Third Time's The Charm--Maybe--- Sept 2018 PTR **UPDATED 6/27**

[jchurch0409]

I just stumbled onto your report and caught up. Camping sounds like so much fun, but I'm always nervous to book it! Did you find it uncomfortable to sleep outside in the FL heat or was it OK? The pictures from your cruise are so sweet!! Can't wait to read more.

It actually wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be! We took a couple of fans and were able to open all the tent windows at night. I went into it dreading it. The worst thing for me was the humidity. I hated waking up feeling wet lol. It only rained on our last evening thankfully!

Thank you! It was SOOO hard to get all four of them to look at the camera at the same time lol.

Finally got all caught up.

we have a love/hate relationship with camping. It seems like every time we camp, the sky opens up. Like gushing rain. LOL!! Every time we went camping as a kid my dad could count on it raining. Loved camping and the memories of it. LOL!! Even if we were soaked to the bone.

I'm excited to eat at Beaches and Cream. I've heard a lot of good things about it. Which is why it's on my list for this trip.

This was actually my kids first time camping somewhere other than our backyard! They really loved it! We camped a lot when I was younger. I always enjoyed it!

I hope to be back soon with some updates! There really isn't much going on with plans right now, LOL. I have been working on shirts and outfits. When I get enough finished I plan to write a post on that!

 

[jchurch0409]

Hello all! It has been a while since I posted an update! We have had a busy month! With baseball/softball season upon us, it is just going to get busier LOL. So what have we been up to Disney-wise? We had our first movie night on Easter. We took a short family trip to Great Wolf Lodge. I have made a few shirts for the trip, but I still have many more things to work on! So now, onto our Disney movie night!

Disney Movie Night #1 (4/1): The Three Caballeros
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We decided to start with this movie for several reasons. The first being that we had never seen it before. On our 2015, we really enjoyed this ride! The last reason was that we had already planned to have tacos for dinner. On the menu were tacos, homemade taquitos, margaritas, and all the fixings. We had planned to make homemade churros for dessert, but I was too tired. For the craft, we made maracas and sombreros. I didn't get a lot of photos sadly.

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These are really all I got! We had a great time! My Mom left the next week to visit Emilee and her family in Texas. We plan to have a second movie night next week when she gets back. Our plan is to watch "Sleeping Beauty" and have breakfast for dinner.

I am going to share a few photos from out Great Wolf Lodge trip. We went to celebrate Simon's upcoming 5th birthday, Piper's 9th birthday, and Jonathan's 32 birthday. We had a wonderful time swimming and playing Magiquest!

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/pipersmom2009photography/​

 

[missjackiemcg]

That looks like so much fun, and not too difficult to pull together either. Easy is my style!!

We have never stayed at Great Wolf Lodge, but they are reopening a hotel near us completely remodeled as a GWL so maybe next winter that will be a fun place to escape the snow!!

 

[jchurch0409]

That looks like so much fun, and not too difficult to pull together either. Easy is my style!!

I agree! Easy is my style too!

We have never stayed at Great Wolf Lodge, but they are reopening a hotel near us completely remodeled as a GWL so maybe next winter that will be a fun place to escape the snow!!

This was our second visit! We went last year for Simon's 4th birthday. We really enjoy going! We only go for one night, but it is a nice escape from everyday life while waiting on vacation! The older two boys have already requested going there for their birthdays in lieu of a party this fall.

 

[MissMaryQC]

Yay for movie nights! I’ve never seen the Three Caballeros, but your crafts look super cute. Love the breakfast for dinner for Sleeping Beauty, super clever.

GWL looks like fun!

 

[jchurch0409]

Yay for movie nights! I’ve never seen the Three Caballeros, but your crafts look super cute. Love the breakfast for dinner for Sleeping Beauty, super clever.

GWL looks like fun!

Thank you!! Pinterest is so wonderful, lol. to be honest, we thought the movie was a little boring, but still very cute!

 

[jchurch0409]

WE GOT FREE DINING!!


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This really takes a load off of me! I am so happy that we get to stay in a hotel and not have to camp! As I told my DH though, camping at Disney is better than no Disney!

 

[jchurch0409]

Hi again! We still haven't had time to have our next movie night! Between baseball season and the end of school, it has been hectic! I am the PTSO president at the kid's school and this time of year is crazy! I do have a small update today! Sorry in advance for the wordy post! The next few posts should have more pics!


We have a little less than two months until our FP+ day, which is on July 9th. Right now I’m trying to finalize which parks we will visit each day. We plan to take full advantage of our park hoppers! As I stated in an earlier post, we decided to just do the QS Dining Plan this time. We had originally thought to pay OOP for a breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. This was one of our favorite meals on our 2015 trip. We thought the food was good and the character interactions were great! I forgot that we had decided this since it had been so long since we discussed it! So, with all that being said, I didn’t book it. I later learned about the Bon Voyage breakfast. By the time I learned about it, it was past our booking day and there was no availability. I was able to get a reservation at Garden Grille. It is a little later than we wanted, but I think it will work if I can’t move it!


I also made another boo-boo on our dining reservations! I thought I had us all set up for Beaches and Cream, with three reservations. Then a few days later I was checking over the plans, and I realized while I was switching between accounts, I had booked two of the meals on the wrong day! So those were canceled. There was no availability on the day we wanted. This probably works out for the best. The day was had originally decided to eat there was to be our “off” day. Since those plans were made, a few things have changed.


After much discussion, we also decided to cancel our Tea reservation for our arrival day. We decided it may be too much to try to squeeze in that day.


So now I am going to talk a little bit about our daily plans, FP+, clothing options and the like! Some of our plans may change depending on FOP and Toy Story Land FP+ availability.


Here is a spreadsheet of our plans, as of now.



Day 1: Yay!!! It’s Disney Day!

As I said in an earlier update, we are driving from the foothills of North Carolina to Disney. It is about 625 miles from our house. We hope to make it as far as we can. We won’t be leaving until the kids get out of school. Our hope is to be on the road by 4:00. We will pack some sandwiches for dinner to limit stops. We would love to make it to Jacksonville, FL. A more realistic goal is probably Savannah or Brunswick, GA.


We will sleep in a little the next morning. Our plan for this day is to finish the drive to Disney! We will stop for some groceries on our way in. we will probably grab lunch on the road as well, depending on how late we get on the road. We hope to get to our resort no later than 2:00.


If our room is ready, we will unpack and explore. We may swim a little. Then head to Disney Springs for some dinner and shopping. We plan to use our first QS credit at Earl of Sandwich. This will be our first time eating here!

(image from Google)

Option 2
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As I have said, I love to plan. I find it adds excitement to my trip! I decided to check out airfare prices for our times. I found a great deal on flights. The only downside is the flight wouldn’t arrive until 7:30 PM on 9/7. This would put us arriving in Orlando about 5 ½ hours later than driving. However if choosing between a 2-hour flight or a 10+ hour drive---I would rather fly! I should mention that my kids and I have never flown before. DH has once in high school. I think this would be an exciting start to the trip. Opinions on arriving in Orlando at that time? Also anything else about Magical Express?

 

[missjackiemcg]

I am not a huge fan of flying EXCEPT when I go to Disney because it just gets us there faster!! Arriving at 7:30 doesn't sound too bad to me. You will be able to use Magical Express at that time...only drawback being it could take awhile for them to get your luggage to your room. But, if you're up for exploring your resort or even a night swim, etc. I bet your luggage would still be there for bedtime. We arrived after 10:30 one trip and that was just plain miserable.

 

[jchurch0409]

Sorry for the long delay in posts! Between baseball/softball and school ending, we have been swamped! I will do a little real-life update and then get back into the planning! The last day of school was May 31. I now have two 4th graders, a 2nd grader, and a kindergartener! We have had a super busy summer so far. I babysit my nieces a few days a week as well as my daughter's friend. So some days each week, we have 9 kids in the house! Needless to say, that keeps us super busy! We have season passes to a local waterpark and have already been there a few times this year! Going there makes me really want to try out some Disney waterparks in the future! I am going to include some random summer photos in this update just to keep it from being so wordy!

She got the game ball!

Summer fun at a local camp!

Tweetsie Railroad to see Thomas! This is one of our favorite yearly traditions. It is a small Western-themed theme park in the mountains of NC. We always get season passes and spend many days there!

Now onto the Disney plans! Our FP+ day is in 12 days! I think I have everything finalized and ready to go! Here is what I am hoping to get each day.



I am not at all confident that I will get Slinky on my first day, but I am still going to try! We have a couple more days we could do it, so I am going to take what I can get. I will come back and update after! If you see anything that you think needs to be changed, please let me know! I am always open to advice.


I am still hard at work on outfits and shirts. I hope to get those posted soon! Also, in an update to the last post, we have decided to drive. It just wasn't worth it to us to lose time in Disney and pay more money lol.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Hello! I came over from my trip report to catch up on your pre-trip report! We went in September last year. It was a great time to go!

 

[jchurch0409]

Hello! I came over from my trip report to catch up on your pre-trip report! We went in September last year. It was a great time to go!

Yay! I have read a couple of your reports! So glad to hear that! We have only gone in May and just the one day in August last year. I am excited to go in the "fall"."

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

It was HOT! We brought and made good use of cooling towels!