That was fun, let's do it again! - TR Link added - 12/11

[afwdwfan]

These changes sound good. I've not looked at park hours recently...wonder if I should go check them out?

Worth checking it out. I'm going to be monitoring them closely from here on out.

I wish I could help on the food dilemna at Coronado with the buffet, Cafe Rix, etc. But we've not stayed there in two years and the buffet wasn't there when we were last there so I have no idea about the changes.

I figured you, of all people, would know about this!

That's alright, I understand. We're going to be taking some milk and cereal, just in case. We might just plan on early lunches in the parks.

Those changes sound good! Especially not having to rush to get to MK.

I hope it works out as well as it looks like it should on paper...

And I really like the idea of just going to the 2nd Fantasmic showing. The Osborne lights are so pretty. You'll be so happy to focus on them and not worry about dinner at Mama Melrose.

Yes, that worked so well for us last year. I had been hoping that they'd add a second showing of Fantasmic! for at least a few days while we're there. It works so much better being able to just walk in and see that show.

I think your plans sound great (except for WCC ). I like that you have a little flexibility and can play it by ear if you like. I can't wait to see the new Fantasyland...so exciting...but glad we don't arrive until the 6th and won't be going to a park that night.

I really love having a couple of days that aren't planned. As much as I love planning a trip, it is vacation, and I like to have a few days to just go with the flow. I guess that's part of what I dislike about having to make ADR's 180 days out and why I kind of dread the new fastpass system...

I think you're making a good decision to stay away from MK on the 6th. Hard to say how crazy it might be.

 

[amandaw]

I can't believe your trip is almost here!!!

I think the plans have all come together nicely and y'all are going to have a great family trip!

Take lots of pictures of the new Fantasyland so I can live vicariously through you!

 

[afwdwfan]

I can't believe your trip is almost here!!!

I think the plans have all come together nicely and y'all are going to have a great family trip!

Take lots of pictures of the new Fantasyland so I can live vicariously through you!

I can't wait...

Seeing how slow this morning has gone, I can tell this is going to be a long week. I need to make a mental note to never schedule a vacation starting the weekend after a 5 day work week that follows a 4 day weekend.

 

[afwdwfan]

An Update to keep me distracted...

Well, there isn't much planning left to be done, but I can tell already this week is going to drag along slowly. So I guess I'll pass time by making a random trip related post!

We had a nice Thanksgiving weekend, but through the traveling around to different family gatherings, we started to discover a few things that make me a little more nervous than I already was about this upcoming trip. DS was getting to the point where he seemed to be napping less. Somedays, he'd even go without napping at all and his attitude was fine. Well, being around cousins, and playing and being over stimulated, he seemed to need about 2 - 2 1/2 hours of naptime everyday and he always woke up grumpy. It would take him about a 1/2 hour just to wake up and get into a decent mood. I'm not sure what this will mean for our trip. It could end up taking away a lot more park time than intended for our breaks, especially if he is in one of his moods where he decides he wants to fight sleep.

All I have to say is if he falls asleep in his stroller and will take a nap in the park, that pixie dust is some very, very strong stuff.

Another concern I've had with DS is that he'll be scared of things this time around. He's actually made me a little more concerned about that one. One of his favorite movies is the Muppets, or as he likes to call them, the Muffets. When he's not asking to watch Mickey Mouse, he's asking to watch Muffets. We were watching it the other day, and all of a sudden, he said he was scared and wanted us to turn it off. If he's suddenly scared of the Muppets, then I'm not sure we'll ever get him on another ride after his first.

On another topic, we got a lot of packing done this weekend. My bag is completely packed, DD and DS will be done after another load of laundry is done, and DW... well, let's just say I'm hoping to get everything loaded up Thursday night so I won't have to do it Friday. I'm somehow going to have to fit a stroller, a cooler, 2 boxes of diapers, 5 gallons of nursery water, 5 containers of formula, all kinds of child related items and our luggage into the back of a Tahoe. You'd think an SUV would have plenty of space, but the more stuff I see being stacked up in the dining room to take, the less confident I feel that it will all fit. DW asked me if I thought we'd have to take out the third row seats.

We did manage to find a bag that we can just leave under our stroller that will hold sweatshirts for each of us, hats, gloves, a fleece blanket and extra clothes for the kids and 4 bottles. This will help cut back on what this pack mule will have to haul around in the backpack all week.

We also got all our accessories mounted onto the stroller. The belly bar and tray were an excellent purchase and should work well. We are on the fence as to whether we'll use DD's tray or not. It would be handy for when we feed her, but we'll likely just take it off and mount toys to the bar on her side.

The little curly ribbons... not my idea.

That's all I have for now, but as the trip approaches, I'm having a hard time thinking about work, so there might be more to add by the end of this insanely long, slow week.

 

[that's nice]

I hope the week goes quickly for you Andy!

Your plans and changes look good to me.

You should really try to eat at Pepper Market for breakfast. It was really, really good. I killed the Mickey waffles and bacon and the omelet station makes really good eggs.

 

[amandaw]

I sure hope the week goes by quickly for y'all!

I hope DS doesn't get too scared on the rides and such. You never can tell how kids are going to react to stuff. He may be just fine the whole trip.

Good luck with getting everything in the Tahoe! It's amazing how quickly a vehicle can fill up for a trip. My Traverse was packed for our recent trip and it's just 3 of us! And by the way....I really like the curly ribbons on the stroller!

 

[afwdwfan]

Well, there's a little bit of good news this morning. I just logged onto the Disney dining website and there was a dinner ADR for 8 available for Saturday night an hour and a half earlier than ours. That will work out much better after our all night drive. We'll be able to get to bed an hour and a half earlier now!

I hope the week goes quickly for you Andy!

Your plans and changes look good to me.

You should really try to eat at Pepper Market for breakfast. It was really, really good. I killed the Mickey waffles and bacon and the omelet station makes really good eggs.

Thanks... time seems to be crawling while I'm at work, but by the time I'm home I'm busting my butt trying to get things done before we leave.

I'll probably eat there once or twice anyway. I'm sure the food is great, *we just aren't breakfast buffet types. We would rather just grab something to eat and head out the door.

*"we" does not necessarily include "I"

I sure hope the week goes by quickly for y'all!

I hope DS doesn't get too scared on the rides and such. You never can tell how kids are going to react to stuff. He may be just fine the whole trip.

Good luck with getting everything in the Tahoe! It's amazing how quickly a vehicle can fill up for a trip. My Traverse was packed for our recent trip and it's just 3 of us! And by the way....I really like the curly ribbons on the stroller!

It's hard to tell how he'll do. I guess hope for the best, expect the worst.

It is ridiculous. Last year we took my truck since we didn't need as much room. I'm starting to think we should take the truck this time too just to haul all our crap. I can get enough tarps to cover everything.

Oh, and I'm glad you like the ribbons.

 

[KatMark]

Well, you are two days closer.

That doesn't sound good about DS and napping and DS and being afraid. Hopefully, it was just all the stimulation from the holiday and he'll be fine when you get there.

That's a lot of stuff to get packed.

If I don't get back here, have a magical time.

If you want me to send you my cell phone and try to hook up to say hello at the coffee window next Friday morning, let me know (I think we are planning to leave at 8:15 to catch the bus to Epcot).

 

[amandaw]

Just wanted to pop in and say........


I hope y'all have a safe and magical vacation!!!

 

[afwdwfan]

If you want me to send you my cell phone and try to hook up to say hello at the coffee window next Friday morning, let me know (I think we are planning to leave at 8:15 to catch the bus to Epcot).

Sure, just pm me. We're looking at trying to be at rope drop that morning at MK so we'll probably be on a similar schedule.

I'm sure I'll be on here some during vacation. I think I might try to post a picture everyday like I did last year.

Just wanted to pop in and say........


I hope y'all have a safe and magical vacation!!!

Thank you very much!

 

[afwdwfan]

Well, it is almost time. I've just got to get through this last workday, although I think it is obvious that there really won't be any actual "work" being done today.

We got (almost) all of the packing finished last night and loaded into the Tahoe.

That open area in the middle is reserved for the bags of someone who wasn't ready yet as of last night.

I'm hoping to be able to get out of here a little early this afternoon to head home and get some sleep. Either way, I'm going straight to bed whenever I get home from work and I'm going to sleep until about 9:45 pm while DW and the kids are at a basketball game. The plan is to be on the road sometime between 10 - 10:30 and hopefully the kids will be worn out enough to sleep until we're somewhere in Georgia. Not exactly counting on it, but fingers are crossed.

Thanks to everyone who has followed along with the PTR, and especially those who have offered us any advice or answered any questions. We're very excited for this trip. I'm at the point right now that it all feels a bit surreal. I'm somewhere between feeling like it's about time for the trip to be here, it's been ages since we booked, and at the same time I can't believe we're finally getting ready to leave!!! I can't wait to be eating dinner with our favorite chefs as we watch the monorails pass over head tomorrow night!!!

As I mentioned in a reply earlier, I took a few cell phone pictures last year and would post one everyday to my PTR. I think I might try to do the same again this year. I don't know what anybody else thought about it, but I kind of had fun with just picking out 1 picture that was kind of a teaser for what we did that day.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Have a great time Andy! I'll be looking forward to the pictures and TR. And I hope you get to meet up with Kathy. She's pretty awesome.

 

[KatMark]

I sent you PM.

Safe travels and hope to see you at the World!

 

[afwdwfan]

Thanks for the send off! I'll be checking in, but I'm done with work right now and heading out!

 

[afwdwfan]

We're here!!! CSR is a beautiful resort, but already not crazy about how spread out it is and the rfid keys are a pain.

 

[that's nice]

We're here!!! CSR is a beautiful resort, but already not crazy about how spread out it is and the rfid keys are a pain.

Which section are you in?

 

[that's nice]

Also Check out the operational changes in MK due to the Fantasyland opening...

December 5
Park hours are 9am to 7pm.
The Enchanted Forest area will not be open to guests.
Storybook Circus will be open from 9am to 3pm.
Mickey's PhilharMagic will be closed all day.
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh will be open from 9am to 6pm.
Prince Charming Regal Carrousel will be open from 9am to 6pm.
The Park will close at 7pm, with Wishes at 6pm.

December 6
Park hours are 9am to 7pm (8am for morning EMH).
The grand opening ceremony for New Fantasyland will be held on the Castle Forecourt Stage at 10am.
Be Our Guest Restaurant will be closed all day to guests.
The Enchanted Forest and Storybook Circus will open for guests at 8am for morning Extra Magic Hours.
Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party is 7pm to 12:00am.

 

[that's nice]

And I missed the big sendoff....

Have a great trip!!!!

 

[afwdwfan]

Thanks Tim, Kathy pm'ed me also. Were just planning to avoid mk those days anyway.

 

[afwdwfan]

Picture taking this trip is going to be bad. Having camera problems and of course man to man instead of 2 on 1 zone makes it tougher too. Anyway, here's one from yesterday...