it is pretty important”. Fantastic. I drive 600 miles a week, so I have to get it looked at. They said they will replace it, too- which will be a huge job- so I am hoping they at least would give me a rental. I JUST finished paying it off last August, so I DO NOT want another car payment yet!! I have over 190,000 miles on it, though.

I got an offer for a rental car through Southwest- I got a car WAY cheaper than the rates that are out right now & I got credit towards my Southwest Rapid Rewards, too!! I reserved a midsize car through Alamo. I’m happy about that! I don’t know if you noticed, but Alamo has kiosks to electronically check in now. It usually saves a ton of time. That is one thing I can now check off of my list of things to do.

I’m REALLY looking forward to Mickey’s Not-so-Scary Halloween Party this time around. I want to wear a costume, but I only will if I have someone to go to the party with. If I go alone, I will not dress up.
Some photos from MNSSHP 2009:

Some photos from MNSSHP 2001:

From 2003:

Sorry for the WAAAAYYY too much info today. I guess I just needed to vent a little.Thanks for listening!

 

[aprilisis]

Ok…So costume ideas for the Halloween Party:
Lucy (as in “I Love Lucy”)
The Red Queen or Alice from the new Alice in Wonderland
"Traditional" Alice
Lilly Munster
The Bride or Opera Singer (from the graveyard scene) from the Haunted Mansion

What do you guys think?

I found photos from my 2003 October trip to Disney when I was dressed as Morticia Adams. Some are TOO funny.

The dress was a little snug to say the least!!!

I have some from Halloween Horror Nights, too. They are all very dark & the photo quality was not great back then. I think my camera was a 3 megapixel!
This was some huge devil-type creature:

A foam-producing machine:

One of the random characters:

This is just a statue in Islands of Adventure (during HHN):

I am still undecided about whether or not I will go to HHN. That is going to end up being a last minute decision.

I have more from MNSSHP in 2003, too!

I LOVE how they do this:

This is from Epcot on that same trip:

This is from POR (it was right outside of our room)-

This is from DHS on the same trip (I guess Haunted Mansion came out that year):

One more random MK photo:

I miss this place SOOOO much!!!...

I wish the Adventurer’s Club was still there. I’m glad I got to go a few times before it closed. I wonder if they will ever re-open it because it was SO popular & just tons of fun.

You will notice how I cropped out an ex in a lot of the photos. Talk about BAD memories! He was always telling me I was fat back then…I think I was a size 6 or something at that time. I stuck with that relationship for 2 years, too, because I never thought anyone else would like me. In September 2004, I lost 2 grandparents (from different sides of the family) in the same week from unrelated illnesses. He argued with me about going to the services because he didn’t want to miss out on work (he worked for himself). A few days after the services, he asked me to move out. I guess it was smart on his part because I was too sad to be angry & I didn’t put up a fight about him keeping the condo we bought together and myself getting NOTHING for it. Ahh, I learned a lot about what I didn’t want in life from that selfish man. I could go on & on, but you guys don’t need to hear that stuff. Besides, I am SURE everyone out there has at least ONE bad relationship story! Though, I have to say- dating from age 16 to age 32 has taught me A LOT. I could start an advice column!!!

Anyhoo- that was WAY ! Today I work 7:30am until 7:30pm. I just DO NOT like sitting at a desk all day when I have so much energy! At least I can go out at lunch. I’m going to get my favorite Subway sandwich…a little bit of provolone cheese, lettuce, fresh spinach, tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, onions, banana peppers, extra jalapenos, and yellow mustard on the 9-grain wheat bread. I am completely hooked on that sandwich. Sorry for the off- topic stuff. My posts will be MUCH more Disney related when park hours come out!

 

[aprilisis]

Friday we went to see "The Crazies". I love horror movies & that one didn’t disappoint! Saturday morning I was up by 8am & I made an egg white omelet with tomatoes, scallions, and green peppers. Then, I worked outside all day- I prepared an area for my garden & put my compost bin together.

I did 5 loads of laundry, cleaned out my car, filed some paperwork I had (Bills, receipts, etc.), and changed the sheets. This guy was hanging around in our side yard:

It’s funny- he always visits alone. John & I went to eat at a Mexican place & picked up a new hose, nozzle, and stuff to plant at Wal-mart Saturday night. Sorry- I didn’t take any photos of the food. John had Arroz con Pollo and I got a Veggie meal- chili relleno, spinach enchilada, cheese enchilada, and black beans. Sunday I planted a ton of stuff in these little peat pellets to see if I can grow anything indoors from seeds. I did a little more cleaning, made brownies for John & made a stir fry for dinner.
Someone just popped into my office & told me there will be another Pirates movie. Yay! The bad part is that Orlando & Keira will not be in it.
I found some photos from my June 2004 trip with my friend, Sarah:

I will definitely be using sun block in October to avoid this kind of a situation:

I looked ridiculous in that photo! I had such a bad sunburn on my face.
We stayed at POFQ on that trip. I really love that resort.

Some night MK photos:

Guess what?!?!? I booked my airfare!!!!! Thank goodness for Southwest & their cheap-o airfare! I’m glad I waited to book with them. My official dates are October 4th through 11th. I will arrive in Orlando at 9:55am, pick up my bags, then pick up my midsize rental from Alamo & drive to YC to check in. After that- I have no idea because PARK HOURS AREN’T OUT YET FOR OCTOBER!!!!! Umm…yeah…I’m a little anxious to find out hours for October!!! I promise a much more thought out & organized post tomorrow or Thursday. Have a great day, everyone!!!

 

[aprilisis]

It has been a long day today. I went to the post office before lunch today & got new stamps- they have Simpsons stamps now!

I picked up mail for work & mailed something. Since I had a dr’s appointment, I didn’t have time to leave for lunch. I have recently discovered that I can order from a local pizza place online, pay & tip online, and monitor the status of the order.

It is THE coolest thing! It even tells you how long it has been since you ordered. Now that I know they will deliver it here, though, I am in trouble. At least they have a lot of healthy stuff. I’m hoping to get my butt in gear and get into better shape before I go to NYC, too, since we will be doing a lot of walking. I bought new running shoes (FINALLY):

I have some random shots for you while I’m killing time until Park hours come out. The next 2 photos are of a YC room I had in January. It was very roomy (everywhere except the bathroom).

This is the exterior of YC from the rear:

Tower of Terror (still my favorite) from December 2007:

View from our Boardwalk room in October 2008:

The Castle during MNSSHP in October 2008:

I can’t remember if these were in Boardwalk or Beach Club in December 2007:

Epcot in November 2006 (if you look closely to the left, you can see the Christmas tree):

View of Epcot from Italy in December 2007:

Spaceship Earth in December 2007:

Disney Quest in December 2007:

My favorite photo of John in China in February 2009:

I will be home this year in time to dress Isis up for Halloween again. I’m sure she will be thrilled. Here she is as a lobster:

Hopefully park hours come out tomorrow, so I can post more about plans for October. This weekend I have no plans except a hair appointment tomorrow & maybe watching a UFC fight with my brother. I hope you all have a great weekend.

 

[aprilisis]

This weekend was totally uneventful. I didn’t do much of anything besides get my hair done Friday, clean the turtle tank Saturday, and do laundry & watch “2012” Sunday. It was kind of nice. So far, most of the seeds I planted are growing:

I plated avocado pits last year & they grew!

This is the neighbor’s dog- he visits at least once a day:

This is Isis while I am just TALKING about cutting her toenails:

Needless to say- I can’t cut her nails!!!
But the BIG news is- October hours came out!!!!!!!!!!!!! I already started a spreadsheet:

So far, here are my plans:
Monday, October 4, 2010: John will drop me off at the airport at 5am. I will get to Orlando by 10am, pick up my bags, and then get my rental from Alamo (I’m hoping to upgrade to a convertible if it isn’t too expensive at the time). I am planning to stop off at Winn Dixie to pick up water & snacks on the way to YC. I will check in & chill out until my facial at Mandara Spa in the Swan/Dolphin, have dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse, and head over to the Magic Kingdom for extra magic hours.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010: I am planning to book an 8am breakfast at Cape May Café & then to head over to Universal/Islands of Adventure. I am going to go to wait until I find out on which days & at which park Halloween Horror nights will be before I decide which order to visit these two parks. I know I will definitely be going on the Simpsons Ride, Rip Ride and Rock it, the Mummy (all at Universal), the Hulk, Jurassic Park, Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls, and exploring anything the Harry Potter area has to offer (at Islands of Adventure). I will get dinner from a counter service location or from room service.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010: I plan to have breakfast at Boma, then go to Animal Kingdom. I KNOW I will go on Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safari, all of the animal trails, Dinosaur, and Conservation Station. I got a new guide book (The Complete Walt Disney World 2010) that has a map of all of the Discovery Island Trails:

I will definitely be exploring all of them. If I can (this will be a first for me) I am going to get an early dinner at Boma, too. I plan to get to Epcot for the evening extra magic hours that night.

Thursday October 7, 2010: I am going to walk over to the Garden Grove for breakfast. I read a review that said it is the worst restaurant on property, but I won’t know if I don’t try it! After breakfast, I am going to continue walking right to DHS. I am going to get on TSM, Rock N Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror, and go to American Idol. I am going to have dinner at California Grill, then go to MNSSHP. (I’m only assuming it will be on the nights that the park closes at 7pm)

Friday, October 8, 2010: I plan to sleep late, get breakfast at Kouzzina, & head over to Fort Wilderness to do some horseback riding. This will be a Disney first for me. I haven’t ridden since I was 14, either, so it should be interesting. I will go to Downtown Disney for the afternoon, then to Jiko for an early dinner. I am going to Animal Kingdom’s evening extra magic hours. They are only until 8pm, but I am looking forward to seeing the park at night.

Saturday, October 9, 2010: Dolphins in Depth will be first on my agenda. This means I have to be at Epcot by 8:30am or so. I plan to stay the day at Epcot. Magic Kingdom is open until 11pm, too, so I might finish out the day there.

Sunday, October 10, 2010: I plan on a late breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. The morning/afternoon are completely open, but MK has extra magic hours at night. I am going to cram in as much fun as I can before I leave early the next morning.

Monday, October 11, 2010: My flight leaves at 8:50am, so I have to leave the resort by 6:15am. My birthday is actually the 12th, so I miss it by a day.

There will be a bunch of firsts for me on this trip. I will be able to book dining on next Tuesday. As of now, no one in my family has booked a trip during this time, but my stepmom wants to go at the beginning of October. My cousin was talking about bringing her daughter for Columbus Day weekend (she will be 10 & it would be her first trip), but she said she may buy a house instead. So it looks like I’m mostly on my own- which is not a bad thing!

I’ve also talked John into December 6-10 & it is in the works to book the Polynesian. John loves Christmas, so I think he would just love the decorations, the Christmas party, and the Candlelight Processional.

 

[aprilisis]

I can’t believe that my plants are actually growing! I can’t plant them outside until the end of May, so let’s hope I can keep them alive until then.

The basil is a little pathetic:

The peas are growing well:

The radishes & scallions are going to take over the planet!!!!

More waiting here- I can’t book dining or the spa until Tuesday. I figured today I would share my senile cat meowing. He is 21 and this isn’t even close to as loud as he gets. He does this ALL DAY.



Besides growing veggies & my crazy cat, that’s all I’ve got going on until I have news about booking dining, Mandara Spa, Dolphins in Depth, & horseback riding. I will definitely include a mini-TR of New York after I go.

Oh! There is one more thing…my bank cancelled my debit card WITHOUT warning me first. I tried to use it at Walmart & felt like a TOTAL moron when the card was denied. I called the bank & they told me that they cancelled my card because of a “fraudulent charge”. I guess they had thousands of complaints from people about some bogus company trying to charge $7.50 or something on a bunch of people’s cards. Someone hacked into some company’s database & stole card numbers. Now I have to wait until I get another debit card. Thank goodness I could write my mom a check to cash for me! There aren’t any bank branches near where I work & I leave the house before my bank opens & get home after it closes!

 

[aprilisis]

Now that I’m all squared away on a new PTR, I feel better. This weekend not much is going on. Today I am going to visit my stepmom & I’m sure we will be talking Disney. Saturday & Sunday I am hoping to work outside, since the weather is supposed to be good. I don’t have many photos to share today, but I have one of the purse I bought in NYC last year (I’m going back in 2 weeks to get a new one):

Some lounges of WDW:

Paradiso 37:

Dawa Bar:

Uzima Springs:

Inside Raglan Road:

Tune In Lounge:

Territory Lounge:

Have a great weekend & a Happy Easter!

 

[If U Had Wings]

I'm glad I found your new thread. It is much easier to read now!

I love that purple bag. Very, very cute!

I got the pedometer. Thanks so much! Now that the rain has finally stopped I can get back outside again.

 

[aprilisis]

I'm glad I found your new thread. It is much easier to read now!

I love that purple bag. Very, very cute!

I got the pedometer. Thanks so much! Now that the rain has finally stopped I can get back outside again.

Thanks! That bag weighs about 15 pounds because I CRAM it full of everything you can think of. I need a smaller bag!!! I'm glad you got the pedometer. It isn't fancy, but it definitely helps!
How is the dining booking going so far?

 

[mickeystoontown]

Found your new pre-trip report. I hope that you had a wonderful Easter holiday.

 

[MyMuse]

Ahhh! much easier to follow. Thank you.

I came across yours a few weeks back because I was thinking of taking a trip in October. I am hoping it will become a reality in a few days. Though, it will not be a Disney trip per se, but a (off-site) FL trip that will include Disney.

I was thinking of early to mid to combine my BFF birthday and perhaps a D23 event. I am concerned that Alamo is out of cars! What is UP with that?!

I am hoping to do MNSSP & checking out Harry Potter as well.

Looking fwd to your PTR

 

[If U Had Wings]

How is the dining booking going so far?

I completely forgot about making my ADRs yesterday! I've been so stressed over the fact that I managed to lose a piece of my tax documents it slipped my mind completely.

I did make them this morning once I got to work. I'll be posting about it soon. I think I'm going to make more changes though.