*** The Official July 2014 thread, join us won't you? II***

[bangzoom6877]

whoohoo, Hi family! One month ago today, we were at HS. We rode ToT, watched A&E's welcome show. Rode GMR, Did the Art of Animation building, Character Palooza, Had Mickey Bars. Took TONS of pics at the Frozen Fun section. DD8 answered questions about the movie by the stage, Watched the most amazing firework show ever!! Ended the night with a Fantasmic show. Best.Day.Ever.

Hi!!! One month ago we were on the road, on the way to our happy place. We were traveling from Fayetteville, NC to Palm Coast, FL to spend the night before a short drive the following morning to WDW. Our entire time at WDW was just ahead of us and we were all so excited. Good times!

Now, one month later, we are all finished with school supply shopping, as of last week. DS9 has a little of his book report to finish, along with doing the optional cover page and illustration of the story which he is looking forward to creating; he already finished the rest of his summer packet throughout the summer. DS7 is all finished with his summer packet too. Now it is just daily reading for both of them until the school year begins in 2 weeks. DH is back to work part time, for sports team practices which began yesterday. He goes in 3 days this week and 3 days next week, for about 4 hours each day. I am still going to sleep very late and waking up at around 9am when the boys get up...I'm in for a rude awakening in 2 weeks when I have to start waking up at 5:00 again, just like last year. That's what happens when your kids sleep late in the summer...you get spoiled when you're off with them!

I'm looking forward to the school year though. I'm lucky I love what I do and that the hardest part of my day is waking up early and getting everyone ready and out of the house!

 

[SRUAlmn]

One month ago today we had our big 3 park day since it was only 1 of 2 days my sister was with us. We started at MK with breakfast at CP and lunch at BOG. We then went back to BLT to cool off and then monorail'd over and did the World Showcase. We ended the day at DHS. It was a tiring, but OH so fun day!

Today, one month later, we teachers have been in school for almost 2 1/2 weeks. Today was day 2 with the kids. I have a new position this year as a teacher coach, so I'm looking forward to all that entails. Exciting adventures ahead, but missing those summer days (when I didn't have to get up at 5am!) Ha!

 

[bangzoom6877]

One month ago today we had our big 3 park day since it was only 1 of 2 days my sister was with us. We started at MK with breakfast at CP and lunch at BOG. We then went back to BLT to cool off and then monorail'd over and did the World Showcase. We ended the day at DHS. It was a tiring, but OH so fun day! Today, one month later, we teachers have been in school for almost 2 1/2 weeks. Today was day 2 with the kids. I have a new position this year as a teacher coach, so I'm looking forward to all that entails. Exciting adventures ahead, but missing those summer days (when I didn't have to get up at 5am!) Ha!

Sounds like a fun day, 3 parks! At least you got a break in there after MK! I know so many people who trek it from opening to closing, sometimes with park hopping, without even taking a swim break. I don't know how anyone does that, with or without kids. I don't think that will ever be me, lol!

 

[think-like-tink]

One month later I am still on a Disney high. I'm back at work, kids are ready for school.

 

[RHMH]

Hello Everyone - Just wanted to stop by and say hi to all my great friends..

It's official - we will not be going to Disney next year..

Because - - Midori will be going to Masan, Korea for 2 weeks... & here is why....

1. Remember Midori is 14 right now and is a freshman in high school with big dreams.

2. She has decided to go to Florida State to get a English degree.

3. She wants to teach English in Korea after college.

4. I have a couple of English Professor friends has connections with a few schools in Korea.

5. One of the Professors helped me plan a school visit for Midori with room and board for end of June 2015.

6. Midori went to Australia with People To People Ambassador Program in 2013 and they assisted with some of the room & board connections.

Midori & I are so excited, but I am going to miss her so, so much. My baby is growing up and I cant believe it.

Bob

 

[anjalee6]

Hello Everyone - Just wanted to stop by and say hi to all my great friends..

It's official - we will not be going to Disney next year..

Because - - Midori will be going to Masan, Korea for 2 weeks... & here is why....

1. Remember Midori is 14 right now and is a freshman in high school with big dreams.

2. She has decided to go to Florida State to get a English degree.

3. She wants to teach English in Korea after college.

4. I have a couple of English Professor friends has connections with a few schools in Korea.

5. One of the Professors helped me plan a school visit for Midori with room and board for end of June 2015.

6. Midori went to Australia with People To People Ambassador Program in 2013 and they assisted with some of the room & board connections.

Midori & I are so excited, but I am going to miss her so, so much. My baby is growing up and I cant believe it.

Bob

Aww Bob. Sorry about no Disney trip next year, BUT what a fantastic opportunity for Midori. I am sure she will value that experience for a lifetime. Hope all is going well for you guys.

 

[bangzoom6877]

Hello Everyone - Just wanted to stop by and say hi to all my great friends.. It's official - we will not be going to Disney next year.. Because - - Midori will be going to Masan, Korea for 2 weeks... & here is why.... 1. Remember Midori is 14 right now and is a freshman in high school with big dreams. 2. She has decided to go to Florida State to get a English degree. 3. She wants to teach English in Korea after college. 4. I have a couple of English Professor friends has connections with a few schools in Korea. 5. One of the Professors helped me plan a school visit for Midori with room and board for end of June 2015. 6. Midori went to Australia with People To People Ambassador Program in 2013 and they assisted with some of the room & board connections. Midori & I are so excited, but I am going to miss her so, so much. My baby is growing up and I cant believe it. Bob

Wow, what a fantastic opportunity for Midori! I'm sorry about no Disney next year, but I can totally relate. She has high aspirations, which is a true gift. She must be very mature and intelligent for her age. Great things, my friend!

 

[RHMH]

Aww Bob. Sorry about no Disney trip next year, BUT what a fantastic opportunity for Midori. I am sure she will value that experience for a lifetime. Hope all is going well for you guys.

Wow, what a fantastic opportunity for Midori! I'm sorry about no Disney next year, but I can totally relate. She has high aspirations, which is a true gift. She must be very mature and intelligent for her age. Great things, my friend!

Thanks My Friends - Midori has a great head on her shoulders.. I am so proud of her and love her dearly.

You know.... she is not afraid to travel overseas by herself.. We have traveled abroad a number of times together so guess she's use to it now.

 

[think-like-tink]

Hello Everyone - Just wanted to stop by and say hi to all my great friends..

It's official - we will not be going to Disney next year..

Because - - Midori will be going to Masan, Korea for 2 weeks... & here is why....

1. Remember Midori is 14 right now and is a freshman in high school with big dreams.

2. She has decided to go to Florida State to get a English degree.

3. She wants to teach English in Korea after college.

4. I have a couple of English Professor friends has connections with a few schools in Korea.

5. One of the Professors helped me plan a school visit for Midori with room and board for end of June 2015.

6. Midori went to Australia with People To People Ambassador Program in 2013 and they assisted with some of the room & board connections.

Midori & I are so excited, but I am going to miss her so, so much. My baby is growing up and I cant believe it.

Bob

Hey Bob!

Midori sounds like a great kid. Hi-five dad. She will have a great time on Korea. My DH loved it. He made some good friends who live there and he said he would like to go back to visit. The pictures he took are beautiful.
Sorry you guys aren't going to Disney. But, this experience for Midori is so much more. I will wishing for safe travels for her!

 

[RHMH]

Hey Bob!

Midori sounds like a great kid. Hi-five dad. She will have a great time on Korea. My DH loved it. He made some good friends who live there and he said he would like to go back to visit. The pictures he took are beautiful.
Sorry you guys aren't going to Disney. But, this experience for Midori is so much more. I will wishing for safe travels for her!

Thanks Pam

Appreciate your kind words.. do ya think you could share some of the pictures with us?

Midori would love to see them.. If you can, my email address is listed under my profile on the left..

Thanks so much in advance.

Bob

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Hello Everyone - Just wanted to stop by and say hi to all my great friends.. It's official - we will not be going to Disney next year.. Because - - Midori will be going to Masan, Korea for 2 weeks... & here is why.... 1. Remember Midori is 14 right now and is a freshman in high school with big dreams. 2. She has decided to go to Florida State to get a English degree. 3. She wants to teach English in Korea after college. 4. I have a couple of English Professor friends has connections with a few schools in Korea. 5. One of the Professors helped me plan a school visit for Midori with room and board for end of June 2015. 6. Midori went to Australia with People To People Ambassador Program in 2013 and they assisted with some of the room & board connections. Midori & I are so excited, but I am going to miss her so, so much. My baby is growing up and I cant believe it. Bob

Wow Bob what a great experience for her!!! I'd be sad about no Disney too, but there's always 2016.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Hello Everyone - Just wanted to stop by and say hi to all my great friends.. It's official - we will not be going to Disney next year.. Because - - Midori will be going to Masan, Korea for 2 weeks... & here is why.... 1. Remember Midori is 14 right now and is a freshman in high school with big dreams. 2. She has decided to go to Florida State to get a English degree. 3. She wants to teach English in Korea after college. 4. I have a couple of English Professor friends has connections with a few schools in Korea. 5. One of the Professors helped me plan a school visit for Midori with room and board for end of June 2015. 6. Midori went to Australia with People To People Ambassador Program in 2013 and they assisted with some of the room & board connections. Midori & I are so excited, but I am going to miss her so, so much. My baby is growing up and I cant believe it. Bob

Wow Bob what a great opportunity for her!! There's always 2016 for the Disney trip

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[bangzoom6877]

Wow Bob what a great opportunity for her!! There's always 2016 for the Disney trip Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

I know we will be back in July 2016!! DH and I decided which Southern California attractions we are going to see next July. We will first spend 2 night in San Diego, go to the San Diego zoo and also to legoland. Then we will drive up to Anaheim and stay there for 6 nights. We will get a 3-day park hopper for Disneyland, go to Universal, see the beach (probably Santa Monica along with the pier there), see some more LA area attractions (Chinese tea house, walk of fame, hollywood sign, rodeo drive) and also have dinner with my cousin who lives in that area. We also have room for a pool/DTD day, or we could get 4-day park hoppers, haven't decided yet! Plenty of time to plan and all, but it does feel weird not to book anything yet! We will book the hotel in Anaheim soon, as I'm sure it will book up fast. We are going to stay in a kids' suite at the Desert Palms Hotel & Suites, walking distance to DLR, free parking and free hot breakfast. I'm sure this hotel books up quickly, as it is down the block from DLR...don't even need to cross the street! Plus there is a limited number of this type of suite, as with all hotel suites. As soon as we have an exact date, I will book the hotel.

Our travel agent is helping us out too. My family has been booking vacations and cruises through her since the early 1990s, she's like family at this point! She said we should book the airfare around the first of the year, so it's nice and early. She also said that the time she was at Disneyland, she really loved it there. She said we are gonna have an amazing vacation there! The rest of the family is coming to San Diego and Anaheim as well, but only spending 3-4 nights in Anaheim and one day at each of the parks with us. They're spending 2-3 nights in San Francisco afterwards, and flying home the same day we do but from San Francisco of course.

It's so much fun thinking about going to places none of us have ever been before! Just have to get through another school year first...but I'm in no rush. My boys are growing up too fast as it is.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

My DS17 is graduating from H.S. After this school year. OMG I still can't believe it!!
He has always wanted to go on a cruise, so we would really like to take him for his graduation. We have never been on a cruise before. We would love to do a Disney cruise, but I think my DS would like to do one that doesn't have to do w Disney.
Does anyone have any advice on cruises they've done? TIA

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[bangzoom6877]

My DS17 is graduating from H.S. After this school year. OMG I still can't believe it!! He has always wanted to go on a cruise, so we would really like to take him for his graduation. We have never been on a cruise before. We would love to do a Disney cruise, but I think my DS would like to do one that doesn't have to do w Disney. Does anyone have any advice on cruises they've done? TIA Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

OMG, yes!! I've been on plenty of cruises!

DH and I never go on Disney cruises for a couple of reasons. First, the prices are significantly higher than other major cruise lines...we literally save over $1,000 easily for the 4 of us by not cruising through Disney. Second, we go to WDW every other year so we feel it's not necessary when we do a cruise to go on disney because we could see the characters on our WDW trips.

That said, I recommend Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line, or Royal Caribbean for a family cruise. There is something to do for everyone on those ships, the food and entertainment are excellent, and they go to some very nice ports. Where would you cruise from? We normally go out of NY, but in high school my family went out of Miami a few times, and once in college we went out of Puerto Rico. I enjoy the days at sea very much, so I prefer not to sail from Puerto Rico because on those cruises, you literally wake up in a different place almost every day, with only one full day at sea and your evenings at sea. But many people prefer these cruises to see lots of places, or if they don't enjoy being at sea as much. I like to have 3 days at sea on a 7-night cruise. Last summer on our 8-night Carnival cruise, we had 4 full days at sea and we went to 3 ports in the Caribbean, out of NYC. It was a wonderful cruise.

Any specific questions, ask away! I'm very happy to help!!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

OMG, yes!! I've been on plenty of cruises! DH and I never go on Disney cruises for a couple of reasons. First, the prices are significantly higher than other major cruise lines...we literally save over $1,000 easily for the 4 of us by not cruising through Disney. Second, we go to WDW every other year so we feel it's not necessary when we do a cruise to go on disney because we could see the characters on our WDW trips. That said, I recommend Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line, or Royal Caribbean for a family cruise. There is something to do for everyone on those ships, the food and entertainment are excellent, and they go to some very nice ports. Where would you cruise from? We normally go out of NY, but in high school my family went out of Miami a few times, and once in college we went out of Puerto Rico. I enjoy the days at sea very much, so I prefer not to sail from Puerto Rico because on those cruises, you literally wake up in a different place almost every day, with only one full day at sea and your evenings at sea. But many people prefer these cruises to see lots of places, or if they don't enjoy being at sea as much. I like to have 3 days at sea on a 7-night cruise. Last summer on our 8-night Carnival cruise, we had 4 full days at sea and we went to 3 ports in the Caribbean, out of NYC. It was a wonderful cruise. Any specific questions, ask away! I'm very happy to help!!

Thanks!! I've heard Royal Caribbean is good, but Carnival has gotten better- I guess to compete w them. We'd love to leave from NY since it's closer to home. Yes Disney cruises are ridiculous!! I could never justify the cost of that. A few years ago our friends went on a Disney cruise for only 4/5 days and we stayed at the Poly for over a week- our vacations cost almost the same!!!
I haven't done any research yet at all. I do know that we'd want it to be a relaxing vacation, so days at sea would be great!! I think I'll have more questions later.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[DisneyMomFanatic]

My DS17 is graduating from H.S. After this school year. OMG I still can't believe it!!
He has always wanted to go on a cruise, so we would really like to take him for his graduation. We have never been on a cruise before. We would love to do a Disney cruise, but I think my DS would like to do one that doesn't have to do w Disney.
Does anyone have any advice on cruises they've done? TIA

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

We have been on 2 Carnival cruises. We loved both of them. The kids love camp carnival when they were younger. We were actually looking into it for summer 2015 but that may not happen since my DD wants a specialized gymnastics camp. I want to go on one again. It is cheap enough but great food and good service. I would recommend them to you.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

We have been on 2 Carnival cruises. We loved both of them. The kids love camp carnival when they were younger. We were actually looking into it for summer 2015 but that may not happen since my DD wants a specialized gymnastics camp. I want to go on one again. It is cheap enough but great food and good service. I would recommend them to you.

Thanks!!!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Some of you know this....but my DH works in FL. He commutes from MA and is home every other week and all weekends. Well his best friend just got a new job and had a week off in between so he flew down w my DH to spend a few days in FL. they flew down Friday so my DH could do stuff w him over the weekend. They went to Universal yesterday, and I was fine. But today they were at Epcot, and having dinner at LeCellier ( as we speak). I am so jealous. I was supposed to be there this weekend too, but I got a new job and needed to get my classroom ready on Friday, and be at work for meetings tomorrow.
I'm so bummed just needed to vent.
They'll be at Universal again tomorrow then his friend is flying home Tuesday morning. My DH will be home Friday night.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[bangzoom6877]

Thanks!! I've heard Royal Caribbean is good, but Carnival has gotten better- I guess to compete w them. We'd love to leave from NY since it's closer to home. Yes Disney cruises are ridiculous!! I could never justify the cost of that. A few years ago our friends went on a Disney cruise for only 4/5 days and we stayed at the Poly for over a week- our vacations cost almost the same!!! I haven't done any research yet at all. I do know that we'd want it to be a relaxing vacation, so days at sea would be great!! I think I'll have more questions later. Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Leaving out of NY, you would have some nice days at sea. Last year we did the cruise on the Carnival Splendor for 8 nights. Here was our itinerary:

Day 1: board the ship, sail away
Day 2: at sea
Day 3: at sea
Day 4: arrive in San Juan, Puerto Rico at 3pm
Day 5: St. Thomas all day (I think something like 8am-6pm)
Day 6: Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos from 1-7 (everything is walking distance to the ship...the beach and Margaritaville which has a HUGE pool and wave pool and a DJ)
Day 7: at sea
Day 8: at sea
Day 9: Dock in NYC early morning; disembark the ship

That will give you an idea of what a cruise looks like out of NY to the Caribbean. Bahamas cruises are similar...they're 7 nights, with a few days at sea. Bermuda cruises are 7 nights with 3 sea days and 3 days in Bermuda. Very relaxing and nice! Bahamas and Bermuda cruises out of NYC are on Norwegian. We liked that cruise line too and it's great for families!

Some of you know this....but my DH works in FL. He commutes from MA and is home every other week and all weekends. Well his best friend just got a new job and had a week off in between so he flew down w my DH to spend a few days in FL. they flew down Friday so my DH could do stuff w him over the weekend. They went to Universal yesterday, and I was fine. But today they were at Epcot, and having dinner at LeCellier ( as we speak). I am so jealous. I was supposed to be there this weekend too, but I got a new job and needed to get my classroom ready on Friday, and be at work for meetings tomorrow. I'm so bummed just needed to vent. They'll be at Universal again tomorrow then his friend is flying home Tuesday morning. My DH will be home Friday night. Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Aww, I would be bummed too if my DH got to do those things without us. I would envy him so much! I think Universal would also sit better with me than Epcot, my favorite park!