So They Want Us To Celebrate? WELL, OK!!! (We're Back)

[leamom2princesses]

You did make quite a few changes. You're my hero!

We've did dinner at LTT last year and really liked it. I don't think it is a character meal anymore though. I think they quit somewhere around the first of the year. We did lunch at Akerhaus last year too. I have two girls so princess interaction is a must. You have a lot of great meals planned. Can't wait to see what you think!

 

[KathyRN137]

We've did dinner at LTT last year and really liked it. I don't think it is a character meal anymore though. I think they quit somewhere around the first of the year.

That's true, but wasn't there such an uproar that they decided to bring the characters back?? I'm just not sure when....

It's so hard to resist the urge to "tweak!"


Kathy

 

[2xcited2sleep]

What's that you say? Best trip ever? Well, then, count me in! Now I have to go back and catch up. You'll be there over MY birthday. Too bad you can't collect the birthday gift card/free park admission for me!

 

[Raecheal]

I have alot of trip reports to catch up on... but i'm so happy I found you again. I followed your signature from my 2008-Trip report...which i still haven't finished.

10 years, correct?... wow. Congrats.

 

[scottny]

Found your new pre tr.

your plans sound great so far.

I am thinking of trying the new restaurant at AKL in October.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

We haven't been for Christmas so I am really looking forward to it. I followed your December TR which has really made me excited to go. Our trip seems so far away but I don't want to wish the summer away for it to come quicker. The summer is going to fly by anyway since there will be a lot going on for us. Once September hits I'll start wishing the time away.

I'm gald my December TR helped get you more excited to go on your own Christmas trip. You're right that the time will be here before you know it. No amount of TR reading or photo watching can truly prepare you for the amazement you're going to feel when you see WDW during that time of the year. I can't wait to see how your trip goes. In the meanwhile, I hope you continue to enjoy our journey, as we go back to WDW during the summer time. The last time we were there in the summer was 2006, so it will definitely be a change.

That's a wonderful itinerary - You are eating a lot of great places! It sure sounds like a celebration to me! You will have to tell us how the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Cruise is, it sounds like a lot of fun. Oh and you will be at WDW for my birthday (July 31st)! Have a wonderful trip!

I'm glad you like our itinerary, but stay tuned for a bunch of changes. Also, we cancelled the cruise. There were other things we wanted to do, and when you see our adjustments you'll understand more. Besides, my DH did something sweet in place of it. Details are coming.

I want you to go - stand in front of a mirror - and try to say - with a straight face: "This is our final itinerary." ...

Let us know what happens ...

P.S. You do know lunch at LTT is no longer a Character meal - right?

I do know about LTT, but believe it or not we've not only made a bunch of dining changes, but a lot of changes overall. I know! You're shocked. Stay tuned...I think we've outdone all our previous trip changes.

You did make quite a few changes. You're my hero!

We've did dinner at LTT last year and really liked it. I don't think it is a character meal anymore though. I think they quit somewhere around the first of the year. We did lunch at Akerhaus last year too. I have two girls so princess interaction is a must. You have a lot of great meals planned. Can't wait to see what you think!

I'm glad you like my plans so far. I hope you like my adjustments that I'll be posting soon.

That's true, but wasn't there such an uproar that they decided to bring the characters back?? I'm just not sure when....

It's so hard to resist the urge to "tweak!"


Kathy

It would be great if they did bring them back.

What's that you say? Best trip ever? Well, then, count me in! Now I have to go back and catch up. You'll be there over MY birthday. Too bad you can't collect the birthday gift card/free park admission for me!

So glad to see you again! Have you caught up yet? I haven't posted in a while, so you've had some time.

Best trip ever? ABSOLUTELY!!!

I wish we could collect on your birthday free park admission, too. How great would that be?

I have alot of trip reports to catch up on... but i'm so happy I found you again. I followed your signature from my 2008-Trip report...which i still haven't finished.

10 years, correct?... wow. Congrats.

I'm so happy you found me again, too. I loved your 2008 TR, and I'm honored you followed me to this one. I'll have to go back and catch up on yours, especially since you're not done with it yet. I understand how life can get in the way of all our Dis posting fun.

Yup! 10 years...thanks.

Found your new pre tr.

your plans sound great so far.

I am thinking of trying the new restaurant at AKL in October.

 

[Raecheal]

I just finished reading through your whole December report... Omgawd.. it looks like you had an amazing trip. I truly enjoyed reading it. I love all your photos.. you are so photogenic. Did you enjoy Pop? Walt Disney World is absolutely stunning around Christmas time.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Okay, I'm back. I'm sorry for the long departure from the Disboards, but life has a way of just cutting in on my Disboards time, and before I knew it, it had been waaaaaaaaay too long since I'd last posted.

At any rate, I think it has been worth the wait. Since the last time I did an update on our trip planning, we've made quite a few changes. Changes that I never expected, but I'm sure glad we made. Changes that will make our 10th anniversary and birthdays celebration trip so much better. Changes that. . .okay, okay, I'll get on with it.

At first, the only changes we had made were to a few of our ADRs. Then, my wonderful DH decided that he wanted to order a special cake and other treats for our first night's arrival, to be delivered to our room. He told me about it after he placed the order, and I was thrilled. But then he didn't stop there. He decided to call the Disney Florist people and he ordered a variety of items for me and for us, none of which I know any details about, which I believe are arriving either our first or second day there. How cool is that? I definitely married a terrific guy.

Then, the more time passed, the more we kept talking about how we wish we were staying longer. Then, we talked about the idea of maybe adding a Disney cruise to the start of the vacation. Then, we finally decided, we would stay a little longer, in lieu of adding a short cruise which would only make us want to be on the cruise longer, since it would had to have been a short cruise. Still with me? Good.

So, we decided that we definitely want to do a cruise, but a longer one, and we'd wait till next year for that. Also, we decided that we really want to try that new European Disney cruise they are now offering, since we've always wanted to go overseas, but have been a bit intimidated about going it on our own. So, that trip will wait till probably our 15th anniversary.

For this trip, we ultimately decided to add two days, really a day and a half, to the start of our trip. We also added the water parks and extras (like DisneyQuest) to our package. Whew! That's everything...well mostly...I'll fill you in on what we've bought for the trip in another post.

That means that we are now leaving on July 22nd and coming back home the same day we originally intended. Of course, I ended up updating my countdown banner, which I like even better than the old one. We are closer to going than ever, and we are so psyched!!!

Still to come....the itinerary changes, weight changes and its effects to the wardrope and some fun purchases.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

I just finished reading through your whole December report... Omgawd.. it looks like you had an amazing trip. I truly enjoyed reading it. I love all your photos.. you are so photogenic. Did you enjoy Pop? Walt Disney World is absolutely stunning around Christmas time.

We really did have a terrific trip last December....so many great memories. I'm glad you enjoyed the TR and photos. Thanks for the compliment. It's funny that you said that, because I think you're extremely photogenic, as well. Maybe it has something to do with our love for Disney.

We really did enjoy POP. We had been there before, so we knew what to expect. We love how you can look back and remember your own childhood, as well as enjoy the icons of so many great decades, all around you. The food court has a terrific selection and we like the selections at their store. Overall, we definitely recommend it for those on a tighter budget.

It is absolutely stunning around Disney time. We hope to go again sometime way down the road, and we're really enjoying getting to see the parks without any holiday decorations....just WDW in its natural beauty.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

For those who know me well enough from previous TRs and have come to realize it from this one, we tend to make a lot of changes. When there's only two of us and all this time left before a trip, we have a tendency to change our minds a lot. It's part of our WDW trip planning fun.

So, this is our new itinerary, with the added dates and plans:

Friday, July 22nd
- Arrive in the afternoon to AKL
- Go to the pool and explore the resort
- Eat dinner at Jiko's
- Possibly listen to AKL fireside storytelling and maybe do the night vision of the safari animals (or) We might go to DTD

Saturday, July 23rd
- Go to EMH at MK (yippee!!!)
- After a little more than an hour (in which time we have easily managed to tackle quite a bit), we'll go to Crystal Palace for breakfast (this has become tradition)
- Possibly stay in MK a bit longer
- Head back to resort
- Go to Typhoon Lagoon
- Most likely more resort time
- Dinner at Cape May Cafe (a new one for us)

Friday, July 24th
- Grab a quick snack and do EMH at DHS
- Return to AKL for a late breakfast at Boma
- Relax at AKL much of the day (spend time in the pool, check out the resort, go to the gift shop, etc.)
- At some point, go to DTD
- Dinner at Boma
- MK (EMH - late night)

Saturday, July 25th
- Room service for breakfast and then AK for EMH
- If we're too tired from the previous night, we go to Boma for breakfast
- MK is next
- Lunch at the Plaza Restaurant (we haven't been here since 2002)
- Back to resort
- Epcot later in the day (we may go earlier than dinner or just go for dinner)
- Have dinner at Le Cellier

Sunday, July 26th
- Epcot in the morning (EMH)
- Breakfast at Akershus
- Lunch at Chefs de France
- Return to AKL
- Go to MK (EMH)
- Dinner at Crystal Palace

Monday, July 27th
- HS in the morning (EMH)
- Counter Breakfast
- Lunch at 50s Primetime Cafe
- Return to AKL
- Dinner at Boma

Tuesday, July 28th
- MK in the morning (EMH)
- 1900 Park Fare for breakfast
- Lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table
- Return to AKL
- Dinner at California Grill
- Epcot in the evening (EMH)

Wednesday, July 29th
- AK in the morning (EMH)
- Breakfast at Tusker House
- Lunch at Yak & Yeti
- Return to AKL
- Epcot in the evening
- Dinner at Chefs de France

Thursday, July 30th
- Breakfast at Boma
- MK in the morning
- Tony's Townsquare Restaurant for dinner
- Return to AKL
- 1900 Park Fare for dinner
- Epcot in the evening (EMH)

Friday, July 31st
- HS in the morning (EMH)
- Ohana for breakfast
- Epcot
- Lunch at San Angel Inn (haven't been here since 2002 or 2006)
- Return to AKL
- Narcoosee's for dinner
- MK for evening (EMH)

Saturday, August 1st
- Return Home

That's the plan, thus far, but we still have 1 month and 22 days to go, and as a teacher I'm going to have a lot of time on my hands shortly.

We don't have it written in anywhere, but we know we'll probably spend some of our resort time at Typhoon Lagoon and since most of the parks close earlier than we're used to from our past trips, we'll probably go to DTD more in the evenings, and go to Disney Quest at least once.

On one of those mid-day relaxing times, we would like to do the mouse boats, or whatever they're called, and we are considering trying the hot air ride in DTD. If we can manage the hot air balloon (being up that high), we may nix the mouse boats and try parasailing for the first time. My DH may also do the scuba diving at Typhoon Lagoon on one of our times over there.

So, this is definitely going to be some trip. I will post more later about how weight changes have already affected our trip wardrope and the stuff we've gotten for the trip. It's time to call it a night.

 

[Raecheal]

Okay, I'm back. I'm sorry for the long departure from the Disboards, but life has a way of just cutting in on my Disboards time, and before I knew it, it had been waaaaaaaaay too long since I'd last posted.

At any rate, I think it has been worth the wait. Since the last time I did an update on our trip planning, we've made quite a few changes. Changes that I never expected, but I'm sure glad we made. Changes that will make our 10th anniversary and birthdays celebration trip so much better. Changes that. . .okay, okay, I'll get on with it. :rotfl2

At first, the only changes we had made were to a few of our ADRs. Then, my wonderful DH decided that he wanted to order a special cake and other treats for our first night's arrival, to be delivered to our room. He told me about it after he placed the order, and I was thrilled. But then he didn't stop there. He decided to call the Disney Florist people and he ordered a variety of items for me and for us, none of which I know any details about, which I believe are arriving either our first or second day there. How cool is that? I definitely married a terrific guy.

Aww....That is so romantic.. you def. married a keeper.

Then, the more time passed, the more we kept talking about how we wish we were staying longer. Then, we talked about the idea of maybe adding a Disney cruise to the start of the vacation. Then, we finally decided, we would stay a little longer, in lieu of adding a short cruise which would only make us want to be on the cruise longer, since it would had to have been a short cruise. Still with me? Good.

Yep.. Still here...

So, we decided that we definitely want to do a cruise, but a longer one, and we'd wait till next year for that. Also, we decided that we really want to try that new European Disney cruise they are now offering, since we've always wanted to go overseas, but have been a bit intimidated about going it on our own. So, that trip will wait till probably our 15th anniversary.

For this trip, we ultimately decided to add two days, really a day and a half, to the start of our trip. We also added the water parks and extras (like DisneyQuest) to our package. Whew! That's everything...well mostly...I'll fill you in on what we've bought for the trip in another post.

Well your changes are gerat.. an extra day and half AND the water parks and extra package? You went shopping... Ohh... I"m excited to read about what you've both purchased so far.

That means that we are now leaving on July 22nd and coming back home the same day we originally intended. Of course, I ended up updating my countdown banner, which I like even better than the old one. We are closer to going than ever, and we are so psyched!!!

Still to come....the itinerary changes, weight changes and its effects to the wardrope and some fun purchases.

Wait.. what day are you leavning? Dbf and I arrive for a weekend trip to the world arriving on July 31st, 2009 until August 2nd, 2009 staying at pop. I"m excited to see your wardrope and all the puchases!!!

We really did have a terrific trip last December....so many great memories. I'm glad you enjoyed the TR and photos. Thanks for the compliment. It's funny that you said that, because I think you're extremely photogenic, as well. Maybe it has something to do with our love for Disney.

We really did enjoy POP. We had been there before, so we knew what to expect. We love how you can look back and remember your own childhood, as well as enjoy the icons of so many great decades, all around you. The food court has a terrific selection and we like the selections at their store. Overall, we definitely recommend it for those on a tighter budget.

It is absolutely stunning around Disney time. We hope to go again sometime way down the road, and we're really enjoying getting to see the parks without any holiday decorations....just WDW in its natural beauty.

It most definetely has something to do with our love for Disney. Pop is truly a really good value hotel.. I"m always impressed with it.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Aww....That is so romantic.. you def. married a keeper.

Thanks! I like him.

Yep.. Still here...

So glad I didn't lose anyone yet.

Well your changes are gerat.. an extra day and half AND the water parks and extra package? You went shopping... Ohh... I"m excited to read about what you've both purchased so far.

I'll definitely be getting to that soon. I know you like the shopping part of planning these trips, too. Depending on how this week goes, I'll try to post about it during the week.

Wait.. what day are you leavning? Dbf and I arrive for a weekend trip to the world arriving on July 31st, 2009 until August 2nd, 2009 staying at pop. I"m excited to see your wardrope and all the puchases!!!

We're there from July 22nd-August 1st, so you two will be there for one full day at the same time! How cool is that? What are you doing that day? It would be neat to actually run into you somewhere.

POP is a terrific choice.

It most definetely has something to do with our love for Disney. Pop is truly a really good value hotel.. I"m always impressed with it.

As soon as things slow down on my end, I'll have to read about your upcoming trip. Is it in your TR?

 

[Raecheal]

I think i might have missed your post of your actually itenary. Looks good.. i've never been to Typhoon lagoon as an adault...We arrive on July 31st and that night we have an ADR at Jiko.

My link to my new ptr is in my signature....

 

[dogodisney]

I like your new countdown ticker!

 

[joelp]

"They're" not there yet ...

 

[njdisneyfreak]

I like your new countdown ticker!

Thanks! I tried to do one like that before, but couldn't figure out how. I'm glad it worked this time.

"They're" not there yet ...

Huh?

 

[njdisneyfreak]

I mentioned in my last big post that weight changes affected my wardrobe and that we had also made some purchases for the trip. Well, I'm ready to get into the details. . .

Sometime in January, I began a new program to help myself lose weight. Eventually, I got back into exercising regularly, as well. I'm still doing the program, plus working out one to one and a half hours 5 days a week. Between the two, I've lost 30-35 pounds and gone down 3 sizes. Yeah, major loss! I've been excited.

Though I'm still losing weight, with the warmer weather, I ended up having to get all new shorts. I have stuck with capris only, during warm months, for at least two years now. So, I'm thrilled to not only be back in shorts, but to have shorts that I absolutely love. It's amazing how getting into the single digits can open up so many more clothing options. Now, I have a whole new summer wardrobe for summer!

I also had to get some new bathing suits, and they are so nice! I absolutely love them, too! I can't wait to wear them at the pool in WDW. In fact, the store where I bought two of my favorites, was a store I had looked at before, sometime in the past. But, they didn't have the size I used to be. Now, I don't have that problem!!! Very cool.

Then, my DH and I have been wanting iPods for some time, and we used this upcoming trip as a good excuse to get them. You know. . .well, we can use them on the airplane, and with all the time we'll spend by the pool, they'd be nice, etc., etc. So, we each got our own iPod nanos. Today, my DH went and got us the speaker system you can put the iPod into, so it can play in a room and charge at the same time. We are going to bring it with us on the trip, so we can hear our tunes, while we're in the room.

Let's see. . .what else? Oh, yeah. . .since we're going in the summer, I have some super comfy flip flops I plan to bring with me. However, I knew I should bring a pair of sneakers along, too. I've been looking for a new pair for quite some time, and I haven't loved any of them. Then, this past weekend, I found them!!! They are primarily white with pink and a bit of silver. They also were created in support of breast cancer awareness, too, so that was a major plus. They aren't only super cute and comfy, but they are dri-fit (sp?), so with dri-fit socks, I should do well walking in them, in the scorching Florida heat.

I tested them out on Monday, when we took our 8th graders on their class trip into New York City. I did a ton of walking that day, so they got a good work out, as did I, and they are definitely WDW worthy.

What's next? I have only 9 more days with my students. We've had the class trip and our 8th grade Fun Day. Friday, my DH and I will help chaperone the 8th grade dinner dance. . .think mini-prom. Next week will begin graduation practices, taking things down in my classroom and oh yeah, keeping the kids interested for the remaining days when summer and high school are just around the corner. Then, of course, graduation and FREEDOM!!! I do have to go in for one more day, beyond the last day of school, but not a full day. . .not so bad.

Then, I'll have way too much time on my hands for just under a month, as I wait to leave for our trip. Hopefully, I'll get some curriculum to write, for my school district. It's my summer job, most summers, and I can do it from the comfort of home. . .perfect situation. I can make more money and not go nuts counting down the days. Who am I kidding? I'll still be going nuts and counting down the days!!!

 

[dogodisney]

Congratulations on the weight loss! That's something else you can celebrate at Disney.
Have fun at the dinner dance.
Since school will be out soon, your trip will be here before you know it. Summers always seem to fly by. Besides you have the DISboards to help pass the time.

 

[scottny]

your changes look great. more time there is always good.

congrats on the Ipods. I have 3 and they are great.

 

[disneygirlinnj]

I loved your last TR and just found this one so I'm in!

Congrats on the weight loss...that's amazing!

And I love how you keep on changing your itinerary...sounds like us. I don't make my ADRs until the 28th but I've been changing them every single day!