Vegan mom takes on Disney..... Dec, 2011 PTR

[veggiemama]

Have you been to the MVMCP before? I wasn't sure if it would be worth it for us, but I am not sure of that now! But then again I don't think that they do it the week that we are there.... I will have to see.
I hope that you feel better with your ears now! My sister is fine, she's more of a hypochondriac (spelling?)- but not when it comes to her kids! We have muscular dystrophy (my younger sister passed away from complications it brought on at age 18). Lucky enough my son and I don't have it in our blood stream (another reason why I think I am adopted), but my niece does and my older sister does! So I am pretty sure that any other kids she has will have it, I am just a carrier so I could have kids that have it too that's why we have just one!
Yeah I am lucky I stay at home during the day (not that we can afford it, it just didn't pay when we had to pay daycare and now I can't find a job with his hours), so I get to make the stuff through out the week! When I get new recipes I try them out at our soccer games on Sundays with my son and all of the kids! We have been made fun of a few times though- we are the coaches and there is one parent that has her kids calling me "coach crocker" after betty crocker!
But yes, this will be fun to plan for the rest of the year! And all of us can keep the peace at home while sharing our ideas and such with our online disney friends here!

Nope, never been to MVMCP but I am determined to go!! My dd and I are HUGE Christmas fans and Disney fans so it just seems totally logical for us to do it. My kids are older though too so I think/hope that they will appreciate all the Christmasy stuff. and of course, for them, all the hot chocolate and cookies they can eat..... even better!

 

[MelanieC]

Somewhere on the DIS I have information about a POP scavenger hunt I made up and did. We had a blast and we were exhausted, but man was it good exercise. I think it's listed on the POP faq sheet in the POP thread. Next time I wouldn't make it so long, lol. It would be easy to shorten, but was fun to do when we first checked into the hotel.

I can't believe we go in 3 months- I hadn't really thought about it being that close. Let me know if there is anything you want me to check on while I'm down there.

 

[annmarieda]

Your countdown calendar from last trip reminds me of the one I did. The concept of little gifts leading up to the trip is so fun. I know my girls enjoyed it. This time though, I will be dealing with a teenage boy... and I am not so sure he will get into it. Oh well, maybe I will have to do it for dd who is only 6.

 

[shocky5]

Nope, never been to MVMCP but I am determined to go!! My dd and I are HUGE Christmas fans and Disney fans so it just seems totally logical for us to do it. My kids are older though too so I think/hope that they will appreciate all the Christmasy stuff. and of course, for them, all the hot chocolate and cookies they can eat..... even better!

We are bound and determined to do this as well! For all the reasons you list above... And of course fit some rides in as well. Have you seen a calendar yet or found out when tickets go on sale?

 

[veggiemama]

Somewhere on the DIS I have information about a POP scavenger hunt I made up and did. We had a blast and we were exhausted, but man was it good exercise. I think it's listed on the POP faq sheet in the POP thread. Next time I wouldn't make it so long, lol. It would be easy to shorten, but was fun to do when we first checked into the hotel.

I can't believe we go in 3 months- I hadn't really thought about it being that close. Let me know if there is anything you want me to check on while I'm down there.

I started searching for scavenger hunts. My goodness there are a lot of them out there! Could take me a while to find the 'pop' one but in the meantime I'm sure I can come up with a whole bunch of other ideas!
3 months is not very long! I can't think of anything to check right now but if I do, I will let you know. Thanks!

Your countdown calendar from last trip reminds me of the one I did. The concept of little gifts leading up to the trip is so fun. I know my girls enjoyed it. This time though, I will be dealing with a teenage boy... and I am not so sure he will get into it. Oh well, maybe I will have to do it for dd who is only 6.

Yea, I have a teenage girl this time so I know it will change things. I hope I can still tap into her little girl spirit and that she won't be too to do fun stuff with us!

We are bound and determined to do this as well! For all the reasons you list above... And of course fit some rides in as well. Have you seen a calendar yet or found out when tickets go on sale?

We are on the same page I keep checking the sites but so far they are still listing the 2010 dates only. Can't wait to see what dates it will be on. I feel like I am waiting for that to really get down and start planning.

 

[veggiemama]

UPDATE:

I am booking our trip tomorrow. I'm very and for some reason very nervous. Don't know why. I know we are doing this and all, I guess it just makes it that much more official.

Wish me luck.... any tips?

 

[Monknmom]

UPDATE:

I am booking our trip tomorrow. I'm very and for some reason very nervous. Don't know why. I know we are doing this and all, I guess it just makes it that much more official.

Wish me luck.... any tips?

Goodluck! am being told that there is going to be a really good deal released tomorrow- so try to call/book early because my travel agent said that they are going to have CM's staying late!

 

[annmarieda]

UPDATE:

I am booking our trip tomorrow. I'm very and for some reason very nervous. Don't know why. I know we are doing this and all, I guess it just makes it that much more official.

Wish me luck.... any tips?

good luck!

 

[disneyaddicted]

Well, the joy of doing a PTR for another 8 months is that I can talk about more things than Disney.... is there more to life than Disney?!!

Life is what happens in between Disney trips.

So I just got home from spending the last 2 days in ER. Why? Well, your guess is as good as mine! Really though, they figure allergic reaction but because they still don't know why I react and to what I react to they have a hard time telling me what to stay away from.
Omagosh I am so sorry to hear this, I hope the Dr's can figure it out and soon.

So I had my dh look up pics of both and once he saw Pop he said it didn't look that bad to him, in fact it looked more like Disney and the kids would probably enjoy it! So now without any guilt I am booking Pop for our trip. I feel a lot less stressed about that decision so I guess I can say that is the right one.

Pop is great, I love vibrant colors and over the top design and decorations, yes Pop screams Disney, you won't regret it.

So now I am thinking ADR's we are doing the DDP for the first time and I'm looking forward to not worrying about carrying cash for food with me.

I'm trying to decide if we should do a character meal. Don't know if my kids are too 'cool' for something like this anymore. I was thinking about character meal was that the one princess my dd wanted to meet last time but didn't was Aurora. Maybe she could meet her at a character meal?

Akershus for breakfast was really nice, I enjoyed it alot, the food was great. alot to choose from at their breakfast bar. Last time I went the picture was included with the meal.

I'm so excited to be staying at Pop! I can't wait!!
I'm excited for you.
They love treasure hunts and my dd is a big mystery fan so I'm thinking of sending them on a quest!
I love your idea of a reveal to them, it sounds like so much fun, you are a fun Mommy.

:

 

[shocky5]

UPDATE:

I am booking our trip tomorrow. I'm very and for some reason very nervous. Don't know why. I know we are doing this and all, I guess it just makes it that much more official.

Wish me luck.... any tips?

Did you get booked?? I wanted to tell you that I saw one post on here somewhere (think it was one of the Dec '11 threads) that there should be a MVMCP on Dec. 16 and 18. Not official yet but concurrent with last year and what they are doing with MNSSHP in Sept/Oct. Just an FYI if that helps with your planning any? BUT not official... I'm still watching for official confirmation.

Hope all is going well today with booking your trip!

 

[shocky5]

Did you get booked?? I wanted to tell you that I saw one post on here somewhere (think it was one of the Dec '11 threads) that there should be a MVMCP on Dec. 16 and 18. Not official yet but concurrent with last year and what they are doing with MNSSHP in Sept/Oct. Just an FYI if that helps with your planning any? BUT not official... I'm still watching for official confirmation.

Hope all is going well today with booking your trip!

Just realized/remembered that I think you are going to be there 5 days ahead of me so those dates above may not help you! I will go find that thread and give you the 'pre-non-official' dates for your trip time!

 

[shocky5]

Just realized/remembered that I think you are going to be there 5 days ahead of me so those dates above may not help you! I will go find that thread and give you the 'pre-non-official' dates for your trip time!

Found them - and once again I have to reiterate these are not official! But the dates given for your trip time were the 11th, 13th, 14th, and 16th. Hope this pans out to be true. We are basically going to have 'one shot' at it if indeed they have one on the 18th.

 

[veggiemama]

Found them - and once again I have to reiterate these are not official! But the dates given for your trip time were the 11th, 13th, 14th, and 16th. Hope this pans out to be true. We are basically going to have 'one shot' at it if indeed they have one on the 18th.

Yea, I've been doing the same thing. I keep checking the site but so far everything is saying 2010 still. I have been planning with last year schedule so far and will tweak as things get closer. I really hope there will be more than 1 date to choose from! I will be really stressed if all I have is one date to book MVMCP!!

 

[veggiemama]

All those wonderful plans of booking our trip on Friday went right out the window!

On Friday an alert went out that the river that runs by us and through the city, close to where we live rose much faster than expected because of ice jams North of the city. We, thankfully are not in the flood path but we have a lot of friends who are. They are not saying that we will flood for sure but they saying that the highway will probably be closed next week. This is the highway that truckers and EVERYBODY travels on to get the US. In '97 when we had the HUGE flood that highway was closed for a month!

We are expecting the crest of the river around May 10th and they are saying that the levels will be close (within an inch or two) of the levels in '97, which was the highest levels in years. This (97) was the flood that affected a lot of cities, north and south of us. Including, Fargo ND, and Grand Forks ND - Grand Forks actually flooded their entire downtown. It was a bad flood!

We have never had a flood so bad since though a couple of years ago it did flood over the highways and a few small towns along the river had to be closed off by their dike.

This year was really one of those years where they had no idea what was going to happen. We have had a lot of snow, and there has been a lot of snow south of us as well. Depending on how fast things melted was what would affect flood areas. So far the spring has been slow, which has been great but in the last few days between ice jams and 15-20 mm of rain the threat of flooding has increased.

On Friday I went out and was helping to sand bag peoples homes. The river is really high right now. So far the highways are not affected but they are preparing to close the dike to one of the small towns that I travel through on my way to the city this week. I have another highway to travel so I won't be isolated or unable to attend class. We have been out sand bagging most of Saturday and my hubby went out this afternoon to help a family move some stuff to higher ground and sand bag around their home.

So far no one I know has had to evacuate their homes but they are being put on stand by, meaning they could have to evacuate at any time. During the last flood friends of mine had to use their boat to travel to our town. Their home is built on a high hill but they were surrounded by water. They parked their car at the edge of town and used their boat to get to and from town. Their kids thought it was great fun!

Anyways, please send those prayers and good thoughts our way. The next few weeks can be very stressful as we sand bag and prepare to potentially host families who are evacuated.

As for booking our trip. Hoping that I will get to it on Monday but we will have to see if we are called out to sand bag or not that day.

 

[veggiemama]

The following are pictures of the Flood in 2009. Just for reference there is usually NO water in any of these places. All the places that look like beautiful lakes are actually farmer's fields!!

As you will see in the following pictures, the water is coming up over the highway. As I was traveling this highway I was thinking, they must be closing the highway soon! And as I entered the town , they were closing up the dike behind me. I was the last one on that highway that day!

The picture quality isn't great, I had to take the photos as I was driving. Couldn't stop, the water was rising that fast!

 

[disneyaddicted]

Oh wow. Yes my prayers are with the town, you, your family, and your friends.

I lived in Goodridge, MN. I went to Grand Forks to buy my Snowfest dress and my prom dress my junior year. I've never seen it flood but my Aunt was telling me about it and I saw pictures.

We flood every year here but nothing to the extent of what you're expecting. Our house sits between two creeks, one is medium the other is large and when it rains hard and long enough the two will merge. We had our 100 year flood as they call it about 4 years ago, that one was bad we just had so much rain in one night and the ground was already saturated. We went to the garage to check on our peeps that we had just gotten the day before within seconds the water went from my ankles to above my knees. My husband was picking up peeps and tossing them to me. We had to bring them in our house that night. STINKY!
Luckily our house sits up on a hill from our garage and the water just reached the corner of it, our basement stayed dry even.

We could see the helicopter flying over head all night shining a beam along Muddy creek. We found out the next morning that a car with a mother and child had been caught in the flood. They found the car overturned in the feild up the road from us. I can't stress to my kids enough now, (both are driving) to never ever cross over flowing water like that, it might seem low and slow moving but it can change in seconds.

God bless you for filling sand bags and helping out your neighbors and town. Keep us update, I know I speak for many of us when I say that we will have you in our thoughts and prayers daily.

 

[disneyaddicted]

Wow, those pictures are crazy. I should also add that our creeks crest fast (flash flood) and fall within 24 hours, I can not imagine waiting and waiting for what could be completely disaterous and then waiting and waiting for the water to recede. How long does it stay like that?

 

[veggiemama]

Wow, those pictures are crazy. I should also add that our creeks crest fast (flash flood) and fall within 24 hours, I can not imagine waiting and waiting for what could be completely disaterous and then waiting and waiting for the water to recede. How long does it stay like that?

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers! Flooding is never fun and it seems in like we deal with it more and more often these days.

It took about a week before they closed the highway, before that the water was rising but it wasn't cover ALL the fields yet. That day, when they closed it, my dh had been on the highway about 2 hours before me and he said it was getting higher. Within 2 hours they had closed it. In one of the pictures you can see a stand of trees, we have friends that have a house/farm there. They stayed dry this time (flooded in '97 and built the house higher after that) but they were evacuated.

It was about a month before they opened that highway and the town up again. Thankfully the town has a bridge that goes over the river and to another main highway which in '09 managed to stay open. In '97 they evacuated the town.

We end up going into the city by another highway when they close that one. It is no longer of a drive but we do have to drive over the floodway, which is a water way that they created to send the 'overflow' of the river, though it tends to flood as well if water gets too high! Then they end up closing that highway too. THEN we are kind of isolated. We have to travel an extra 1/2 hour EAST to get to a highway that would connect us to the city, so our 1/2 drive turns into almost 1 1/2 hours.

 

[Monknmom]

All those wonderful plans of booking our trip on Friday went right out the window!

On Friday an alert went out that the river that runs by us and through the city, close to where we live rose much faster than expected because of ice jams North of the city. We, thankfully are not in the flood path but we have a lot of friends who are. They are not saying that we will flood for sure but they saying that the highway will probably be closed next week. This is the highway that truckers and EVERYBODY travels on to get the US. In '97 when we had the HUGE flood that highway was closed for a month!

We are expecting the crest of the river around May 10th and they are saying that the levels will be close (within an inch or two) of the levels in '97, which was the highest levels in years. This (97) was the flood that affected a lot of cities, north and south of us. Including, Fargo ND, and Grand Forks ND - Grand Forks actually flooded their entire downtown. It was a bad flood!

We have never had a flood so bad since though a couple of years ago it did flood over the highways and a few small towns along the river had to be closed off by their dike.

This year was really one of those years where they had no idea what was going to happen. We have had a lot of snow, and there has been a lot of snow south of us as well. Depending on how fast things melted was what would affect flood areas. So far the spring has been slow, which has been great but in the last few days between ice jams and 15-20 mm of rain the threat of flooding has increased.

On Friday I went out and was helping to sand bag peoples homes. The river is really high right now. So far the highways are not affected but they are preparing to close the dike to one of the small towns that I travel through on my way to the city this week. I have another highway to travel so I won't be isolated or unable to attend class. We have been out sand bagging most of Saturday and my hubby went out this afternoon to help a family move some stuff to higher ground and sand bag around their home.

So far no one I know has had to evacuate their homes but they are being put on stand by, meaning they could have to evacuate at any time. During the last flood friends of mine had to use their boat to travel to our town. Their home is built on a high hill but they were surrounded by water. They parked their car at the edge of town and used their boat to get to and from town. Their kids thought it was great fun!

Anyways, please send those prayers and good thoughts our way. The next few weeks can be very stressful as we sand bag and prepare to potentially host families who are evacuated.

As for booking our trip. Hoping that I will get to it on Monday but we will have to see if we are called out to sand bag or not that day.

We will keep you in our prayers as well! I have never had to deal with any floods or anything so I am lucky, but DH says that in Burma they had them often as well! So we will keep everyone in danger in our thoughts and prayers!

 

[momabaarjo]

Hope you do not mind...but I am joining in on all of your planning. I am hoping that we can share finds & tips for making the most of the magic at WDW for Christmas....

Sorry about not being able to book last week.... But what you were doing was so much more important...chipping in as part of a community to help others...prayers for all your neighbors!