Plan, plan and plan some more-AKA Mom's driving her son nuts- A September 2017 PTR

[CatNipRules]

Okay, so I want to thank everyone that's following along on this strange journey of mine. I guess I should probably explain a little about what's happened in the past 9 months or so....

So, on May 2, 2016 I lost my husband. He was truly my best friend. He loved Disney just as much as, if not more than me. It devastated me. The holidays were extremely hard for me. He would humor me on my planning, but he was content to let me do everything. He would give me input when he thought I needed it, but he knew that I loved planning our trips. We lived in Florida until 2007. So, for the first 11 years of our marriage we were at Disney nearly every chance we got. Birthdays, anniversaries or just because days. He'd come home on a Friday evening and ask if we were going to Disney. If he had the weekends off, more often than not the answer was yes. And offsite hotel from Priceline was the way to go for us back then. We had longer trips where we would stay onsite, but our annual passes definitely got a workout. LOL!!

When we moved to Alabama, our trips were longer, but further apart. Our last Disney trip as a family was in 2013. We went to Universal in 2015 for Chris' birthday. It was his choice. I gave him the choice of Disney or Universal and much to the Disney loving side of me, he picked Universal. UGH!! LOL!!

We found a hotel that was close to the parks, but not onsite. It was an amazing trip.

So, the last week has been hard on me. January 31st would have been our 21st wedding anniversary. I think that's why I've been in such a funk this week.

So, last night I was asking Chris something and he was like mom, don't get so depressed about everything. You know that dad and I didn't like planning for our trips.

Okay fine. He did ask about doing a backstage tour. We did one on our last trip and he really enjoyed it. The cost is what's prohibitive. For the three of us it would be $700....Ouch... I told Chris that and he was like, Okay, maybe not....LOL!! He'd rather do Universal instead....

So, I know this will pass, but thanks for understanding...And thanks for following along.

 

[VACamm]

Awww... thank you so much for sharing your story. I know that last week must have been REALLY hard for you. Being in a funk is totally understandable. It sounds like you are doing a bit better this week, and that is wonderful. I am sure that it will get better over time. I don't have experience with the passing of a spouse, but I'm a good listener if you need someone to talk to! And how cool it must have been to live so close to WDW!!! OMGOSH that is my DREAM!

I had no idea that backstage tour was that much money... wow! No wonder we've never done it before!

 

[Raeven]

I'm so sorry about your husband, and it's completely understandable that you were in a funk.

That backstage tour price is just yikes! I think Universal is the better deal roo.

 

[CatNipRules]

Awww... thank you so much for sharing your story. I know that last week must have been REALLY hard for you. Being in a funk is totally understandable. It sounds like you are doing a bit better this week, and that is wonderful. I am sure that it will get better over time. I don't have experience with the passing of a spouse, but I'm a good listener if you need someone to talk to! And how cool it must have been to live so close to WDW!!! OMGOSH that is my DREAM!

I had no idea that backstage tour was that much money... wow! No wonder we've never done it before!

Yeah we lived about 2 and a half hours away from Disney. It was awesome. Not only that, but the job I had back then was amazing....

Yeah, it's expensive and I can't see the sense in doing it twice in a row. I told him we could always try another tour, but he like that you go to multiple parks.

I'm so sorry about your husband, and it's completely understandable that you were in a funk.

That backstage tour price is just yikes! I think Universal is the better deal roo.

Yeah. It's just too hard to try and do it with three of us....

 

[CatNipRules]

Okay, so here is what I worked out for dining. I still need to tweak it a little bit, but here goes...
So here are the restaurants that I have as a preliminary outline.

T-Rex- Yes, I know I said that I hate this restaurant. However, my son really wants to give it another try. He promised me that if it's just as bad as it was the last time, then we will skip it next time.

Ohana's Breakfast- We loved the last time we ate here for breakfast. Plus, Chris and Jordan both love Stitch. So, I'm giving into the pressure and gonna do it. LOL!! I love the POG juice though. LOL!!

Be Our Guest-Dinner- We ate here for breakfast and we liked it. So, we are going to try it for dinner. I've never seen Beast before and really want to this trip.

Tusker House- This is one of our favorites for breakfast. Again, their juice is amazing and I'm going to ask for a carafe of it when we go. And the characters here are awesome!!

House of Blues- This will be for dinner. I'm bot 100% sure about this one. I'm still considering it.

Akershus- Considering this one for breakfast while we are there.

Via Napoli- Again, another one of our favorites.

Garden Grill- A must do on every one of our trips.

50's Prime Time Cafe- We did this once and I think it will be fun to do again.

Art Smith Homecoming- We've never actually tried this one. I've heard a lot of good about it and want to try it.

1900 Park Fare for breakfast. Never done this one and want to try it.

Chef Mickey's- Another of our favorites.

Hoop Dee Doo Musical Review- Never done this and I'm considering it.

Crystal Palace- Another of our favorites.

Liberty Tree Tavern- We did this once a long time ago and I want to try it again.

Boma- Considering this one.

Sanaa- Chris wants to try their curry. I'm not much for spicy food, but I'm sure I can find something to eat there.

Le Cellier- We've eaten here before and Chris says he wants to try it again. He loves steak. LOL!! So, we are possibly going to try it again.

Teppan Edo- This is a fun one. I love watching them make the food.

It's a lot of food, but We are doing the deluxe dining. I have a few more days to cover, but this is just a rough draft.

 

[Raeven]

Homecoming is so good! And I'm a picky eater that doesn't like spicy food but I loved the buiter chicken, naan bread, and desserts at Sanaa.

 

[CatNipRules]

Homecoming is so good! And I'm a picky eater that doesn't like spicy food but I loved the buiter chicken, naan bread, and desserts at Sanaa.

It's good to know about Sanaa. I was hoping that there is something there that I can eat since I'm not particularly fond of spicy food. LOL!! I do love naan bread though. And the butter chicken sounds yummy.

I'm definitely looking forward to trying Homecoming. The food looks really good.

 

[CatNipRules]

Okay, so I bought our tickets for Universal today. With the discount that Chris gets from work, it ended up costing us $897 for 4 days. That's for all three of us. I screwed up at first. Because the tickets I ordered expire on May 31st. I was seriously freaking out. Because we aren't going until September. The receipt says that there are no refunds.So, I immediately thought the worst. I got on the phone with them and asked if there was anything I could do to change it.I wasn't too optimistic about it.

I guess because Volcano Bay is opening they are changing the tickets. The other ones they have on their site are for a little bit more, but they don't expire for a year. So, the girl I talked to put in a cancel order. She said that I can pay the difference in the tickets. She's going to call me back when I need to do it. When I saw that, I went ahead and got it. To say that I'm nervous about this is an understatement.... It took most of the day to get it fixed, but it did finally get fixed....Ugh....Just a reminder to read the dates before you purchase something. Neither one of the guys want to go to the waterpark. No fun....They are both boring....They don't even want to go on the water rides in the parks. I am going to make them go on the Popeye ride though. They don't have a choice...LOL!!

Oh and about the water rides. Something I personally love doing is getting quarters and using them to soak the people on the Dudley Do Right ride. I actually go to my bank before we go and get 2 rolls of quarters. They are earmarked for that ride. I love how the people on the ride react. The last time, on of the machines was giving out two tries for one quarter. The people think that they are in the clear. And then bam.... LOL!! It's so much fun!! I've been told it's a waste of money, but I don't care. It's sooooo much fun. LOL!!


We are also hoping to do the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party again this year. Chris loves doing it. He has his favorite costume. I'll just leave this picture here. LOL!! He says that he didn't hear the woman say to make a scared face. LOL!! That's why he looks like Mister calm. LOL!

 

[Raeven]

Boo sorry they don't want to go to the water park. Volcano Bay looks like fun.

We have a water raft ride at a nearby amusemant park and whenever we ride my dad's girlfriend gets soaked so then she puts in a bunch of quarters to soak other people

 

[CatNipRules]

Okay, so I bought the Memory Maker. I was debating on whether or not to get it. I finally decided that it was worth it. I love that on some rides you don't even have to scan your magic band. It simply shows up. LOL!! Although on our last trip we had some people on ours that weren't in our party. Test Track was the worst on this one. LOL!! I just deleted them, but I wonder how many people's pictures we showed up in. LOL!!

So, uh yeah.... I was watching some of my You Tube videos. Which I do to get ready for the trip. I do it to try and get a feel for what I might want to try. Well, I was watching one that had different animal poops at AK. Snorts.... Chris saw it, did a double take and asked, "Are they talking about eating animal poop?" I nearly spit out my water. LOL!!

I am so excited that Pandora is finally opening. I remember when they announced it. It was on my birthday in 2011. I remember telling hubby that we needed to go. Sadly, that's something that we can't do together. But one thing I'm going to do is something I heard on a blog.

I'm going to take a balloon to Space Mountain and each of us are going to give a favorite memory of ours about him. Then we are going to release the balloons....It will be good for us.

 

[Raeven]

I love MemoryMaker! I totally think it's worth it too.

If you go in the bathroom at Rafiki's Planet Watch they have animal poop facts on the doors

It's crazy how long they've been working on Pandora and now it's almost here!

And I think the balloon idea is really sweet.

 

[CatNipRules]

Okay, I have a question for you that go to the parks. I'm going to be doing some tie dye t-shirts for us for our trip. I'm going to try and do them in colors that are normally associated with each park. For the life of me I can't think of the colors to use.

I think Animal Kingdom should be different shades of greens.
Epcot I'm thinking blues, turquoise and pinks
Magic Kingdom- red, black and pinks
Disney Studios- Red, yellow and black

I'm not sure if these colors will make sense. Anyone have any other color ideas? They would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Raeven]

I don't think there's really any specific colors I'd associate with the parks except maybe AK and green. Maybe you could do them themed to an attraction? It would be easier to come up with colors that way.

 

[CatNipRules]

I don't think there's really any specific colors I'd associate with the parks except maybe AK and green. Maybe you could do them themed to an attraction? It would be easier to come up with colors that way.

Yeah. That's what I'm thinking. Lol. It's definitely a challenge coming up with colors. I might just get creative and do them based on our favorite attractions there. I'm going to check out Hobby Lobby and Walmart today and see what they have.

 

[Sarahh1027]

Hi there!! Joining along on your journey! It sounds like your trip plans are coming together nicely!
It shocked and saddened me to read about your husband, but it looks like you are blessed with a wonderful son who loves you dearly and together you can help each other through the hard times.

Garden Grill- A must do every trip.

I'm thinking of trying Garden Grill for the first time this upcoming trip! Do you eat here for dinner or breakfast?

I've been going to Target and buying my Disney Gift Cards. So far, I've saved $75. I know it's not thousands of dollars, but it is something.

That's a major score! I get excited when I save 5 bucks!

Before I could say anything, Chris looked at him and said, "At Disney we do. It's not an option. Because mom will leave you if you don't."

T-Rex- Yes, I know I said that I hate this restaurant. However, my son really wants to give it another try. He promised me that if it's just as bad as it was the last time, then we will skip it next time.

Back when I ate here in 2012 I didn't think much of it past how loud it was! But this past year I tried it again and enjoyed it sooo much more!!

Be Our Guest-Dinner- We ate here for breakfast and we liked it. So, we are going to try it for dinner. I've never seen Beast before and really want to this trip.

Tusker House- This is one of our favorites for breakfast. Again, their juice is amazing and I'm going to ask for a carafe of it when we go. And the characters here are awesome!!

House of Blues- This will be for dinner. I'm bot 100% sure about this one. I'm still considering it.

You will love Be Our Guest for dinner! I'm thinking of trying Tusker House for the first time for pre-park opening breakfast!

I ate at Crossroads at the House of Blues for dinner for my past 3 trips on arrival night and it became a tradition! Sadly due to a later flight we will be missing it this year on arrival night, but I absolutely love it. I think it's great- and I know the guys will love it. There's something on the menu for everyone and it's a great themed restaurant. I think you will all really enjoy it! I say go for it!

As for the tie-dye shirts, I agree with green for AK. Maybe green, blue, and yellow. Earth, sea, and Sun?
Mk is magical... so maybe princess colors? Would the boys wear pink? Pink, purple and red?
HS for me would be colors like blue, red, and gold like Sorcerer Mickey (I think of Fantasmic! when I think of HS!)
Epcot is tougher though! I have no idea!

I don't even know if those colors would blend together or if they even make gold tie-dye! Good luck!!

 

[CatNipRules]

Hi there!! Joining along on your journey! It sounds like your trip plans are coming together nicely!
It shocked and saddened me to read about your husband, but it looks like you are blessed with a wonderful son who loves you dearly and together you can help each other through the hard times.


I'm thinking of trying Garden Grill for the first time this upcoming trip! Do you eat here for dinner or breakfast?


That's a major score! I get excited when I save 5 bucks!





Back when I ate here in 2012 I didn't think much of it past how loud it was! But this past year I tried it again and enjoyed it sooo much more!!



You will love Be Our Guest for dinner! I'm thinking of trying Tusker House for the first time for pre-park opening breakfast!

I ate at Crossroads at the House of Blues for dinner for my past 3 trips on arrival night and it became a tradition! Sadly due to a later flight we will be missing it this year on arrival night, but I absolutely love it. I think it's great- and I know the guys will love it. There's something on the menu for everyone and it's a great themed restaurant. I think you will all really enjoy it! I say go for it!

As for the tie-dye shirts, I agree with green for AK. Maybe green, blue, and yellow. Earth, sea, and Sun?
Mk is magical... so maybe princess colors? Would the boys wear pink? Pink, purple and red?
HS for me would be colors like blue, red, and gold like Sorcerer Mickey (I think of Fantasmic! when I think of HS!)
Epcot is tougher though! I have no idea!

I don't even know if those colors would blend together or if they even make gold tie-dye! Good luck!!

Thank you. Losing him was very hard.

We love both the breakfast and dinner. Last year, we did dinner and since it was my birthday, my TA arranged to have a cake brought to our table. I was shocked to say the least.... We love breakfast. Especially if you can get an early morning ADR. That way you get into the park early and the food is really, really good and the character interaction is awesome! We always ask for a table on the first level. I always recommend it to everyone. Especially since we've done it so much.

Thanks for the input on the shirts. I still have a lot of time, so I'll just think about a lot of things between now and then. LOL!!

Be Our Guest has me really excited. We ate there last year for breakfast and loved it.

 

[CatNipRules]

Hi there!! Joining along on your journey! It sounds like your trip plans are coming together nicely!
It shocked and saddened me to read about your husband, but it looks like you are blessed with a wonderful son who loves you dearly and together you can help each other through the hard times.


I'm thinking of trying Garden Grill for the first time this upcoming trip! Do you eat here for dinner or breakfast?


That's a major score! I get excited when I save 5 bucks!





Back when I ate here in 2012 I didn't think much of it past how loud it was! But this past year I tried it again and enjoyed it sooo much more!!



You will love Be Our Guest for dinner! I'm thinking of trying Tusker House for the first time for pre-park opening breakfast!

I ate at Crossroads at the House of Blues for dinner for my past 3 trips on arrival night and it became a tradition! Sadly due to a later flight we will be missing it this year on arrival night, but I absolutely love it. I think it's great- and I know the guys will love it. There's something on the menu for everyone and it's a great themed restaurant. I think you will all really enjoy it! I say go for it!

As for the tie-dye shirts, I agree with green for AK. Maybe green, blue, and yellow. Earth, sea, and Sun?
Mk is magical... so maybe princess colors? Would the boys wear pink? Pink, purple and red?
HS for me would be colors like blue, red, and gold like Sorcerer Mickey (I think of Fantasmic! when I think of HS!)
Epcot is tougher though! I have no idea!

I don't even know if those colors would blend together or if they even make gold tie-dye! Good luck!!

Meant to tank you for joining in. Totally forgot my manners.

 

[CatNipRules]

I just heard that Wishes is going away. I'm so sad to hear this. This was the first fireworks show that my son ever saw. Sighs.... I know that the new show will be great, but it's still sad to see it go.

Okay, so I have to use an ECV in the parks. I have Fibromyalgia and it's been getting worse and worse over the past year. I really, really hate it. 90% of the time I'm fine, but I never know when my body will just shut down. It most bothers my hands and ankles. There are times that I wake up and can't open my hands. Somedays, I can barely get out of bed. So, for the Disney portion of our trip I'm going to have an ECV. Why just the Disney portion you might ask? Well, because I don't seem to have the same issues at Universal and IOA that I do at Disney. My son has had to deal with this for the past number of years. I feel like a burden to him most of the time. I don't dare say anything to him because he gets very upset at me.

So this brings me to this part of my story. I was having a major flare the other day. Couldn't get out of bed. I told Chris that he might just be better off going to Disney without me. I told him that he would have more fun without me. That he and Jordan should go by themselves. He asked me why. I told him that I'm sick of being a burden and that he would have more fun without me.

He turned to me and told me, Mom, I wouldn't know all the secrets and the shortcuts to get to the different parts of the parks. I sighed and just agreed. I guess....

Fibro really messes with your whole body. I can be fine one day and the next I'm bed bound. I can go weeks without a flare and then bam....It hits me.

One good thing is that I've lost about 20 pounds in the last 3 months. Cutting back on sodas and junk food has helped.

Okay, so rant over...LOL!!

I don't know if any of you have been to Disney with people other than your immediate family. We did. Once. I went with my best friend and her son. Our boys were 5 at the time. Lets just say that was the first and last time that we did that. Her son did not and still doesn't like any kind of ride. He was even scared on Small World. Needless to say we only spent 2 days with them. He would start screaming any time we got close to a ride entrance. Chris even got to the point where he was like, dude, this isn't scary. At 5. LOL!! Of course this is the child that rode Rock N Roller Coaster at 5. LOL! I think the only roller coaster he doesn't like is Rip Ride Rocket. He calls it the ball buster and tells me if I make him ride it I won't have grandchildren. LOL!! So, as I was trying to say before I started rambling is that I'm not sure how doing Disney with non-Disney people turns out most of the time. Which is why I'm nervous about Jordan going with us...

We've never been on Tower of Terror. I hate heights. Funny story, when he was little Chris would ride the flying unicorn with me while his father rode Dueling Dragons. i would pretend to be scared and Chris would roll his eyes at me. Chris is determined to get me on this for this trip.

We went to Old Towne and I went on this Kangaroo ride. It wasn't that high, but good God did it bounce you around. I have video of it somewhere. LOL!!

And I know that this is probably blasphemy, but I've also never had a Dole Whip. I'm determined to try one this time. LOL!!

If you are looking for a great tour that's relatively low priced, check out the Behind the Seeds tour. It's an awesome tour and it's takes you into the Land ride.

Looking forward to the Bus that takes you directly to each park. Sounds like it makes park hopping much easier. And the price sounds very reasonable. It's the Express Transportation Option. It's $24 for up to 7 days. Considering that 1 day is $15 I'd say it's a deal. Since we love to park hop, it's a definite for us.

 

[MummyButterfly]

Happened upon your PTR by chance.

I live with fibromyalgia. I struggle, and hate how no one really "sees" me with a problem, so it seems like I am complaining about nothing. I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to keep moving.

Your son sounds amazing. My teen boys don't enjoy the planning, but they do like to give advice on where we will eat (we always do Deluxe Dining!). My Littles are still in the "it's a surprise so you don't annoy is for 10 months asking when we will go" stage.

So glad I am following along!

 

[Raeven]

I think the Express option is a good deal.

I've only ridden Tower of Terror once and I ended up crying hysterically so never again