TheNeverEndingPTR! Sept2010...no, November...WAIT! January?Ugh. maybe September 2011!

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Hi Karen,

Been lurking for a while - read your "Off with their heads" trip report and am now following your PTR. We are planning a family trip to WDW immediately following you guys - 10/2 - 10/9/10.

I read about your dilemma with the MNSSHP dates for 2010 and wanted to share with you what I have learned about the 2010 dates so far. According to the 2010 crowd calendar on the Unofficial Guide's web site MNSSHP is scheduleld for: 9/24, 9/26; 9/28, 9/30 and 10/1.

Now I don't know how "official" or set in stone these dates are - but the Unofficial Guide is pretty thorough and I'd bank that there dates were pretty accurate.

Oh, I also remember reading somewhere that there is usually a "soft" opening for the Food and Wine Festival. Meaning that many ( if not all) food booths will be open and operating several days before the published opening date. So the gal you spoke with on the phone that thought it should still be open on the 24th is probably correct. I'm sure this news will make Rey very, very, happy.

As I said, we will be in WDW in October. Staying off site at Windsor Hills with my 2 ds ages 6 & 10 at that time. First visit for the 6yo - 10 yo visited back when he was 3 1/2 so it will be practically new to him as well!!

Oh - and I can totally understand your OCD trip planning!! I am exactly the same way! I love the planning part! It adds to the excitement and plus - vacations are special and I don't want to waste any precious time trying to decide where to go and when to do it!! Or get home and realized we missed something really cool!

Welcome!!! So you'll be arriving the day we are leaving! I saw that UG had MNSSHP listed for those dates but I'm hesitant to trust them, they have the F&W dates incorrect so I'm just not sure. I do know that they always have them on Tuesday's, so since I found a way to make it work in my itinerary I thought it would be safer to plan for the Tuesday.

As for the soft opening, I made sure we were at Epcot on Thursday as well, I read that they almost always have a soft opening the day before. Hope will be there that day as well, so maybe she'll get to experience it a bit without all the crowds!

Have you stayed at Winsor Hills before? I've heard only good things about it! Our house wasn't in Winsor Hills, but pretty close from the neighborhood maps I've seen. I think you will be even closer to the parks than we were, which will put you REALLY close! I hope you do a TR when you get back as I'll be in full fledge WDW depression after returning home, by that time!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Ohiovolfan~ I just went and double checked the Sept. crowd calendar for UG and you are right, they have changed the MNSSHP dates and taken AWAY the F&W dates! It's not listed at all, I'm guessing b/c there has been no official announcement about the date change for F&W. They better get all this together before my 180 days, I hate guessing!

 

[Ohiovolfan]

Karen,

Perhaps we'll cross paths at the airport!! After reading your first TR I would recognize your crew instantly!!

I love to plan but sometimes it drives me crazy as I cram my head full of so much information that it makes it literally impossible to make a decision!! I was on the boards yesterday and stumbled across a thread discussing how you should avoid WDW the week before and after Columbus day because of the Holiday and many of the Southern schools have fall break those weeks! So then I start debating whether we should reschedule our trip...UGH. But the crowd calender on UG has all those weeks listed as a 4 (which is the lowest rating they give ANY week) so I figure just go with it!

We haven't stayed at Windsor Hills before but are looking forward to it! With my two boys the extra room is always a necessity! They are psyched because their room has a PS2!! Plus - for the price you can't beat it! 2 beds, 2 baths, kitchen, washer/dryer for $525.00 a week! Compare it to the costs of staying on property and you can't beat it. I admit that the DP definitely had me thinking about staying on property though.....but for right now the extra room won! Maybe later when the boys are older and can use the WDW transportation on their own when needed we will rethink staying on property. Of course my problem is that if we did stay on property I would have my heart set on the Poly or AKL! LOL.....typical - champagne taste on a beer budget!!

We actually drove over to the Windsor Hills entrance 2 weeks ago. We were in Florida visiting the in-laws in Sarasota and drove over on Saturday 1/2/10 to Disney. We played putt putt at Winter/Summer Land and then met up with my neice and her dh at DTD. Wow - DTD was packed!! Sooo packed that it wasn't even fun! However we did manage a delicious lunch at Fulton's!

OK - enough for now! DS 9 is pestering me to help with his reading homework!

Haley

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I FINALLY got my photopass pics from our 2009 Off With Their Heads trip!!!

I'm not sure I will ever do another photopass share, that's for sure! I know they don't do them anymore on the DIS, and I know why now. I did mine on the TGM site and it seemed very on the up-in-up and organized. It only cost me 15$, so I figured if I got ripped off, it was worth it. Well, it took FOREVER for the person in charge to get them out, as you can see, it's Jan. 12th and our trip was at the end of October!

I'm pretty sure I will do photopass again b/c it's the only way I can get in any of the shots! Some of them aren't the best quality and the family could have cooperated more, but overall I was pleased with them. Wow, you sure can tell that I was eating poorly though b/c by the end of the week when Rey & I had out pic together I look like I've gained 10 pounds!

I did lots of borders, B&W, cropping, etc.(there were a few times I really wanted just our immediate family, so I cropped Rey's parents and sister out! I'm awful! I did crop THEM in some of them as well, so they could have some individual pics too) and there are TONS of them, more than I remembered. Rey's mom clearly doesn't realize that she's not much taller than her daughter! so she's hiding behind her in quite a few shots! Here are 20 or so that were my favorites: (yes 20! Don't you know me by now?!?!?)

love, love, love this shot of Rey's sister:

I bet I can't post all of them in one post!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

and more!!!!!

Here's me trying to look like a MEAN Queen at the Halloween Party!

These were from our anniversary when Rey & I got to go out alone to Boardwalk and then we walked over to Epcot for F&W

 

[Victoriasmom98]

OMG.....you did such a great job with these! They are beautiful!! Thank you for sharing with us all!!!

 

[-Hope-]

Okay, we were in a hurry and I didn't get to look closely at these- I LOVE them! The party pics are my favorites!!!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Movie Day! I know, I'm on a roll today with the updates, right?!?!?

Today Hope & I met for our first day of walking and movie day! We met at the rec center and walked for a little over 30 minutes (I think, right Hope?) It was a good start. I ran a few laps before Hope got there and my lungs were hurting by the time we got done walking. It's been a while! At least we have over 8 months to get in shape!

We headed to my house (2 minutes from the rec center) for our UP Movie Day! Hope outdid herself, I should have known! They made balloon cupcakes and had an activity book and an Adventure Book with badges to make. They had a good time, I got some pics, although Jace is only in one b/c that boy can MOVE! All the shots I took of him were blurry!

We watched the movie, I cried (again) and then the kids played for a while before Hope had to leave. It was a great day!

Here are the pics:

Kya & Savannah (I LOVE this picture)

Savannah giving me the evil eye already! I haven't even taken that many pics yet!

The cupcakes and activity book

The kids making their Adventure Books:

I'm guessing Hope won't want to do this every week, she really put a lot of work into it! We had a great time and can't wait to do it again!

 

[-Hope-]

I told you Jace was hard to get a decent pic of- he never stops moving!! We had a blast and are looking forward to next week- and I enjoyed the planning so I'm excited to pull something together again!

Okay, I'm off to talk about this in my own PTR.

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Hi Karen!

Thank you for sharing pictures of your UP night. It looks like you had a lot of fun. I also wanted to thank you for doing this pre-trip report. Even though I don't know you personally, you've made me feel like a part of your trip planning and that has been really wonderful for me. No one around me understands the Disney obsession!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Thanks Ann!

It makes me feel good as well that there is someone out there reading and enjoying! (sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself!...which wouldn't be anything new anyway!) No one really gets my WDW obsession either, so it's nice to share it here on the DIS with like minds!

How are you doing? Is it cold where you are? We're going to warm into the 40s today and I think it will feel like a heatwave compared to what it's been like lately!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Is it cold here? Yeah...it's 9 degrees today with a windchill of minus something....ugh! I don't believe we will be getting a January thaw! That's ok...just think --- the tulips should start poking up in March! Late March...maybe! I'm doing ok. Actually not really, so I've been escaping to my happy place ---- the Dis boards! Just waiting on my W-2's from work so that I can file my taxes and get my refund to put the money on my Disney trip. It's just been a really rough winter so far, as I'm sure you know with your own money issues....but anyways, enough about depressing stuff.....WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY IN SEPTEMBER...YEAH!!!!!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

That's a spirit! It's been a hard winter so far for me as well, how about we cheer each other up. I'm always better at cheering someone else up than myself.

Money is getting really tight as the month of Rey being home progresses! He goes back next Friday, which is good for income, but I'll miss him! It's been so nice with him here, I think my winter blues would have been worse had he not been here. I'm a little worried about how down I'll be once he leaves though. Hopefully his W2 will come as well soon, he didn't buy his truck until March, so we have to include that in our taxes. We're just hoping to not have to pay!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

It's a deal --- we'll cheer each other up!! I've never had to pay in to the IRS, being a single mom with income under $40,000, I still qualify for Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, and some child care as she's still under 12. But, money's been tight as I work for the state government and our raises have been frozen for 2 years due to the economy and we now have to pay a percentage of our health insurance, which we never had to previously. We also have to take 13 unpaid days off per year now. I know, I know --- I am very fortunate to still have a job and one which offers health insurance. But my mortgage has gone from $422 (which I know was FANTASTIC!) to $800 per month. That's quite an adjustment if you are used to having that extra money! Ok, ok....I need to shut up now......Rey's been out of work for a while now and you know exactly what I mean! And you have 3 kids!! So, I should just take my big girl pill and deal with it! OH, I did get my mini M&M container filled and my cards for the veterans for Give a Day/Get a Day are done and on their way to the volunteer coordinator.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Oh you got to do your GAD from home?!?!? Lucky you! We will be driving 95 miles on Monday to get to where we will be making our paper flowers and cards. (I have no idea where I'm getting the gas money tho!)

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Yes, she gave me the option of going to Hermon, Maine (which is about 1 1/2 hour drive away) or I could do them at home. Yeah, I did them at home!

 

[-Hope-]

Oooh, I'm so jealous that you got to do you GAD at home! That is awesome!

 

[3princesses+aprince]

Love the Disney Pictures and your Halloween costume!!!! Your Disney night with UP looked super cute! We'll be starting our Disney nights this weekend! Not sure what we're starting with first, gotta think about it! The activity books are adorable. I think the activity for our first Disney night is going to be making our countdown calendar! We had a really great one going for our last trip so i'll have to come up with something really good! Maybe it will be a little Halloween themed!!!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Love the Disney Pictures and your Halloween costume!!!! Your Disney night with UP looked super cute! We'll be starting our Disney nights this weekend! Not sure what we're starting with first, gotta think about it! The activity books are adorable. I think the activity for our first Disney night is going to be making our countdown calendar! We had a really great one going for our last trip so i'll have to come up with something really good! Maybe it will be a little Halloween themed!!!

Pam, I'm itching to make our countdown chain, but we have 255 days and it would be HUGE! I think last year we made one that was 100+ long and we had to drape it across both windows in the livingroom for months! Everyone thought I was nuts!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

ok, I'm going to try to upload a photo to share with you.....I've never done this so bear with me....it's what I'm planning on having for centerpieces at my wedding......and I know Hope and Pam also have subbed here, so they will see it to......oh yeah, I previewed it and it came out.......now to just learn to size it smaller......

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