Resorts, Relatives & Restaurants - and a 3 day cruise!

[Mndisneygirl]

From your neighbor in WI I understand the whole snow thing...it's so depressing.

Great start, can't wait to hear more!!

Right on neighbor! Thanks for coming!

I'm here! I'm here!
Haven't had time to read all the way thru~just when I found you, I hear my DH fighting with my kids about brushing their teeth! Is it strange that we have to physically restrain my 3yo on the ground to get his teeth brushed??
I'll catch up in the A.M.!!!

Heck, I have to do that with my 6 yo some days!! LOL

 

[trixiequilts]

Hey Sheree! I'm just poppin' in to say hi! You're doing a great job with your TR! I can't wait to read more!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I'm here! Thanks for the link! Can't wait to read more and hear all about BLT!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Hey Sheree! I'm just poppin' in to say hi! You're doing a great job with your TR! I can't wait to read more!

YAY! Trixie! Thanks for stopping by! More will be posted in the next couple days.

I'm here! Thanks for the link! Can't wait to read more and hear all about BLT!

Oh, if it isn't Mamma Snowbird!! Glad to have you - you are one of my many TR inspirations!! I have to get writing because all this stuff about the trip is swirling in my head and keeping me up at night! My DH and kids are helping me to remember all the details (my journaling was lacking, but that's a story for the TR!).

Stay tuned...

 

[Northern Disney Girl]

HEY GIRL!!!!

Sorry I took all day to get here! We have been out doing a lot of visiting and catching up with friends! Summer and Christmas seems to be the only good times for really good social times! Kids have no school and everybody is relaxed and ready for fun!

I am SO loving this TR so far! LOVE your car! A silver VW Passat is my absolute DREAM CAR!!! My inlaws drive a Jetta but I find them to be a bit cranped! The passats have just a touch more leg room!

Can't wait to hear more! GREAT Start!

I will be getting some child free alone time tomorrow so I hope to update with the last day! After that I think I might do some countdown stuff and share my "Lists" with y'all!

 

[Firestarter]

I'm looking forward to reading this. Maybe tomorrow over lunch...

 

[Mndisneygirl]

HEY GIRL!!!!

Sorry I took all day to get here! We have been out doing a lot of visiting and catching up with friends! Summer and Christmas seems to be the only good times for really good social times! Kids have no school and everybody is relaxed and ready for fun!

I am SO loving this TR so far! LOVE your car! A silver VW Passat is my absolute DREAM CAR!!! My inlaws drive a Jetta but I find them to be a bit cranped! The passats have just a touch more leg room!

Can't wait to hear more! GREAT Start!

I will be getting some child free alone time tomorrow so I hope to update with the last day! After that I think I might do some countdown stuff and share my "Lists" with y'all!

YAY!! Kim is here!! I know how busy it can get during school breaks. Unfortunately, I still have to work most of it, so we don't get to go visiting anyone during the week. I should have a slow day tomorrow and hopefully can post the next installment tomorrow at work. (shh) I'm looking forward to reading more of your plans too. I so wish I was going again soon (meaning during a bad cold snap here!)
You know, I love my Passat. Her name is Pearl. (she's white) We had a silver Jetta wagon before, (named Greta) which I also loved, but it was pretty cramped. Especially with a car seat in the back. Now that we only need a booster, and have more room, the Passat is awesome! Plus it's a super fun car to drive!! And, I know you'll appreciate this, we got one with heated front seats!! I am so loving that these days! (we need a Brrrr smilie!)

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I'm looking forward to reading this. Maybe tomorrow over lunch...

Hey Ken - welcome aboard. I'm looking forward to your commentary! Maybe by lunch tomorrow I'll have more for you to read.

Since I didn't do a PTR, I have to include the preliminary stuff here. I'll get to the trip before long though, I promise!

 

[trixiequilts]

(we need a Brrrr smilie!)

Like this?

 

[ladybugmom]

Hi Sheree!! I just came across your TR and I'm sooo excited to read it! We are planning to go next year before Christmas and I'm researching as much as I can--can't wait to read more tips/experiences from you! Did you like the week that you went? And if so, why? How were the crowds? The weather? I can't wait to hear all about your trip!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Like this?

Yes, exactly like that!

Hi Sheree!! I just came across your TR and I'm sooo excited to read it! We are planning to go next year before Christmas and I'm researching as much as I can--can't wait to read more tips/experiences from you! Did you like the week that you went? And if so, why? How were the crowds? The weather? I can't wait to hear all about your trip!!

I will tell you whatever you want to know! I would say I liked our week, but there are a few reasons I would have preferred the week before ours. Crowds were okay - more than I thought, but there was a reason for that (Pop Warner, Christmas parade tapings) however, they didn't seem to really impact the lines for rides. We had pretty good weather overall.
Stay tuned for more details. I promise I'll get to arriving at WDW in the next couple installments!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Oh, if it isn't Mamma Snowbird!! Glad to have you - you are one of my many TR inspirations!! I have to get writing because all this stuff about the trip is swirling in my head and keeping me up at night! My DH and kids are helping me to remember all the details (my journaling was lacking, but that's a story for the TR!).

Stay tuned...

Mamma Snowbird!! Now there's something I haven't heard in awhile!

Glad you be your inspiration!

That's good that you have your kids and DH to help you with the details. I am totally on my own here!! The boys aren't too good on details. Good thing I took a million pictures to help me keep everything straight!

 

[Northern Disney Girl]

YAY!! Kim is here!! I know how busy it can get during school breaks. Unfortunately, I still have to work most of it, so we don't get to go visiting anyone during the week. I should have a slow day tomorrow and hopefully can post the next installment tomorrow at work. (shh) I'm looking forward to reading more of your plans too. I so wish I was going again soon (meaning during a bad cold snap here!)
You know, I love my Passat. Her name is Pearl. (she's white) We had a silver Jetta wagon before, (named Greta) which I also loved, but it was pretty cramped. Especially with a car seat in the back. Now that we only need a booster, and have more room, the Passat is awesome! Plus it's a super fun car to drive!! And, I know you'll appreciate this, we got one with heated front seats!! I am so loving that these days! (we need a Brrrr smilie!)

Pearl the Passat with seat warmers! I love going for rides in my InLaws car cause they have heated seats too! We are currently driving a red Pontiac Montana minivan! A huge upgrade from our Chev Malibu! We never thought we would be van people, but we our van!

Can't wait to hear more! I will get around to updating our PTR this afternoon after the kids are out of the house! Right now I doing about a bazillion loads of

 

[Monny2AE]

Yeah! Sheree started a TR!!!! I'm on board! Can't wait to hear all about the cruise!

I'm here! I'm here!
Haven't had time to read all the way thru~just when I found you, I hear my DH fighting with my kids about brushing their teeth! Is it strange that we have to physically restrain my 3yo on the ground to get his teeth brushed??
I'll catch up in the A.M.!!!

This cracked me up! You are SO not alone!

 

[Remmy]

Hello. I hope you don't mind me showing up fashionably late to your trip report as I saw your link from the Snowbirds 2010 thread. I am loving it so far. It sounds like an excellent trip and I cannot wait to read your next installment. I will be here waiting.
Remmy

 

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

Great TR so far! Love the Passat-I was lucky enough to have a (used) Silver Passat with a sun roof (ahhh...sky!! ) and butt warmers . We traded it last Dec to get my boring (used again) Chevy Equinox so we'd have something roomy to drive to the world! We had to have room for the booster, car seat and XXL double jogging stroller! We were still cramped! And, Oh, how I miss those butt warmers...
Patiently waiting for more TR...

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Mamma Snowbird!! Now there's something I haven't heard in awhile!

Glad you be your inspiration!

That's good that you have your kids and DH to help you with the details. I am totally on my own here!! The boys aren't too good on details. Good thing I took a million pictures to help me keep everything straight!

Yes, the pictures sure help me remember too!

Pearl the Passat with seat warmers! I love going for rides in my InLaws car cause they have heated seats too! We are currently driving a red Pontiac Montana minivan! A huge upgrade from our Chev Malibu! We never thought we would be van people, but we our van!

Can't wait to hear more! I will get around to updating our PTR this afternoon after the kids are out of the house! Right now I doing about a bazillion loads of

Put away the , do your update and come read more!!

Yeah! Sheree started a TR!!!! I'm on board! Can't wait to hear all about the cruise!



This cracked me up! You are SO not alone!

Hello. I hope you don't mind me showing up fashionably late to your trip report as I saw your link from the Snowbirds 2010 thread. I am loving it so far. It sounds like an excellent trip and I cannot wait to read your next installment. I will be here waiting.
Remmy

Well, someone had to be the diva! LOL! Glad you could join me! It was quite a fun adventure! I'll have an update up soon.

Great TR so far! Love the Passat-I was lucky enough to have a (used) Silver Passat with a sun roof (ahhh...sky!! ) and butt warmers . We traded it last Dec to get my boring (used again) Chevy Equinox so we'd have something roomy to drive to the world! We had to have room for the booster, car seat and XXL double jogging stroller! We were still cramped! And, Oh, how I miss those butt warmers...
Patiently waiting for more TR...

It's coming! Thanks for being patient! You know I just started this yesterday, right?

 

[Mndisneygirl]

So, when I left off, we had decided Pearl would be our "carraige". Next we had to figure out who from the family was going when and how and with whom.
SIL Sharon - lives in MN. Problem: No room in our car.
SIL Donna and Family live in VA right next door to MIL. Could they all fit together??
SIL Debbie - easy. They live in southern FL and would drive up in their camper.

As I looked at the dates, I knew the cruise would end on a Sunday. I really didn't want the kids to miss more school and I more or less needed to be back to work on Monday. So we decided the girls and I would fly home on Sunday. Then Sharon could drive back with DH. So Sharon then booked a flight from MN to Ft. Myers to fly to Debbie's and ride up to WDW with them. Problem solved.

SIL Donna said, no problem, we can all go in our SUV. Talk about crowded. Did I mention the nephews are teenagers? Good thing they have a third row SUV!

All the in-laws were planning on arriving on Sunday 12/6. We were planning on arriving 12/5. Should we add another night on our BLT stay? Hmmm...
Well, since we only had 4 days to spend at the parks and we really wanted to see as much Christmas stuff as possible, we had decided that we probably would skip Animal Kingdom this trip. We aren't big EE fans, and we had just been in January to see the animals and the Nemo show.
As I was perusing the DIS one day at work (shh), (I think it was in August) I came across a banner ad. It said, take 30% off deluxe resorts. Yes, my curiosity was piqued. I clicked on it. It included our dates. You could do room only. No minimum stay. Do you see where I'm going with this?



Yup, I called. I booked a one night stay at ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE with a savanna view and bunk beds!!! Then I called my DH and told him! hee hee
I figured this way we could still see the animals and get the feeling we were there at AK. Plus it was a DELUXE!! I would love to stay at all of them someday! We had stayed at the Contemporary garden wing once when Shades of Green was under construction (this was where BLT is now), but never any other deluxes. I decided not to tell the kids so I could have a little surprise for them. There is no way I can keep a big secret like a whole trip (I know so many of you have, but not me!). This will be our first night, just the four of us and we would explore the resort and see the animals! From Charleston Princess' report from last summer, I knew it was an amazing place!

When I booked this trip, it was still during the time you only could make ADRs 90 days out. So in August, I set about trying to figure out where we'd eat. We were doing DDP. Well 10 of us were. Debbie and Steve had APs, so they weren't on a package. Did we all want to eat together? Oh boy, this would be a challenge.
I called and set us up as a Grand Gathering. They told me that there was a special number to call for parties of 10 or more for ADRs, warned me that with a large group, we may not all be seated together, and wished me a magical day.

Next up: My favorite thing - reading menus! Where should we eat??? Did I ask anyone else's opinions?? How would I schedule our days? Thank goodness we have park hoppers! By the way, when will I book our flight home? Watching for good fares is a PITA (Pain in the A**)

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I didn't realize that you were going to AKL for one night. That is awesome!

If I had to skip one park, it would be AK too. I know lots of people LOVE it, but it's just not my thing I guess.

You are so right, getting airfare is a huge PITA!!! I am dreading it already for the next trip.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Hi! I just came over from my report. I've got to go back and read your report though. Can't wait. I'd love to take a cruise someday!