Wait, do we have a Fast Pass for that? Final Update, Final Thoughts and Favs 1/26

[vleeth]

Joining in.

Awesome TR, awesome trip.

I feel like I know your family. Looking forward to the rest!

 

[KatMark]

Great update, Sara.

I'm glad you had such a great time at Tusker House (ours was very disappointing food wise). I'm with you, I could drink that Jungle Juice by the gallon (it's very similar to Boma's, and Boma's is even better).

You can see how excited Ethan is to see Donald and how uninterested he is in Daisy.

Great pics with all the characters, and I love the one of you and Mickey.

I sure hope that AK ends up being good for you this trip. It truly is tied for my second favorite park.

 

[mickeystoontown]

You gotta love walking through a near empty park. I've thought about booking an ADR at Tusker House just so we can see an empty park for ourselves.

The kids look so happy to see the characters! Such cutie pies!

 

[NeeNeeBell25]

Just all caught up. I love your report and your family! Can't wait to read the rest!

 

[PrncessA]

A quick update... which is all the time I can stand looking at the computer!

I have a week to remember, that is for sure!

First, my van broke down in my friends drive way on Saturday. At the worst possible time, right before her daughter's birthday party. Thank goodness I didn't park in the middle of the driveway and they were able to get their cars out of the garage. Anyway it was the ignition switch and it locked up... many hundereds of dollars later after a tow and a machanic and I can pick it up today after work. That meant I could not drive anywhere this week, which brings me to the ironic second item....

I took off work on Monday because of my car issue and because I needed a day to catch up on house chores that were getting out of control. One of those chores was spraying down our front porch and the front window from all the paint from homecoming. As I was hanging up the hose I totally forgot about the fact that our house has a overhang and slammed my head upwards on it HARD!!! Like almost knock myself out, could not form words for 20 minutes, cried for two hours and had a out of control headache hard. I really though the neighbors were going to look out their window and find me laying in the flowerbed passed out!

I did not go to the ER because I have hit my head here before, just not as hard and I didn't want to be ridiculous!

Well I woke up on Tuesday with a pounding headache, a little bit of blurry vision and the ride to work (my mom was driving me) made me very nauseous! I tried to make it through work, but I made it an hour before my bosses insisted I go to the ER, they said I just didn't look right.

Well I went to the ER and I have a grade 2 concussion. No brain bleeding though! I was ordered to stay at home and rest for at least three days. No driving (ironic), no computer, no reading, no TV (I cheated on this a bit). I spent a lot of time sleeping, I mean A LOT. I still have a headache and my head is still sore, but at least I am only seeing one of everything!!

So hopefully I will be able to catch up on reading TR's and post to mine soon!

 

[KatMark]

I had seen about the car on FB.

I'm so sorry about your head, but glad you were finally convinced to go check it out.

Take it slow...concussions are not fun or good.

 

[PrncessA]

I had seen about the car on FB.

I'm so sorry about your head, but glad you were finally convinced to go check it out.

Take it slow...concussions are not fun or good.

Thanks, I am finally feeling like I am myself again!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Oh my gosh, girl! I'm so sorry to hear about the car issues and the concussion. I hope that you've gotten the car back (in fine working order) and are feeling better.

 

[PrncessA]

Life and PTR Update!!

So I am finally back to feeling like myself after the concussion, and boy am I glad. It was not fun to feel foggy and have a constant headache for almost a week!!

So since I didn't get a chance last week I have to share the cake I made for Lorelai's best friend's birthday party. I love to make cakes, but I just don't have the time to do it anymore. Plus neither one of my kids like cake. They like un-iced chocolate cupcakes and muffins, or cookies. I know they are strange!!



Inside of the cake:


These were filled with dark chocolate ganache and were AMAZING!!


It was a Build-a-bear party which was very generous and now Lorelai wants one...


We also found Lorelai's Halloween costume this weekend, although we couldn't find it a size smaller, this is pinned back a lot. It isn't as good as if I had made it, but she likes it and it took me much last time!



Ethan decided last night that he wants to be Indiana Jones, so now I am on a hunt for IJ clothes!

Lastly we had went to Lorelai's very first cheerleading competition yesterday and in her words it was "The best day ever!" The girls were by far the youngest there and were ADORABLE!!












They needed to score 65 points to advance to state and they came in 1.5 points short. But they do have one more chance to gain a bid, and another competition in between to get more practice. On one hand I want them to make it, but on the other hand it means another month of practice and it isn't cheap!!

Ever wonder what a few hundred cheerleaders look like?





Their team placed "first" but they really weren't competing against anyone at this competition, they were the only ones in their category.

Ethan was such a good big brother!! He ran up and picked her up and told her great job! (I wish she did the same thing for him at basketball games )











So that was our weekend, now on with our Disney PTR!!

As most people know, last week the discounts for early next year came out... but I was battling a concussion and didn't even turn on my comuter . I was convinced by the time I felt well enough to call Disney that POR would be sold out, if it even was included! Plus we still aren't sure if it is a good idea to go in February.

I looked up the rates on Friday during work and sure enough POR is inculded and it isn't sold out... And with the discount we would save about $750 for the stay play and dine. Then I checked airfare and it actually has come down about $200 for all of our tickets. I told Erik and he said buy them. He doesn't care about the kids missing school, to which I told him he could talk to the principal!!

So anyway, I did end up calling Disney and adding two days of tickets and one more night to our stay and still saved $350. I really wish we would have upgraded our tickets to AP's when we were there in June!!

So right now I am 90% sure that we are heading to Disney World February 7-15, over our anniversary and Lorelai's birthday.

The next TR update will be coming today since work is so quite since it is Columbus Day!

 

[MissMaryQC]

What a gorgeous cake! And the cupcakes looked divine too. You could probably have a decent little business there, if you had the time; I'm sure with two kids and a hubby to look after that is near impossible!

You're kids are the cutest! I adore that Ethan is so supportive of his little sis, that's a great big brother in my book.

Glad your concussion is healing. I'd have been so freaked out. And oh gosh having to just lay about, that'd drive me bonkers.

Can't wait for the latest update!

 

[PrncessA]

So when we left off we had just finished dining at a new favorite restaurant and meeting a few old friends! We succeeded in our goal of finishing breakfast and making it out by the time the park was officially opening… we are power eaters!!

Our goal was simple and precise… head to the Killimanjago Safari and wait the least amount of time as possible, that way if we don’t see any animals (again) we didn’t waste too much time. Did we do it?

Well here is what the crowds looked like leading up to the entrance…



I thought we had a good shot so we got in line. The line moved very fast then stopped suddenly… turns out the ride had started operating yet, we were that early!

While we were in line I took this photo of Lorelai who was very intently looking at a sign in line:



Who knew this fact?




Lorelai seemed a little concerned about it, even ask if we would see hippos on the safari!



I told her not to worry unless we saw one on land obviously! Ethan was unconcerned... but he sat in the middle of the seat just in case!

Soon we were off on our safari! Sporting our Minnie sunglasses of course!



Proof that Erik and Ethan were indeed with us:



I feel like how the kids sat in the safari is very much their personalities. Lorelai is very independent, to the point of being too much so at times, she wanted to sit on the end, and she wanted SPACE! We offered Ethan the other side, but he wanted to sit in between Erik and I and he spent most of the ride leaning against me. He needs contact, she needs space… a lot to get from a couple photos right!?

Anyway on with the safari, I took A LOT of photos that are blurry and might or might not have an animal in them somewhere. I did get a few good ones though. I will also add that I took more photos of the ground by accident in the AK than at any other park, I mean A LOT of them! Oh a picture of Mickey, then the ground, then a picture of a monkey, two more of the ground. I don’t know what I was doing that day!

Nope not a hippo, we are good to go!



Hope these people know the hippo fact!



Thank goodness the hippo was in the water, or Lorelai might have jumped ship, or truck… The bird didn't seem to care.







I got a laugh out of the bumper stickers, but this photo again could have been a random photo that I didn’t mean to take as well!



At some point near the savanna, the driver started talking about the lion and how he hasn’t been seen for weeks… and he is probably dead… YIKES!



Other than that he was a great driver, he said that we were like his 850th safari, it might have been a bigger number I can’t remember, but it was impressive. Can you imagine driving the same route, telling the same spiel 850+ times?

The elephants are gone from our local zoo right now… they use to have them but one died… then the other became depressed and they moved it I believe.




And here is the backside of an elephant! (Because everyone needs this picture in their photo album!)



Oh and imagine a snake skin right out of the frame of this picture hanging on the rock… normally I wouldn’t have noticed but our well seasoned driver had us all laughing about the fact that he has driven the safari so many times that something like a snake skin on a rock makes a big impact on him! LOL



Pretty birds...



Pumba!



Our close brush with nature! Good thing it wasn’t a hippo!



With a successful safari under our belts, we continued on our way following my touring plan! AK and DHS are really the only places we tried to follow a touring plan, and it really did help!

We were on a mission, a mission to conquer Expedition Everest! But first we had to get there. None of the character trails had opened up yet, so our walk was pretty fast! Sad though, I wanted to meet some of the characters that are only available in the AK.

 

[PrncessA]

The crowds were very low and we were able to really enjoy the themeing of the areas.









But of course we had to stop for some photopass pics!





Never gets old seeing Tinkerbell! The PP photographer was hilarious and was trying to convince Lorelai he saw Tinkerbell fly on to her hand.



I ask about the Simba photo, but alas it has been discontinued.

We call Lorelai “Monkey”, which she totally is! She was climbing before she could roll over!



We were in Asia before we knew it!



We had a FP for Everest, but following our touring plan, we should have been there in time to ride it once in the standby line without much of a wait. This ended up being the case, and the standby line was less than 10 minutes. Just long enough to look a bit at the cool queue.





We are ready!!



The ride!



The verdict? Two thumbs up…



I think…



Come on Lorelai….



Just take my word for it, it was a two thumbs up ride for the kids… for Erik not so much. We were set in the very back, which he thinks upset his stomach. He was looking a little green that is for sure! We sat in the shade for a moment and I told him our FP for EE was just opening, but he needed longer to recover before riding it again.

I checked our Touring Plans App and even though we had a FP for Kali River Rapids later in the day, it was a 5 minute wait at the moment and offered Erik a chance to settle his stomach with time (and water rapids), so we headed over.

The details are so amazing!



I didn’t risk taking any photos but I will agree with everyone who has said the ride is too short, it is. It is super short and a little boring. They could have done so much more I think. The one at Six Flags is longer and more fun, and that is saying something.

So who was the poor soul who was completely drenched at the bottom of the drop?



He was NOT happy! At all!! He tried to pull it together for the photo, but he was fuming that he was wet and uncomfortable. It was hot out so we knew he would dry off quickly, but until then he was GRUMPY! It was at this point we learned that Ethan was not a fan of rides where he got completely soaked. Splash Mt. is a favorite, Kali River Rapids a least favorite. He complained for what seemed like hours! I was pretty wet, but Erik was almost completely dry. I shielded him I guess!

We headed back over to Everest and used our FP, and this time we were toward the front of the train. Erik said that made all the difference and his stomach held up well this time. We were disappointed that the torn up track right before you go backwards wasn’t there.



We jumped of EE and headed to another 1st for us: Finding Nemo the musical! On our last trip to AK it was so crowded that even after standing in line for Nemo for 45 minutes we never got in and we gave up. We got there right before the show began and everyone really enjoyed it. Not sure why we have no photos from this section of the day, but next we headed into Dinoland, USA and the kids and I used our FP to ride Primeval Whirl. Erik heard me call it Primeval Hurl, once and refused to even try it! It is a good thing he didn’t because even though the spinning isn’t that bad, IMO, the jerking would have hurt his back.

We walked over to Dinosaur, which Ethan was so excited for. He didn’t want to tell Lorelai about the scary part!



She was clueless…



The line was about 10-15 minutes, but it was in the AC so we were good!
The ride was fun… a little anti-climatic… maybe it was on the B run, it didn’t seem very scary. It didn't matter, because we love Hodges from CSI and any ride with his voice is AOK!



Scarier than the ride?



A quick pic with Dad.



We were in need of a bio break and we were getting a bit hungry… although we were thinking about just getting a snack.

We walked to the bathrooms across from Dinosaur and Lorelai and I went in, that is when I realized that we were at Restrauntasarus and it smelled amazing… turns out I was hungrier than I thought! After our bio break, Lorelai and I went and got the boys and we all came in to order some food!
Erik and I both ordered burgers and we got the kids a order of corn dog nuggets to split… I ended up coming back up to order a second order of them, the kids were hungrier than they thought too!

We had went back and forth on whether to book a lunch at Yak & Yeti, and I had cancelled it right before our trip. I am glad that I did! Even though I am sure we would have had a great meal at Yak & Yeti, we really enjoyed our lunch at Restrauntasaurus a lot. We enjoyed the toppings bar for the burgers and we thought the fries were really yummy! It was a very good meal and a welcome break in the day!!

 

[PrncessA]

While we were sitting there we went over our plans for the rest of the day… we were all happy, but we could see that if we pushed our day to include our 4:00 FP for Lion King, we would most likely all be grumpy. We made the decision that we had successfully had a good day at AK! Mission accomplished!!

We decided to stop at It’s Tough To Be A Bug first since there was no wait.
Just so you know ITBAB is a lot more enjoyable if you know when to hold your breath and scoot up in your seat!











We picked up some popcorn for the kids and a lemonade for Erik and I and we headed out of the park, all of us happy and relaxed…





Some of us were a little more sleepy than happy!





Next up: An afternoon of swimming and a evening of polka and slushes!

 

[PrncessA]

Oh my gosh, girl! I'm so sorry to hear about the car issues and the concussion. I hope that you've gotten the car back (in fine working order) and are feeling better.

Thank you! I am feeling back to normal and my car is running again. Oh the joys of life!

What a gorgeous cake! And the cupcakes looked divine too. You could probably have a decent little business there, if you had the time; I'm sure with two kids and a hubby to look after that is near impossible!

You're kids are the cutest! I adore that Ethan is so supportive of his little sis, that's a great big brother in my book.

Glad your concussion is healing. I'd have been so freaked out. And oh gosh having to just lay about, that'd drive me bonkers.

Can't wait for the latest update!

Thank you! I love to make cakes, but it is just so time consuming, and to be honest, I don't like to clean the kitchen!!

Ethan is a great big brother, always has been. Although the kids argue, they are each other's best friends.

Thank you! I just about went crazy!!

 

[KatMark]

Love the competition pictures.

Great cake!

I am so glad you finally had a HAPPY day at the Animal Kingdom. I am glad Eric didn't go on Hurl...I hate the spinning and the jerking! Bravo to the kids for doing EE twice; my last time was in June and you won't see me on it again...ever!

You had me about It's Tough to be a Bug. I remember when we took Andy for his high school graduation trip and he brought his then girlfriend. We took her (she was 17 at the time) to ITTBAB. I never laughed so hard in all my life. Here are all these little kids laughing and having a grand time, and there was Brandi screaming and jumping all over the place. It was priceless.

 

[PrncessA]

Love the competition pictures.

Great cake!

I am so glad you finally had a HAPPY day at the Animal Kingdom. I am glad Eric didn't go on Hurl...I hate the spinning and the jerking! Bravo to the kids for doing EE twice; my last time was in June and you won't see me on it again...ever!

You had me about It's Tough to be a Bug. I remember when we took Andy for his high school graduation trip and he brought his then girlfriend. We took her (she was 17 at the time) to ITTBAB. I never laughed so hard in all my life. Here are all these little kids laughing and having a grand time, and there was Brandi screaming and jumping all over the place. It was priceless.

Thanks Kathy!

I am so glad AK turned out to be a fun day as well! It really bombed last time, but this time it was relaxing and fun.

LOL, the kids thought all of the effects were hilarious, which is good, because a crying, screaming kid is not fun.... a screaming teenager... they are funny!

 

[clambert1273]

lol I just read this whole thing and let me tell you - I can totally feel you with your son LOL My son (now almost 15) has ADHD, ODD and OCD .. how's that for acronyms lol My husband also has ADD and anxiety disorder...

I set out planning a trip for 2015 originally for spring break .. why? because I had no idea what I was doing lol I also did not know about this site and I had no clue what a crowd calendar was... then I learned and OMG .. 8-10 crowd on our dates in early April.. I just knew putting my son and hubby into that - would NOT be a good vacation AT ALL.

Then I saw the SPD offer and snagged it up for Feb 28-Mar 7. Crowd levels were showing to be 3,4 and maybe a 6 by the weekend. OK that was much better.

I can tell you (and give you hope lol) that by the time they are teens, the melt downs go to the wayside and in its place comes the teen attitude magnified by 5. Alot of arguing.. that is about what we deal with now. NOW is the age though, we can enter the park and send him on his way meeting us up again later LOL Also by this time, you develop the "I don't give a crap what anyone else thinks of my parenting" ... as they don't deal with the same issues lol I just wanted to chime in and let you know - you aren't alone in that realm and I can totally smile and laugh it off with you lol

 

[PrncessA]

lol I just read this whole thing and let me tell you - I can totally feel you with your son LOL My son (now almost 15) has ADHD, ODD and OCD .. how's that for acronyms lol My husband also has ADD and anxiety disorder...

I set out planning a trip for 2015 originally for spring break .. why? because I had no idea what I was doing lol I also did not know about this site and I had no clue what a crowd calendar was... then I learned and OMG .. 8-10 crowd on our dates in early April.. I just knew putting my son and hubby into that - would NOT be a good vacation AT ALL.

Then I saw the SPD offer and snagged it up for Feb 28-Mar 7. Crowd levels were showing to be 3,4 and maybe a 6 by the weekend. OK that was much better.

I can tell you (and give you hope lol) that by the time they are teens, the melt downs go to the wayside and in its place comes the teen attitude magnified by 5. Alot of arguing.. that is about what we deal with now. NOW is the age though, we can enter the park and send him on his way meeting us up again later LOL Also by this time, you develop the "I don't give a crap what anyone else thinks of my parenting" ... as they don't deal with the same issues lol I just wanted to chime in and let you know - you aren't alone in that realm and I can totally smile and laugh it off with you lol

Yay! ADHD mood swings replaced by hormonal teenager moodswings! Fun!

All kidding aside, sometimes you just have to laugh! right? I am swiftly coming to the "I don't give a crap what other people thing!" philosophy with parenting. I have grown tired of "explaining" why Ethan doesn't make eye contact when people he doesn't know ask him questions, who cares.

You are totally right when you say they don't deal with the same issues, so who cares what they think. My best friend who has a son the same age is one of those parents who asks "why... why is Ethan doing that... why is he acting like that... why why why..." I have grown so tired of it, that I stopped answering her questions, at all. I would just look at her like she never said anything, it was awkward, but it was the only thing that worked. And to be honest it was a little fun!

Thanks for joining in!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Before I forget, I wanted to comment on the snake skin. I saw it too!

Um, I don't know that the driver/guide should have said that about the lion. What was up with that?

I'm with Ethan on being upset with getting soaked on Kali River Rapids. It's been years since we've ridden it simply because we don't like walking around soaking wet all day long.

 

[clambert1273]

Yay! ADHD mood swings replaced by hormonal teenager moodswings! Fun!

All kidding aside, sometimes you just have to laugh! right? I am swiftly coming to the "I don't give a crap what other people thing!" philosophy with parenting. I have grown tired of "explaining" why Ethan doesn't make eye contact when people he doesn't know ask him questions, who cares.

You are totally right when you say they don't deal with the same issues, so who cares what they think. My best friend who has a son the same age is one of those parents who asks "why... why is Ethan doing that... why is he acting like that... why why why..." I have grown so tired of it, that I stopped answering her questions, at all. I would just look at her like she never said anything, it was awkward, but it was the only thing that worked. And to be honest it was a little fun!

Thanks for joining in!!!

lol you become immune to people.. many people probably think I am a royal and I just don't care lol The best when they are teens is like this conversation.. which just happened this morning at 5:30am..

"Take your pill son" (his adderall).. "oh I am out" .. "what?? why didn't you tell me you were low this weekend so I could refill"... "I told Dad 10 days ago.. "



At this point in the game... all I can do is shake my head most days lol