This PTR needs a name!!! Hope to see you real soon!! Well, not too soon!

[ash-n-brensmom]

Me and the DD's just got back from a lovely visit with our cousin's grandma. She really is a grandma to all of us! She fell last week and had surgery on her hip, lots of pins. But she has settled into her rehab facility nicely and she looks great. The bad news is she will be stuck there for at least a month and will be celebrating Xmas there, the good news is my cousin works at this facility and it's right down the road from my brother, so lots of visitors!!

I just got home and checked my email, I got something from Stitchkingdom.com. I don't know if any of you have checked this one out, but you can sign up for email alerts for your vacation time and your resort. I got an email alerting me to POR rehabbing one of their pools during our vacation. No biggie it's just one of the quiet pools, and who knows if the weather will even cooperate for swimming while we are there? But it's a great way to keep up with current info that impacts your vacation time.

 

[mauigal]

Subbing!! Hi.....excited for your trip....
I will be at the POP Jan 8-11 (dropping off DD who will be in the college program there for 4 mos) then will be going back for a whole week May 7-14!!! So excited!!

Love the countdown calendar idea!!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Subbing!! Hi.....excited for your trip....
I will be at the POP Jan 8-11 (dropping off DD who will be in the college program there for 4 mos) then will be going back for a whole week May 7-14!!! So excited!!

Love the countdown calendar idea!!

Welcome to our PTR!!



Lucky girl!! The college program sounds so exciting, and it gives you more excuses to head to Disney more often..as if we need one! I am posting a pic of the countdown calendar tonight...stay tuned!!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Update time!! As promised I have pictures of our Countdown Calendar.

We made a couple trips to Home Depot...got a few too many paint chips actually. But that's okay, we can decorate our room with them when we get there.
I'm excited to say that we have added something to our itinerary!! We were thinking of trying to finally fit Fantasmic into our trip this time. I'm not a fan of waiting in line as long as needed to get a seat for this show..so we called and tried to book a Fantasmic Dinner Package..but alas they are all booked for the dates we are there. But that reminded me of something I had wanted to try the last two times we were in Disney. A fireworks cruise. They're VERY expensive and book very early, but I remembered reading about the Pirates and Pals voyage from CR. I asked about that while I was on the phone with the reservation agent, she had to transfer me to recreation reservations and the price is more than we should be spending, but we figure our tax return will be back by the time we get home and we can pay off any extra expenses then...this will just have to be factored into that total. So we will be going on the Pirates and Pals cruise on Fri March 4th. Wishes is at 8:30 that night and we need to be at CR at 6:45. We have dinner reservations at Kona that night at 5:05 and I figure we can take our time over dinner and ride the monorail over to the CR. We are so excited to try something new!

 

[jelloarms]

I just watched your youtube video of you surprising your daughters. Very cool idea with the balloons! Reminds me of those Disney World commercials they used to have on TV. How did you pack without them knowing? Did you just keep their suitcases hidden in a closet somewhere?

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

I just watched your youtube video of you surprising your daughters. Very cool idea with the balloons! Reminds me of those Disney World commercials they used to have on TV. How did you pack without them knowing? Did you just keep their suitcases hidden in a closet somewhere?

It wasn't easy, but at least I had the advantage of 2 1/2 hours a day where they were both at school. I got as much done as possible in those hours, and then hid everything in our basement under the stairs. It's a great spot to hide things, it's dry, has a light and most importantly..the girls are afraid of it!

I got the idea for the balloons from another Dis'er. I just love these threads!! But, yeah I was trying to recreate the commercial. I couldn't find any smaller balloons and as you saw DH went a little overboard with the packing tape . As soon as DD 10 said pinch me, it was all good!!!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

As we all know Christmas is around the corner . So I have limited time for an update..I told you all yesterday about our addition to the itinerary, and you saw pics of our countdown calendar. For now that's all that's going on. Tonight DD6 has a concert at the school, then after the babysitter is coming over so we can attend a holiday party. As I look around the house I realize that I need to clean, clean, clean. Plus I have to head to the dentist to have a filling replaced . So I gotta go!! But, we are thinking of filling the time after the holidays with mini TR's of our past vaca's. Until then, I will pop on here just to say hi from time to time and to get my Dis fix..

TTFN

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Wow..I actually have a few minutes in between the shopping frenzy to post on here!!! I mentioned my busy day yesterday, I got the cleaning done. Got to the dentist , and btw, my tooth still hurts!! Went to DD's school concert , and went to a work party as well.

Today was shopping day. I took a list and headed out in the ma lay It wasn't too bad and I got it all done with only stopping at two stores. Now all I have to do is wrap, which I don't mind. My tradition is to start off with John Denver and the Muppets Christmas on in the background. I sing along and the time goes by pretty quickly. If it takes longer than that, well, then I resort to putting White Christmas on the tv. That always keeps me in a good mood! BTW, right now I am deviating from my Disney music in the background. I am listening to Bing Crosby...I just got the disc today. I love his voice!!

I was re-reading what I've written so far and realize that I forgot to let you in on some of my undecided waffling that I tend to do when making plans. I have listed in the itinerary that we will be going to DHS on Sat, our second park day. While this is true, what you are missing out on is the fact that we started out that way, then changed to Epcot, then back to DHS. The reason being is the crowd calendar that we use had better numbers with Epcot on Sat and DHS on Sun. So I made some extra ADR's trying to decide what to do. Then when Ferb said he wanted to do Fantasmic we changed back. Our planned ADR's changed a few times along with this mess. So now we are definitely doing DHS on Sat and eating at Sci-Fi for dinner, then we will be at Epcot on Sun and eating at LeCellier for lunch. And when we go back to Epcot on Wed the 9th we will eat dinner at Rose & Crown hoping for Illuminations seating. Got that? I know it's a mess, thankfully I have the emails saved and have written it all down as well.

The DD's will be home soon...I need to hide some stuff before they see it!!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Scratch that, reverse it! DHS is on Sunday and Epcot is on Sat...like I said,it's a good thing I have this stuff written down!!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

I'm a friend on the March 2011 FB page (Connie Cannon Sink). We will be at ASMu in a family suite March 6-12. Lovin' your PTR!

 

[Ferb]

I'm a friend on the March 2011 FB page (Connie Cannon Sink). We will be at ASMu in a family suite March 6-12. Lovin' your PTR!

On behalf of my wife and myself, welcome

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Props to Jelloarms for this survey!!!! Feel free to copy and past to your PTR or TR..she is allowing everyone to use it!!

DISNEY WORLD SURVEY



1. What is your name?::

So far I don't have a cute Disney name picked out, I'm hoping for some sort of epiphany on this trip.
As I said in our opener we also have DH called Ferb, DD's Stitch and Ariel.


2. When was the first time you went to Disney World?::

September 2008

3. When was the last time you went to Disney World?::

April 2010


4. When is the next time you will be in Disney World?::

March 2011



GETTING THERE


5. How do you usually get to to Disney World?::

By air..I can't imagine driving that far


6. What do you do to pass the time while getting there?::

I like to read, the girls usually have coloring books.


7. Do you have any particularly memorable or interesting experiences you can recall happening on your journey to Disney World?::

In April a poor guy traveling with his Granddaughter had a medical emergency, we thought we would be landing somewhere to get him some medical attention, but there was a hero among us in the form of a nurse!! The Grandfather was okay, the nurse just kept monitoring him during the flight and all was well!!



LODGING

8. What is your favorite place you have stayed at and why? It does not have to be on property::

So far we loved CBR. POP is great too, but we loved the pirate pools at CBR!!


9. What is your least favorite place you have stayed at and why? (It doesn't necessarily have to be a bad place, it's just that maybe out of all your list of favorites, this would be your least favorite)::

Our experience is limited, POP and CBR were both great!


MAGIC KINGDOM

10. What is your favorite attraction in the MK?

Ferb says Wishes. I'm thinking Pirates..but right now I have the song stuck in my head, so that might have something to do with it!!

11. What is your least favorite attraction in the MK?

It's a tie between Stitch and Carousel..I know, I know, it's a classic..just don't want to EVER do either one again!!

12. Tell me a random memory you have involving the MK.

Ferb says it's when we stood watching the Castle show, first trip, first time at MK ever, and he looked back and saw my happy tears!!

Me, I loved it when we ran into PUSH on our first trip(haven't been able to find him since), but it was totally random, had never heard of him before. We had a wonderful interaction with him, he commented on my hair, the girls matching shirts, the fact that we were from Canada..it went on and on..at the time I didn't realize how special this would seem...but every year our youngest wants to find PUSH...we REALLY need to find him this time so she can say hi again!!


13. What is your favorite place to eat in the MK?

We really enjoyed Pecos Bill's.



EPCOT

14. What is your favorite attraction in Epcot?

Soarin' for me, Ferb says Mission Space


15. What is your least favorite attraction in Epcot?

Ferb says Living with the Land, I say the French movie


16. Tell me a random memory you have involving Epcot.

On our first trip Ferb asked at the gates about trying to find Tinker Bell because Ariel was ALL about Tink that year. This was before Pixie Hollow. The CM went to inquire for us..we waited quite a while but when he returned to apologize for no Tink, he had YOMD pins for the girls and they had Tink on them!!

17. What is your favorite place to eat in Epcot?

LeCellier..although the girls would probably say Akershus


18. What is your favorite country in the World Showcase?

Ferb says UK.. I say Canada..loved that movie!! Especially since you can see our town in it..even where we work is on that one..we're famous!!!!



HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

19. What is your favorite attraction in HS?

Ferb says Star Tours, and he's bummed it's closed while we are there, And I say Toy Story!!

20. What is your least favorite attraction in HS?

Ferb says American Idol, and I say Tower Of Terror



21. Tell me a random memory you have involving HS.

We were waiting for the parade to start and we were chatting with a CM from my hometown!!


22. What is your favorite place to eat in HS?

Sci-fi

23. Do you watch the Citizens of Hollywood?

We are hoping to finally catch them this time...



ANIMAL KINGDOM

24. What is your favorite attraction in the AK?

EE!!


25. What is your least favorite attraction in the AK?

Wack a Paki

26. Tell me a random memory you have involving the AK.

Can't think of any now..We'll get back to you with that one..


27. What is your favorite place to eat in the AK?

We've only ate at the express Yak and Yeti..we love it so we keep going back!!


OTHER DISNEY PLACES

28. Which water parks have you been to and which one was your favorite?

We've done both...liked Blizzard Beach loved the family raft there...

29. What was your favorite part about that water park?

The family raft ride!!


30. Have you been to Disney Quest?

Yep in 2008..we liked the pirate thing and the raft ride...


31. What was your favorite thing about Disney Quest?

The raft ride


32. Have you been to the Wide World of Sports?

No.


33. What was your favorite thing about the Wide World of Sports?

N/A




EXTINCT DISNEY

34. What are some of your favorite attractions that are no longer around?

Haven't been going long enough to have any...


35. Have you ever been to Discovery Island when it was still running?

No.


36. Have you ever been to River Country when it was still running?

No. And when I look at pics it looks DISGUSTING!!!

37. What was your favorite part about the now shut down Pleasure Island?

Never been.


38. What is your favorite extinct show/parade?

I am looking forward to seeing the new parades at MK and DHS, I will have an opinion once I can compare them...



RANDOMS

39. What is one thing you MUST do every time you go to Disney?

Apparently I MUST cry when I see the castle
Ferb says swimming, no matter the weather!!


40. What is one thing you MUST eat every time you go to Disney?

A Mickey ice cream

41. What is something you haven't done yet that you look forward to doing?

Fantasmic, and Pirate and Pals cruise


42. What is something you have done and have no interest in doing again?

Wishes Dessert Party, it was great but been there, done that, especially at that price!!!

43. Who is your favorite Disney female?

Ferb says the Step sisters..either one will do, apparently
I say Mary Poppins


44. Who is your favorite Disney male?

Ferb says Stitch..I say Genie!!!


45. Who is your favorite Disney villain?

Cruella Deville


46. Your earliest Disney Park Memory::

2008 walking into MK, couldn't believe we were actually there!!!

47. What other Disney Parks have you been to outside of Disney World?

None


48. Have you ever had to explain your love for Disney to someone who just didn't "get" it?

People think we are crazy for going over and over,but I simply say it's our happy place and that's all. There's nothing like getting into a conversation with a fellow disney lover!!! It's like a house on fire!!!

49. Blasphemous I know, but where is your favorite place to travel outside of Disney?

Vegas

50. Which Disney character reminds you of you?
Ferb says Ferb..it's the accent!!
See this is my problem, I am having a hard time identifying with anyone..I'm working on it!!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

No update right now, just shamelessly bumping myself up to the top !!!

 

[lilandvisma]

Joining ya here! Your DD's are adorable How old are they? And how oh HOW do you keep secrets? LOL, I am SO bad at that sort of thing!

Me and the DD's just got back from a lovely visit with our cousin's grandma. She really is a grandma to all of us! She fell last week and had surgery on her hip, lots of pins. But she has settled into her rehab facility nicely and she looks great. The bad news is she will be stuck there for at least a month and will be celebrating Xmas there, the good news is my cousin works at this facility and it's right down the road from my brother, so lots of visitors!!

I just got home and checked my email, I got something from Stitchkingdom.com. I don't know if any of you have checked this one out, but you can sign up for email alerts for your vacation time and your resort. I got an email alerting me to POR rehabbing one of their pools during our vacation. No biggie it's just one of the quiet pools, and who knows if the weather will even cooperate for swimming while we are there? But it's a great way to keep up with current info that impacts your vacation time.

Glad to hear your Grandmother is doing well! Our's fell a couple of months ago and knee surgery but is back to her usual self again now. It's very nice that your cousin works there so she'll have someone she knows around

Thanks for the tip on stitchkingdom.com, I'll have to go check that out! I think my girls would die if they couldn't use the pool at CBR (well, ok! I admit it...I probably would LOL).

Update time!! As promised I have pictures of our Countdown Calendar.

We made a couple trips to Home Depot...got a few too many paint chips actually. But that's okay, we can decorate our room with them when we get there.
I'm excited to say that we have added something to our itinerary!! We were thinking of trying to finally fit Fantasmic into our trip this time. I'm not a fan of waiting in line as long as needed to get a seat for this show..so we called and tried to book a Fantasmic Dinner Package..but alas they are all booked for the dates we are there. But that reminded me of something I had wanted to try the last two times we were in Disney. A fireworks cruise. They're VERY expensive and book very early, but I remembered reading about the Pirates and Pals voyage from CR. I asked about that while I was on the phone with the reservation agent, she had to transfer me to recreation reservations and the price is more than we should be spending, but we figure our tax return will be back by the time we get home and we can pay off any extra expenses then...this will just have to be factored into that total. So we will be going on the Pirates and Pals cruise on Fri March 4th. Wishes is at 8:30 that night and we need to be at CR at 6:45. We have dinner reservations at Kona that night at 5:05 and I figure we can take our time over dinner and ride the monorail over to the CR. We are so excited to try something new!

That is SOOO awesome! LOVE IT! How did you do it exactly? My crafty days are few and far between now with 3 kiddos! Are they magnets?

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Re: Lilandvisma's question about the countdown calendar- those are paint chips from the Disney paint collection at Lowes and Home Depot. You can get them for FREE!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Re: Lilandvisma's question about the countdown calendar- those are paint chips from the Disney paint collection at Lowes and Home Depot. You can get them for FREE!

Yep, we got them from Home Depot, used double sided tape to attach them to the board..don't know where we will be keeping them during the next couple of months for the actual countdown. I would consider hanging them up in the kitchen but don't know what exactly to hang them from? I'm not the most crafty person. I will be updating the PTR in the next couple of days...gotta work tonight and between Xmas and work..I'm exhausted...
Hope everyone is getting their Xmas's in order!! TTYL

 

[wdwgirl03]

I've been seeing this survey on a lot of PTRs lately! Guess I might as well fill one out.

DISNEY WORLD SURVEY

1. What is your name?:: My name is Sarah, aka wdwgirl03.

2. When was the first time you went to Disney World?:: 1991...I was 5 years old.

3. When was the last time you went to Disney World?:: This past August

4. When is the next time you will be in Disney World?:: March 2011...it will have been 20 years since my first visit. That makes me feel super old!



GETTING THERE


5. How do you usually get to to Disney World?:: plane...never gotten there any other way

6. What do you do to pass the time while getting there?:: Listen to music, make fun of all the odd things for sale in the airline catalog...

7. Do you have any particularly memorable or interesting experiences you can
recall happening on your journey to Disney World?:: We've had some interesting things happen but on our trip in August we had the best flight attendants ever. They were hliarious. Full story is in my TR.

LODGING

8. What is your favorite place you have stayed at and why? It does not have to be on property:: Gosh, that is a tough one. Really I've loved every place we've stayed at. But my all time favorite is the Polynesian. Lots of
memories from there from when my sisters and I were younger.

9. What is your least favorite place you have stayed at and why? (It doesn't
necessarily have to be a bad place, it's just that maybe out of all your list of
favorites, this would be your least favorite):: Don't have one...like I said,
I've loved all the places we've stayed at!

MAGIC KINGDOM

10. What is your favorite attraction in the MK? probably Thunder Mountain

11. What is your least favorite attraction in the MK? Hmmm, idk, maybe Stitch.

12. Tell me a random memory you have involving the MK. I remember on one of our very first trips we were waiting for the parade and there was this family from England right next to us. The one girl was around my age so we started talking and just kind of enjoyed the parade together. I think her name was Sophia. I don't know how I remember that! LOL.


13. What is your favorite place to eat in the MK? Cosmic Ray's


EPCOT

14. What is your favorite attraction in Epcot? Soarin!!!!!!

15. What is your least favorite attraction in Epcot? Mission:Space...though I
guess that doesn't count since I haven't really ever ridden it...

16. Tell me a random memory you have involving Epcot. Before Soarin was
officially open they were doing soft openings. I had read about it on the DIS
and was hoping we'd be able to ride when we were there. Sure enough we were lucky enough to get to do it. They took everyone through the back exit since the building was still under construction. It was so cool. Dad, my sister and I had ridden it in DCA but my mom and other sister hadn't yet. We all loved it!

17. What is your favorite place to eat in Epcot? Hmm...the bakery in France.

18. What is your favorite country in the World Showcase? Probably Canada or France.


HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

19. What is your favorite attraction in HS? Tower of Terror or Toy Story Mania

20. What is your least favorite attraction in HS? Star Tours maybe? Again,
haven't ridden it so I can't really say it's my least favorite.


21. Tell me a random memory you have involving HS. When we went in '08 right before Christmas, standing on the Streets of America and seeing the Osborne Lights go on. Such a spectacle!


22. What is your favorite place to eat in HS? Pizza Planet

23. Do you watch the Citizens of Hollywood? No


ANIMAL KINGDOM

24. What is your favorite attraction in the AK? The safari or Expedition
Everest

25. What is your least favorite attraction in the AK? don't really have one

26. Tell me a random memory you have involving the AK. Not really random but one of my favorites...doing the backstage safari tour in April with my dad! It
was awesome.

27. What is your favorite place to eat in the AK? Don't really eat too much at AK...but Pizzafari. hehe

OTHER DISNEY PLACES

28. Which water parks have you been to and which one was your favorite? We've been to both, never got to River Country. I liked Blizzard Beach the best.

29. What was your favorite part about that water park? The theming and the toboggan racers. We rode those a bunch of times in a row. LOL!

30. Have you been to Disney Quest? Nope

31. What was your favorite thing about Disney Quest? n/a

32. Have you been to the Wide World of Sports? No, but hopefully in March!


33. What was your favorite thing about the Wide World of Sports? n/a



EXTINCT DISNEY

34. What are some of your favorite attractions that are no longer around?
Definitely the original Journey Into Imagination with Figment, the Skyway, Mr.
Toad,...

35. Have you ever been to Discovery Island when it was still running? Yes, we went once.

36. Have you ever been to River Country when it was still running? No.

37. What was your favorite part about the now shut down Pleasure Island?

Never been.


38. What is your favorite extinct show/parade? The Remember the Magic parade for the 25th anniversary was good. And I also liked the really old Mickey's Starland show with the Disney Afternoon characters. I loved that when I was little.


RANDOMS

39. What is one thing you MUST do every time you go to Disney? Visit every park, ride the monorail


40. What is one thing you MUST eat every time you go to Disney? Disney chicken nuggets/tenders. LOL.

41. What is something you haven't done yet that you look forward to doing? The Backstage Magic Tour...some day we're hoping to do it!



42. What is something you have done and have no interest in doing again? Hmm, I don't really know about that one.

43. Who is your favorite Disney female? Cinderella maybe or Tinkerbell.


44. Who is your favorite Disney male? Prince Naveen. hehe


45. Who is your favorite Disney villain? I don't really like the villains


46. Your earliest Disney Park Memory:: Probably meeting the characters and getting autographs. Also, it's not the parks but playing on the beach/playground at the Polynesian when my sisters and I were little.

47. What other Disney Parks have you been to outside of Disney World? Disneyland and California Adventure

48. Have you ever had to explain your love for Disney to someone who just didn't "get" it? I don't think I've had to explain it but there are people who are like you're going again?!

49. Blasphemous I know, but where is your favorite place to travel outside of
Disney? Anywhere I haven't been yet

50. Which Disney character reminds you of you? I have no idea. LOL.

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Thanks for playing along with the survey!! It's always fun to read about another person's likes and dislikes and memories!!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Hey everyone!!!! I just got out of work and I am heading to bed for some much needed rest after the holiday and working all night!! I hope everyone had a great xmas and Santa was good to you all!!!

We taped the unveiling of our Disney trip surprise. Just as planned the girls unwrapped the countdown calendars...however, not as planned..it was a lack luster response. To give them credit, they had just opened their new DSi's and were a little distracted by them...but if any of you saw the video posted in an earlier post, you know that my girls were surprised with our last trip in April the morning we left. So a surprise trip to Disney, that you need to wait 60+ days for...not as exciting I guess..

I may or may not post this one...it's really awful..I'm going to watch it first and then decide. That's all for now, aside from DD's now being in on it , nothing new to report. But, I will be posting some mini TR's from our past three trips to help pass the time until March. So stay tuned, I plan to get started this week

Until then...good night

 

[Ferb]

Hey everyone!!!! I just got out of work and I am heading to bed for some much needed rest after the holiday and working all night!! I hope everyone had a great xmas and Santa was good to you all!!!

We taped the unveiling of our Disney trip surprise. Just as planned the girls unwrapped the countdown calendars...however, not as planned..it was a lack luster response. To give them credit, they had just opened their new DSi's and were a little distracted by them...but if any of you saw the video posted in an earlier post, you know that my girls were surprised with our last trip in April the morning we left. So a surprise trip to Disney, that you need to wait 60+ days for...not as exciting I guess..

I may or may not post this one...it's really awful..I'm going to watch it first and then decide. That's all for now, aside from DD's now being in on it , nothing new to report. But, I will be posting some mini TR's from our past three trips to help pass the time until March. So stay tuned, I plan to get started this week

Until then...good night

I will be uploading the "movie" to the computer this evening for my DW viewing pleasure , if it passes inspection, I will post the youtube link ......... l8tr