PR Me: I've been checking the Disney site and...Husband: Me too!

[lisateaches]

As the title indicates, my husband and I had both been toying around with deals on the Disney website when we both decided we might want to go. Now the hard part about deciding on going is our schedules. I am a teacher BUT I also have 9 PTO days that I am given each year, and if I do not use them I lose them. After four years of no raises, three years of furlough days I don't feel as guilty about using these days My DH attends school full time and stays at home with our three year old. He also gets our DD9 ready and off to school.

Although I do look forward to his graduation and imminent job (yes, I must remain positive) I'm not really sure how I will manage getting two kids off to school every day... when their hours dictate they will be attending some kind of program before school. He stayed home with DD3 since the day she was born. OOPS! I derailed completely from the point.

ANYWAY... he couldn't go during the dates that worked best with my daughter's schedule. Any December dates that worked were going to be too crowded or no FREE DINING!!! Alas, we mirrored our trip dates from last year- January 8th-14th. I am not as worried about DD9 missing school during this time. We will arrive home on a Sunday and she is off school Monday so I can catch her up on the work she missed. Yes, I do believe I can easily catch her up in one day, with some work on the road trip down to Orlando.

The children do not know yet because A.) We were afraid if we told them too early, something would come up and we would have to cancel it. B.) A 3 year old has no sense of time. C.) It is a surprise for their Christmas present. They do love Disney and although they are getting a few things for Christmas they do not need one more toy, book, craft, piece of clothing etc. I'd rather make memories than clutter up the house any more. Coming up soon: OUR DINING RESERVATIONS- You the studio audience will help me decide something.

 

[debrapagliasotti]

How exciting

Where are you staying?

 

[lisateaches]

We are staying at POFQ (((())))

 

[lisateaches]

When we finally decided on dates, our next mission was to decide on where to stay. We loved POFQ last year. If you are traveling with a stroller, it is so nice not to have to walk miles before you leave in the morning. We booked it and printed out our confirmation. The next day when we were looking our confirmation printout I noticed the it had Caribbean Beach Resort listed. Hmmmm.... well we HAD toyed with the idea. Maybe I remembered incorrectly what our final choice was. After a talk with my husband we realized we had decided on CBR, but in our heart of hearts we wanted to go to POFQ, so we changed it! Much relieved.

At that point we weren't decided between driving and flying. It is about a 16 hour drive, but we really enjoy road trips. Our kids are generally good in a car. Did I just jinx that? We kept our eyes peeled at SW airlines, but their great deals never really matched our days so we are driving! We are toying with the idea of arriving the Saturday night before so that we can rest up and have a full Sunday. We will probably book an extra day soon. Either at POFQ (if possible) or somewhere in the area. Of course, my husband was just mentioning maybe we could squeeze in DD that night. Hello? Remember we want to rest up after a long drive? I think I will put my foot down on this if the kids are the least bit tired.

 

[lisateaches]

Here are our dining plans for the week. Don't they look nice? The bad news is that I have to cut one!

Tusker House Restaurant
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Date: Sunday, January 8, 2012
Time: 1:00 p.m.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Le Cellier Steakhouse
Epcot

Date: Monday, January 9, 2012
Time: 12:55 p.m.


Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
Epcot
Date: Monday, January 9, 2012
Time: 7:55 p.m.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Chef Mickey's
Disney's Contemporary Resort
Date: Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Time: 7:30 a.m.

Thursday, January 12, 2012
Cape May Café
Time: 7:00 p.m

Friday, January 13, 2012
1900 Park Fare
Time: 8:05 a.m.


'Ohana
Time: 5:10 p.m.

I know which one I'm leaning towards cutting, but I'm interested in others opinions, so let me hear them!

 

[lisateaches]

NO suggestions for cancellations yet? I'll wait on that one then. Our first full day at WDW will be Sunday Jan. 8th. I think we will plan on going to Animal Kingdom and then hit up Magic Kingdom after check in at POFQ.

I've been wanting to make a dress or two for my DD3 to wear in Disney World. I recently purchased the princess appliques from Heather Sue and tried one of them. I am a little (ok a lot) slow. I thought the first part was Aurora's hair- come to find it was her face! She had a yellow face. Well I reran that part and put a white piece of material over it and liked it. Now I'll try it on a dress I'm making. I think I'll stick the three fairies on the bottom of the dress.

Not sure about making anything about DD9. If I have some extra time I might. I'm just not going to kill myself doing it because she does not wear much that I make. I made the cutest Halloween skirt with a shirt and I forced her into it once for a Brownie meeting. How much you wanna bet if I DON'T make her something it will be a story she's telling for years to come.

 

[lisateaches]

So last night DH and I were discussing the fact that we should make a reservation for the Saturday before our trip officially begins. We will be undoubtedly be driving from the wee hours Sat. until the Wee hours that night or early Sunday. A few weeks ago we looked at some places an hour outside of Orlando, but they didn't have good reviews at all. Then we were going to stay somewhere in Downtown Disney, but honestly the cost was just about what it would cost to stay at POFQ with their current discount. So earlier this week there was availability at POFQ, but last night- none! So we saw that they had POR and CS. I wait until today and CS is gone! I hurried up and booked our night at POR so that we can get a decent start on our day Sunday.
We will be spending 1/2 day at Animal Kingdom and 1/2 day at MK.

 

[lisateaches]

I've been stressed tonight because I just received TWO bills from a surgery I had over a year ago. I paid my deductible and my out of pocket max. What else do they want??? They agreed in writing to take what my insurance pays for out of network and I would only pay in network charges. Now where is that paperwork FROM A YEAR AGO??? I was thinking about our trip and how sometimes a trip can be stressful and a Disney trip can be very busy. And that is when it hit me- I just want to have fun with my kids. I want to spend time with them. I need to keep this in mind and enjoy the drive down with them and relax and have a good time.

 

[lisateaches]

30 more days!!! But I am not really doing anything about it The kids don't know and I'm busy with school and getting ready for Christmas. I honestly think this is for the best. It will all get done and I'm not obsessing. I did check out my camera today for the best settings.

 

[lisateaches]

For our Christmas present to our girls we wrapped Minnie ears and blankets for them. We sent them on a scavenger hunt which ended right back where they started- under the tree. A note was included announcing our impending trip. Our DD9 was super excited, and kind of forgot about her other gifts. Our DD3 was eh, whatev. When we said hey we are going to DISNEYWORLD!!! She said, "RIGHT NOW!!!???" Uh, no. In two weeks. Well she was unimpressed by that bit. She keeps asking if we are going to Diseney World- which is a step up from Dizzy World a year ago. We are very excited and can;t believe we leave in 10 days.
I am starting to pack and check weather reports. So far it looks sunny and chillieish- high of low 60s. But who knows? We plan on waking the kiddos up in the middle of the night and start driving. We tried to switch our res. for our single night from PO Riverside to FQ, but the rate increases almost$50. We wouldn't be guaranteed to stay in the same room anyway so I guess we will stay at Riverside one night. I'll pack a "1 nighter" case. Hope everyone had a great Christmas or Hannukah. I know we did.

 

[lisateaches]

Four more days!!! We have finished some homemade shirts (Thanks to some people on the Dis). I went to embroider a last minute shirt today- for some reason my disk was messed up and I didn't have time to mess with it- so no last minute stuff. My regular bag is packed for DDs and me- only waiting on the first day bag with toiletries and a toy bag for DD 3. My husband packs his own stuff. We have coordinating shirts for Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom, but didn't get replies on some other requests.

I wound up cancelling the Tusker House reservation so we'd have mroe freedom that day. We are looking to waking up at 2 am to start our drive : )