You plans sound great so far. I was also so excited to read about those extra benefits for APs. I am planning on upgrading to DVC APs in November, so we'll get the extra month also. This means if we wanted to return NEXT Thanksgiving also we could do that since it wouldn't have been an option on a 12-month AP.
I haven't even looked at changing our current ADRs since with a group of 11 of us that would be nearly impossible. I will look at ADRs more closely for future trips to try to take advantage of those discounts.
So exciting that you have so much of your trip paid for and have more money for fun spending!
I know - the discount totally made my trip! And it's awesome that the DVC APs are 13 months this time around - really cool!
Yes - I think your ADRs are pretty locked in.
Yes - it is pretty exciting! I don't think this has ever happened to me?

LOL
Well I'm a long time lurker on the boards, I just wanted to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your reports... especially these with your daughters. I have one that is around the same age... and our next trip (whenever that is ) will be just the 2 of us. The boys "are done with Disney" While they enjoyed it, they would rather do other things. Us girls, we are ready to go back tomorrow!
Thanks for sharing...
Welcome!!! I am glad you are enjoying my TRs/PTRs - I have so much fun writing them and sharing our trips here!
Hehehe... Yes - sometimes the men-folk just don't get it and other times, it's the guys who love it the most. It's funny how that works... I hope you are able to squeeze a girls trip in soon - they are the best!
Thanks for stopping by to introduce yourself!
I'm pretty sure that Woody and Jesse are no longer meeting in MK.

I might be wrong but they are no longer listed on the character app I use and I'm pretty sure I remember reading about them leaving. Just don't want you to be disappointed if they aren't there.
LOL, my first thought was, wow, that's a long time between breakfast and lunch, I would need a snack. But then again, I never eat a huge breakfast so that could be the reason.
Rumor right now is that Rivers of Light will be starting the week of 10/16. I hope that's true and you guys get to experience it. I'm really excited to see it in November.
Don't forget about Baymax and Sadness and Joy. They are in the Innovations building right across from the Character Spot.
You are right.. I subscribed to a well known character locator yesterday and no Woody/Jessie in MK anymore... Kind of bummed - but it's OK. Thanks for letting me know - I would have been a bit disappointed/confused. LOL
Hahahaha... I dunno - that CP breakfast is quite large... I am still really waffling on the LTT lunch to follow.
I know!!! I am super excited about RoL! I am not holding my breath - but I am hoping it will be going while we are there... That would just be icing on the cake!
Ooooh - I didn't even know about that! Such a bad Disney planner I am. LOL We haven't even seen the Baymax movie yet - Allison saw it in Europe, but we haven't. She said it was really cute. Thanks for the heads up!
I can totally relate to your packing woes. I just packed over the weekend for a trip to Hawaii (we leave Friday--YAY!!). Anyways, this trip has been a year in the making....and I bought some cute bathing suits back in the spring with good intentions. Well, I was cringing as I was packing them. Don't know if they'll see the light of day on this trip, but I bought them so I packed them. I'm trying to convince myself that I'll be surrounded by strangers that I'll never see again in my life, with the exception of my husband....but I don't want to embarrass him with how I look so I dunno.
Eeeeep!!!

That is so exciting!!! Good for you for packing them though! You are right - no one will ever even remember you - I am sure many people will be running around in bikinis - and if it were me, I'd be too concerned with how I look to worry about how anyone else looks! I say, go for it! This is an exciting trip!
Hi! Your plans sound great!!! I'm so excited for you and can't wait for your trip report! It was sweet of Allison to lead V her interactive wand. And YEA for unexpected discounts and the resulting ability to do more ADRs and have more money for souvenirs!
Please don't be hard on yourself about how you look -- you are so pretty and you look great and you have accomplished SO much -- just the fact that you recognize that this is a lifestyle change and not just a diet is huge -- we're working through that at our house right now. The fact that you are dedicated and refuse to give up -- that is wonderful and you're such an example to me!
Love the gifts Allison brought back for you from her trip -- such a sweetheart!
You've ridden the new Soarin', right? If not, make sure you're in the middle section -- otherwise the curvature is HORRIBLE and so distracting. Honestly, I like the old Soarin' better just because of the curvature -- I'm amazed that Disney even deemed it "show worthy" because it's so distracting. Obviously the Eiffel Tower is not curved like the letter C in real life. Come on, Disney!
I just found out that I have to go to Tampa for work for one day in November...I'm seriously considering figuring out a way to add an extra day to my trip, renting a car, and heading to Disney for just one day.

I need to find out what day I will be presenting at the conference and see if I can work it out....
I got home from my trip to visit Alyssa yesterday morning (after getting stuck in Denver...AGAIN....) and we got SO much wedding planning done. In fact, pretty much everything is now planned except some of the reception décor, bridesmaids' dresses, and finalizing the food decisions. I was amazed at how much we were able to get done. The design for her wedding gown is stunning and we picked out the fabrics and trims on Saturday -- a pale blush color (more on the warm pink side than the peach side) with gorgeous Alencon lace trim, and scalloped Alencon lace all around the bottom of the dress and her veil. It's going to be gorgeous. I was nervous about her friend making the dress, but after talking with her extensively and seeing her work in person, I have to admit that I'm quite excited. She talked me through the process of drafting the pattern, making the muslin sample, doing the fittings on Alyssa, finalizing the pattern, and then making the gown (the lace design will have to be appliqued on the dress -- heavily appliqued on the bodice and then thinning out/trailing off down towards the bottom), including the five layers of structure in the bodice and how she's going to do the rest. She was telling us this while we were at the specialty fabric store and even the store owner (who has been designing and making custom gowns for 30 years) said that Emily definitely knows what she's doing. It's going to save us so much money! Anyway, pretty much everything is planned...just waiting on Alyssa and Andrew to finalize the date, which they will do when they are with his family for Thanksgiving.
It was a crazy, jam packed, whirlwind trip but it was wonderful.
And now I'm back and caught up with you!
Hahaha... Yes, I keep adding ADRs, then coming to my senses and taking them off... Then I add more... LOL I think I am back now to what I originally had.
Thanks... This year has truly been a struggle for me, and almost all of it has been mental. It's so hard. Just when I think I am past it, I find out that I am not.
Thanks - it was so much fun, I felt a little bad, as she truly did spoil me... She brought other gifts for the rest of the family, but they have to wait for Christmas... I think these were my Christmas gifts, but she couldn't wait to give them to me. LOL I love them all though and it was so fun to be thought of while she was there.
I have not ridden the new Soarin' - I am looking forward to it, and thanks for the recommendation - I will definitely request the front/middle.
OOoh - that would be awesome! I hope you can make it work!
Alyssa's wedding dress sounds absolutely FANTASTIC!!!! How wonderful that she has a friend who is so talented - I could never even dream of making a wedding dress... I cannot WAIT to see pictures of it! She is going to be a gorgeous bride and the wedding will be amazing!
Welcome home - it's good to have you back!
I got an email about the passholder discounts too. I was a little disappointed that there were only 2 restaurants in MK, and of course our favorites weren't included. At least the other parks had ones we like. The shopping discount will be nice though. I've turned my computer/guest room into my Disney room to keep my things from over running the rest of the house.
My son stopped over yesterday to see about airline tickets. I told him to make sure he can get the time off work first and then we'll get his ticket. He told me he has decided to do Disney after all. We spent 3 days at Universal last year and while he really liked it, he feels like he can skip it this year. The Hulk ride is one of our favorites and it was closed last year and there's also the new Kong ride. So I may just get him a ticket as a surprise. He did say he's looking forward to spending more time just relaxing at the pool.
We drove up to our cabin Friday to close it up. My dh had done a lot already, but we still had to do the water. I was really hoping the leaves would be prettier, but at least it was a nice day after the fog wore off. It's always kind of sad to close it up, but now that we're both retired we can spend a lot more time up there. Hopefully Josh will start feeling better to enjoy his days off.
Your plans sound great so far. I'm not a big planner, but I finally printed out park hours and the best parks to go to each day. I can't really plan much until I know for sure what week my son is coming. I think we will do our CP breakfast for sure even though he doesn't really like the characters coming around. I told him I won't make him get up for pictures, LOL.
I hope you can get out for a walk. It looks like it's going to be a great day!
There are 2 different sets of discounts for the AP holders... There are 45 restaurants across WDW property that have the 20% discount... but then ALL of the others - including some of the counter service places - are now 10% off... Which is a huge savings. Not sure if those discounts can be stacked with the TiW card? I dont' think so. But for those of us who didn't purchase it - it's a nice savings. Here's the link to all of the restaurants included... OK - here's the one that lists the 20% (which I think you've seen...)
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/passholder-program/passholder-benefits-and-discounts/anniversary/ And then here's the one that lists all of the other 10% restaurants:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/p...lder-benefits-and-discounts/dining-discounts/ Unless I am reading it wrong - but this looks to be separate from the TiW card.
That is so awesome that your son has decided to join you! I be this makes you happy too.
It sounds like you had a good trip to the lake, even if the leaves weren't quite so nice yet - they are just starting to turn, I am sure they will hit peak within the next week or 2.
I don't normally plan out ever detail of our trips... with the new FPs though - a person kind of has to if they want to use the FP system... So, I typically have a game plan, and I know which area we need to be in, otherwise - we just do what we feel like doing.
I should have went for a walk, but I didn't make it out there. Maybe today? Hopefully today. LOL Thanks for stopping by!
subbing and finally caught up. The Dis has been horrible on my browser at work lately( I usually read during my lunch). Not sure what is up there.
I haven't had time to read at home. Hope you have a great trip. !!!!!!
Welcome back! A lot of people have said that to me... I wonder what's going on? I don't usually have too many issues on my desktop PC.
Thanks so much! And thanks for checking in - it's good to see you!
I can't believe you have started to pack already. I know, I know. I say this every time you start packing for your trips because I don't pack before it's only 2 days left or even not before the night before I leave on a trip.
I'm so sorry to hear you have a tough time with your body image. You are doing so great with your eating and exercise and you look great.
How exciting that you have some money to buy some items at WDW or Universal Studio. How great that V has managed to save some spending money for her trip as well.
How nice of Allison to let V borrow Allison's wand on your trip.
My trip budget is done... The trip is totally paid off - or I have the cash set aside to do so. So, that is a huge relief to me... I even have enough to have a few good souvies this time around - which excites me. For the last 2 trips, I've stayed out of the gift shops as much as possible to avoid spending... With 3 trips to pay for with in a year - it was necessary... So, I am a bit excited to be able to buy a couple of items this time around - guilt free.
I haven't heard anything about my car since I was at the garage almost 2 weeks ago. So today I sent an e-mail to my contact person at NAV and asked what's taking so long.
I had an doctor appointment today and of course NAV had to call me 2 minutes before I turned the sound on my phone back on. I tried to call back, but I only got a automatic message that NAV was now closed.

I crossed my fingers that NAV would try to call me back again today. That didn't happened. I also thought that maybe NAV would write me an e-mail since I couldn't answer the phone when NAV called. When I finally got home after the doctors appointment and grocery shopping I checked my e-mail. And sure enough there was an e-mail waiting for me when I got home. NAV had given the car shop a message on the 22nd September that they now could hand out my car. NAV had also given the car shop a message today that I was waiting for them to contact me so I could come to the car shop and pick up the car.
I'm crossing my fingers that the car shop will contact me soon so I can get my new car very soon.
Today it's snow on the mountains and the newspapers recommended people to get their tires on their cars changed to winter tires because the weather forecast is saying that we will get colder weather now.|
Hahahaha... Part of it is that I usually don't ever unpack. LOL This time I had to though - so Allison could use my luggage. So, this time, packing was extra intense. I think I have it all now though. And I am super happy that I get an extra suitcase to bring with this time - it makes packing a little less stressful.
Thank you - it's been a tough year for me. I just keep going though, I have to.
I know - I am pretty happy with our trip budget this trip, I was hoping that all of my trips with very little souvenir budgets would leave a bigger budget for my final trip... I am very happy it worked out that way.
Yes - it was super nice of Allison to loan V her wand. Of course, if anything happens to it, V has to replace it...

But hopefully that won't happen.
Yay!!!! I sure hope you hear something from the garage very soon... I'd be giving them a phone call too... They've had all of their necessary paperwork for 2 weeks now and if the car has been finished - maybe they need a reminder that you are being overly patient?

Good luck, my friend and I hope that you hear some good news, as it sounds like snow will be on it's way for you sooner rather than later.
Hey Dorine! Just popping in at lunch. We had a really nice vacation, but, I did miss my kiddos. This was our first vacation without them and it just wasn't quite the same. We had weird, strange weather, with lots of fog and some heat waves and some parks and trails closed due to wildfires (previous and smoldering). We travelled from Crater Lake in southern Oregon on down Highway 1 (the Pacific Coast Highway) with stops at various National and State Parks and of course the Big Sur area. It was truly beautiful. We did not get to see Crater Lake due to fog (drove there and turned around) and our last drive down Highway 1 was foggy as well. You have to just make it what it is and enjoy what you can, there are always hiccups. Now, back to work and transporting myself to Disney through you
Is the Rivers of Light show still on hold at AK? I had read there were problems and they did not know when opening would be. Excited for your additional ADR's!
Well, we enjoy your wardrobe D even if you don't have the excitement (yet).
Have a wonderful week! I am definitely here and reading along. And yes, you owe me an email
Prayers and big hugs
Hi Carol!!! It sounds like you had a good trip! I am sure it had to be so much different with out the kids with you... I look forward to that time with Josh, yet I just cannot imagine it. It will be different and a bit strange, I am sure. I hope you week back at work goes well.
Not sure about RoL??? I have not heard anything official. I sure hope it's going while we are there - I would love that... But I am a bit hesitant to get excited just yet. LOL
Hahaha... Yes - I've added a bunch of ADRs, then coming to my senses and putting them back. I think I am back to my original ADRs - except for the addition of Via Napoli. LOL At one point, I added a CP dinner - and then I saw that it was $60/person for dinner - NO WAY am I paying that. Hahaha... So, it went back. We will wing it.
Hahaha... I hope you all enjoy my wardrobe... I dunno - I am just not feeling it this time around.

Hopefully once I get there, all will be good. Lots of crop leggings this time around... I am not feeling very confident in shorts lately - unless I can find a pair or two with a bit longer of an inseam...
Thanks for stopping by - as usual, it's wonderful to see you. I'll try to get that email out to you ASAP.
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So, I worked out yesterday - Level 1, 30 day shred... Level 1 is such a toughie - and I survived.
And then I worked upstairs all day yesterday - I was able to get a lot done.
Allison and I went to town yesterday afternoon, we picked up V and we all went to Barnes & Noble - both girls found the books they wanted and we went directly home.
I made dinner and we sat around all night.
Today - it's a heavy lifting day, so I will do that right away.
It's also "applique day" - I love applique day - it's my favorite thing to do, and this one is extra fun!
I ordered a pair of shorts this morning - I am hoping they get here on time, it's going to be close. I ordered them with a bit longer of an inseam, so hopefully I will be more comfy wearing shorts on our trip.
Following Hurricane Matthew updates pretty closely. I am not sure if he will impact any of our trip at all? I do know that Sue & Connie will be traveling to WDW shortly here - sending safe travel vibes out to both of them.

Praying that Matthew is a non-issue for them.
That's about all - nothing real exciting going on today... I am working on my DHS update now, and I will get that posted shortly.
Have a great day everyone! Sending Prayers and Pixie Dust out to everyone.
D~