No Grumpy Guses Allowed! Updated 5/15- We have plane tickets!

[Twoboysnmygirl]

That's what I'm leaning toward- the main reason for the first day party was so that day wouldn't be wasted but since I'm pretty sure I'm going to add a night it's not necessary. My only issue at this point is the sinking reality that with the new schedule we likely won't make it to MK until day 3 due to crowd predictions.

My camera on my phone sucks. Like, hugely. Of course I have a 4 but still.



Even my daughter thinks I'm nuts. She likes hearing about the plans and looking at them with me but once I start playing around with them she's out.

Thank goodness for the Dis. And Karen. She can call me a freak all she wants but she's Fairy Godmother of the Mouse Mafia.

Savannah has the 5 and her's is good, so I think I'll be ok. I like the camera on my phone but it's just too glitchy and now has stopped charging and won't let me respond to half my texts!

Mouse Mafia.

 

[-Hope-]

Savannah has the 5 and her's is good, so I think I'll be ok. I like the camera on my phone but it's just too glitchy and now has stopped charging and won't let me respond to half my texts!

Mouse Mafia.

Uhh, yikes! Especially with your job!

 

[Steppesister]

Adding another day is probably exactly what I'd do. But that's what all addicts would do. Glad you have a bit more planning to keep you busy!!

 

[-Hope-]

Adding another day is probably exactly what I'd do. But that's what all addicts would do. Glad you have a bit more planning to keep you busy!!

What is the DIS but a group of addicts enabling each other.

 

[Steppesister]

Exactly...

 

[ursalita]

Hey you! Just catching up and I see that you did a movie night at it was completely perfect. Go you!!

 

[-Hope-]

Hey you! Just catching up and I see that you did a movie night at it was completely perfect. Go you!!

Thank you!! I'm such a bad DISer lately so it's good to know my neglect hasn't driven everyone away...

 

[-Hope-]

Oh man you guys, I'm SUCH a horrible DISer lately! I get a little bit behind and then I think about how I'm nohe aret going to be able to catch up and it all seems so overwhelming that I just avoid that little DIS icon on my iPad all together. I also have the issue that even though I like reading the daily life chatter on other people's threads for some reason I'm reluctant to share it on my own. Not because I'm shy about sharing but because I always figure no one really wants to hear it. Overly dramatic, perhaps. Honest, absolutely.

Anyway, I don't really have much going on as far as Disney planning goes. We're leaving for our DC trip in a few days and that's where a lot of my focus has been lately. I started packing and downloaded a few apps to help me navigate the public transit and plan some self-guided walking tours. Fellow DISer, Erin (tinkerinbelle), lives in the area and has given me some tips for restaurants to try. We're also hoping for the chance for a quick dismeet so keep your fingers crossed for that!

The week ahead will be finishing packing, shopping for road trip food, and picking up the rental car the day before we leave so we can pack it the night before and leave early. We'll leave early Friday morning and drive to Pittsburgh (about 11-11 1/2 hours with stops). I used my handy road trippers app to find some kitschy road trip places to stop along the way- we'll have a picnic lunch at the "World's Largest Wind Chime" and hopefully have dinner at one of the local diners I've marked along the way.

Saturday morning we'll head into DC and after checking into the hotel we'll go for an afternoon at the zoo. Full discolsure- I don't love zoos. I understand and appreciate their importance when done well but I still can't help feel bad for the animals who, regardless of how great the habitat is, are not living in a way that can possibly meet all of their instinctual needs. However, my daughter really wants to see the pandas. And even if I find it a little sad I also find it a little fun to see these animals. I'm not morally opposed so I'll suck up the sad feelings and take my daughter to see the pandas.

Dinner that evening will be at Nando's. My daughter is bringing a friend and Saturday happens to that friend's birthday- what better way to celebrate than taking them to Ed Sheeran's favorite restaurant chain.

Sunday and Monday will be loads of self guided tours of all of touristy things- monuments, government buildings and museums. Tuesday we'll start the drive home, stopping in Dayton overnight. We'll get home Wednesday but not before a stop for a picnic lunch at the Funky Bones in Indianapolis (featured in The Fault in Our Stars, Kya's favorite book).

I'm super excited and will definitely share a mini-trip report in this PTR when I get home!

 

[MissMaryQC]

DC sounds like it's gonna be such fun!

Drive safely and have a blast!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Can't wait to hear all about your trip! I hope you get to meetup with Erin...we were in the same hotel for 2 days and never met up! DOH!

 

[deedee2177]

I hope you had a wonderful trip to DC. I loved reading over your plans. My husband and I are going to DC from 5/29 - 6/1. I'm still in the planning stages....sad I have more plans in place for my November Trip for Disney but not as much for a trip that is next month!

We are planning on taking Amtrak (we live in NC), and it will be a 9 1/2 hour ride. We will spend 2 full days, and are planning on using the 48 hours Hop on/Hop off Double Decker Tour Bus. My Mom and I used that tour the last time we were there and really enjoyed it.

I'm still trying to figure out a hotel though...I have found one that is pretty close to the Union Station so it would be super convenient but open to any suggestions. Also, if you have any recommendations on restaurants that would be great too!

 

[Steppesister]

Hoping your trip is fabulous! It's a great place to visit and you'll have more than you could ever possibly do facing you. Enjoy!

 

[-Hope-]

DC sounds like it's gonna be such fun!

Drive safely and have a blast!

Thanks! We had a great time and I'll definitely share all about it soon.

Can't wait to hear all about your trip! I hope you get to meetup with Erin...we were in the same hotel for 2 days and never met up! DOH!

It didn't work out for us. Too rushed for me and she was still recovering from her knee surgery. Maybe next time.

I hope you had a wonderful trip to DC. I loved reading over your plans. My husband and I are going to DC from 5/29 - 6/1. I'm still in the planning stages....sad I have more plans in place for my November Trip for Disney but not as much for a trip that is next month!

We are planning on taking Amtrak (we live in NC), and it will be a 9 1/2 hour ride. We will spend 2 full days, and are planning on using the 48 hours Hop on/Hop off Double Decker Tour Bus. My Mom and I used that tour the last time we were there and really enjoyed it.

I'm still trying to figure out a hotel though...I have found one that is pretty close to the Union Station so it would be super convenient but open to any suggestions. Also, if you have any recommendations on restaurants that would be great too!

I looked into the hop on hop off and wish we'd utilized it. The free shuttle to the metro at our hotel was kind of a nightmare (more on that later) and we'd have probably accomplished more with the bus.

For a short trip my biggest piece of advice is to get tickets for the Wahington Monument well in advance as well as Capitol tours. Also, if you want a White House tour contact your senator now so you have time for the background check.

Hoping your trip is fabulous! It's a great place to visit and you'll have more than you could ever possibly do facing you. Enjoy!

We did have a blast but yeah, so much we didn't have time to do!

 

[-Hope-]

I'm back! I'm still playing catch up and recovering from the stomach bug I caught during the trip but will have a mini TR within this PTR soon!

 

[Steppesister]

Just popping in to say hi! So sorry you got sick but glad you're on the mend now. Take your time catching up... I'm around so little now, and would love the extra time to reply.

 

[-Hope-]

I'm SOOOOOO behind with this PTR and trying to get a mini-TR in here with it. I'll get to it. I promise. Or you don't even care at this point if I get to it. Which is okay. Honestly. I'm a very bad DISer which is why I stopped DISing a while back... I remember that now.

I just popped in today to say....

200 DAYS!!!!!!


​

In just 200 days I'll be in the most magical place on earth with my girl.

Which also means 20 days to ADRs!! Not much has changed there. We did end up having to drop Sci-Fi because we're going to DHS on our arrival day since there's no party that day. We'll have plenty of time for our very short list of must dos at this park but felt like a TS meal would be pushing it. So, 1900PF breakfast, BOG for dinner, and RFC for lunch or dinner, haven't decided yet. Better get on that!

Oh, and another thing I better get on top of- making our room reservation. I just qualified for my CLIA card which is what I need to prove to Disney that I'm a TA. Until it actually arrives I can't book because I have to scan it and send Disney a copy within 48 hours of booking. As soon as I get it I'm booking. Hopefully in the next 20 days so I'm not up daily trying to book ADRs!

 

[Steppesister]

200 days is quite a fun milestone!

Not so much fun to hear you got a stomach bug, though.

It'll be great to get that room ressie made for sure! Each time a "biggie" happens, it makes the trip seem that much more real.

 

[ursalita]

Still here, Hope. It's so exciting that you have ADRs coming up and booking rooms. I just got back and I'm already missing the all the planning. I love planning!

Looking forward to hearing about DC. I'm starting to feel like you with zoos. But I think with Pandas zoos have been pretty helpful preserving the species. I don't know how well they'd fare on their own.

 

[-Hope-]

200 days is quite a fun milestone!

Not so much fun to hear you got a stomach bug, though.

It'll be great to get that room ressie made for sure! Each time a "biggie" happens, it makes the trip seem that much more real.

200 days is fun. More fun when the first time though... we had to push back our dates for reasons I'll explain in my update so now I'm back up to 206.

Still here, Hope. It's so exciting that you have ADRs coming up and booking rooms. I just got back and I'm already missing the all the planning. I love planning!

Looking forward to hearing about DC. I'm starting to feel like you with zoos. But I think with Pandas zoos have been pretty helpful preserving the species. I don't know how well they'd fare on their own.

I love planning too! It's why being a TA is such a perfect job for me! When I send my clients tables with their room/dining/touring options they think I'm a little nuts but also really appreciate it. I think.

I will get around to posting about DC eventually...

 

[-Hope-]

Oh my goodness! I'm SOOOO far behind. Again. I'm having such a hard time squeezing everything in lately but after this weekend things are (hopefully) slowing down a bit and I'll have time to post more here as well as catch up on all of your PTRs and TRs.

I really want to share my trip to DC with you guys but that will have to wait. For today I'm just going to tell you that we had to push our dates back by a few weeks.

By the time my CLIA card arrived there were no rooms left with TA rates for our original dates. Or the week after. Or the week after that.

We ended up booking a room at POP! for November 30-December 4. Still a Monday through Friday, still level 5 crowd predictions. Same order for park tours and still green days according to UT. Plus there will be more Christmas decor out including more gingerbread houses. So it all worked out. Mostly. We'll miss F&W as well as the opportunity for a DIS meet I was really looking forward to. And I didn't want to be gone in December without my son because we pretty much celebrate Christmas all month long. But it's only a few days and he seems okay with it. (Which is also kind of sad for my-baby-is-almost-grown reasons.) So, now we are back up to 206 days and I'll have to celebrate 200 again in a few days.

Also, Southwest is releasing fare for our dates THIS week! So, room is booked, my TA ticket is ordered (still have to order Kya's), and we'll have airfare this week. EEEEK, this trip is REALLY happening!