Thanksgiving with Mickey again...a November 2016 TRIP REPORT! (DONE)

[kittylady1972]

This is funny! I've never planned a trip for more than the 4 of us except back in 2012 when some friends were going at the same time, and we just discussed meeting up a couple days and so I made like 2 ADR's for 8. I can only imagine trying to make plans/purchase tix/make ADR's and FP's for a larger group and the issues it brings up, serious or not! I'm glad your brother and SIL are planning to do what you're planning to do!

That's funny because I've RARELY planned a trip where it was only just the five of us. Usually I'm planning for our five PLUS my MIL and FIL and last trip added in my SIL and nephew. This is the first trip in a long time with my own family, and it will be tough because I'll want to plan most of our FPs together and that means none of the "thrill" rides for my kids, or I'd have to plan those on off times/days or something. It's going to take some planning for sure. The ADRs I'm fine with what we got so far, and I will most likely cancel a few of them but I'd rather have them than NOT have them.

Since we plan to get APs (and I'm SO excited about that) I figure our next trip will probably be in the summer and probably just the five of us and PERHAPS my FIL if for some reason by that time he is a widower...which is highly likely unfortunately. I very seriously doubt there will be any future trips that include my SIL and nephew since they would have to fly to Florida from California and I can't imagine that is cheap. They will be within an hour or so driving distance from Disneyland so I imagine they will spend time there if they need a Disney fix. SIL already has invited all of her friends to come visit them out there. I've already said we have to plans to head to California anytime soon because tickets for the five of us would be too expensive...and I'd rather just stick with the Florida parks. We did Disneyland and Cali Adventure back in 2013 and it was a fun trip...but I pegged it as a once in a lifetime trip at least while WE were shelling out the money for all of it. If the kids choose to visit their aunt and nephew out there, it may have to be when they are paying for it.

 

[kittylady1972]

It's becoming more real...all of the tickets for the trip have now been purchased and linked to everybody's account. I've done some experimenting with the FP+ reservations system since it has changed so much since I last used it. I think I'll be good with it once the time comes.

All of the Magic Bands have also been finalized. I requested everybody to give me a color selection and I have made those changes. My parents will have their bands shipped directly to them since they have a separate reservation from ours. The other ones will all ship to me, but I might turn around and send them back out to my brother and family just so that they will have them since we most likely will all arrive at different times.

We still have plans to leave Friday and be able to do the Universal parks on Saturday. I have no idea where we will stay Saturday night though. SOG is already booked and there are not many options available on Disney property even if paying in cash, especially for a family of five. There's a good chance we'll just book a Universal hotel that night, but I'm still hoping to get an AP rate on that and as of yet nothing is available for that night. I'll pay as much for one night at the Universal Resort hotel as I will at a Disney hotel based on what is available right now for our group though.

72 days to go until we leave...CRAZY how time flies!

 

[kittylady1972]

In today's news: We have a SATURDAY night hotel now.

SOG had some availability again...and I decided it would be best to jump on it now rather than wait because I've been burned by the waiting thing before.

So now we have Saturday night booked at Shades and I've also asked my family if they have any interest in arriving earlier. If so, I can book them a room there as well. There was talk that my golf-loving family (mostly dad and brother) might want do do some golfing...and SOG is on a golf course. If it turns out they have interest in that, then I'll help facilitate some golf into the vacation.

If not...no biggie.

Still only sparse rooms available via DVC for Saturday night. I can pay $383 for a Lion King Suite at Art of Animation or pay $155 for a room at SOG...so Shades wins there.

As much as I wouldn't mind the FOTL access at Universal, I think I like the idea of staying on Disney property since we'll get annual passes anyway. Universal parks close early and don't have the nightlife...and staying at SOG we can slide over to a Disney park in the evening (MK) if we want to do so.

Still a few more days until Fastpass time!

 

[kittylady1972]

THE PLAN: AN UPDATE

• FRIDAY Nov. 18th: Normally this would be my kids' last day of school before Thanksgiving break. They have historically had the entire week of Thanksgiving off. But of course this is the year they have chosen to revamp the calendar, and I think now they only get Wed-Fri off like many other school systems. Clearly this won't work for us, so let's hope those two days they miss (mon/tue) won't be critical. Honestly I'd like to hit the road whenever we can on Friday and begin our drive to Florida. Kids get out of school at 3pm, but I may even pull them around lunchtime/1pm and head home and pack and hit the road by 2pm. NOBODY and I mean NOBODY wants to deal with MD/DC/VA rush hour traffic, especially the Friday before a holiday week. We are HOPING to reach Jacksonville sometime late this evening as we have stopped here for a few past trips.
• SATURDAY Nov. 19th: We would like to arrive as early as possible and head straight to Universal Studios. I have an annual pass and we'll pick up four more tickets. Our main goal: ride THE HULK at Universal Studios since it was being refurbed during our June 2016 Universal trip. We plan to spend most of Saturday at the Universal Parks and since we won't have FOTL access like we had back in June, we may be a bit pressed to get everything done that we want to do. I think for the most part we'll just do favorites and for us that means: The Hulk, MAYBE Kong, Spiderman at Universal. We'll stay as long we can at these two parks and when done we'll head to Disney property and check into our room at Shades of Green. Dinner is set for Trattoria al Forno at Boardwalk, a new place to us. We may drive over there, have dinner and then perhaps some time at EPCOT, maybe just to catch Illuminations.
• SUNDAY Nov. 20th: As of now, my family should be arriving sometime during this day, most likely around dinnertime. I've thrown out the offer to get them rooms at Shades of Green if they would like to arrive earlier, but so far no responses. If it's just the five of us, we'll most likely hit as many big rides in the four parks as we can in one day, or as my family likes to call it "Disney Death March". There are no dinner plans in place because we don't know who will be around when and as of now I'll have my parents checking into Bay Lake Tower and the rest of us at Saratoga Springs.
• MONDAY Nov. 21st: The first park just HAS to be Magic Kingdom so with any luck we'll arrive here at park opening. Originally I had hoped to book a character breakfast, but the best I could do was Chef Mickey's booked for brunch. I'm torn about this one though, as it requires leaving Magic Kingdom on day one just to head over for the meal. That may not be a bad thing...but the price of the meal...I'm just finding it harder and harder to pay for that. I also have an early dinner booked at Crystal Palace. I haven't been here in years and it used to be a favorite, so perhaps it would be nice to do that one instead of Chef Mickey. If everybody is still up for it, we may hit EPCOT afterwards if only to do a few things I think the little kids may enjoy like Finding Nemo and Turtle Talk. If they aren't up for it, then perhaps we'll head there ourselves and do the BIGGER rides such as Test Track and Mission: Space.
• TUESDAY Nov. 22nd: This is another Magic Kingdom day because I feel like we'll need two of them. We have lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern because I love it. Perhaps a break in the afternoon for dinner and relaxation and I'm thinking maybe some time at Hollywood Studios that evening to catch Fantasmic!
• WEDNESDAY Nov. 23rd: Animal Kingdom day and perhaps this could be our first character meal if the other ones don't work out...Tusker House. I have booked Tusker House for meals for us SEVERAL times on prior trips and I have yet to make it there. I think this one is a priority to keep. After a day at Animal Kingdom, more resting up and then perhaps time that evening at EPCOT or some other park of choice. Maybe I'll see what I can FP that evening once we are done for the day at AK.
• THURSDAY Nov. 24th: MK in the early morning if everybody can hang. I have a character breakfast with Lilo and Stitch reserved but I don't know if the boys even know them so we may cancel. I'm thinking of hitting Hollywood Studios for afternoon and doing some of the rides that perhaps we haven't gotten to yet that week. We have a somewhat early Thanksgiving Dinner planned at Boma. Since this is the last day for everybody, we'll see what parks everybody wants to hit after dinner to finish up the trip.
• FRIDAY Nov. 25th: This is our departure day and right now I'm torn. I may try to do some park time on this day for a while, and hit the road in the afternoon/evening and just drive as far as possible again, then stay overnight and finish our drive home on Saturday, just to break up the trip. We'll see how that works out.

So that is the NEW tentative plan for right now, subject to change of course depending on meal changes and/or Fastpass reservations. I'm about a week away from booking our FastPasses and I don't know if I should concentrate on parks I *THINK* we may visit in the afternoon and book some things there or do some early afternoon passes at the parks we plan to be in during the morning. We have two little ones in our travel party, so I've told my kids to not expect me to book Space Mountain this time around. That might be something we do if/when the little ones get tired and need a rest/break but we'd have to do it waiting in lines. I need to put together some kind of touring plan for our parks to decide what rides I truly should FastPass that ALL of us can do together. If we arrive at park opening for MK, I fully expect to hit most of Fantasyland first thing and not need FP reservations for those rides. When crowds build, we can hit things like Philharmagic, the Carousel, even Dumbo and let the boys enjoy the play area there. It's just strange to try to book based on their experience because I'm not even sure how they will handle Haunted Mansion and I think at least one is tall enough for Goofy's Barnstomer coaster which I think he'll enjoy. I'm not sure about BTMRR so I may need to have my SIL measure the boys first to check!

 

[ariane37]

I'm revising my park days but I think maybe we'll both be at MK on the 22nd I know we'll be there later on b/c we have BOG dinner at 6:25, just not sure what time we'll get there. Think we're doing AK in the morning.
I would totally do a park for a bit on your departure day! I love doing that. Even in January when DH and I had to catch ME at 11:30, we went to MK for a PPO breakfast at BOG and then rode a few rides, leaving about 10:45. We had finished breakfast by 8:25 so had just over 2 hours there. Of course we had our AP's then so it's not like we paid for a day of only 2 hours, so I guess it depends exactly how much time you'd spend there before heading home.

So where did you purchase your tix from? I'm in the middle of my next update on my PTR and I mention this, but I got the boys' tickets from Parksavers Sunday. Have them all linked and ready to go and the price was fantastic!

 

[kittylady1972]

I'm revising my park days but I think maybe we'll both be at MK on the 22nd I know we'll be there later on b/c we have BOG dinner at 6:25, just not sure what time we'll get there. Think we're doing AK in the morning.
I would totally do a park for a bit on your departure day! I love doing that. Even in January when DH and I had to catch ME at 11:30, we went to MK for a PPO breakfast at BOG and then rode a few rides, leaving about 10:45. We had finished breakfast by 8:25 so had just over 2 hours there. Of course we had our AP's then so it's not like we paid for a day of only 2 hours, so I guess it depends exactly how much time you'd spend there before heading home.

So where did you purchase your tix from? I'm in the middle of my next update on my PTR and I mention this, but I got the boys' tickets from Parksavers Sunday. Have them all linked and ready to go and the price was fantastic!

Wow...that's cool! Yes I haven't pitched the departure day at the park plan to DH yet. All in good time! It helps break up our 14+ hour drive home though if we leave later and stop overnight. He wants to book the Autotrain home but that would cost me about $750 for all of us and one hotel night on the road is cheaper. Plus I learned last night that some of my mom's friends might be throwing her a surprise birthday party...and if it ends up being that weekend perhaps we'll stay somewhere nearby overnight and surprise her and show up!

I did purchase my tickets from Parksavers and got a great deal on the 7-day tickets. I purchase the tickets for the rest of the family from work because they only needed 5-day hoppers and it was a little less expensive to get them directly at work. I have hard tickets for them but all have been linked online at MDE so we are good to go. I can't wait to get there and upgrade though!

 

[kittylady1972]

Big day for me today...it's FP booking day. I had dreams all last night about Disney...go figure. Question is will there be anything good left?

 

[ariane37]

How'd it go?

 

[kittylady1972]

How'd it go?

Pretty good overall I think. Here is a brief message I sent to the family this morning:


SUNDAY: Some family members are arriving late, some might be here already. My mom really enjoyed Soarin' I think so I'm hoping we can make a trek over to EPCOT once she and my dad arrive from their drive. We'll have dinner at EPCOT an we have these three rides:

FASTPASS: Mickey and Pals Character Meet N'Greet (3pm); Journey into Imagnation (4:25pm); Soarin' (6:50pm).

*******

MONDAY: We have plans to be in Magic Kingdom all day long, arriving in the morning. We should be able to knock out plenty of rides if we get there early enough. While I have a brunch planned at Chef Mickey, I'm honestly not sure I'll keep it. Even if we do, we can still make these:

FASTPASS: Jungle Cruise (1:25pm), Winnie the Pooh (2:50pm), Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (5:35pm)

********

TUESDAY: Another Magic Kingdom day. Any rides we didn't hit early enough on Monday we can do on Tuesday morning. Lunch is planned in the park for this day...not a character meal but Liberty Tree Tavern has good food. Possibly a break after Magic Kingdom morning/afternoon, and then head over to Hollywood Studios Park around 3pm.

FASTPASS: Toy Story Mania (3:30pm), Star Tours (5pm), Tower of Terror (6:30pm) (while big people are riding Tower, little people can see either Little Mermaid or Playhouse Disney Live or even Muppets 3D)

*******
WEDNESDAY: Plans are to hit Animal Kingdom in the morning and we have a late breakfast/early lunch planned at Tusker House with Mickey, Donald and friends. We should be able to do most of the Animal Kingdom rides early without much wait (Safari is the one everybody can do and should enjoy). There are a few great shows here (Finding Nemo) we can catch as well. After some time here, we can take a break in the late afternoon if needed and head over to EPCOT for the evening and possibly dinner there.

FASTPASS: Turtle Talk with Crush (3:20pm), Frozen Ever After (4:40pm) <--this is brand new to all of us and pretty much impossible to get, Spaceship Earth (AKA the big golf ball) (5:45pm)

*******
THURSDAY: Last day of vacation together and as much as I know it will be crazy, I just love being at the Magic Kingdom on the morning of Thanksgiving. Crowds will build quickly, but if we arrive early we can do plenty of stuff there before the madness. After morning time and fastpasses are done, we'll most likely escape. Thanksgiving dinner will be at 3:45pm at Boma and since that's near Animal Kingdom, we can hit that park after dinner if inclined to walk it off or just take in a few more things. With any luck, they will FINALLY be showing Rivers of Light here as this show, that's been delayed since April, is rumored to open sometime next month. That might change my plans because if I can book a secure spot for the show for this evening, I may try to do that.

FASTPASS: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (9:45am), Space Mountain (11:10am), Big Thunder Mountain RR (12:35pm)

**********************************

So I think I did okay. I did want to book one FEA reservation, even though I keep hearing that it breaks down a LOT. It's the one thing we can ALL do and the little kids might enjoy it. My youngest nephew is JUST 39 inches, and I told my SIL not worry about trying to find a way to get him to 40 inches. There will be so much he can do, especially at Magic Kingdom, that the few rides he misses are no big deal. My oldest nephew is 46 inches so he qualifies for almost everything and I told her not to worry about him missing RnRC and Primeval Whirl. I have two Seven Dwarfs Mine Train reservations because everybody can do that together and according to my SIL the little one LOVES thrill rides.

 

[ariane37]

It all sounds good! If Steve and I hadn't ridden FEA last month I most likely would have gotten a FP for it for Nov. but the boys aren't interested and I'm good since I got to try it As I said in my PTR, I think kids and Frozen fans will be happy with it and I just l just like trying anything new the have.
I do hope ROL is open by the time we go! From all the rumors floating around, looks like we may be in luck........

 

[kittylady1972]

It all sounds good! If Steve and I hadn't ridden FEA last month I most likely would have gotten a FP for it for Nov. but the boys aren't interested and I'm good since I got to try it As I said in my PTR, I think kids and Frozen fans will be happy with it and I just l just like trying anything new the have.
I do hope ROL is open by the time we go! From all the rumors floating around, looks like we may be in luck........

Yes I will be okay if we end up missing out on FEA but I'd like to see it simply because it is new. We will miss Maelstrom though but thankfully we rode it one last time AND saw the movie during our last trip.

I think we will be in luck with ROL as well...and hope it does live up to the hype unlike it's temporary replacement!

I'm also really really hoping that by this time next year some of the Avatar stuff will also be open so we can use our passes for that also!

 

[kittylady1972]

So after I had a chance to sit down and put all my FP+ reservations into my spreadsheet I took the time to review them to see what I wanted to keep.

I made one slight modification for our Sunday, moving the Character Spot between the two other reservations so it's a bit later.

I had plans for a Saturday night dinner at a Disney restaurant...but I've cancelled it because I don't want to be tied to that for our Saturday. Our plans that day still include mostly Universal, so an off-site meal might be easier...and CHEAPER!

I'm going back and forth on our Monday plans. What I haven't mentioned here is that I have brunch at Chef Mickey's and dinner at Crystal Palace.

Now Chef Mickey is a tradition for us...at least with DH's family...and we always get a photo there. Plus we love the atmosphere but the food and the prices...not so much. Kids can't believe I'm considering cancelling it...but I most likely will if only because it is our planned first full park day, and I don't want to have to drag everybody out of the park to eat and then come back. That's a lot of lost time on what might be the LIGHTEST crowds we'll see all week. However our Crystal Palace reservation is an early dinner, and we haven't done CP in many years. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Tigger. Plus this one wouldn't require leaving the park and might be a nice time for a break. I just haven't pulled the cancellation button on them quite yet because I just don't know what to do.

I have a few dinner ADRs: The Wave and Kona Cafe...that I'm also not sure about. The Wave is on an evening we plan to be at Hollywood Studios so if we are enjoying our time there I don't know if we'll want to leave for dinner and it's not like The Wave is a must do...we haven't been there in years. We ate there once...and it was fine. We can always just do counter service at HS or even head over to Boardwalk and maybe eat there...or EPCOT. So I'll most likely drop this one.

We do enjoy Kona Cafe so I truly think I may keep that one. It's scheduled for a late dinner after spending time at EPCOT so it might be okay.

Anyway no major updates right now and still stalking the SOG website to try to book another room there for my family.

 

[DMGeurts]

Sorry I fell behind here - as I usually do... Trying to catch up though.

Love all of your FP plans - I am glad you were able to get most of what you wanted, and at good times too. I think this is so important, as it minimizes all the walking - if there even is such a thing? LOL

I don't blame you for considering ditching CMs... It's really hard - IMO - to try to get to ADRs outside of the park on a park day... I always try to do those on our off days - which I know you don't have many of on this trip. But I do know, tradition is hard to break too. I hope you are able to come up with some sort of compromise for this.

I hope you are able to get another room at SoG for the family... I forgot... Are you staying at SoG for the entire trip? Or just for part of it? I truly enjoy staying there - after our trip in Jan, Allison is mostly converted - Now if I can just convert V? The ease and the cheap rates make it possible for us to afford to go to WDW, with out that - our trips would be much further apart... Not saying our Disney resort days are done - then will just be limited to REALLY good discounts.

I have never been to The Wave for dinner - only breakfast... And we love breakfast. I'd love to try dinner there one day. Same with Kona... Although we are doing breakfast there again this trip - even though I didn't like it all that much - V has a "thing" for macadamia cookies - so I think the pancakes will be right up her alley... And the convenience of Kona to SoG is pretty nice too.

I hope you have a great weekend!

D~

 

[kittylady1972]

Sorry I fell behind here - as I usually do... Trying to catch up though.

Love all of your FP plans - I am glad you were able to get most of what you wanted, and at good times too. I think this is so important, as it minimizes all the walking - if there even is such a thing? LOL

I don't blame you for considering ditching CMs... It's really hard - IMO - to try to get to ADRs outside of the park on a park day... I always try to do those on our off days - which I know you don't have many of on this trip. But I do know, tradition is hard to break too. I hope you are able to come up with some sort of compromise for this.

I hope you are able to get another room at SoG for the family... I forgot... Are you staying at SoG for the entire trip? Or just for part of it? I truly enjoy staying there - after our trip in Jan, Allison is mostly converted - Now if I can just convert V? The ease and the cheap rates make it possible for us to afford to go to WDW, with out that - our trips would be much further apart... Not saying our Disney resort days are done - then will just be limited to REALLY good discounts.

I have never been to The Wave for dinner - only breakfast... And we love breakfast. I'd love to try dinner there one day. Same with Kona... Although we are doing breakfast there again this trip - even though I didn't like it all that much - V has a "thing" for macadamia cookies - so I think the pancakes will be right up her alley... And the convenience of Kona to SoG is pretty nice too.

I hope you have a great weekend!

D~

Awww...great to see you here! I keep up with your other thread, just don't post much since I don't have much to say. Can't wait to hear about your trip though!!

Yes ditching CM will be tough...but I think it's the correct decision. I'm really leaning towards CP since it's been so long since we've eaten there and it used to be a favorite...and I just LOVE Tigger!

We are NOT staying at SOG for the whole trip. We check into SSR on Sunday (well our five plus my brother's family of four...my mom and dad are still booked in a studio at Bay Lake Tower because that DVC waitlist came through very quickly and ours still hasn't). I really like SOG also and I would definitely stay there again. I really do think that for one of our return trips in 2017 we may just end up there instead of using our points...but we'll see.

My mom was asking me last night what they should do for breakfast, and since they are at BLT I suggested just walking over to the Contemporary and eating at the Contempo Cafe. However I'm wondering if they do want a nicer one I could suggest the Wave...but that might make it tough for them to meet us at the parks for the early days. It's been a while since I've done Kona for breakfast, but that was definitely a good one! However I admit I mostly went for the Tonga Toast and since I can get that at Capt Cooks for cheaper...now we just do that. We definitely do more eating at the Poly when staying at SOG though!

Hope you also had a great weekend!

 

[kittylady1972]

Another day, still no SOG for me.

Spoke to my mom last night, who seems a bit worried about all that we have planned. I'm hoping she'll be up for it...but it's possible she won't and that's okay as she can join us for as much as she can tolerate and then she can always rest. I honestly think she would benefit from a scooter but I know she wouldn't want to do that. We'll most likely have a wheelchair for my daughter, so she can always share with her on that one.

Why a wheelchair you ask? My daughter has severe foot pain caused by a bone on her foot which is just larger than it should be. It caused the tendon in her foot to rub it constantly and causes pain. We've tried many kinds of different options working with a foot specialist but none of the options have worked and lately the pain seems worse for her again. We were told the only option was surgery but he needed to wait until most of her foot growth was done before doing it because it requires removing and re-attaching a tendon after they shave that protruding bone and if he foot was still growing they may have to do it again later. Our visit this summer had him taking another xray and it shows most of her foot growth is complete enough that we can schedule surgery. At this point, it will most likely be this upcoming December but not in time for this trip. So she will most likely be using a wheelchair because her foot doesn't tolerate normal daily walking just in school...so the parks are going to be torture for her. I looked into renting one offsite so we could maybe use it for the parking lot walks but they really weren't any cheaper so we'll just settle for doing multiple park rentals instead.

Anyway my mom continues to go through chemotherapy as she has been doing for a few years now due to a mass in our lung. While the mass has not grown at all, I guess her recent scans show it's still there and the oncologists want to keep her on chemo as a preventative so it doesn't spread elsewhere. Seems so unfair that somebody who never smoked and had a pretty healthy lifestyle overall was diagnosed with breast cancer (about 10 years ago) and then lung cancer (about 5 years ago) and she turns 70 this year. Anyway mom's other concern was that her chemo appointments are pretty regulated, and she wasn't sure if they may have to actually leave WDW early in order to come back for a chemo treatment. As it turns it, if I counted it off correctly, she will be on an off week during Disney and will be fine. She seemed happy about that, but I don't know...part of me is wondering if she is having concerns about all the travel and if she can handle it. We will modify our plans as much as possible to make it easiest for her to stick with us though.

So that's what is on my mind today. No new plans, just stalking SOG website as much as possible and hoping for another Saturday night to open up for us. FINGERS CROSSED!

 

[kittylady1972]

PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE PAYS!

Just a quick note here to say...checked SOG this morning and they FINALLY had rooms available again for Saturday night! So I booked one for my brother and family, and just in case my mom and dad change their minds and decide to drive Saturday also...I booked one for them too. I still have time to cancel theirs but I'd rather HAVE them for now then not have them at all. I emailed everybody this morning to let them know.

As much as I would LOVE to have a room at one of the Universal hotels again, I did enjoy Shades of Green and am looking forward to staying there again. I think my daughter is looking forward to it also...but probably because they sell STARBUCKS in the lobby!

 

[ariane37]

I'm so happy you got SOG! And just an FYI, my husband works for Starbucks so I'm a fan of anyone who's a fan - Starbucks will put my boy through college lol!

I also feel for you with all the health concerns in your family That stinks so much for your DD! I'm glad she's ready for surgery and truly hope that fixes the problem. At least with a wheelchair in Disney over Thanksgiving she can power through the crowds

And best wishes for your mom. You may be right, she's getting concerned about being able to handle all that's involved in the trip. And of course missing chemo if that happens. I'll keep you all in my thoughts and hope for the best

 

[kittylady1972]

I'm so happy you got SOG! And just an FYI, my husband works for Starbucks so I'm a fan of anyone who's a fan - Starbucks will put my boy through college lol!

I also feel for you with all the health concerns in your family That stinks so much for your DD! I'm glad she's ready for surgery and truly hope that fixes the problem. At least with a wheelchair in Disney over Thanksgiving she can power through the crowds

And best wishes for your mom. You may be right, she's getting concerned about being able to handle all that's involved in the trip. And of course missing chemo if that happens. I'll keep you all in my thoughts and hope for the best

THANKS...and awesome about your husband. I don't drink coffee at all, but I will indulge with chai tea latte or a frozen beverage from them every now and then. Kids will be all over the hot chocolate as they were last time we stayed there.

As for my daughter...she has mixed emotions about surgery. We've been waiting for 2 years for her to be able to have it, and her foot is in pain almost daily these days, but of course she is very nervous about the whole thing. We aren't thrilled about having to deal with a wheelchair, but we did it last time we were there as well for her so we certainly know the ropes with it and it really does help her to be able to enjoy the park much more since she won't be suffering. We don't use it to gain any kind of line advantage of course. We try to have her do the regular lines as much as she can when possible.

Appreciate the thoughts for my mom. I hate that she's had to go through this for so long, but of course I'm happy she's still with us and overall doing well.

 

[kittylady1972]

YAY for more family time!

So my dad emails me this morning to tell me that he and mom would also like to arrive on Saturday as well. This makes me happy because that means we'll all get to be together on Sunday all day now. Thankfully when I booked the ONE room yesterday at Shades of Green...I though ahead and booked another one for my mom and dad just in case. Now we will all at least be staying in the same place initially even if we have to move resorts on Sunday to new places.

In other news, my dad also wants to golf in Disney...and he and my brother are big golfers. I think my SIL may also be interested and we've already volunteered to take the boys for the day they want to golf. Dad mentioned Sunday morning but the only tee times I see for Sunday are LATE LATE morning...just before noon. I told dad he would need to book that himself and maybe by stalking the site he can find something earlier...as I truly don't know how that works. Perhaps they can walk on that morning? Again...not a golfer so I don't know if that's feasible for them. I guess he can take his chances on that one.

It will mean a possible change in our Saturday plans as at some point I'll need to meet up with them to be with them as they check into SOG but that's fine with me. It most likely won't be until later in the day anyway as they each have easily a 9+ hour drive to make that day. I'm sure we can finish up most of our Universal Studios park stuff by late afternoon even without the FOTL access which we will definitely miss.

Anyway definitely excited about this change as it means more family time. Having not seen my family since July, I'm really looking forward to this trip more than anything to be able to spend extended time with everybody.

Of course, as soon as we return from the Thanksgiving trip I'll be starting plans for our 2017 visits!

 

[kittylady1972]

AND Another Surprise

So the husband and I were chatting this morning and mentioning how all of our kids are doing really well in school...and we should reward them. I told him YEAH how about a trip to Disney...in about two months!

Honestly report cards don't come out until about a week before our trip so hoping they can keep up the good work.

Either way I started thinking about how great it would be to be able to take more advantage of our ONE day at the Universal Parks by having FOTL passes. That's about a $500 cost to us...for just one day. It's really cheaper to just book a room at one of the Universal Resorts.

Our original plan was to stay Saturday night in a Universal Resort in order to take advantage of FOTL, but now that my family is arriving early and I have SOG booked and I have to stay there for them to stay there...we are keeping that one. Yet we don't have anything booked for Friday night.

I suggested maybe we could just do a much longer/later drive on Friday and arrive in Orlando instead of Jacksonville for the first night. Then DH suggested...why not just leave earlier on Friday, like instead of afternoon we could just have the kids miss school all day Friday and leave Friday morning instead.

However I don't think we are going to tell them that until (if we can hold out) THAT morning. We'll have them get up for school, only instead of putting on school uniforms we'll just tell them to put on regular clothes...and that we're going to hit the road earlier! I'm sure they will all be down with that one.

And the even better news...I got a great APH rate for Universal's Royal Pacific for Friday night and so with that...we are BOOKED!

So now our Friday plan changes from:

FRIDAY Nov. 18th: Normally this would be my kids' last day of school before Thanksgiving break. They have historically had the entire week of Thanksgiving off. But of course this is the year they have chosen to revamp the calendar, and I think now they only get Wed-Fri off like many other school systems. Clearly this won't work for us, so let's hope those two days they miss (mon/tue) won't be critical. Honestly I'd like to hit the road whenever we can on Friday and begin our drive to Florida. Kids get out of school at 3pm, but I may even pull them around lunchtime/1pm and head home and pack and hit the road by 2pm. NOBODY and I mean NOBODY wants to deal with MD/DC/VA rush hour traffic, especially the Friday before a holiday week. We are HOPING to reach Jacksonville sometime late this evening as we have stopped here for a few past trips.
​

TO THIS:

FRIDAY Nov. 18th: Normally this would be my kids' last day of school before Thanksgiving break. They have historically had the entire week of Thanksgiving off. But of course this is the year they have chosen to revamp the calendar, and I think now they only get Wed-Fri off like many other school systems. Clearly this won't work for us, so let's hope those two days they miss (mon/tue) won't be critical. Honestly I'd like to hit the road whenever we can on Friday and begin our drive to Florida. KIDS will be notified that morning that there is NO SCHOOL TODAY...we are hitting the road early so get packed up to go!
​

I don't think they will complain, but I might because it means travel during rush hour traffic. Still...heading to Florida is a good reason to deal with it. It can't be as bad as our last trip when we left the Friday before 4th of July (this past summer) for a quick trip to North Carolina and it was BRUTAL!

So very excited about this latest change and it's not really a big one as we would have spent money on that Friday night hotel anyway...and this wasn't that much more to book RPR and a new to us resort at Universal will be a bonus!

Too bad we won't spend much time at the resort since we plan to hit the parks early that Saturday morning, but still looking forward to it.