Trip Talk!

[T_O]

Sat 7/16 we hit Durham, NC for 2 nights.... hitting up Fullsteam and Ponysarus Breweries and the Museum of Life & Science for the kids

I used to love that place when I was a kid! Have fun!

 

[Aliceacc]

With two very timid toddlers, I am limited to which rides I can FP, so I actually had a hard time filling 3/day. Hopefully we can see Fantasmic some night.
I booked ADRs at CRT, Chef Mickey's, & Kona Cafe (all breakfast meals.) Also planning to try CHH and the new Echo Lake eats. Dinners will probably be out of our room. Above all, I'm trying to stay flexible with the plans!
Can't wait!

My kids were also timid when they were young. Fantasmic scared the life out of them... to the point where my husband had to take my girls out the first time we saw it.

And my son, who was also timid as a child, was TERRIFIED of the characters. I'm sure the Chef Mickey CMs can still recount his legendary "I'm not going in there and you can't make me!!!" tantrum of 2008 as we approached Chef Mickeys on our first night and he realized that the characters were there.

Flexibility is indeed your friend!

 

[T_O]

My kids were also timid when they were young. Fantasmic scared the life out of them... to the point where my husband had to take my girls out the first time we saw it.

And my son, who was also timid as a child, was TERRIFIED of the characters. I'm sure the Chef Mickey CMs can still recount his legendary "I'm not going in there and you can't make me!!!" tantrum of 2008 as we approached Chef Mickeys on our first night and he realized that the characters were there.

Flexibility is indeed your friend!

I can totally see these happening with my kids, lol. I'm ready...I think. Worst case scenario, DH stays in the room with the kids and I go by myself.

 

[Aliceacc]

The good news is that he's going off to college in September, unafraid of Mickey Mouse. And my older daughter is now a HUGE fan of Fantasmic, the roller coaster and Tower of Terror.

This, too, shall pass.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

I am travelling from Northern Vancouver Island. If I was to fly from here the price of my flight would triple, so we have to make our way to Vancouver.

Wow - you must have some GORGEOUS scenery around you, no?

 

[SorcererHeidi]

We'll be at the Boardwalk Inn in a few weeks, for 7 nights. We have 8 day parkhoppers and the DDP.

There's a real backstory to our trip.

Wow - what an awesome story, thank God your husband is okay! Have a wonderful, magical trip, and give each other a hug in front of the castle for me!

 

[disneysteve]

Ok, I broke down and actually planned something - LOL. I got FPs for Soarin' for 7/24 since I know we're planning to be in Epcot that afternoon. I may book another one for a different day just in case that doesn't work out. I would really like to see FEA but there doesn't seem to be any availability for it right now. I really hate the fact that the system requires you to do this to have any chance of seeing an attraction without waiting in line for a ridiculous amount of time.

 

[TinkFan74]

Wow - you must have some GORGEOUS scenery around you, no?

It is not uncommon to see whales from the beaches, and eagles are everywhere. It is very pretty with the mountains and ocean and at night the stars are very bright.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

It is not uncommon to see whales from the beaches, and eagles are everywhere. It is very pretty with the mountains and ocean and at night the stars are very bright.

Sounds fantabulous!!

 

[TinkFan74]

Sounds fantabulous!!

It is, the only thing that would make it better is a Disney park. Where do you live?

 

[SorcererHeidi]

It is, the only thing that would make it better is a Disney park. Where do you live?

New Jersey - it has it's nice parts, but nothing near as awesome as that area!

 

[pjweaver]

New Jersey - it has it's nice parts, but nothing near as awesome as that area!

I've been to the nice parts, they are few and far between. Much more Camden and AC than Collins Lake.

 

[TinkFan74]

New Jersey - it has it's nice parts, but nothing near as awesome as that area!

But you have Ross stores, there are days where I would much rather be able to buy a $10 pair of shoes than look at nature.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

Hmmmm - dunno - never heard of them, never been. But I ain't much of a shopper, do most of mine online.

 

[TinkFan74]

Hmmmm - dunno - never heard of them, never been. But I ain't much of a shopper, do most of mine online.

Nest to Disney it is our favourite reason to travel to the USA. I love Sanuk shoes, they are often $70 here, but under $20 in Ross.

 

[disneysteve]

But you have Ross stores

I'm not a shopper but I have to say that we never go there. We have them right in the neighborhood, too. We'll have to check them out some time.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

New Jersey - it has it's nice parts, but nothing near as awesome as that area!

And yet I miss a lot of the scenery in NJ!

 

[Aerin75]

I realize I'm resurrecting this thread...didn't want to post until we got back.

Not doing Disney again until next year, but thought I'd share a bit of our recent trip to New England. This trip my husband and I checked off three more states a piece in our quest for all 50, and my daughter 6. My total is now 45 (as is my husband's, but a slightly different list)....my daughter at 11 is now at 40. Not really sure how we managed that count, but we did.

We drove up from Indiana to Hartford and poked around where my dad lived as a kid,
then we went to Mystic (Mystic Pizza really does have good pizza! Gotta go re-watch the movie now...)
and through Rhode Island and Massachusetts hitting National Park sites along the way (Roger Williams - I am a big fan - and Lexington/Concord that was part of Social Studies for the kiddo this year). Incidentally, if you have a chance to visit Providence and like Italian, try a place called Umberto's. Really tiny - like 10 tables max including outside - but most of their food is imported from Italy, and it is to die for! It is NOT your traditional American-Italian.
We swung up into New Hampshire/Maine and did a beach day in Ogunquit, driving up the coast from Portsmouth. I used to say I'm a Northern girl who needs a Southern climate. I can't handle the heat anymore, but this will help you understand why I describe the ocean water there in one word....frigid. My daughter, however, body boarded for a while, and I ended up with a sunburn from not keeping track of the time!
We spent he 4th of July some place I've always wanted to go - Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor. I had my first non-Disney parade in years...seen from the comfort of the place we had breakfast.
While there, we did a nature cruise and while we didn't get to see any whales, we did see harbor seals, peregrine falcons, and an eagle's nest. It was absolutely beautiful!!
We also did a sea kayak tour - where we saw a bald eagle as up close as I'd ever like to get (a hundred yards at least, and it was ruling from its nest). I'm really out of shape and was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up, but it wasn't as bad as I thought, and I didn't even regret it the next day.
On the way home, we stopped at Flume Gorge in New Hampshire - and ate at a couple of places that have given me a new appreciation for retail politics, as they were places where presidential candidates have visited!
Then on to Vermont, where we visited Calvin Coolidge's birthplace and Hildene, which is the summer home Robert Lincoln built in 1903. (My daughter has latched on to President Lincoln as her favorite, thanks to history loving "Grampy", so we thought visiting more of the family sites might interest her.) For perspective, they have a brick outline of the size of the cabin in which President Lincoln was born....up next to this 20+ room mansion. Amazing what could be done in one generation!

And then for our final stop - Niagara Falls, on the Canadian side. I had just gotten finished with the Ken Burns National Parks documentary, and several times it mentioned that John Muir and others wanted Yosemite and Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, et. al. kept pristine so no one did there what they did to Niagara Falls in terms of commercialization. I had been there 15 years ago, but came in from Toronto and from the "back" as it were. I didn't really appreciate the touristy-ness of it all until we were going across the Rainbow Bridge. Nevertheless, it is an absolutely wonderful sight to see!

Anyway, there's my "trip talk"

Aerin

 

[CampbellzSoup]

And yet I miss a lot of the scenery in NJ!

I'm born and raised in NJ and out of the cities it is a such a beautiful place my god.

 

[Aerin75]

I'm born and raised in NJ and out of the cities it is a such a beautiful place my god.

I spent a week near Princeton a few years ago (work training), and did some driving around to find Monmouth...as you might imagine from my above post, I'm a bit of a history buff myself (mostly, but not limited to, NPS sites). I never did find Monmouth, but it was so pretty just driving around. I flew into Philly and drove up 1 - that was so much better than doing an interstate!