Oh the Pressure to do a PTR -- We're Home & Surprise Video up on Facebook

[KatMark]

like the poster idea, but like how tim added the whole bedroom thing to it, might throw him off and not have him say something about disney where you could blow it by laughing or smiling with a smile that says that is the surprise.

nicki should say something like hey old man out of the way young blood walking here.

Trust me, if I threw the bedroom thing on there, he would really know something was up.

I like your suggestion for Nicki.

Kathy, you are a ninja planner!

I love all of your details! I'd keep the first poster and perhaps take off the "what are we going to do about it" unless you want to add, "Meet me in the bedroom to find out just what"!

As for Nicki's line to Mark, I really like the last one about he AARP card needing to be delivered.
They were all pretty good but I liked that one the best.

Thanks, Anita. I'm sure we will fuss with this until the actual day, but at least the inital plans are in order.

Oh my gosh. Nicki has to use the AARP line!

What a fun update and great plotting and planning you have! Now we just need Des to be on time huh and all of you bite your tounge for another 3 weeks.

I like both signs...and the idea of a smart alec response if he does say that.

Like "Hah, don't you wish!"

I like the AARP line but, as I said, he's had one for ten years and carries it with hi.

If Des is not on time she will certainly know of my displeasure. She's "not" my favorite of the girls as we all know and her being late will make her fall a lot further down that totem pole.

That's a good one "Hah, don't you wish"...I may keep that one just in case the bozo says something he shouldn't.

 

[KatMark]

Epcot opens at 9 a.m., so the plan is for Nicki and Todd to meet us at Soarin' where we will all get fastpasses and then ride. We will then go to Sunshine Seasons for breakfast.

We will do what we can in Future World and then head over to World Showcase and maybe we will have time to catch one or two of the Santas before our lunch ADR.

We will be dining at Chefs de France. This is a first for Mark, Andy and I (not sure if Des has ever been there). I am really looking forward to it. I'm pretty sure I already know what I'm getting...the French Onion Soup and the Grilled Cheese sandwich.

Once we are done with lunch, we will take the boat over to Hollywood Studios where we will for the first time ever to see the Osborne Lights. This is the part of the trip (well, besides seeing Nicki and Todd) that I am most excited about it and I know that Mark is going to absolutely feel like he died and went to heaven at this point. We will hang around the Studios until around 7:30; I'm not sure how much we will get done, but it's no big deal if we don't get on any attractions because Mark, Andy, Des and I will be back here on Monday of the trip.

At 7:30, we will get on a boat and go to The Yacht Club where we are having Mark's very special 60th birthday dinner at the Yachtsman. This is another first for us and I am really looking forward to it. Especially since Andy is picking up the tab for Mark and I.

Nicki and I might go back to Epcot which is open until 12:30. The boys will probably poop out on us...especially since we have an early morning the next day.

Up next, Saturday, December 8 and some very special plans

 

[MickeyNicki]

Can I just say that I love our plans?

And I am totally down for staying at Epcot until midnight...PARTY ON!!! Sleep? Sleep? I dont need no stinking sleep? Oh I have to get up at the crack of dawn for a super early Kona breakfast?...no problem man, I am up for the challenge!

Its not every day I get to Disney with you so I have to squeeze out every minute of it!

For Todd and I, our favorite part (besides seeing you guys) is the Osborne Lights. We have to be in that area and just hang out as long as possible. If there is one thing that Todd wants to do, and I mean if he had his pick out of anything, it is to see those lights! Add that to the little info I gave him about gingerbread hot chocolate in special mugs and he is over the moon excited!

Yachtsman...oh baby give me bisque or give me death! That lobster bisque is too good to pass up!

Can it just be Dec 6th already????????

 

[amandaw]

The plans are coming together so nicely! YAY!

It won't be long before it's time! After seeing the 1st poster, if he says, "go to DisneyWorld", I would just laugh it off and be like, "Yeah, right! I don't think so!" And then take him to the 2nd poster.

I really hope Beaches & Cream isn't too crowded for y'all! We really enjoyed our meal there.

And I can't wait to hear about Chefs de France!

Y'all are going to have such a fabulous trip!!!

 

[solana131]

Those plans sound great. I just love park hopping, it makes me feel like I have accomplished so much in a day....even if we don't do much in each park. I am so jealous you are seeing the Osborne lights! My original plan was to go in Nov/Dec next year to see them, but now we have switched to MNSSHP. I'll see the lights some year

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Love your plans for that day!

Sunshine Seasons is the only place I HAVE to eat breakfast at (in a park) every visit. Don't know why, but I love it!

I am so excited for you to see Osborne Lights I loved them in 2010 and am so excited to see them again this year. And the addition of Santa Goofy to them makes me even happier!!

 

[KatMark]

Can I just say that I love our plans?

Well, you should, you are the chief and you made them!

And I am totally down for staying at Epcot until midnight...PARTY ON!!! Sleep? Sleep? I dont need no stinking sleep? Oh I have to get up at the crack of dawn for a super early Kona breakfast?...no problem man, I am up for the challenge!

I say you and I do it! You know that you and I could handle this easily...who needs sleep when we are at Disney! Let's go for it!

Its not every day I get to Disney with you so I have to squeeze out every minute of it!

Absolutely! And there is so much we want to do and we have time constraints.

For Todd and I, our favorite part (besides seeing you guys) is the Osborne Lights. We have to be in that area and just hang out as long as possible. If there is one thing that Todd wants to do, and I mean if he had his pick out of anything, it is to see those lights! Add that to the little info I gave him about gingerbread hot chocolate in special mugs and he is over the moon excited!

I hope the one thing Todd really wants to do is hug me; but from what I've heard of the Osborne Lights, I'm not surprised that would be his choice. And mention food and the man is in heaven.

Yachtsman...oh baby give me bisque or give me death! That lobster bisque is too good to pass up!

I don't like lobster so I've never tried the lobster bisque. Maybe I'll be adventurous--Andy's paying anyway.

Can it just be Dec 6th already????????

Tomorrow we will be in the teens!!!!!

The plans are coming together so nicely! YAY!

It won't be long before it's time! After seeing the 1st poster, if he says, "go to DisneyWorld", I would just laugh it off and be like, "Yeah, right! I don't think so!" And then take him to the 2nd poster.

I really hope Beaches & Cream isn't too crowded for y'all! We really enjoyed our meal there.

And I can't wait to hear about Chefs de France!

Y'all are going to have such a fabulous trip!!!

Nicki is great at planning things...even better than me. It just dawned on me that come December 1 (or the end of November), it will be six months that we have kept this a secret from Mark.

I've been wanting to go to Beaches & Cream for years so I hope we can get in too.

I will link Nicki's dining review when we get back...she does great details; and I'll mention it in my TR as well.

Those plans sound great. I just love park hopping, it makes me feel like I have accomplished so much in a day....even if we don't do much in each park. I am so jealous you are seeing the Osborne lights! My original plan was to go in Nov/Dec next year to see them, but now we have switched to MNSSHP. I'll see the lights some year

Suzi, we love to park hop too...we get the best of all the parks that way. It's been a long time coming to see the Osborne lights and the Chirstmas decorations in general. We could never go with the kids because of their involvement with sports, so this will be so much fun.

You will love the Halloween time.

 

[KatMark]

Love your plans for that day!

Sunshine Seasons is the only place I HAVE to eat breakfast at (in a park) every visit. Don't know why, but I love it!

I am so excited for you to see Osborne Lights I loved them in 2010 and am so excited to see them again this year. And the addition of Santa Goofy to them makes me even happier!!

I loved my kids french toast platter at Sunshine Seasons.

Thank you. I'm so excited myself...I keep pinching myself to see if it is real and we are actually going. And so happy to hear they added Santa Goofy.

 

[KatMark]

We will be up super early again. We will taxi from Coronado to the Polynesian and Nicki and Todd will taxi over from the Dolphin to the Polynesian. Why are we doing that? Because we are having breakfast here:

I know for sure that Nicki and I will have AT LEAST one of these EACH:

The boys can have their own or share...I don't care, but they aren't touching ours.

From there, it is on the monorail to the Grand Floridian (yes, Mark is being dragged into the resort if I have to) for pictures, to see the Gingerbread house, etc. After that, we will head to

for decorations, picture with Mickey and Minnie in their Christmas attire, photopass pictures in front of the castle and anywhere else we see those guys, rides, shows, etc.

Around 12:30 or so, Nicki and I were going to head to Downtown Disney to shop, but we decided we shop when we are in Naples together, twice a year, and there is just too little time and too much to see and do at the parks, especially with the new Fantasyland opening, etc.

We might take a little break at some point in the afternoon and head over to the Wildnerness Lodge to see the Christmas decorations. Although the resort itself holds no appeal to me whatsoever to stay at, I understand the Christmas decorations cannot be beat.

We have dinner reservations at Be Our Guest. We are SO excited about this (especially after all the work Nicki put in to get the ADR to begin with). Magic Kingdom is open until 10:00 p.m. and we will stick it out until the end.

 

[afwdwfan]

Kathy, the plans are looking great! I'd almost be willing to skip out on dinner just to have the kitchen sink. In fact, my Birthday is coming up and my mom and DW keep asking me what I want for my birthday dinner and I'm seriously contemplating just making that suggestion.

Love the details Kathy... I think poster #1 should say...

'I've got you something special for your birthday. You can find out what it is in the bedroom.'

Make sure you put lipstick marks all over the poster.

Somebody needs to sober that guy up.

I almost forgot about that picture. That's not even the one all the dads make fun of anymore.

4. AARP mailed your card to my house instead so I thought I would hand deliver it to you

That one.

That covered all the days that I'll be there, and it looks like we're pretty much going different directions, but we might be able to try an early morning meet on Friday.... I'm sure I'll have mug duty for our room anyway.

 

[MEK]

I love how your surprise is going down. How did you manage to get Mark off from work? How does one do that? I can't see ever surprising Denny because I don't think I could ever manipulate his work scheduled.

What a great surprise and it keeps getting better with the surprise Nicky attack.

So great that you are staying at CSR this trip!

 

[englishrose47]

OMG for three weeks..I am sooooo excited! Although I am getting stressed because my husbands employees are messing up the schedule and of course they just have no problem messing with his schedule (how dare they change the bosses schedule!!) which sends me into screaming meemie mode! No worries he says, it will be fine he says....it will not be fine until I drag his butt outta work at 2pm!!!

We are saving our tee shirts for which date? Friday in Epcot and HS? Do you want Todd and I to wear them when we surprise you?

Yes we are going to text like crazy, the only hiccup is my hubby but his words are

"My Kathy loves me so if I am a little late she will not be angry"

Jeez...he has us wrapped huh?

Wonder what I should say to Romeo..I need to think on this...help me out you guys...what should I surprise him with?

1. Whats a FL trip without a little Nicki?

2. Funny meeting you here!

3. You didnt think I would skip out on an old man's birthday surprise did ya?

4. AARP mailed your card to my house instead so I thought I would hand deliver it to you

My vote is #4

 

[englishrose47]

Love the plans Kathy, Mark is gonna get more HAT time . Hey how abouit Todd getting in on the act????

 

[DMGeurts]

Loving all the plans! Kudos to you for keeping this secret sooo long - I can't believe it! I could never do that!

D~

 

[Poolrat]

I love how your surprise is going down. How did you manage to get Mark off from work? How does one do that? I can't see ever surprising Denny because I don't think I could ever manipulate his work scheduled.
What a great surprise and it keeps getting better with the surprise Nicky attack.

So great that you are staying at CSR this trip!

I was wondering this too. My schedule is so wackadoo and that I would have a hard time not "planning" for time off.

I can't wait to see how this all works out and what a fun fabulous time time they have.

 

[MickeyNicki]

I know you are all wondering how Kathy managed to get Mark free from work and all I can say is the wife is the boss of EVERYTHING! What she says goes!

Well...thats how it is in my house Seriously though, I can easily do this for Todd because I write his schedule for him and he would not give a second glance as to why I am giving him so much time off I will not tell you how Kathy did it, I will let her do that

Our plans for Saturday are great! I have to find out what time the PP people are in the lobby of MK, maybe we should not go there first thing in the am, maybe we should take a break after lunch and go visit the resorts around MK...what do you think? I dont think the Gingerbread House is open that early in the am anyways and this way we can make it to MK for RD, which I think is 9am.

I figure we are going to be at MK from 9am to 10pm so a nice break in the day might rejuvenate the boys..not worried about us because we are hyper nuts but the might need a seat and a Pina Colada

Now the most important thing is what are we doing for lunch?? I might want to try that pork shank think in FLE or maybe CHH or Peco? Or we can all just get whatever we want and just keep on grazing? You know we have to go to Adventureland a few times so the Big Man can get his egg rolls on...we do not want him to through a tantrum fit for a 2 year old

So maybe after lunch we take the boat to WL and then hop on a bus to GF? I think they share a bus and the Poly and CR share a bus. What do you think? Maybe go to the Poly for a drink and to chillax at the Tambu Lounge before going back for round 2 at MK? Or Minzer's Lounge in the GF?

BOG...totally pumped for this meal! I hear the food is incredible and for all the trouble the two of us went through to get this reservation it better be!

 

[annmarieda]

I love the reveal plans! I think the first poster is fine... just as someone mentioned all ready... just make sure to be to respond appropriately when he says he wants to go to WDW.

Plans are really coming together. I really enjoyed seeing everything at Christmas time. Staying at WL was maybe not my favorite resort, but the decorations just can't be beat! Gingerbread house at GF is amazing....and all other decorations are so impressive as well!!!

You are going to have an awesome trip!

 

[marvali]

Just wanted to be the first to say for 17 days!!! (and sweet 16 until the big reveal!!!)

 

[MEK]

We have dinner reservations at Be Our Guest. We are SO excited about this (especially after all the work Nicki put in to get the ADR to begin with). Magic Kingdom is open until 10:00 p.m. and we will stick it out until the end.

Nice! I can't wait to hear what you think about this restaurant. I am toying with this as an ADR for June, but I'm really not sure how many table service restaurants my brother and his gang want to eat at. I might just save it for October when its just me and Denny.

So I noticed your rotating ticker this morning and noted the dates on your possible girls trip. Looks like if you pull it off we will be there right around the same time. Do keep me posted because it would be very cool if our trips overlapped. Is this with Mary and the girls?

 

[amandaw]

The plans for that Saturday look great!

I really can't wait to read Nicki's dining review from this trip! So excited to hear about BOG!!

The Christmas decorations at WL are really pretty! Hope y'all can make it to see them.