The "We have one whole year to wait" Now a Trip Report

[Laura.bora]

Love your Pre trip report so far.. How exciting that you are going to WDW and going debt free.. Is there any other way to go??

As far as we know, NO!!!

 

[Laura.bora]

You can book the Wilderness Lodge now. If any codes come out, you can call and apply it to your ressie. You can actually make payments on the WDW website and watch your balance go down. Last year a 40% resorts came out for your time period, plus free dining. Remember to make your ADR's too 180 out.

Thank you for the information, but we had decided not to book until being debt free. With the offer from last year, we're you able to take both the 40% off and the free dining(like they were offered together) or was it offered seperatly and you had to choose one?

And by the way, does anyone know how to clean chocolate milk out off the keyboard??

 

[Laura.bora]

OK, I have to subscribe to your report.
1. Debt Free God is a God of miracles isn't He?
2. I have been home schooling my children for the past 14 years.

3. We will be at Disney at the same time. We are going Sept. 12 - 22 and staying at the POP. Woo Hoo for the Free Dining.

Oh my YES God is the God of miracles all right!!! I start "officially" homeschooling next year, but I've been homeschooling since he was 2. I just started my daughter as well (unofficially). I would love to pick your brain for ideas and recomendations on curriculum. Right now I'm leaning towards BJU press for history/geography, and science. I'll be using the workbooks I've been using for the basics - math, reading comprehension, english, spelling,etc.

And I just noticed your ticker! 10 months! Is that all we have left??? I'll be waiting no tso patiently!

 

[Shmu]

Yep. Only 10 more months. PM me anytime you want for any questions about home schooling. Don't want to use up your Trip Report space for that. So proud of you and your husband for being sooo obedient. Even when it is hard. Closer to our trip we'll have to maybe see if we can meet somewhere. Even just for a pic. I'll stay tuned in.

 

[CheriePenguin]

I was so glad to see your pre-trip report! Our trip will be sometime Sept/Oct 2008, and I wasn't sure if this pre-trip report place was the right place for me to start or if it was too early.

Congratulations on your debt-free work and plan!

Your trip sounds like it will be truly magical!
We stayed at WL in Nov/Dec 2005 and it was really nice! The boat to MK is great, and it's so nice and quiet and peaceful when you get back to the lodge. Our room was 1020, first floor, and opened out onto the "otter pond" where ducks would waddle around right outside! DS was 20 months at the time, and got sick halfway through the trip, which was quite a bummer. But if you have any questions I can answer I'd be glad to try!

This time we're staying at POR.

 

[Laura.bora]

I was so glad to see your pre-trip report! Our trip will be sometime Sept/Oct 2008, and I wasn't sure if this pre-trip report place was the right place for me to start or if it was too early.

Congratulations on your debt-free work and plan!

Your trip sounds like it will be truly magical!
We stayed at WL in Nov/Dec 2005 and it was really nice! The boat to MK is great, and it's so nice and quiet and peaceful when you get back to the lodge. Our room was 1020, first floor, and opened out onto the "otter pond" where ducks would waddle around right outside! DS was 20 months at the time, and got sick halfway through the trip, which was quite a bummer. But if you have any questions I can answer I'd be glad to try!

This time we're staying at POR.

Thanks CheriPenguin! The same thing happened to me. I wanted to start a pre trip, and I finally came across someone who had done a pretrip report before she even knew when she would be going.

I've heard that the boat ride is really peaceful - the Wilderness Lodge in general just seems like our cup of tea.

How horrible that your son got sick at Disney!!! That's one think I'm REALLY hoping doesn't happen - usually SEptember is when allergies (and there for the asthma and bronchitis ) start. I'm hoping that won't affect our Disney Trip!!! I'll just keep praying!!

10 more months!! yeah!

 

[Laura.bora]

uggghhh! So after 2 weeks of fighting the flu in our house, it has passed through all of us, and we are back to Christmas shopping, which is why I'm here. I just bought the Birnbaum's guide for Kids for my son for his Christmas stocking. I figured that way, he could read up, get excited about Disney, he can figure out what he wants to do, and still not know whats going on since he's "saving his money." I must admit, I can't wait for it to be here so I can look at it!! about 1 more month till I give birth and then 8 more months to disney!! (and only 19 more days till Christmas!! Agghh!! It's coming too quickly this year!)

 

[Shmu]

Sorry about the flu but glad you're better now. Birnbaum's guide for Kids is a great book. My kids loved it. Life can get so crazy can't it? I have spent the first part of my life running like the hare. I am making a special effort to run the rest of my life like the tortoise. I even wear a turtle ring to remind me. Enjoy this precious time as hectic as it is.

 

[Laura.bora]

We gave our son the book for Christmas yesterday. It was a huge hit! We made the mistake of putting it in his stocking, he didn't want to open the rest of his stocking or the tree until he had a chance to finish reading through the book! And then, he took the book to bed with him and fell asleep reading it! Definatly a huge hit! I'm so happy. So based on how much my son loves the book, you can add me to the bunch of people who recommend this book!!

 

[Laura.bora]

I just figured out last night the "a net full of Jello" reference in Muppet vision 3-d. A net full of Jello - annette Funachello - this is what my brain thinks about at 2 in the morning. I seriously couldn't figure out what a net with Jello in it had to do with Annette funachello.

 

[Laura.bora]

Getting close to the time when we'll be booking! SO excited! Quote from my son last night during a discussion about heaven -

"I know somewhere even BETTER than heaven......DISNEYWORLD!"

hehehe - not better, but definatly a close 2nd!

 

[Shmu]

"I know somewhere even BETTER than heaven......DISNEYWORLD!"

I always say it's my heaven on earth. Keep us posted. Your trip is going to be fantastic.

 

[Laura.bora]

Sighhhhh. STILL waiting for this baby to come. Although, I'm thankful I haven't given birth just yet. My son had a cold which led to bronchitis that held on for over 2 weeks, and he was so kind as to give me the cold, which gave me laryngitis for about a week. I still sound like a frog! I'm just glad I didn't go into labor while I was still feeling miserable. I've got to figure out how to add pictures on this thing!
So, anyway, we're getting closer and closer to our 180 day out point. We think we've finalized what restaurants we want to go to. Notice I said think. We've changed our minds a million times. WE'll be on the Dining plan, the basic one, with a couple of meals out of pocket. So here's what we're thinking:

Breakfast:
1.) Trail's end (for our last day - didn't like the menu at WCC, and the daughter has a weird phobia of stick horses.)
2.) Kona Cafe - hubby is DYING to try the Tonga toast.
3.) Grand Floridian Cafe - hoping to eat here after getting family pics done at the photo shoot here.
4.) Chef Mickey's - Going for our son's birthday. Hoping to get an early ressie.
5.) Hollywood and Vine - I've got huge Jo Jo and Little Einstiens fans.

Lunch:
1.) CRT - For our daughters birthday, hopefully after a trip to BBB.
2.) Yak and Yetti - this looks SOOOOO good. I was so excited to hear it was on the Disney Dining Plan.

Dinner:
1.) Trail's End - Plan on going here before Chip and Dales campfire for my son's birthday. They have Chicken and biscuits I've heard. And corn bread. He'll be thrilled.
2.) Crystal Palace - we need to see Winnie the Pooh and the gang, otherwise, my daughter will revolt.
3.) Le Cellier - mmmmmmmmm.....steak.
4.) Artist Point - This looks good and just our speed. We're really excited to try this place. Hoping to get ressies for this one on one of our early nights to spend at the resort.
5.) Liberty Tree Tavern - This is hopefully going to be our very first dinner. An introduction to the Magic Kingdom and a hello to all our favorite characters. Not to mention, THANKSGIVING FOOD!!!

So what does everyone think?

 

[IkeandMike]

They all sound great. I like how you are doing more breakfasts than lunches. Should keep your day open to do what you want.

 

[Shmu]

The only ones I have tried from your list are
Chef Mickey--fun, festive, love the characters, great for Birthdays, we ate breakfast there. Typical breakfast buffet. Nothing special, but it was good.

Crystal Palace--If you are a Pooh fan, this is a MUST. Great Pooh atmosphere. We ate dinner there. Buffet style and we all enjoyed it.

On our trip in Sept. we are hoping to try Le Cellier. It always has raving reviews.

Tell me a little more about the photo shoot at the Grand Floridian. What is this exactly?

Sorry you have been ill.
Keep us posted when you have a chance about your baby.

As far as pictures
Open an account at photobucket.com
Upload you pictures into your account
They have a link you copy and paste over here when you post

Hope that helps.

 

[Laura.bora]

Hey everyone!

I tried to post earlier, and I wrote out this huge long post, only for the Dis to suddenly do something, and the whole page restarted itself. Oh well. So now I'm back! Thank you Shmu for the instructions on how to add photos, so let's see if it works.....

Ok, hopefully this is a picture of me and my husband and our daughter about a year and a half ago. (If you ever have the pleasure of going to Sanibel Island, I highly reccomend the Sanibel Steak house.) Anyway, it's from so long ago because I couldn't find a more recent pic of him. Guess I'm too busy snapping photos of the kids.

This should be a picture of me and my very pregnant belly. This is about a month ago. I'm even larger now. But thankfully not as large as I was with my son!

This is a picture of my son this Christmas.

And here is a picture of my daughter.

Let's see if this worked, and if it did, I'll give the info on GF Photo Shoot.

 

[Laura.bora]

I DID IT!!!!

 

[Laura.bora]

Ok, so now for the info on the GF photo shoot. You basically get your own photopass photographer for 20 - 30 minutes. He'll take around 40 pictures of you and your family in any combination of set ups you want (ie - just you and your husband, just the kids, the whole family etc.). The pictures are taken in the GF and around the grounds of the GF. It cost around $50 if you do not buy a photopass ahead of time. If you've pre paid for the cd, then it costs around $25. Since it's part of the photopass, you get the copyright of the pictures when you buy the cd, so you can use the pictures for christmas cards, photos to hang around the house and give to family, etc. (all of which we are planning on doing!) The number to call to book it is 407-824-1700, and you can only book 30 days in advance. I believe you just tell them you are pre ordering the photopass Cd, and then they tell you to bring your invoice to the shoot. I'm not sure if you pay ahead of time or when you get there.

Here's a link to someone's GF photo shoot so you can see what it is like. #56 starts the pictures.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1565842&page=4

Somewhere I think I have another thread saved with tons of pictures from different families, couples etc doing the GF photo shoot. I just can't find it. If I do, I'll post the link. Also, it's rumored that they are thinking of starting the photo shoot at the Poly next. That would look beautiful as well, if it's true!

 

[Laura.bora]

ok, so I'm glad to hear that Chef Mickey's is good food. I'm always nervous at the character breakfasts, I know we're not going for gourmet meals, but mainly to meet the characters, but still, I'd like to at least somewhat like my meal. I'm not normally a big breakfast eater, but I think that's because I'm not a morning person. I love pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs - you know, the traditional breakfast stuff.....but at home, if I want it in the morning, that means I make it in the morning - and as I said, I'm not a morning person! But on vacation, I'll be more than happy to let someone make me my breakfast! (and lunch, and dinner, and desserts!) That's one of the reasons we have so many breakfasts scheduled (hopefully - won't know till March). All of our restaurant picks have been based on everyones reviews here, pics people have taken of the food, and the menus. Obviously, don't want to go somewhere that has excellent food, but I won't like!

We're also hoping to try beaches and cream for a lunch consisting of only ice cream. The husband has been drooling since he saw a picture of the no way jose. We're planning on walking over after a morning and early afternoon in Epcot. We've heard it's a short walk. Then we'll head home for a nap. Good plan right? Pack the kids full of sugar, and then try to get them to go to sleep. We'll see if it actually works. Maybe they'll drift into a sugar coma.

 

[Shmu]

You have a PRECIOUS looking family.
Glad the instructions worked.
Thank you soooo much for the info of the GF photo shoot. I'm seriously thinking about adding this into our agenda.
Another good restaurant is The Garden Grill. It's at EPCOT. They bring out all you can eat to your table. Characters walk around coming to each table. Farmer Mickey, Pluto, and Chip and Dale are the characters. We eat there every time we go.
Keep the ideas you have for restaurants, they sound great, but if one doesn't work out it might be one to consider.
I'll be praying for safe and healthy delivery of your newest edition.