Relax boys, the belly dancer does not want your singles! 9/2 final update p.87

[rentayenta]

Yay you started!!!!

Poor kidlets looked so tired...Darn red eye


But am glad to see once you got on the ME Bus, everyone perked right up


You got a great shot of the welcome sign

The kids were hammered. Taking the red-eye was by far one of the stupidest things I have done as a parent. The recooped well but man, so not worth it.


DH took that photo. He was practically standing to do it. All my nattering about getting that shot may have had something to do with it.

Yah you started!!!!

Wonderful update. Sorry about the red eye. I've never done it and I don't think I would do too good either. You do not look haggard at all, just very happy!

Can't wait to read more.

Maybe without the layover it would have been okay but still, I wouldn't do another red-eye even if it was a direct flight. The airplane seats are just too small to get comfy in.

I felt haggered for sure. The bags under my eyes get progressively puffier as the day moves on. You'll see if I find the courage to post those photos.

 

[2ScottishPrincesses]

I'm so excited. Down to 28 days. My vouchers and tags came in the week. We spent the day picking up some more stuff for the trip. We hit Walmart, Sams and the Mall. Slowly marking things off my list. I still need to work on the daily itinerary. Tried to get Danielle to buy another bathing suit and she turned me down. She's okay with the new one we got at Justice and her one from last year. She was a good sport while I tried on clothes, even when we hit Victoria Secret. I pre-ordered my photo pass last night. Someone had a code for 15% off, so I only paid $84.95.

Very exciting....tell me about the pre-ordering photo pass, is it something I want to be doing ?????

You will love Jenna and her family.


I would love to take advantage of Michael.



Oh I know we'll love Jenna and her sweetie but I'm a tad worried about how they'll react to a bunch of half-daft Scots




You sound set. So D's bro is traveling outside of the Disney magic?

Don't forget the biggies like batteries, medicines, and sunscreen. They charge a small fortune for that kind of stuff.
Tell me about the preferred viewing for Wishes and Illuminations.....

Yep Boyd and Jo uped their vaca from 1week to 2weeks on the condition that they only bought a 1day ticket for MK and a 1day ticket for Universal...obviously it's Big D's gene pool that Boyd's from an not mine. They're staying offsite in a villa and intend to spend most of their time lazing by the pool...until I start organizing them off the face of the planet that is MWAHAHAHA

Those items are on the list and some have been purchase already..you're shocked aren't you

Because we booked through DisneyUK one of the perks is that we can get vouchers for prefered viewing areas to watch Wishes and Illuminations and these have to be booked through WDW...I'll let you know when I come back if they're any good or not(Jo could probably tell you more being as she's the font of all Disney knowledge)

Poor babies are SO sleepy

Next stop meeting with dear friends at the OKW!!!!

Can't wait to see OKW and hear about your next adventures

 

[rentayenta]

Did I read that correctly? 1 day at MK and 1 at Universal? So they will be there 2 weeks and seeing WDW one day? I guess don't they have children? Are you planning on seeing them that much?


The UK gets all of the good perks! I'll ask Jo when I "see" her. I forget we have a go-to girl!


Oh sweetie they were SO exhausted. Once we got on ME they brightened up.


I am no Photopass expert but it's super cool. There might be a section on the DIS explaining it and I know it's on the official WDW site.

Can't wait to see OKW and hear about your next adventures

Me too!!!!



Jenna still has company and Michael comes home today so I don't see an update before tonight at the very earliest. We are having a BBQ later with his parents. His father is a veteran so Memorial Day is quite meaningful for him. He is such a good old dude.


And then it's back to work tomorrow after 18 days.

 

[rentayenta]

Forgot to add that when we bought DVC we got super FPs too.

 

[2ScottishPrincesses]

Did I read that correctly? 1 day at MK and 1 at Universal? So they will be there 2 weeks and seeing WDW one day? I guess don't they have children? Are you planning on seeing them that much?


The UK gets all of the good perks! I'll ask Jo when I "see" her. I forget we have a go-to girl!


Oh sweetie they were SO exhausted. Once we got on ME they brightened up.


I am no Photopass expert but it's super cool. There might be a section on the DIS explaining it and I know it's on the official WDW site.





Me too!!!!



Jenna still has company and Michael comes home today so I don't see an update before tonight at the very earliest. We are having a BBQ later with his parents. His father is a veteran so Memorial Day is quite meaningful for him. He is such a good old dude.


And then it's back to work tomorrow after 18 days.

Yep just two park tickets, you can just imagine my initial reaction. They said they don't fancy Epcot and I don't think they've even considered MGM or AK . To be fair they are finding money a wee bit tight and I think Jo was desparate to stay for 2weeks and would have agreed to anything so this was the compromise. We will see them for one day at their villa to stay overnight and on Cayla's 4th birthday we're doing Cindy's castle for breakfast and BBB, apart from that we're all going out to Ohanas on 8Aug to celebrate my birthday and they might come and hang out at OKW and DTD with us. They are well aware that we have 14day ultimate tickets and we will be making the most of them so they don't expect us all to hang out loads but I am hoping that we can maybe talk them into another park day if poss.

Hope your bbq goes well and that work isn't too much of a culture shock for you tomorrow

 

[rentayenta]

Yep just two park tickets, you can just imagine my initial reaction. They said they don't fancy Epcot and I don't think they've even considered MGM or AK . To be fair they are finding money a wee bit tight and I think Jo was desparate to stay for 2weeks and would have agreed to anything so this was the compromise. We will see them for one day at their villa to stay overnight and on Cayla's 4th birthday we're doing Cindy's castle for breakfast and BBB, apart from that we're all going out to Ohanas on 8Aug to celebrate my birthday and they might come and hang out at OKW and DTD with us. They are well aware that we have 14day ultimate tickets and we will be making the most of them so they don't expect us all to hang out loads but I am hoping that we can maybe talk them into another park day if poss.

Hope your bbq goes well and that work isn't too much of a culture shock for you tomorrow

I think they will flip when they see MK and end up adding on. I forgot about being able to hang out at the resorts and DTD so that's good. Have they been to WDW before?


You are going to love OKW!!!! Tell me what you booked there.....

 

[englishrose47]

Hi I am back and on board for this TR !! Will be starting ine soon!!

 

[vamassey1]

That's sweet of you. Is he super bummed about not going?







Sounds like a great plan! Biergarten looked SO fun to me!!! 50's looks great too. I love 'Ohana and liked Coral Reef. Haven't been to WCC or LTT but the menu at LTT looks so good and different from the usual park fare. Are these new dining places for you? I bet you DD is over the moon!!! It looks like you have divided your park times pretty evenly. Where are you staying? I don't see it in your siggy but could be missing it.

DH would really love to go but it isn't working out with his new job. Of course he didn't want his DD to miss out. We're staying at POP for the 3rd time. When I booked DH was part of the trip and he won't spend anymore than what the value cost while we're still bringing kids.
Some are new some are old. Never been to Biergarten, WCC, 1900 Park Fare or LTT. I was trying to mix it up. We've done Coral Reef, 'Ohana, Storybook Dinning and 50's. I'm bringing my sister and her daughter (just 10 days separate her from Danielle) and they have never been. I love taking someone to Disney for the first time!

 

[vamassey1]

Very exciting....tell me about the pre-ordering photo pass, is it something I want to be doing ?????

If you pre-order the photo pass CD it's cheaper check out this link
http://www.disneyphotopass.com/previsitcdplan.aspx

I think there's such a thing as ordering too early too. Someone said the time limit is 60 days. I'm 27 days out now, plus I'll have 30 days from the end of my trip to upload photos. You have the right to develop all the pictures on the CD. Since DH won't be there to take any pictures of me and DD isn't the greatest photographer yet I think this will be only way you'll be able to tell I went.

 

[rentayenta]

Hi I am back and on board for this TR !! Will be starting ine soon!!

Hey Rosie! How was the trip? Can't wait to read all about it!

DH would really love to go but it isn't working out with his new job. Of course he didn't want his DD to miss out. We're staying at POP for the 3rd time. When I booked DH was part of the trip and he won't spend anymore than what the value cost while we're still bringing kids.
Some are new some are old. Never been to Biergarten, WCC, 1900 Park Fare or LTT. I was trying to mix it up. We've done Coral Reef, 'Ohana, Storybook Dinning and 50's. I'm bringing my sister and her daughter (just 10 days separate her from Danielle) and they have never been. I love taking someone to Disney for the first time!

I the Pop and have always wanted to stay there. I love the theme and colors and big bright Disneyness of it!!!

That's good you'll have an even number so no one has to ride alone- such a mom thing to think. What a total blast you are going to have! Have you started packing? Don't forget your ponchos. How neat to take a first timer. I bet your niece is beside herself!

 

[englishrose47]

I just started my TR !!!Comcheck out!!

 

[rentayenta]

If you pre-order the photo pass CD it's cheaper check out this link
http://www.disneyphotopass.com/previsitcdplan.aspx

I think there's such a thing as ordering too early too. Someone said the time limit is 60 days. I'm 27 days out now, plus I'll have 30 days from the end of my trip to upload photos. You have the right to develop all the pictures on the CD. Since DH won't be there to take any pictures of me and DD isn't the greatest photographer yet I think this will be only way you'll be able to tell I went.

Can I pre-order still? I have the cards but haven't registered them yet?

 

[jenna]

I see that Jenna's little green light is on, I hope that means she is busy typing up her Day 1!

Usually it means that I left the computer on again & walked away.

Hey Jenny and Jenna! Welcome back. I'm so looking forward to reading your trip report. I need to get back to working on my ptr, it will have me thinking more about Disney and less about work.

I'm looking forward to hearing the "fairly exciting news. Hope you don't drag it out too long.

Hi!

Guess she already spilled the beans from what I've read......

I think her little green light is always on.

What's that supposed to mean?!

Just talked to Jenna and she's over her head in last minute school luau preparation so I don't foresee an update tonight unless it's while her cake is baking.

Yes, it's been quite a busy few days. Chris came home on Thursday and said, "Mom, our luau is tomorrow and my teacher would love for you to come in & help and bring food in for it." I knew the luau wuld be sometime soon after we got home, but not that soon! Needless to say I had to go to the grocery store to get some supplies. I ended up making pineapple stuffing, ono butter mochi (a coconut, buttery cake/dessert) and pina coladas (non-alcoholic, of course) for the kids. The pina coladas were a hit!

What is Nate's special water?

You don't want to know........

Because we have a some new readers and a ton of lurkers, I thought that starting with the final version of the itinerary would be a good place to begin; as well as a who the heck is going on this magical Disney trip. Guess how many times we followed the below plan?

We had an itinerary?

In addition to what we were going to do I'd like to share a little history about our motley crew. Basically we all met on another Disney board. Yup, I said, I own it here anyway. I have known Keith for over 4 years, Tracy for a little over 2, and Jenna et al for just about 2 years. I can tell you that Jenna and I were raised by the same insane muthas, not really but we could have been because we share such similar histories. She is truly one of the nicest, funniest women I have ever met and I am proud to call her my friend. Our families hit it off immediately when we met in 2007 and they even came and spent with the holidays with us. We will vacation as a group for many years to come. We have traveled to Yellowstone together with our families and currently have a few vacays in the works. If it were up to Michael and I, they'd buy the 1/2 acre down the street from us and build their dream home.

Awwwww....you are so sweet!

 

[jenna]

Well, the wife is actually wanting us to consider the DDP or DxDP. Other than that nothing really new yet. Although there may be something soon so stay tuned.

Oooooo......

Well, this is it for me until next Saturday.
I hope to return to lots and lots of cool trip report stuff!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Sorry I didn't get to wish you safe travels & a great trip! Tell us all the details when you return!

I seriously could not wait for Day 7 in the trippie to spill the news.

Didn't think you could!

I text Jenna and Keith and told them and asked Jenna not to tell the kids until we got back. David* French kissed me, called the driver to take us back to AKV, and that's all she wrote.

That is the funniest thing.....French-kissed you........ So, what did he do to Michael?

I just about died when you texted me that Michael bought DVC. I went over to Nate & whispered in his ear so the kids didn't hear. He was super-excited too!

I am going to have to start our travel day part of this report later today. Jenna is so busy with house guests until Tuesday and since it's raining here and everyone is gone, it's a great time.

Hope everyone is having a beautiful holiday weekend (those who partake in Memorial Day).

House guests just left! So that's why I'm here. Nate is working on our pics. I'll start posting my travel day, but may have to add the pics in later.

that would have been SO amazing but I wouldn't want you to take advantage of your honey's good nature...or would I. I have to admit I'm over the moon that there is such a good chance that Jenna's going to be thereit will just be the cherry on top of the cake if she manages (no pressure or guilt trip there Jenna)

None what-so-ever! I think Nate even discussed having the kids stay with his parents(which they readily agreed to) with them when they were here, so things are definitely progressing towards an August trip!

You will love Jenna and her family.

Well, they may love me, but I'll let them form their own opinions on Nate. And the kids will not be coming this time. Even though I think Emma and Niamh would get along fabulously, Nate & I would like a little break from our little s.

Hi I am back and on board for this TR !! Will be starting ine soon!!

Welcome home Rosie! Hope your trip was as great as ours! Did the rain affect you?

 

[jenna]

Jenna's Days T-2 & T-1 (Friday, May 8th & Saturday, May 9th)

I always have the best intentions of leaving for these trips around 5 in the afternoon. The kids get home from school at 4:00 so that gives us an hour to finalize the last minute things, right? Wrong! We are lucky if we leave by 8:00 usually. This time though, I think we made it out of the house about 7:00. Of course, I had to make two quick stops, so it probably was closer to 8 by the time we got on the highway though. We picked up Arby's (gotta love 5 sandwiches for $5.95) for dinner and ate on the way.

Now there is one benefit of leaving later......we can take the route that takes us through DC traffic-free. This is the quickest route, but if you are stuck in the traffic on the Beltway, it can add hours. At 1:00 am though, you miss rush-hour.

The kids did great on the ride! We stopped right before we got to the PA/MD border to buy Powerball tickets for the week. (I play Jenny's numbers for her 2x a week since she doesn't have the lottery in Utah. If we win, we will split the money!) Chris & Emma came in with me to use the bathroom and I got Nate & me coffees before we left. Nate decided to top off the gas since we were already there and had used half a tank to get through PA. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the tickets because they had already shut down the machine for the night. I knew I could get them in NC or SC so I wasn't too upset.

We got back in the car & drove. And drove. And drove. We took another break somewhere in VA and made sure all the kids got out to use the bathroom. I think this was around 2 am or so. Chris had been awake still up to this point as he doesn't like to miss anything. I had brought the set of Twilight books to re-read as something to do. The whole trip I think I only read as much as halfway through the first book.

I took over driving at this point for a bit. Nate slept and so did Chris, but if you ask Chris he says he was awake the whole time. I probably drove for a couple of hours. We stopped to switch drivers again, got gas, and then I slept.

I must have slept for most of NC because I don't remember seeing all of the "South of the Border" billboards. One thing we didn't do this time down is stop at the infamous South of the Border. There are much nicer rest room facilities on I-95, thank you very much. We stopped for gas and continued our drive. I took back over at this point as I was well rested. I also got my Powerball ticket for that night's drawing, but I wasn't able to pre-buy for the rest of the trip. We would have to find somewhere in FL to get the tickets later in the week. I managed to drive through most of SC and into Georgia while Nate slept.

The rest of the drive was as uneventful as the start. It was great to be in the South again! It was in the 70's at 7:00 in the morning so I knew we were in for some hot weather!

We all celebrated once we hit the Florida border! I sent pictures via my phone to Jenny of the Welcome to Florida sign at the visitor's center. We got our samples of OJ and grapefruit juice & were back on the road. It is still about a 3 & 1/2 hrs. drive from the border. Just when you think you are almost there.......

We stopped at Sonic on I-4 to get my mandatory slushy! I love me some Sonic. We don't have any near where we live so when I get the chance to stop, I do! 4 Slushies & a soda cost us less than $4. Gotta love Happy Hour!

I took a picture of the gate with my phone at 4:20 and sent it to Jenny. We had made it!

I went in to check in at Pop Century & I think we were in our room by 4:45. We were in the 50's section. I had to laugh when I saw that giant "Lady" & "Tramp." It was exactly where Jenny wanted to stay so I had to send her another photo!

First order of business at Pop- showers! After driving for how many hours straight, it felt gooooood! The kids got baths & we were on our way to MK!

More to follow later!

 

[rentayenta]

Yay!!!! I still have the pics you sent from traveling and arriving if you want me to post them.

Usually it means that I left the computer on again & walked away.

Ha ha ha!!!!!

Guess she already spilled the beans from what I've read......

I really tried but I am powerless against the force of Disney.

What's that supposed to mean?!

Nothing but good stuff.

Yes, it's been quite a busy few days. Chris came home on Thursday and said, "Mom, our luau is tomorrow and my teacher would love for you to come in & help and bring food in for it." I knew the luau would be sometime soon after we got home, but not that soon! Needless to say I had to go to the grocery store to get some supplies. I ended up making pineapple stuffing, ono butter mochi (a coconut, buttery cake/dessert) and pina coladas (non-alcoholic, of course) for the kids. The pina coladas were a hit!

C'mon, fess up. You know you boozed up the 2nd grade! The food sounds fabulous!

We had an itinerary?

I used it for toilet paper!

Awwwww....you are so sweet!

I think you might be the first person in my entire life to ever describe me as sweet.

That is the funniest thing.....French-kissed you........So, what did he do to Michael?

You are the only one to catch that!!!

I just about died when you texted me that Michael bought DVC.I went over to Nate & whispered in his ear so the kids didn't hear. He was super-excited too!

I am still in shock but my list of questions to ask is ever growing. I was so excited to tell you!

House guests just left! So that's why I'm here. Nate is working on our pics. I'll start posting my travel day, but may have to add the pics in later.

How was the visit? Can't wait to see the pics of Emma.

 

[DisneyJo]

booked prefered viewing reservations for Wishes and Illuminations

The Epcot ones are good, they're normally near Morocco but don't bother with the MK ones if they're the same as when we were there, they're right near the ice cream shop near the noodle place. Loads of trees in the way and rubbish view!

Delta agent asked me how I would like to pay for our $15 per bag fee? What the heck? When did Delta start doing that? Here’s the kicker: we packed an en extra nearly empty bag for souvenirs so we had to pay $15 for a bag we didn’t need…..yet.

Wow that's a lot, especially as you say it's one way!!!

Want see some pictures of my family thoroughly enjoying themselves during the 4 a.m. layover in Hotlanta?

You all look so tired, was the flight cheaper because it was at night?

And then the final euphoria of driving under the one of the most heartwarming signs in Orlando Although the Hess gas station sign pitters my patter as well Again, because we arrived at night last time we were unable to the get the shot I so desired while driving into WDW but not this time.

Woooohoooo you're there

The UK gets all of the good perks! I'll ask Jo when I "see" her. I forget we have a go-to girl!

We picked up Arby's (gotta love 5 sandwiches for $5.95) for dinner and ate on the way.

Wow bargain

I went in to check in at Pop Century & I think we were in our room by 4:45. We were in the 50's section. I had to laugh when I saw that giant "Lady" & "Tramp." It was exactly where Jenny wanted to stay so I had to send her another photo!

Yay

 

[vamassey1]

Can I pre-order still? I have the cards but haven't registered them yet?

I don't know. But it's worth a try also add this discount code to save 15% 9VISARD15. Let me know if it works.

 

[passthepixiedust]

Yay! You both started!

Post Disney blues are officially kicking in. I know we are going back soon, but still......

Keep the updates coming to cheer me up!

 

[Trentmom]

Jenna,.,....sounds like you had a very uneventful drive

I love Sonic..We always have commercials for them, but there are none around here...such a tease