Post Pandemic Pipe Dreams: Our 2022-23 PTR (Completed)

[snikki]

YOLO! Go and have a great time! You deserve it.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

(If we’re being honest, I feel a little guilty about it. I’m incredibly lucky that my cancer diagnoses included an extremely high cure rate and I feel like I’m getting sympathy that should be reserved for disease with worse outcomes. But, I digress

DON'T!!! Cancer sucks no matter what! I speak from experience. What you are going through is just as stressful. I get it, your prognosis is good but it doesn't diminish what your journey is like to get to that end result. How have the girls been taking all of it?

I don’t love that we’re going deluxe to moderate, as I know that can be a bummer, but the deluxe has to be on the front end to use the late MK hours.

That is always my issue. I always want to start at a moderate but then you miss that MK extra hours.

This trip is still in addition to San Diego and Anaheim in August and a Disney cruise in November. We’d be on two big vacations in less than a month, which is admittedly bonkers. On the other hand, I have freaking cancer and I want to and I can afford to, so reasonable decision making can go pound sand!

You should def do all of them! Some quality family time will be just what you and the family will want and need after you are all done. It will heal your souls and fill you with lots of memories to set you guys up for a great 2024!

So, who is going to talk some sense into me? Anyone? Bueller? Certainly no one who cares enough about Disney trips to visit these boards!! That’s why it’s safe to come tell you all about my wild planning.

No one here will, that is for sure. But that is what we love about these boards, right?

The girls' school goes half days the first week of December for conferences, so they don't miss that much instruction time.

Ugh, The high school doesn't do this, and I am morning this. I really want to go at Christmas agian. And was considering it with everything that has happened. But Morgan doesn't get that time. It really is a good time to go. The teachers tend to not do as much substantial class work, as they are busy doing the conferences.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

How have the girls been taking all of it?

They've been as good as can be expected. We have been scheduling a lot of grandparent time on the weekends so that they get to go do something when I'm in the worst of my chemo fatigue.

Ugh, The high school doesn't do this, and I am morning this. I really want to go at Christmas agian. And was considering it with everything that has happened. But Morgan doesn't get that time. It really is a good time to go. The teachers tend to not do as much substantial class work, as they are busy doing the conferences.

I've only got a couple more years where I have the chance to do this, so I think we're going to take it. My friend pulled her kids for 3rd grade conference week this year and said there was A LOT more work than she had expected. So, I'm preparing myself for real catch up work. Even so, we want to see Disney at Christmas and f cancer, so we'll just have to deal with the work.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I've only got a couple more years where I have the chance to do this, so I think we're going to take it. My friend pulled her kids for 3rd grade conference week this year and said there was A LOT more work than she had expected. So, I'm preparing myself for real catch up work. Even so, we want to see Disney at Christmas and f cancer, so we'll just have to deal with the work.

From our expierence it is doable all the way up to 8th grade. Middle school def got a little more tricky but the teachers were more able to give the girls work BEFORE they left. But I do think it really depends on the teacher.

High School is def a no go! Morgan missed 2 days of school for being sick, for real and it felt like she spent a week trying to catch up!

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Hello, friends!

Checking back in to let everyone know I’m still hanging in there. 9 treatments down, 3 to go, chemo finds new and obnoxious ways to suck each time. “Oh, you think you’re going to get constipated? Here’s some diarrhea!” “You know what’s worse than nausea caused by your digestive system? Anticipatory nausea that your brain kindly provides as a Pavlovian response to just being in the infusion center!” It’s still only 3ish crappy days followed by 10 better ones, so at least it isn’t stretching itself out any further.

Shockingly, the December trip to World remains on the books. I figured I would come to my senses and cancel at some point, but it hasn’t happened yet. Southwest pushed their fare release for the rest of Q4 out by a month so, instead of being able to tell you about flights, we’re still in limbo.

I did find out on @StarWarsMomofGirls! ‘s thread that HDDR doesn’t run on Tuesday right now, which messes up December. The only other thing that makes sense in the week is to swap it with the Christmas Party, but I don’t want to do the party on arrival day. Instead, assuming the SW flights comply, we’re going to fly on Monday evening after school, stay at a cheap Orlando hotel on points, and then head to the Poly first thing Tuesday morning. The new plan is:

Tues- wake up in Orlando, to Poly, resort it up until MVMCP
Weds- AK whenever we manage to wake up, hop to MK for deluxe hours
Thurs- check out of Poly but still hang for the day, HDDR, transfer to CBR
Fri- MK RD to EP evening with Candlelight Processional
Sat- EP RD to HS evening with Fantasmic
Sun- fly home

In exchange for flying in the day earlier, this plan gets us more resort time at the Poly and an easier transfer to CBR. Since Disney is no longer charging for parking, we’re going to get a rental car so that we can just transfer ourselves and our luggage without bus hopping. With Hubby’s excellent work discount on cars, it won’t be much more than what we’ll have to pay anyway to get to and from the airport and gives us flexibility to explore the area more freely on either of our down days. Also, this plan gets us an MK RD on a party day, which should be a nicer morning than doing it on Saturday.

Not only has SW been so rude as to hold back our Nov and Dec flights, but they also messed up California. One of the two legs of both our trips out and back got cancelled, leaving us with less than ideal options. We debated for a hot minute trying for a 45 minute layover in Denver, but that feels like too much on the line trying to get three kids through the airport and doesn’t give us time to eat off of the plane. Instead, we’re taking a flight that gets us into San Diego a bit later but has a reasonable layover in Chicago where we can stretch our legs and have a proper meal. I’d love a direct flight but that’s just not happening with SW. If we have to connect, I’d rather do so where we have enough time for the kids to get out their wiggles before the next couple of hours in seats. For our return, we ended up switching back, free of charge, to the flight out of John Wayne that was significantly more points than Long Beach. So, all’s well that ends well on the return flight front.

I’ve been hoarding discounted Disney gift cards in anticipation of our cruise balance coming due. I managed to stock the whole 4k at somewhere between 11-14% off, depending on how many of my pending click throughs properly pay out.

I have about a month for Disneyland dining to be bookable, but I know that’s not nearly as competitive as World. I’m thinking:
- arrival day, no tickets, Trader Sam's
- Blue Bayou Fantasmic package (if we want to see the restaurant, it seems useful to also book the package with the best seating for the show)
- Lamplight Lounge
- World of Color Dessert Party (this would be a big splurge, but I hear such great things...).

Any other must-do ADRs in Anaheim? With only 4 park days, booking a bunch of dining feels like a waste of time unless there’s something particularly special.

At this point, I feel like I’m just waiting on June for so much. Last chemo, SW flights open up, ADR day for Disneyland. Anyone else really ready to just fast forward the next six weeks?!?

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

arrival day, no tickets, Trader Sam's
- Blue Bayou Fantasmic package (if we want to see the restaurant, it seems useful to also book the package with the best seating for the show)
- Lamplight Lounge
- World of Color Dessert Party (this would be a big splurge, but I hear such great things...).

The World of Color Dessert Party is one of our favorites! It is so nice, you get a table and chairs, they bring you drinks, it fabulous! They also gave us to-do boxes to bring home any left over food. I know it isn't cheap, but I would def recommend!

This will be an unpopular opinion... but Lamplight Lounge was just ok for us. The menu is VERY limited and Gwen wasn't happy with the menu. With kids, I feel like it is skippable. I know everyone raves about it... but I am not sure we would go again.

Are they still doing Fantasmic in Disneyland right now?

Def get Trader Sam reservation if you can. We didn't make it there on our trip. Sad, I know....

We only really did a few sit down meals. There are a TON of counter service options, which are all really good. You will be fine doing counter service for everything else. (in my opion)

Not only has SW been so rude as to hold back our Nov and Dec flights, but they also messed up California. One of the two legs of both our trips out and back got cancelled, leaving us with less than ideal options. We debated for a hot minute trying for a 45 minute layover in Denver, but that feels like too much on the line trying to get three kids through the airport and doesn’t give us time to eat off of the plane. Instead, we’re taking a flight that gets us into San Diego a bit later but has a reasonable layover in Chicago where we can stretch our legs and have a proper meal. I’d love a direct flight but that’s just not happening with SW. If we have to connect, I’d rather do so where we have enough time for the kids to get out their wiggles before the next couple of hours in seats. For our return, we ended up switching back, free of charge, to the flight out of John Wayne that was significantly more points than Long Beach. So, all’s well that ends well on the return flight front.

Yeah, I think I am done with Southwest.... This makes me glad we are going with American most of the time these days.

I have about a month for Disneyland dining to be bookable, but I know that’s not nearly as competitive as World.

Don't believe this!!!! The good places still go fast! If you want Trader Sam's and Lamplight Lounge, Get them as soon as you can. Since I had to rebook up last minute, I never got Trader Sams' and Lamplight lounge did show up but it was later than I would have liked. And Blue Bayou never came up!

At this point, I feel like I’m just waiting on June for so much. Last chemo, SW flights open up, ADR day for Disneyland. Anyone else really ready to just fast forward the next six weeks?!?

I would like to jump on that band wagon!!! We have 8 eight weeks before our trip, so I will skep forward 6 weeks. I have a TON of stuff to get done before we go.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

This will be an unpopular opinion... but Lamplight Lounge was just ok for us. The menu is VERY limited and Gwen wasn't happy with the menu. With kids, I feel like it is skippable. I know everyone raves about it... but I am not sure we would go again.

Interesting. I'll have to go over the menu with the kids. Fancy nachos are a personal sweet spot and I hear the Lobster ones there are delicious, so that's how it got on my radar.

Are they still doing Fantasmic in Disneyland right now?

No, but they've only cancelled it officially through the end of May. I have to think, by the end of August, they'll at least have some flameless workaround up and running, even if the full show isn't in effect.

Yeah, I think I am done with Southwest.... This makes me glad we are going with American most of the time these days.

I have strong feelings on both sides of the fence with SW. I hate how much they've cut service in Philly, for sure. And, the kids are at a weird, in between age where they aren't old enough for family boarding but two plus hours between strangers still feels like a lot to me.

On the other hand, we've gotten so much value out of just two credit card offers. It was significant upfront spend (about 32k between both cards) but in exchange we've gotten literally thousands of dollars of benefit from the points and companion passes that we earned. By the end of this year, we'll have gotten 22 round trip and 5 one-way tickets only paying the $5.60 each for taxes and fees, which is bonkers. There simply isn't a program like the companion pass on any other airlines!

Don't believe this!!!! The good places still go fast!

Oh, I'm still going to be up at 6am EST in case they drop early and again at 9am EST / 6am PST each booking day. I guess I mean more that there aren't tons of must-dos on the list where I'm trying to balance which hot commodity I want to book first each day.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

At this point, I feel like I’m just waiting on June for so much. Last chemo, SW flights open up, ADR day for Disneyland. Anyone else really ready to just fast forward the next six weeks?!?

I’ll happily speed through the next 6 weeks with you! Almost there now and before you know it chemo will be in the rear view mirror. In the meantime you have some great trips to plan for and distract you

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Super quick update: I didn't fall of the face of the earth, but I just haven't been in the place emotionally to want to update much on this PTR.

I am officially in remission and we fly to Cali for our celebratory vacation in one week!

Both the cruise in November and Disney World in December are still on the schedule, so I apparently haven't come to my senses. That said, I doubt I'll do much if any updating unless the mood particularly strikes me.

Happy August everyone!

 

[KPeterso]

Super quick update: I didn't fall of the face of the earth, but I just haven't been in the place emotionally to want to update much on this PTR.

I am officially in remission and we fly to Cali for our celebratory vacation in one week!

Both the cruise in November and Disney World in December are still on the schedule, so I apparently haven't come to my senses. That said, I doubt I'll do much if any updating unless the mood particularly strikes me.

Happy August everyone!

So happy to hear you are in remission. You deserve these next vacations. Have a wonderful time at Disneyland. I will be there for the day on Tuesday with my bff and her 2 boys (oh and my mom and her MIL). It is the boys' first visit since about 2018, so a lot has changed. They are now 10 and 8 (or almost 11 and 9 if you want to go that way). last time they were to the parks and younger one was not yet 40 in and able to ride the bigger rides.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Have a brilliant time celebrating your good news

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I am officially in remission and we fly to Cali for our celebratory vacation in one week!

Soooooo Happy to hear this!!! Have a great trip!

 

[Woth2982]

I am officially in remission and we fly to Cali for our celebratory vacation in one week!

Both the cruise in November and Disney World in December are still on the schedule, so I apparently haven't come to my senses. That said, I doubt I'll do much if any updating unless the mood particularly strikes me.

Happy August everyone!

Such wonderful news! I have been thinking about you a lot lately and hoping all was well! Enjoy your trip! Make those wonderful memories!

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

So happy to hear you are in remission.

Have a brilliant time celebrating your good news

Soooooo Happy to hear this!!! Have a great trip!

I have been thinking about you a lot lately and hoping all was well! Enjoy your trip! Make those wonderful memories!

Thanks so much for all of the kind words! The first half of the year was really rough, but we did our best to make the back end of 2023 incredible.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Closing Out

As 2023 comes to a close, it only feels right to officially close out this thread as well. It was almost two years ago to the day that I hopped on the Dis to start planning a year of Disney World APs: I truly had no idea what life had in store for me!!

We did still end up taking five Disney vacations over the two years (!!!!) but under very different circumstances than we were expecting.

We ended up with:

August 2022: Ten days in Disney World

November 2022: Disney Cruise and one magical Disney World birthday

Early 2023: F Cancer, Chemo Sucks, Let’s Just Get Past This

August 2023: Five days in Disneyland

November 2023: Disney Cruise

December 2023: Four days in Disney World for Christmas celebrations

I posted a full TR for August 2022 but, for those who are curious, I offer highlights from our other four trips.

November 2022: Disney Wish and 9th Birthday at Disney or The One Where They Cruised Through a Hurricane

Even with the weather, we had overall an incredible trip. The girls adored the cruise, despite some bouts of severe motion sickness, and ending the trip with a triple hop day through Disney World on their actual 9th birthday was phenomenal. The hurricane meant that we didn’t get to see Castaway Cay and our resort day at the Poly ended up with a ridiculously delayed debarkation, hours at the port trying to get a bus, and then hours on the bus before finally arriving at our resort at 10pm, about 13 hours later than we expected! Setbacks aside, we had an amazing trip and I am never going to outdo that birthday, no matter how hard I try!

August 2023: Disneyland or The One Where Southern California Has Its First Tropical Storm In 85 Years

Truly, I don’t have great luck with extreme weather! Our cross-country trip included 5 days in San Diego before heading up to Anaheim for five park days in Disneyland. Hurricane Hilary interrupted the first part of our trip, so our San Deigo time was truncated, but we were able to enjoy Disneyland to the fullest. It was such a different vibe than World and we had so much fun comparing and contrasting. Differing flight times aside (because getting cross country is such a pain) we landed on Disneyland being the better park for a long weekend getaway and Disney World being the place to go if you really have time to devote to your trip. The girls LOVED the classic Fantasyland rides that are nearly gone from Orlando, as well as running into and interacting with so many characters. I would also posit that Wondrous Journeys is the best fireworks show I’ve seen, even if staking out a spot in front of the castle is a hassle. We did *not* appreciate the ride downtime throughout the day, which at times became almost absurd in frequency. Our DAS would kick over to anytime passes if a ride was down when our time had come up, and we would often have 3-4 anytimes available because everything we picked just kept going down. With such a long trip, we did manage to ride just about everything we wanted to, most things multiple times, as well as seeing the shows and parades. Disney World is definitely still our home-base park, but I think there’s another Cali visit somewhere in our more distant future.

November 2023: Disney Dream

I’m pretty sure Disney didn’t realize that their repositioning from Manhattan to Puerto Rico cruise overlapped with Jersey Week. Our room was a steal by Disney pricing for a 6-night, fifth sleeper! After the shorter Wish cruise in 2022, we really enjoyed having lots of time to see and do it all on this longer voyage. The girls sang so much karaoke, Hubby and I won trivia (SQUEEEE), and we all had an absolute blast.

December 2023: Christmas at Disney World

This was the trip that definitely wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t in a, “Cancer sucks, chemo sucks, I want to go have fun!” mindset. But, we had enough Southwest miles and the two companion passes were only going to be good through the end of December. Plus, the girls’ school had half days for conferences, so what’s missing three half-days of fourth grade in the grand scheme of things? We surprised the girls with this trip and, when they opened the box, they were excited but not shocked. The reaction was more, “Cool, another Disney trip, awesome!” versus, “Oh my goodness, really??” Apparently, we take them on too many vacations. LAUGHING By happenstance, we got to see Neil Patrick Harris narrate the Candlelight Processional and catch Luminous in its first week of running. It was truly an incredible few days where we packed in all the Christmas magic that Disney World had to offer. And, as a bonus, we did manage to have make-up resort day at the Poly before our Christmas Party night. With the girls being ten now (when did that happen??), this was likely the last year where Christmas was still full of real magic for our family and it was lovely to include Disney World in that, too.

Thank you for hanging with me these past two years. I truly appreciate all of your insights and advice as I planned, and revised, our two years of Disney.

 

[JenLovesMM]

I always love your TRs. Thanks for sharing those highlights. You all have such nice big smiles, I am sure those felt great after all you have been through!!

 

[amazingact21]

Thanks for wrapping up all your trips this past year. I can't believe you caught a tropical storm on your first cruise and then a different storm in CA.
Good on you all for taking that Christmas trip. Schoolwork can be caught up on, you all needed to end the year on a high note! After the journey you've taken, getting as much of the Disney magic as possible is warranted.
Do you have plans for 2024?

 

[Disney102015]

Love following along with your trips! Glad your year ended on a good note - you deserve it! Any Disney plans for 2024?

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Do you have plans for 2024?

Any Disney plans for 2024?

You're enablers, the lot of you!!!

Our big 2024 trip will be Hawaii in July, but not necessarily Aulani. We've got thee islands in mind over 2.5 weeks. Flights are all booked thanks to points from SW and Hubby's work travel, but we need to start narrowing in on hotels and activities.

We do have a Fantasy 4 night booked the Weds to Sun of Jersey Week 2024. It's a Castaway/Lighthouse trip, so we'd stay in the bubble the whole cruise. We're not sure if the girls' district will be off all week or just Thursday/Friday, so we don't know if we're tacking a few days in World onto the front. If the Board of Elections can get the schools off of the voting locations list (something the superintendent is actively pursuing) then it's just a cruise. But, if school is closed for the week, I'm sure we'll be starting that vacation with parkstorming.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Hello! Love all of the pictures from the trips! The girls are so big!!! And 10! How did that happen?!?! You look great as well. Feeling well? And Cancer does suck!

Differing flight times aside (because getting cross country is such a pain)

The flight is really what kills us for Disneyland! We were going to go for the girls spring break this year. But it is too long of a flight for a short period of time. A 2 hour flight is just easier.

Our big 2024 trip will be Hawaii in July, but not necessarily Aulani. We've got thee islands in mind over 2.5 weeks. Flights are all booked thanks to points from SW and Hubby's work travel, but we need to start narrowing in on hotels and activities

That will be great!!! I have no advice for a trip to Hawaii but I will come asking after you go for suggestions!

hools off of the voting locations list (something the superintendent is actively pursuing) then it's just a cruise. But, if school is closed for the wee

Our school district switched away from the schools awhile back and never went back. It was a sad year when that happened.