Wait for it...Weight for it...June 2009 WL **PACKING**

[TxRabbit]

Oh, it looks so good! So much more open and airy!! And I love the tile floor! Looks great! DIY home improvement! (and while you're at it....grab a few lime green mickey heads!)

I am looking around at my bare, boring white walls of my apartment. So sad. I can't wait until I have a space I can actually do something with! <--Ok, so he isn't exactly painting the walls, but you get my picture.

Thank you! Open and airy was what we were going for! The 80s homes can still be a bit choppy with the kitchen, setting it apart a bit. Since the kitchen in my domain, it was important to open it up and be a part of what else is going on at home!

I remember hating white walls! I was so excited for our first house. I painted murals on the walls in Bolt's nursery and playroom. I loved them. They were so colorful and fun. And we finished the basement in that house, so there were lots of decisions to make there too. So much fun. It's a lot of work, but it's really rewarding.

Hey! This is the other language I speak, besides DIS speak. WOW. what an improvement. So much lighter. I like it! Back splashes are easy. I did my whole kitchen counter on top of existing laminate at my old house. counter and backsplash. You can get tile at discounts very easily, and the counter is great, so nice and light. What color are you going to paint? The cabinets look nice. when it is all done it will look fab -- already nice! And I LOVE HGTV it is the only way I can survive my Treadmill... We have a few "little" projects, nothing major as this though. Looking forward to seeing all done at Spring break Don't let them leave until it is

So HGTV is like a major weakness with me. I used to be able to tell time by what so was on! I realized that I was spending was too much time watching other people do what I was supposed to be doing! And that was one of the contributing factors toward us deciding to get rid of satelite and not get cable.

Thanks for the compliments! I love the way the light reflects on the new counters. LOVE IT! I'm glad to hear tile is easy. My parents and I are pretty patient when it comes to projects. I think that we will do a good job.

I'm going to paint the cabinets a color called Fudge Cookie. It is a warm mahogany type color. It will darken up the cabinets a bit. But I think the color will inspire the words "rich" more than "dark" because it isn't a chocolate dark, KWIM? I'm also going to glaze them so they don't have that monotone, painted cabinet feel.

The walls and ceiling in the kitchen have one coat of the new paint color for the whole back area of the house (kitchen, nook, and family room). It's a gold color. Not really yellow, not really tan, just a nice warm golden color, called Kansas Corn. I love that name! You can see the color in the pictures, better in some than others. Light always plays with color.

The whole look in the end is going to be very Tuscany, which isn't exactly a goal I had, but I think it's just going to happen, with the stone look floors, the reddish/brown cabs, the gold walls, and muted green and tan colored accents. It's not a bad thing I think.

The previous owners updated most of the flooring in the house. Except for the nook, kitchen and utility, the entire first floor is hardwood. The stairs are hardwood and the landing upstairs is too. The bedrooms are wood look laminate. One bath is tile, the master is travertine. It was one of the things that attracted me to the house. Flooring is expensive. So I am generally working with it everywhere because it's nice.

My parents are coming the first week of April, actually. They will probably stay longer than a week. They really want to help me move forward with the project list.

Right now, I am actually working in the powder room! I'm going to paint the vanity cabinet in there white. Get some cabinet painting experience before I hit the kitchen. That room has had a dramatic overhaul too. Fun stuff.

Wow, your kitchen looks fantastic!! I bought my house 14 months ago. Even though it is a new house it was already built (I like to think it was waiting for us as we wanted to move in before my daughter had the baby).
It has oversized kitchen cabinets on top and I love them!! Love your cabinets and your counters!!

Thank you! Your house WAS waiting just for you. I know. I've had that happen for me too! I wanted to take Bolt home to a home and we were living in an apt at the time. It was our first home. The oversized cabs are so wonderful. It took a while to get used to the feel of the doors. It felt funny to open such a tall door at first!

How I wish that we could also go as early as anyone here. We are planning on December, hope we can.

Have a nice day to all.

I don't think you've posted here before? Forgive me if you have.

Courtney (Jewels) isn't going until December too! I hope you can go to! Vacations are wonderful and much needed. I don't understand people who don't use their vacation time.

Have a wonderful day yourself!

 

[WDWRocksMySocks]

WOW! I love the changes you've made -- especially the cabinets. It seems like you guys got a pretty good deal on everything too. Oh, and I absolutely LOVE that flooring.

Btw, I love watching HGTV too!! It's an obsession. That's one channel that I truly could not live without. I don't know how you do it.

 

[TxRabbit]

WOW! I love the changes you've made -- especially the cabinets. It seems like you guys got a pretty good deal on everything too. Oh, and I absolutely LOVE that flooring.

Btw, I love watching HGTV too!! It's an obsession. That's one channel that I truly could not live without. I don't know how you do it.

I went through some serious withdrawl, let me tell you. Oh. I didn't know what to do with myself. This was almost 4 years ago now, though. Everything is just habits really. You get used to it. My Dad gave me the best Christmas gift ever one year. He recorded all the episodes of Divine Design, and also some episodes of Holmes on Homes (I LOVE that man! He CRACKS me UP!), Designed to Sell, and Flip This House (I think that's the name?). He made me a ton of DVDs with all these shows and gave them to me for Christmas! Just a great Dad!

Thanks for the compliments. This is a budget makeover for sure. The deal is that I am really trying to get this house in shape to hit the market when the timing is right. I have that unsettled feeling that lets me know that this isn't a long term house. Unfortunately, when we bought the house, we didn't get it for a song and a dance, so home improvement needs to be really budget conscious. But I constantly have the potential house flyer verbage in mind..."Updated kitchen with 42" cabs, new and newer appliances, tile floor, halogen lighting, new sink, new faucet, garden window, and Silestone countertops." So I try to make good decisions, like splurging on the countertops, though really, when you think about what people spend on higher grades of Silestone and some granites, $1380 for Silestone is a pretty good deal. (The sale was $300 any installation.) That is one of the benefits of a comparatively smaller kitchen though, too.

And incase you are wondering, Silestone ROCKS!! My parents have granite. It's horrible granite too. No at all the low maintenance thing they thought it would be. But my Silestone can stand my messes. We are having to drink so much cranberry juice, it's unbelievable. It's messy to dilute it too. There is juice all over the countertops, and I miss some, and it stays overnight and longer. NO STAINS!!! Excuse me. I get all excited when my house can stand up to my lifestyle and still look good!

 

[TeaForTulips]

Wow! It looks great! It's amazing what a few changes can do to a room! I love the new look! I can't wait to see it painted! I think the color you described will go great with the floor tiles!

 

[TxRabbit]

Peter and I decided our driving plans to WDW! Yay!

He thinks that he might be able to leave at 11 am on Friday! Oh I SOO hope so. We've picked a random destination that is supposed to be an estimated 9 hours and 44 minutes away. We are thinking about planning a nice break right before 5 pm. I have to figure out where we might be then. Our best idea is to figure out the location, grab Subway or some other decent fast food option and find a local park to eat a nice dinner. We'll bring the football, a soccer ball, find a picnic table and stretch our legs a bit. If indeed we leave at 11 am, we are budgeting a nice hour long break, at least.

Then we hit the road for our hotel destination. I just put in major hotel chains that I find to be decent and found a seemingly random location in the Florida panhandle. Too funny.

The hotel has a free breakfast. We plan to sleep in a bit. Fill up on a good breakfast. The hotel has a mini fridge, yay!, so I can definitely bring stuff for Disney as well as the road. We'll hit the road by 9 am, which is pretty late actually. We should have an unhurried but efficient morning.

Then the actual drive time remaining to WDW is somewhere between 5 and 5-1/2 hours, but there is a time change, so we have to budget 6 or so.

Depending on where we are, we will probably break and eat lunch around 12:30 to 1:00. I like our stretch the leg planning. We'll try to do a repeat of that, but not quite a long probably.

We should be pulling into WL around 3:30 or 4 at the latest.

Hopefully our room will be ready, we can unpack the car and get settled. Get refreshed and kick it up into vacation mode with dinner at WCC!

From there, I really don't care what we do. It pm EMH at MK, so if we feel up to it, we could totally go there to check out the parade or fireworks or whatever. We could swim. We could do all of the above. Our next day is an easy late morning Boma breakfast hang around DTD kind of day, so we could stay up later if we are feeling the magic!

I'm totally excited!

Now I just need to try to estimate where we might be at 5:00 pm to figure out some dinner options! And no, I can't just see how it goes...because it's FRIDAY night, and it's summer, and we are driving through many vacation destinations, and like a good Dis planner, I avoid crowds and lines and wait times exceeding 15 minutes! And I plan my meals WAY far in advance!

 

[UsNew2Disney2008]

Where are you thinking of stopping in the panhandle? We live in TN and drive down there a couple times a year - might be able to help you out a bit.

 

[SunnieRN]

Your driving plans sound great! We drove last Sept., with the just turned three Connor and 7 month old Jacob. We took a LOT of breaks. I think we went to Wal Mart in three states on our way to WDW! lol
The kids were really very good, but not too tolerant of traveling more than 3 or so hours without a break.
This time we are flying non-stop from Austin.

 

[UsNew2Disney2008]

I feel like a baby - we drove to Orlando once - it was 11 hours and we swore we would never do it again, so we are all flying for our trip. Then again, our beach trips are generally 8 hours and the kids do REALLY well on those.

 

[TxRabbit]

Your driving plans sound great! We drove last Sept., with the just turned three Connor and 7 month old Jacob. We took a LOT of breaks. I think we went to Wal Mart in three states on our way to WDW! lol
The kids were really very good, but not too tolerant of traveling more than 3 or so hours without a break.
This time we are flying non-stop from Austin.

With little ones you HAVE to plan more breaks for sure. With Bolt, he knows where we are going and understands the idea of sucking it up for a day in the car to get to WDW!

Nonstop is the way to go. The first time we had a layover in New Orleans. And our connecting flight was delayed about 3 or 4 hours! Next time, it was nonstop heaven.

I feel like a baby - we drove to Orlando once - it was 11 hours and we swore we would never do it again, so we are all flying for our trip. Then again, our beach trips are generally 8 hours and the kids do REALLY well on those.

Again, you have younger kids. Bolt is a good car rider. He knows the drill. He can keep himself entertained and also participate in some good family bonding road tripping time. I actually kind of like road trips. They generally have more memories that you look back on and smile about than air flights. And I'm happy to have my car for some of our touring plans. I like easy vacations, so we didn't plan certain things because I simply didn't want to deal with transportation issues on our previous trips. And I'm looking forward to the many things that I will be able to take along that I wouldn't if I were having to fly.

 

[jewels1916]

Your driving plans look great! I love road trips. Sometimes, when Kelly and I are planning, we still talk about driving. They are just so much fun.

 

[TxRabbit]

They are up on the Canadian website!!! I have to go check the US one now!!!

 

[TxRabbit]

Saturday, June 20
Arrival Day
Should arrive around 3:30pm.
5:30pm ADR Whispering Canyon Cafe at resort
After dinner:
Chip & Dale's Campfire Sing-A-Long at 7:30pm at Fort Wilderness.
The Electrical Water Pageant at 9:35pm at Wilderness Lodge or 9:45pm at Fort Wilderness.

Sunday, June 21
Downtown Disney morning (may include Disney Quest)
Easy morning. Plenty of time for showers and just easing into the day!
9:15-9:30am BOMA at Animal Kingdom Lodge
Head on over to DTD/DQ.

Magic Kingdom evening
5:30pm ADR California Grill at Contemporary
MK: 9AM to 10PM (10PM to 1AM EMH)
Spectromagic 9:00pm
Wishes 10:00pm

Monday, June 22
Animal Kingdom Day
AK: 9AM to 7PM (7PM to 10PM EMH)
8:10am ADR Tusker House Donald's Safari Breakfast

Animal Kingdom evening
6:00pm ADR Jiko: The Cooking Place


Tuesday, June 23
EPCOT day
EPCOT FW/WS: 9/11AM to 9PM (9PM to 12AM EMH)
Snack in the room breakfast.
Rope drop at Epcot at 9am.
11:30am ADR Akershus in Norway
5:30pm ADR Les Chefs de France in France
After dinner: Go with the flow...

Wednesday, June 24
Disney Quest Day
Sleep in day!
9:15-30am ADR Supercalifragilistic Breakfast at Grand Floridian
Head to DQ/DTD!!

No Park Evening
6:00pm ADR Yachtsman Steakhouse at Yacht Club
After dinner: Fantasia Gardens

Thursday, June 25
Magic Kingdom morning
MK: (8AM to 9AM EMH) 9AM to 10PM
EPCOT FW/WS: 9/11AM to 9PM (9PM to 12AM)
Rope drop in Magic Kingdom at 8:00am.
11:30am ADR The Plaza in MK

6:00pm ADR Narcoossee's at Grand Floridian
Options: We could go back to MK, go to Epcot (if we get park hoppers), or relax/swim at the resort.

Friday, June 26
You Pick Day!
EPCOT FW/WS: 9/11AM to 7/9PM
MK: 9am to 10PM (10PM to 1AM EMH)
AK: 9am to 7pm
7:30am ADR Whispering Canyon Cafe at resort.
Wing it for lunch!*gasp*
7:00-30pm ADR AP at resort.

Saturday, June 27
Departure Day
9:00am ADR Chef Mickey's at Contemporary

 

[Happydog]

OOOH! OOOH! Are they posted? Really?!!!

I just skimmed your plans, will have to come back to this tonight, DH and kids due to arrive home any time..... But I did want to add that I have never driven to WDW, but this year, we are taking the Amtrack Car train... so we can have our car... cost was the same as Airfare, but with the bonus of having our car with us (so free rental) and dinner and breakfast-- I have been on overnight trains before, in Europe, but this will be new... I hope we survive! It leaves at 4:30 on the 16th, and arrives at 9:00 am in Orlando... From what I've read, I suspect we'll be checking in by 11am. the boys will love the train, too... And airplane arrivals were at the same time, before getting on ME.. So I think it will be an adventure to try once and then we will see...
Oh! I have the big cabinets too, but with a soffit above (have very high ceilings) I see the wall color from the photos, very toasty, very, well, toasted corn like... Corn from Kansas never looked better than on your walls And yes, with the Tuscan feel... so now "add a few accents for color and eye appeal," and you will be just like Candace -- surely she has said exactly that.... I will come back and study your posts for the trip soon...
Can't believe the hours are out, the hours are out!

 

[Happydog]

So the new June hours came out. I just can't get confirmation on am v. pm EMH for MK yet. But I am going to just post what really happened in the hours against my tentative schedule and see how it affects it.

This particular post will be editted mulitple times more than likely.

Saturday, June 20
Dinner at WCC at WL


Sunday, June 21
EPCOT AM EMH
MK EMH
9:15-9:30 am BOMA breakfast
Then onward to DTD and possibly even DQ, plenty of snacking going on, I'm sure.
pm ADR Cali Grill
This could help me solve the dilemma of the anniversary cake! I could do the cake here, then we would be fairly close to WL to get it back to the room. We could even go to MK this evening, open til 10 and could be later if PM EMH. Now where was Cali Grill?

Monday, June 22
AK PM EMH
AK hours: 9AM to 7PM (7PM to 10PM EMH)
DHS AM EMH
9:30 am ADR Tusker House Donald's Safari Breakfast
pm ADR Jiko: The Cooking Place
So I have removed Yak & Yeti from this day. It's just too much. I still need to tweak the time for Donald's. I want to be sure to get there and have plenty of character time. Timing of buffet is, as yet, still uncertain.

Tuesday, June 23
MK EMH
EPCOT PM EMH
Epcot Hours:
FW: 9AM to 7PM
WS: 11AM to 9PM
EMH: 9PM to 12AM
early lunch ADR Akershus
early dinner ADR Les Chefs de France
This one may not be too bad. I originally thought it would be an am EMH, but this plan could still work.

Wednesday, June 24
AK AM EMH
9:15-30 am ADR Supercalifragilistic Breakfast at GF
DQ!!
early dinner Yachtsman Steakhouse
I'm thinking NO on am EMH here. I'm trying YS here, because we could drive here easily. OOOOOOO. We could do the putt putt course! I think I was just reading about it on some thread. Someone said you could walk there easy from here. Bolt has recently shown an interest in golf. He was digging putting in the store the other day.g

Thursday, June 25
MK EMH
EPCOT PM EMH
Epcot Hours:
FW: 9AM to 7PM
WS: 11AM to 9PM
EMH: 9PM to 12AMearly lunch at The Plaza
dinner Narcoossee's
If the EMH for MK is AM, then the Plaza is good. I can try Narcoossee's here.

Friday, June 26
8:20 am ADR WCC
Wing it for lunch!*gasp*
7:00-30 pm ADR AP

Saturday, June 27
AK AM EMH
9:00 am ADR Chef Mickey's
I don't think that we will be taking advantage of this AM EMH as it is our departure day.

OK. So I like most of these day ok, but I really don't like Monday. I have to walk away, let my brain rest and process and then come back and see what new insight I have gained.

Okay so I took a look at all your plans, wow! They really materialize when you see all the pieces coming together. But a question? Tell me, how are you using the park hours? Are these the parks you are actually going to go to? Did you get Park Hoppers? We didn't -- I thought it would be too tempting for me to run ragged every day, and it wouldn't be wise with our kids... Though I love the flexibility... In some cases it seems like you are definitely visiting a specific park, but I can't tell always. Just wondering... They don't have the parades, etc. out yet... That is what I am waiting to see... Looked this am and got all the hours for all parks, including MK, but wondering about parades, etc.... Everything is shaping up!

 

[TxRabbit]

Okay so I took a look at all your plans, wow! They really materialize when you see all the pieces coming together. But a question? Tell me, how are you using the park hours? Are these the parks you are actually going to go to? Did you get Park Hoppers? We didn't -- I thought it would be too tempting for me to run ragged every day, and it wouldn't be wise with our kids... Though I love the flexibility... In some cases it seems like you are definitely visiting a specific park, but I can't tell always. Just wondering... They don't have the parades, etc. out yet... That is what I am waiting to see... Looked this am and got all the hours for all parks, including MK, but wondering about parades, etc.... Everything is shaping up!

We don't have park hoppers at this time. I was going to take a look at our touring plans and see if I thought that we would actually end up using them. Go to one park in the morning, break, hit another park. I haven't made up my mind about them yet.

So, park hours. I was trying to see how the hours and EMHs fit with my tentative plans. Usually, I try to hit an am EMH. I find those to be really productive. People generally can't handle getting up too early on vacation and so every am EMH I've been to has been a really good deal. I know, the way I am working through the scheduling isn't quite clear if you aren't in my head!

They do have the parades out. I know I saw when Spectro was going to be, and Wishes, and Illuminations. You didn't see that? Hmm. Maybe that was just on the Canadian site.

 

[UsNew2Disney2008]

Again, you have younger kids. Bolt is a good car rider. He knows the drill. He can keep himself entertained and also participate in some good family bonding road tripping time. I actually kind of like road trips. They generally have more memories that you look back on and smile about than air flights. And I'm happy to have my car for some of our touring plans. I like easy vacations, so we didn't plan certain things because I simply didn't want to deal with transportation issues on our previous trips. And I'm looking forward to the many things that I will be able to take along that I wouldn't if I were having to fly.

Oh, that decision about not driving to Orlando - that was BEFORE KIDS! We drove straight there - barely stopping to run through a drive through and use the facilities. We were SORE from that and vowed we wouldn't do it again. It was just too much. At the end of our 8 hour trip, we're pretty done at 7.

You are so right though - when you have your own car, there is just a sense of calm over bringing whatever you want. I just love the idea of you making all those yummy snacks for your room!

 

[TxRabbit]

Oh, that decision about not driving to Orlando - that was BEFORE KIDS! We drove straight there - barely stopping to run through a drive through and use the facilities. We were SORE from that and vowed we wouldn't do it again. It was just too much. At the end of our 8 hour trip, we're pretty done at 7.

You are so right though - when you have your own car, there is just a sense of calm over bringing whatever you want. I just love the idea of you making all those yummy snacks for your room!

It's funny how sitting in the car can make you sore, but it can! And starting a Disney trip sore is horrible.

Yes, with the car, I can really start packing early. Very very early. Usually, we are up until so LATE the night before a big trip. There's just so much to take care of last minute, especially having the cats stay at the house. And I am one of those people that wants to have the fridge be cleaned out, etc before hitting the road. So I'm hoping that having the car will really help with the whole at least having a shot at a good night's sleep! Normally, the night before any big event, I have a rough time sleeping. But still, I'd like to try this time around.

 

[TxRabbit]

Ok, everyone, I've posted a poll on where the anniversary cake should be enjoyed. Even if you are just lurking, please hop on in and give your input.

Seriously, I am having a hard time deciding. Remember, I have to deal with left over cake, there are only 3 of us after all. So proximity to hotel and time of vacation are all factors.

I would appreciate hearing why you voted the way you did. Thanks!

 

[2BoysMom]

OK. I voted for ARRIVAL at WL. Not just to celebrate your Anniversary but to celebrate your great trip at WDW for Bolt, too. Celebrate all week!
It will be a pain in the tuckus for you to carry cake leftovers, no matter how close you are to the resort.

 

[Happydog]

OK. I voted for ARRIVAL at WL. Not just to celebrate your Anniversary but to celebrate your great trip at WDW for Bolt, too. Celebrate all week!
It will be a pain in the tuckus for you to carry cake leftovers, no matter how close you are to the resort.

I'm with you! I think we are the only two to respond so far A cake would be fun to have as a surprise the day you get there. And I am sure the WCC would make it a fun for all event, or a proper celebration!!! It would be a great way to start your vacation...