Sorry, kids. Momma's going to Disney for her birthday (and taking Dad too) April/May 2017

[MommyinHonduras]

Joining in. Trying to convince DH for kid e p and have a daughter with an allergy to corn. She was not throwing up but would have major mood swings and outbursts with no cause and horrible bleeding excema under her arms. Since going off corn both are no plonger an issues and she has finally gained some weight and has thick shiny hair now. We teried all kids of elimination diets and never would have thought corn until one test hinted it cpocpould be a culprit. Its hard on a kis since everything has corn but a year on and we are figuring it out. Biggest hit was some corn free marshmallows found around passover to have smores with her friends at camp. Looking forward to hearing about your time at the Boardwalk....unless you end up changing it!

 

[Chelley00]

I definitely suggest doing this! Not sure if I mentioned it here or not but DH and I did the very first Club Villain last January and absolutely loved it; best separately ticketed event we've ever attended at WDW Everything about it was perfect! I hope they extend it for you!


We ate at Harambe Market back in August and I enjoyed it so much I ate there again in Nov. I especially enjoy their Sangria

Still not word on Club Villain. I'm beginning to lose hope.

I'm so glad to hear you liked Harambe Market. It's not one you see much about, but it's pretty much the only CS we haven't done in AK

Its hard on a kis since everything has corn but a year on and we are figuring it out. Biggest hit was some corn free marshmallows found around passover to have smores with her friends at camp. Looking forward to hearing about your time at the Boardwalk....unless you end up changing it!

Corn is ridiculous. It's in everything. We are still experimenting. He really misses ketchup!

We are not changing Boardwalk. Although sometimes I toy with doing a split stay but I like to unpack and settle in and would hate having to move.

 

[Chelley00]

A couple of quick updates before going back to planning:

One, look what popped up Thursday!

Today is 96.

Second, we added the dining plan. Now, I've done the dining plan twice before, once with DD and once with Mom and the kids. I'm okay with it. I like the convenience factor. But this time it made sense because as an accountant (and an obsessive penny pincher) I always pick the cheapest thing on the menu. This way it will alleviate the guilt of ordering what ever I want, we have snack credits to use for Flower and Garden booth and it's paid for in advance. Plus, with the discount that came out, it saved us $1096 and the dining plan was $1077 so we came out ahead So I switched our first day ADR from Tiffins to Sanaa.




April 30
Happy birthday to me.

My birthdays always blow. Now, DH is fantastic, but he's horrible at holidays. He tries, but he's seriously gift giving impaired. A few years ago I actually started taking trips with a group of girlfriends on my birthday weekend to eliminate him stressing about what to do and me ending up disappointed. So last year when we had to cancel our trip over my birthday, it was heartbreaking.

And so this year, I'm determined we are going to Disney, and I am spending my birthday in my favorite place with my favorite person.

Not only that, my favorite ride in my favorite place with my favorite person

Since we HAVE to ride Haunted Mansion, I'm planning Fastpasses for that side of the park:

Haunted Mansion
Big Thunder Mountain
either Jungle Cruise or Pirates

I've even toyed with Talking Mickey. It will be my birthday after all.


Lunch was tricky. We've spent so much time in MK before that we've tried a lot of the counter service places. I had The Plaza scheduled before we switched to the dining plan, and I think I'm going to keep it. We've never been and it looks like a nice low key place that won't take a long time.

For dinner we have an ADR at Narcoossees hopefully with good enough timing we can see Electrical Water Pageant and Wishes. My goal is to maybe walk over to Trader Sams after dinner but it depends how tired (and how full!) we are. I'm trying to figure out my timing for dinner: what time should we leave MK to head back to BWI to be able to change and then make it back to Grand Floridian by 7:30?

 

[ariane37]

Happy birthday to me.

My birthdays always blow.

I'm so sorry they always blow but I did LOL when I read this!

And so this year, I'm determined we are going to Disney, and I am spending my birthday in my favorite place with my favorite person.

Nothing better IMO! I hope it's your best one yet

I'm trying to figure out my timing for dinner: what time should we leave MK to head back to BWI to be able to change and then make it back to Grand Floridian by 7:30?

Well, definitely earlier than you would think, again IMO. In Nov. it took us forever to get from BCV to Narcoossee's for our 7:00 dinner because of monorail issues - and because we didn't leave early enough......I had wanted to be to the bus stop by 5:30 since we then had to take the monorail to the GF, but DS wasn't moving that fast and we didn't get to the bus stop until 6. Got to MK 6:25 so I thought we were still looking ok and we probably would have been fine, except the monorail had issues. We ended up getting to our dinner at almost 7:25. It wasn't a problem with Narcoossee's at all but I was dressed up and running lol! So I'd be ready to leave BWI, if you're taking bus to MK and then monorail, by 6.

 

[Chelley00]

So I'd be ready to leave BWI, if you're taking bus to MK and then monorail, by 6.

Thankfully we will have a car so that should cut out some of our travel time to Narcoossees



I'm such a slacker. This two job plus certification project/education thing is about to kick me in the pants. Plus DD has the flu and it's making her asthma flare up something awful. I desperately need this trip!

But in happy news today was O's first time back at gymnastics since his back injury. He's so tired he can't feel his legs now

A couple of quick updates:

We are at 75 days. It's going so slow and so fast at the same time!

Since Rivers of Light packages came out, I booked the dinner at Tiffins (yes again) We are still up in the air, but thankfully our Sanaa was later so it didn't make me cancel it. I know I need to make a decision and finalize our plans soon. Too many options!

My mom is confirmed for one of the weekends we are gone to stay here, and my inlaws will cover the rest of the time with the kids, getting them to school and back. I wish I would have kept all the things I had made last year for the trip we canceled. Nothing like having to recreate medical releases and schedules!

On to daily plans!



May 1

I'm so excited to go to Flower and Garden! We've always gone in fall and love Food and Wine, but we've never been able to go in spring. I'm tempted to buy a new camera before we leave. Mine's perfectly fine but omgoodness I just can't wait to see the beauty in person! It almost screams new camera.

And how dumb is it that I'm so excited to enter through the International Gateway (snicker)

Continuing on with our "first time restaurants". We are planning lunch around the booths with snack credits. With my food allergies it might be a little hit or miss for me, but I can always grab a counter service somewhere else. Dinner is at Rose and Crown, hopefully timed well enough for Illuminations. DH has never seen Illuminations before!

I really want to focus on World Showcase this day, so I'm a little in the air as far as fastpasses. Thinking
Frozen Ever After
Spaceship Earth
I don't know about the third. Maybe Figment? Character Spot? I hate tiered fastpasses!!

 

[xlsm]

Caught up after being a super slacker since my original post on your PTR!

We stayed at the Boardwalk in December, and I liked going to Epcot through the International Gateway! Although I feel like it caused us to not spend much time in Future World. Oh, and tip for Boardwalk, I recommend requesting a room close to the lobby or close to an elevator!

My birthdays are usually pretty bad, too. DH is good at gifts now, so it isn't that...bad things just tend to happen on that day. People die, or get sick, or something breaks. I've pretty much given it up for the past five years or so, because it always falls during cub scout pinewood derby and Odyssey of the Mind regionals. Cub Scout is over, but OM will continue for years...I can try to start celebrating again when the kids are in college, LOL!!

I booked Tiffins ROL package for my May trip, too. I'm really excited to see the restaurant...it looks gorgeous. It's also one of the most consistently well reviewed meals on property, which makes it even more appealing.

I HATE picking FPs for Epcot. We always end up wasting at least one.

I'm excited for you to see Flower and Garden for the first time. Epcot is so beautiful with all the flowers

 

[ariane37]

Count me among the Tiffins ROL,dinner package bookers for May! I'm excited for both the restaurant and the show but bummed I'll miss Avatar by 5 days
Also count me in as understanding the "thrill" of entering through IG lol. We've had 4 stays at BWV and one at BCV and the walk is so easy! It might be a simple thing but walking right into WS is cool
Glad your DS is back at gymnastics! My oldest partially dislocated his knee in a basketball game a week ago and now he's out for the rest of the season which sucks. All part of sports of all kinds I guess!

 

[mistyinca]

Watching this one! So sorry you had to cancel your other trips. And wow, your poor son having to go through all that. I'm looking forward to following along!

 

[Chelley00]

Caught up after being a super slacker since my original post on your PTR!Oh, and tip for Boardwalk, I recommend requesting a room close to the lobby or close to an elevator!

That's funny you call yourself a super slacker since I hardly ever post in here!

I filled out our touring plans room request and asked for the room second from the elevator. Hope it's at least close to that!

Also count me in as understanding the "thrill" of entering through IG lol.

People think I'm nuts. "I CAN WALK TO EPCOT!!"

Watching this one! So sorry you had to cancel your other trips. And wow, your poor son having to go through all that. I'm looking forward to following along!

Welcome! Hopefully I'm a better poster now!




So a quick life update and then back to plans.

I submitted my certification project on Tuesday. What a great feeling! Now I just have to wait to hear if I have any rewrites, finish up about 3 hours of continuing education webinars or books and I'm done. Graduation in July in DC if I make it.

Last Tuesday I signed a formal job offer to work permanently at the place where I was just filling in while they looked for someone to replace their accountant who quit. I only work part time anyhow and this was turning out to be about 15 hours a week so it's just barely full time between both. Super doable. And the new place offered me more money than the current job. Disney money!

So, here's my downer post. Last Wednesday my mom called and asked if I was at home and sitting down. It's never a good thing when anyone starts a conversation like that. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. And thanks to a gynocologist who ignored her when she went to him in October and in December, it's pretty bad. Her surgery is March 16. Most likely chemo after but that depends on her surgery and scan after.

I throw up every day. This sucks. Leave it to bad timing for me to pick up a second job right when this happens. She lives 3 hours away and I'm the only child anywhere close. My brother is 900 miles away. Thankfully my step-siblings are close to them and my stepsister has offered to help however she can, but it's not the same and causing a huge amount of guilt. I'm really good at guilt.

As of now, against my better judgement, our trip is still on. I hate the thought of going while she's sick (see, again, guilt) People say I'll desperately need to get away at that point. She will be recovered from surgery and most likely have just started chemo. And if it's as bad as it sounds, the months after our trip are going to be pretty taxing, especially if I'm driving 3 hours back and forth. Of course if her condition gets worse, we'll cancel (again) So please send prayers and pixie dust to my momma.

I'm really regretting not getting trip insurance!



But now, on to happier topics! Daily plans. We are 56 days away!

 

[Chelley00]

First of all, yay to our amazing TA. With everything going on I totally would have missed FP day. I had it the 28th and it was the 27th! Plus she got up early and I didn't have to. Such a good friend!

So, we got

AK
Dinosaur
EE
FOTLK

MK Day 1
Jungle Cruise
Haunted Mansion
BTMR

Epcot Day 1
Frozen
Character Spot
Spaceship Earth

MK Day 2
Peter Pan
7DMT
Space Mt

DHS
Toy Story Mania
Star Tours
Tower of Terror

Epcot Day 2
Test Track
Living with the Land
Nemo


Next up in our daily plans is May 2. This is our day off.

I hate days off. I mean, I know we need the but I spend the day thinking about the rides we could be on, or the characters we could be seeing etc etc etc. I'm too OCD to be not doing something!!!

But, I know we'll need a day. Of course, we have 10,000 ideas of what to do to fill up that day off!

Books by the pool
Massage for me, fishing for him
Disney Springs
Discovery Cove
Mini Golf/Surrey Bikes
Movies (too bad Guardians of the Galaxy doesn't open until the 5th!)
Bowling at Splitsville
Ocean

and in the spirit of not taking a day off, we've even thrown out going to Universal. Or doing 4 parks 1 day.

Day off shmay off.

For now, I have a Beaches and Cream lunch reservation.

And then, in the evening, no matter what we do, we will dress all fancy and head to the Grand Floridian for Victoria and Alberts.

If I don't chicken out first!

 

[xlsm]

My plan is to be at Epcot on May 1st, too! Maybe we'll run into each other around the world. I'll be the one shoveling food into my mouth while desperately clutching a violet lemonade, lol!

Oh, I hope you don't chicken out on Victoria and Albert's!! I understand why though...it seems a little intimidating! I love the idea of it, but the food looks so pretty I'm almost afraid to eat it and mess it up.
It sounds like a really nice day, relaxing and hanging out, Beaches and Cream and date night dinner? Sounds like a win!

We were trying to find a way for DH to come down at the end of my solo week, but flights are not on our side. I have a feeling we're going to be planning a trip for just the two of us sooner rather than later. He's a little jealous of me right now!

 

[Chelley00]

My plan is to be at Epcot on May 1st, too! Maybe we'll run into each other around the world. I'll be the one shoveling food into my mouth while desperately clutching a violet lemonade, lol!

I'll be the one trying o figure out how quickly I can shovel the Dole Whip with coconut rum floater in my mouth without getting a brain freeze.


May 3
Back to the Magic we go


Today we have a 9:15 BOG breakfast. Now, I'm considering canceling that because
1. I don't want to get up early ever
2. It breaks our rules of "only new restaurants on this trip". Then I backtrack and say we've been for dinner but never for breakfast.
3. Did I mention I am not a morning person

Our goal for this day is to do what we didn't get accomplished on our first MK day. We will mainly be in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland but I'm really hoping to squeeze in another spin on my favorite ride. Especially because I am desperate to order this shirt.

Lunch is hard for this day. We've spent so much time at MK that I'm not really sure we have any restaurants left to do. Skipper Canteen but I don't want to waste a dining credit for lunch. I've thought about ducking in and paying OOP and sharing a meal. Then again, if we keep the BOG breakfast we may not be too hungry. And we need to leave a little early to change for dinner at

California Grill

We have an early dinner reservation. Part of me wanted to do the reservation during Wishes, but we only have two MK days to watch Wishes from Main Street and the other day we will be at Narcoosees for my birthday dinner. I'm thinking we've timed it well enough we should be able to watch the sunset though.

So after dinner we will head back to MK for a couple more rides and Wishes.

 

[Chelley00]

May 4
May the Forth be with you

So yes, we are going to be the cliche couple who is heading to Hollywood Studios for May the Forth. I know they don't do much, and we really aren't die hard SW fans, but this is more to rub it in my brother's face because he is the Star Wars nerd of all nerds. But there is just something about saying we were there on that day that sounds appealing.

We will make this a late morning arrival. I love DHS and the atmosphere but there isn't really a ton on our to do list - especially without the kids.

Lunch is at Fairfax Faire. We've always stuck to Backlot Express or ABC Commissary. I really debated 50's or Sci Fi. Hey, DH has never been there so it still sort of fits with the "new" restaurant theme. It would just be new to one of us!

Dinner is at Mama Melrose. I'm REALLY hoping to score the Star Wars Dessert Party. I sent our TA an email for a little help. I'm afraid it's going to sell out quickly because of the date. We've never done a dessert party (and with my food allergies it may not be a good deal for me) and this is one, considering the date and the location and the theme, that I want to do for this trip.

And then we can boat ride or walk back to the resort. No cramped busses or traffic!

 

[Chelley00]

May 5
Happy Cinco De Mayo

This is our last full day at Disney. While searching etsy for Haunted Mansion shirts I ran across this gem

Seriously, I could spend so much money on Disney stuff at Etsy. How many times is acceptable to change a shirt a day while on vacation?


Today we are heading back to Epcot. We will lunch around the Flower and Garden festival again I think, but there are so many restaurants we haven't been to we can easily find a counter service if we need. We usually stick to Sunshine Season just because it's easy to let everyone pick what they want. Or since we are usually there in October, we stick to Food and Wine booths.

Dinner, of course since it's Cinco De Mayo, is at San Angel. Avacado margarita here I come!

Since we will have seen Illuminations on our first night in Epcot, we may call it a night after dinner and head back to the Boardwalk. We'll have to pack. Because the next day is it

Cue sobbing.

 

[Chelley00]

May 6
Homeward Bound

Our plans are to pack up, load the car and then walk to the Beach Club for our only character meal of the trip, and the only character meal I've never done. We almost always start trips with Chef Mickey's (tradition) and end with another character meal (almost always Ohana) Fill up the bellies with a late breakfast and we can usually drive most of the day before people start complaining they are hungry again

We'll drive as far as we can, stop and stay (thanks hotel points) and then finish our drive on the 7th. And then it will be back to the real world with no more trips planned. We usually try and do Disney HHI in June but this year we are going to DC in July for my certification graduation so that will suck up my summer vacation time. We tried Disney HHI in October but Hurricane Matthew ruined that.

Although, I'm super glad that it did. Instead of going to South Carolina with just two kids, we rented the house on Lake Michigan, had all four kids and our oldest son's girlfriends and my mom and stepdad. With everything going on with my mom, I'm so glad we had that long weekend to spend just enjoying the family. Without Hurricane Matthew, that wouldn't have happened!

 

[ariane37]

Bowling at Splitsville

I really want to try this for some reason. We almost did it last Nov. but changed plans. Maybe on the next trip with the boys...............

And then, in the evening, no matter what we do, we will dress all fancy and head to the Grand Floridian for Victoria and Alberts.

Awesome! I would love to try this in theory but the food makes me nervous lol. And I don't think I'm classy enough to make it through the whole meal

I have a feeling we're going to be planning a trip for just the two of us sooner rather than later.

Cool! i'll let you know the next time Steve and I are going alone after May!!!!

Avacado margarita here I come!

YES!!!

I also want to add that I'm sorry to hear about your mom. It seems I'm hearing this too much lately, my best friends dad was diagnosed with leukemia a few weeks ago and girls in younger DS's elementary school were recently diagnosed with leukemia also, a 6th grader and kindergartner. Also another friend of mine here on the Dis just lost her mom to cancer. I'll keep you and your mom in my thoughts.

 

[Chelley00]

Awesome! I would love to try this in theory but the food makes me nervous lol. And I don't think I'm classy enough to make it through the whole meal .

Me either. So many forks. So much fancy.


Today I'm home unexpectedly. O was supposed to have his first appt with the specialist today and I looked at the letter they sent and it said to go the hospital north, 45 minutes from home. Get there and they said the doctor was downtown. I gave them the letter to prove I wasn't an idiot They squeezed him in for an appt at noon downtown so we came home to wait. It was pointless to take him to school for an hour only to leave again. Not good timing taking off a day since I'm off two days next week for my mom's surgery.

So, I'm trying to finalize plans for our trip. We've been talking about Animal Kingdom. The day we have planned is a Saturday. With an EMH morning.

Yuck.

The point of taking this trip in spring was for Flower and Garden. We're thinking about skipping AK and doing another Epcot day. More time to enjoy the countries that the kids never let enjoy. Probably less crowds. Right now I have both a Tiffins ROL package and a late dinner at Sanaa. I need to cancel either one of both. If we skip AK, do we keep Sanaa or eat someplace at Epcot? Or on the Boardwalk?

Oh Disney, why do you have so many choices?

 

[ariane37]

The point of taking this trip in spring was for Flower and Garden. We're thinking about skipping AK and doing another Epcot day.

See, that's the point of our trip this month AND in May. When it was just May I was going to skip AK and still wasn't sure we'd do it when we added the March trip. But then RoL finally opened and I now have dining packages for both months lol, so I do want to go once. Then they announced the end of Wishes so that of course has to be seen this month. Up until now I'd also been planning on AK this month but just this morning DH said we don't have enough Epcot time so......what to do, what to do

 

[Chelley00]

MY moms surgery was Thursday. Stage 3 ovarian cancer. We are all in shock. And sick. My mom is a rock star and was home Sunday night but only because I decided to stay an extra 2 days to get her home. My step dad is amazing but not a great care taker. He was flabbergasted her recovery has been what it has been. He wasn't expecting the extent and was unprepared. Which really makes me nervous about chemo. It was so hard to leave today to come home 3 hours away.

She should be starting chemo in 4 weeks. Considering we are supposed to leave in 5, we've once again made the decision to cancel our trip. I'm the only child close, her power of attorney, and today when I left she kept saying she couldn't have done this without me. I promised I'd be there every step of the way and being 900 miles away during her first or second chemo treatment isn't happening.

I'm so heartbroken I can't even begin. Our TA emailed me on Saturday that she had booked the Star Wars dessert party for the 4th. Once again a perfect trip with perfect plans is down the drain. It just feels like we will never make it back again. I know what I'm doing is for a good reason but it doesn't make it any easier.

 

[pepperandchips]

Oh Shel I am so sorry to hear this. I don't even have the words to offer proper consolation, but know that your Dis family is here to listen, comfort, support, and hopefully eventually celebrate with you. That is so very kind of you to cancel your trip to take care of your mom during chemo. I know she will appreciate you. So so sorry to hear about your tough situation and mom's diagnosis. Will be thinking of your family.