Preggo, pennies, and pastries!!! **FINAL UPDATES 4/25**

[jenseib]

I haven't posted an update in days. It's hard to keep at it sometimes...especially with the holidays coming up. I seem to need to do something everyday and the TR gets left in the dust...so I know how it is.

 

[photographymom517]

I AM definitely posting an update before noon today!

There are a number of excuses (ahem -- I mean "reasons") why I haven't posted yet. I knew right after I promised an update that it wouldn't happen but I had no idea it would take me almost 2 MONTHS after getting home from our trip to even START "Day 1" -- so I really do apologize for that!

I won't go into lots of details about this, considering this is a public forum, but my biggest obstacle to working on my DIS report was dealing with my "little brother" while my parents went on THEIR Disney vacation! (He's 24 and I shouldn't have had to -- but I had to basically babysit him as if he were only 2 years old! I had to wake him up for work, do his dishes & laundry, and basically make sure he didn't leave a giant mess for my parents to come home to!)

They were gone for 2 weeks in the middle of October. I know many of you actually traveled the same week & I am anxiously awaiting both their pictures as well as yours! I want to see if you appear in each others pictures!!! How neat would that be?!

I also have not been feeling well. As you can see in my siggie, I am now in my third trimester of my pregnancy! I am thrilled about this & cannot wait for the baby to be here!!! I can't believe I have 12 weeks left...it seems so short yet so long at the same time! Is that possible?!

I won't lie to you -- in amongst all of the negative reasons for my update taking fooooorever, I was also having a lot of fun doing other things!!! For example, I had pregnancy photos taken at Portrait Innovations (Thanks Heather for recommending them!!!) I also finished wallpapering the nursery, washing baby laundry/blankets, and attempted to organize what I have in there so far!

We also tried to spend the last few sunny days of summer outside enjoying the weather!!! The week we came home from Disney was very dreary, cold, wet, etc. We were REALLY missing Florida! We honestly didn't see any blue in the sky for over a week & the temperature here didn't hit over 50 degrees. We had our first frost of the season AND snow! I took pics & will share all of that as well!

But first, how about I FINALLY get on with the show here, guys?!?

Thanks for being so patient!!! I appreciate it & I seriously promise that from now on, I will update at least once a week!!! Since we were gone for 10 days, if I finish up one day per week, I should finish this report just around the time the baby is born!!! Sounds like a plan!!!

 

[photographymom517]

I haven't posted an update in days. It's hard to keep at it sometimes...especially with the holidays coming up. I seem to need to do something everyday and the TR gets left in the dust...so I know how it is.

I'm going to attempt to post once a week. You are soooo right!!! Something is just always coming up! I say every week that I'm going to do this or that & guess what? Never happens! I won't have plans all week & then it ends up that we aren't home all week because of things here & there. I'm actually supposed to have bloodwork done today but Luke is sick so I won't be going.

 

[photographymom517]

Wednesday, September 14

Today was our departure day. I had all of the suitcases packed & in the car the night before. We wrote a list of last minute things that had to go into the suitcases since we’d be leaving before 5am. I couldn’t fall asleep because I was so excited about the trip & anxious about the flight!

Normally I am not worried about forgetting anything, but this time I was. I normally pack our suitcases months in advance & have a packing list with 2 sets of boxes to check off. One set of boxes I check off at home as everything goes into the suitcases and the other set, I check off at the resort when I’m repacking our suitcases for our trip home! I’ve been doing this for years & the system really works for me!

I also add things to the list as we purchase souvenirs. This really saves time on your last day – so you don’t have to check under the beds & inside the closet five times! Of course I still do this at least twice before we leave, but it eases my mind to know I have everything checked off my list meaning it is packed & ready to go!

My dad left work early to take us to the airport. We arrived exactly at 6am -- right on schedule so far!!! Because I had checked us in online the day before, we already had our boarding passes. I also had pre-paid for our luggage fees (we were flying AirTran this time instead of Southwest). I highly recommend checking in for your flight online & pre-paying for luggage fees if you have that option. We literally walked right through the doors with our luggage, put them on the counter for the lady to weigh, let her look at our boarding passes, and off we went to security!!! The process took less than 2 minutes! Quick & simple!!! So far, so good!

We’ve never waited in line, ever, at security but the line this morning was super long! I looked at my watch & started to get nervous but figured there was honestly nothing I could do even if we did miss our flight. I'm a super big worrier! So for me to just say "oh well whatever happens, happens" is a HUGE step for me! While we were waiting in line, a lady who worked for the airport was walking through the line making sure everyone was where they needed to be! It would be horrible for someone to wait in that long line only to realize they needed to be somewhere else!

She was also giving people little tips & making sure everyone had their boarding passes & driver’s license out before getting up to the counter. She suggested to me that I go to the end line – it has a belt that’s larger than the others & the stroller will fit through it without trouble. I wish someone would’ve told me this last year because our stroller fabric was ripped & got grease all over it because it barely fit through the scanner at both our airport AND at MCO. Good to know for the future though & good advice to pass along to you!!! Check at your airport if taking a stroller because they usually have 1-3 of these larger scanners!

(Sorry this is so wordy -- I have TONS of pictures, just not quite there yet!)

 

[photographymom517]

The line through security was moving slowly but that's fine with me! I'd much rather they take their time & check everything out than to rush things & miss something! After we got through the line, Luke sat on a bench & met his first friends. I swear he makes friends no matter where we are! He spoke with an older lady for awhile after she asked him where he was going. He said "To Disney to see Mickey Mouse" and they continued with their conversation while he put his flip flops back on.

We then hopped onto the tram & headed to the other side of the airport where we made a quick stop at McDonald's. I have no idea what time it was at this point but I'm going to guess around 6:45am. Seriously, try explaining to a 3 year old why they aren’t serving "French fries & chickens" that early in the morning! I ended up getting 3 cups of orange juice and 2 breakfast sandwiches. I think the bill was around $15 all together. I ate one sandwich and Luke ate the meat out of the other one. We all drank an orange juice.

We then headed to our gate. By this time it was almost 7:20am. I wanted to quickly run to the restroom but the lady came over the loud speaker just as I was leaving & told everyone to get their boarding passes out. They were starting to load the plane! I was shocked as we weren’t leaving until 8:15am. She called out boarding zones & was already up to Zone 5 – we were in Zone 7 so there was no time to take a restroom break now!

One thing that made me upset at this point was that they were making kids carry their own carry on bags. I understand why they do it – they don’t want people getting away with taking more bags than they’re allowed just because they have kids. But come on! There’s no way kids under age 5 should be carrying their own bags! Sorry that’s just my own personal opinion. They were making NO exceptions either! I heard them correcting many people – so I put Luke’s backpack on his back & held the top strap to take some of the weight off him. Once we made it past the people at the desk, I then took it off him quickly & threw it into the stroller. (Another reason why I did NOT understand this was that when you are traveling with an infant, you are allowed more than 2 bags to carry supplies for your child.) I stopped to leave the stroller in the designated place for the workers to store it.

We then sat down & honestly within minutes we were taking off! It was a very quick process!

It was a fairly smooth flight. I think we only hit a tiny amount of turbulence very, very briefly. The skies were gorgeous the entire flight! Luke watched his DVD for maybe 20-30 minutes and the rest of the time, he just sat there. He would either talk to me & ask questions about the flight, eat his snacks, or just look out the window. He also slept towards the end of the flight.

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A little side note about the airlines -- we have 2 options to fly non-stop to MCO out of our airport -- either AirTran or Southwest.

We flew AirTran this time around & honestly, I don’t feel that any of the workers had a personality at all. They were all uptight & didn’t crack a smile the entire time. This includes the people at the customer service desk, at the podium checking boarding passes, the people collecting the strollers, and the flight attendants. I was disappointed because last year, I was laughing so hard both there & on the way home when we flew Southwest. For those who don’t already know, I am a huge fan/supporter of Southwest!! Because of the rush, I don’t think they cleaned the plane very good prior to us boarding either. There was still someone else’s garbage in both mine and Luke’s pockets. It wasn’t a big deal but I still think we should’ve had a better experience.

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Soon we were seeing this!

Right as I was taking this picture, Luke asked me where we were. He looked out the window & noticed the trees looked different. I told him those were palm trees.

And he said "Oh, are we in Flor-a-da, mommy?" and I said "Yes we are Luke, we'll be at our resort soon."

Then he said "Oh mommy, are we at Mickey Mouse's house?" and I said "No, not yet. We'll go see Mickey later. We're at the airport right now. We have to get on a bus & they will take us to our resort." He didn't understand what resort meant at all so finally I gave up & just started saying "hotel" instead.

When I saw this, a HUGE smile was on my face!!!

It really made me feel like we were finally at Disney!!!!

 

[photographymom517]

I'm sure you recognize that picture, but if not, it was taken from "the fake monorail" at the airport!

I'm not using my notes as I write this & I just realized that I left something out. After we landed, we discussed our plans for the rest of the day. It was still early -- we landed right on time at 10am. We had an ADR scheduled for that evening at Captain's Grill at the Yacht Club, our sister resort! I was super excited about this reservation, but I wasn't feeling hungry at all. It always takes us a day or so to adjust after flying. We knew that by the time we headed to the other side of the airport, went to Magical Express, got on the bus, dropped people off at other resorts, got to our resort & checked-in, etc. it would be at least noon.

We weren't starving at this point but since we hadn't eaten breakfast (other than me & my McDonald's sandwich!) we figured we would stop & eat. My husband & Luke both ate at Burger King. I waited in line with them & we got a table, then I went to Nathan's to get cheese fries. I debated whether or not to wait in line at Starbucks. The line was pretty crazy but it seemed to be moving quickly. I wanted to try the seasonal Pumpkin Spice Latte -- YUM!!!! I don't have a Starbucks near me, so this was my chance to try it!!! I know I took pictures of my fries & my latte but for some reason it's not on Shutterfly (I have a love/hate relationship with Shutterfly by the way!) I think between the three places, we spent around $25 on food & drinks.

We then got onto the "fake monorail" and headed to the other side of the airport. Luke really enjoyed watching the fountain, but he didn't show any interest in this -- and mommy really wanted a picture!

Completely unlike me (again) but I figured it was only the beginning of the trip & I had plenty of other opportunities for pictures, so it was fine to skip this one. I just snapped a quick picture of the sign alone.

As we walked, Luke noticed Goofy! He asked me if he was real & I said no. He said "Well what is he then?" and I said "Its just a statue." So statue becomes a part of our vocabulary for the rest of the trip -- he would use it to describe pretty much anything that wasn't "real."

I just happened to get this shot at the exact right moment! It wasn't posed or anything! He just walked up to Goofy & asked "Mommy what is this Goofy statue doing? Is he doing THIS?" and he posed like that!

Then I told him that we needed to get to the bus. He ran over towards the big Disney sign & looked to make sure there weren't other kids getting pictures taken. Then he looked behind him to see if any parents were taking pictures. No one was there. So he ran over & said "Cheese! Mommy take a picture of me! Cheese!" So I ran over to him, getting my camera out & taking off the lens cap as I ran and took this!

Pretty soon we saw this! Beautiful bus!

Luke spent most of the trip to the resort looking out the window & asking a lot of questions about what everything was! He kept asking when he would see Mickey. He asked us from the moment we landed until the moment we finally made a decision for our afternoon/evening plans!!!

We first stopped at Port Orleans Riverside. While the bus driver helped the guests get their stored luggage & strollers, it was at this point when I realized how much of an effect I must have on Luke & what he thinks about!!! He stood up to watch the people going into the resort & looked down at the floor. He asked "Mommy what is that on the floor right there?" and I couldn't think of an answer. The morning was catching up to me & I just wanted to close my eyes & sleep. I said "Umm, it looks sort of like sprinkles." This answer upset him & he said to me in a very stern voice "No mommy. Those are NOT sprinkles. That is pixie dust!!!" I cannot remember ever saying pixie dust to him! He watches the Disney Channel so I'm assuming he picked it up from Jake & the Neverland Pirates. The girl pirate talks frequently about pixie dust. I just smiled at him, gave him a hug, and put a note in my cell phone that explained what happened & "He is soooo my child!"

After stops at Caribbean Beach, the Boardwalk, and the Yacht Club, we finally arrived at our home for the next 10 days!!!

 

[Tinkermom76]

I love arriving at the Orlando Airport... especially when I leave cold Canada and arrive in Hot Florida!!!

I am so jealous that you stayed at the BC and I can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[jenseib]

Yay!!!! You are there now!

 

[Tink9721]

Yay you started!

This really saves time on your last day – so you don’t have to check under the beds & inside the closet five times! Of course I still do this at least twice before we leave, but it eases my mind to know I have everything checked off my list meaning it is packed & ready to go!

I'm such a freak about that, especially when we go to Vermont. I have to check under all of the beds in the cabin, my closet, and behind every piece of furniture about five times I also have to keep checking every drawer in the bureau too. I don't know what I think I'm gonna find. My clothes aren't gonna crawl back out of my bag and into the drawer I also start my packing list like a month and a half early because I know the week before I go anywhere is always really busy. Then even though I've had the list for weeks I end up packing at like 9 PM the night before we leave If I didn't make those packing lists I'd never remember anything. I have no idea why but I have so much fun making my Disney packing lists. After we booked the trip last year I came home and booked the ADR's then started my packing list. I was all excited about it and my mom just kept looking at me like I was nuts

That's so cute about the pixie dust

 

[stephielela]

Yay! Thanks for waiting for me!!!

I think making kids carry their own bags is silly. I mean, yeah, if your child is old enough, by all means, but Jack couldn't carry his own. I know how you feel about Southwest vs. other airlines and I totally agree. They are so much happier!

I can't wait to read more!! I need to start my TR today...

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Great update. Luke is just precious. How cute that he is sooo curious.

I had heard that AirTran boards early so I am glad you confirmed. We leave a week from Friday and are flying Air Tran for the first time. I will need to make sure I get to the airport in plenty of time!

Oooo, I can't wait to see your pictures of the Beach Club!

Thanks for posting the stops for Magical Express. We are staying at the BW and I wasn't sure where we were in the list of stops. You have been very helpful today!

 

[Megablocks]

Yayyyyyy you started!

I'm absolutely insane about packing. My packing lists are all itemized, and when we're flying, I have to put the stuff that goes in the suitcase separately from everything else. When I'm actually packing, I have to lay everything out, put a check mark next to that thing on my list, and then cross it off when it actually goes IN the suitcase. I do this literally one thing at a time. Take it out. Put it on the bed. Check it off on the list. Put it in the suitcase. Cross it off the list. Just a touch of OCD.

I cannot wait to hear about Beach Club. It became my dream resort when we took the bus there from DTD, trying to get to Epcot.

That's so cute about Luke and the pixie dust!

 

[Stefy]

I love arrival day updates, the anticipation leading up to Disney, arriving at MCO

Luke is such a sweety, great shots of him with Goofy and Mickey statues Bless him that he checked to see if anyone was taking photos, not many kids do that

I can't believe you have 12 weeks to go, so exciting Sounds like everything is coming along just nicely too

 

[DisneyBoundinDec]

I'm in! Sounds like a lovely start so far! And I totally agree with you about SW over AT.. I only fly SW

Luke is such an adorable boy!

 

[alabamagirl]

Enjoying your TR! I have ttrip planned in December and I will be almost 6 months pregnant. Interested to hear how your pregnancy affected the trip!

 

[MeMom]

What wonderful sights!

There is such a special feeling to the very beginning of a Disney trip!

 

[PopArtGal]

I LOVE the pumpkin spice latte. I love everything relating to spices and pumpkin. Yet, I don't remember ever trying pumpkin pie hehe Yep, the lines at Starbucks can be long but they do go fast. I give praises to the workers there. They are efficient.

Awe Luke is so sweet. I love that picture of him looking out the window.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

There is nothing like that welcome at the Beach Club!!!!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Great start, Hope!! I especially love Luke's description of what is on the floor of the bus! We train them so well!!

 

[photographymom517]

I love arriving at the Orlando Airport... especially when I leave cold Canada and arrive in Hot Florida!!!

I am so jealous that you stayed at the BC and I can't wait to hear all about it!

I hear you there! My DH and I both got the app for The Weather Channel and have Orlando, FL saved under our "Favorite places"

I've been checking the weather down there -- last night when it was down to 42 here (cloudy and raining) it was 76 in Orlando and still sunny! I miss it so much already!!! I bet you do too!

I can't wait to tell you guys all about my experiences at the BC!

Yay!!!! You are there now!

Yes Jen, after almost 2 whole months, I've finally written about 1/4 of our Arrival Day

Yay you started!

I'm such a freak about that, especially when we go to Vermont. I have to check under all of the beds in the cabin, my closet, and behind every piece of furniture about five times I also have to keep checking every drawer in the bureau too. I don't know what I think I'm gonna find. My clothes aren't gonna crawl back out of my bag and into the drawer I also start my packing list like a month and a half early because I know the week before I go anywhere is always really busy. Then even though I've had the list for weeks I end up packing at like 9 PM the night before we leave If I didn't make those packing lists I'd never remember anything. I have no idea why but I have so much fun making my Disney packing lists. After we booked the trip last year I came home and booked the ADR's then started my packing list. I was all excited about it and my mom just kept looking at me like I was nuts

That's so cute about the pixie dust

Haha. Honestly, Christine, after I wrote that part of my report I thought to myself -- Hmmm, technically I just told a huge lie because even with my check marks on the packing list, I STILL check under the bed fifty times! So yeah, I totally understand why you do that at the cabin!

I think that my new philosophy with packing is going to be "wait until the last minute!" I know it must sound crazy, especially to those of you who know how OCD I am about everything, but I think I actually have less of a chance of forgetting something if I wait! I tend to forget what's already packed if I do it too early yet I completely stress out if I wait until the last second. Hmmm, I'm thinking I need to find a happy medium between the two!

Yay! Thanks for waiting for me!!!

I think making kids carry their own bags is silly. I mean, yeah, if your child is old enough, by all means, but Jack couldn't carry his own. I know how you feel about Southwest vs. other airlines and I totally agree. They are so much happier!

I can't wait to read more!! I need to start my TR today...

No problem, thanks for giving me such a great excuse why I waited so long to start my TR!

Yes I was really annoyed with the "kids carry their own bags policy." I understand to an extent why they do it, but at the same time, I felt like the AirTran workers were just being slightly lazy. There were three or four workers standing at the podium. I don't understand why they couldn't just line everyone up & check their carry-ons as people boarded. That's what they did back in 2009 when we flew with them & no one had issues.

In 2009, they simply had 1 person standing at the podium to scan/check tickets and one person walking up & down the line checking carry-ons. They made an announcement prior to boarding asking that everyone stay in line with their party -- and then came through the line & counted bags. I would say things went very smoothly that time around!

This time, we didn't even line up. It was just like a massive "run to the counter" everytime they called a new zone number. I really think Southwest has things better managed! But you knew I was going to say that!!!

Great update. Luke is just precious. How cute that he is sooo curious.

I had heard that AirTran boards early so I am glad you confirmed. We leave a week from Friday and are flying Air Tran for the first time. I will need to make sure I get to the airport in plenty of time!

Oooo, I can't wait to see your pictures of the Beach Club!

Thanks for posting the stops for Magical Express. We are staying at the BW and I wasn't sure where we were in the list of stops. You have been very helpful today!

Thank you

Luke was definitely asking millions of questions throughout the trip! I hope I remembered to write everything down! So far, I'm going off memory & haven't opened up my journal yet!

AirTran definitely boards early. They did for our flight and also for my parents. If I remember correctly, they also boarded early back in 2009 so make sure you leave enough time, especially if your airport is super busy or if you have an early flight! Our airport is tiny & it was super crowded!

I have tons of pictures of the Beach Club but need to upload them today before working on another update! My favorite part was walking to Epcot!!!

Glad I could help out with the bus stops on the Magical Express! BW is right in the middle and you may get there sooner if no one is going to PO or CBR!!

Yayyyyyy you started!

I'm absolutely insane about packing. My packing lists are all itemized, and when we're flying, I have to put the stuff that goes in the suitcase separately from everything else. When I'm actually packing, I have to lay everything out, put a check mark next to that thing on my list, and then cross it off when it actually goes IN the suitcase. I do this literally one thing at a time. Take it out. Put it on the bed. Check it off on the list. Put it in the suitcase. Cross it off the list. Just a touch of OCD.

I cannot wait to hear about Beach Club. It became my dream resort when we took the bus there from DTD, trying to get to Epcot.

That's so cute about Luke and the pixie dust!

Meghan I think we need to share packing lists!!!

I have my checked bag and carry on separated on my list too! I actually have bold titles at the top that lists each person's bags...and then underneath I write what goes inside that bag. I also am not sure if I included this or not, but I take pictures of everything as I put it in the suitcases. It's a good way to remember what I've packed plus it makes me feel better about giving someone else my suitcase to take care of! You have no idea how hard it is to give them my suitcase & trust that it will get there. I definitely live by the motto "If you want something done right, do it yourself" and it's sooooo hard to give up control with things like this!

The BEST part about staying at the BC is the walkway to Epcot!!! Wait until you read about it!!