We got food, yes we do, we got food, how 'bout you? - PICTRUES! UPDATED 11-25-08

[tyandskyesmom]

Did I mention that????

 

[tyandskyesmom]

On Day #5 (January 5, 2008 - Saturday) Lou arrives!!!!

So I have Lou getting up at 4am for his ride to Midway Ariport for his 6:15am flight into Orlando. He should arrive in Orlando around 9:45am. I am planning for us to have brought all of his things so he should only have his carry-on and can proceed to the Magical Express counter. He should arrive at Pop Century by 11:15, check his carry-on at Bell Services and hop a bus to meet us!

Meanwhile, we will set an 8am wake-up call, grab a light breakfast at Everything Pop and hop a bus to MGM by 10am. I suppose we could wait for Lou at Pop if everything on his end is running on time or early so we'll just play it by ear.

We will play around where ever we want until about noon when we will meet Lou at Pizza Planet (unless he calls sooner and is there already) for lunch. By this time, the kids will be so excited to see Daddy...I can hear Skye after the first day or so with her pouty lip sticking out saying "I miss my Daddy!". We love Pizza Planet...for the food not the attraction. We think Disney could have done so much more with this place...more along the lines of the "real" Pizza Planet. But it is really ok because if it were better, I'd never get Tyler or Lou out of there!

So then we will see the parade...it is one of our favorites and we will be sad to see it go...hopefully the replacement relieves us of the feeling but we will have to see.

We have 5pm ADRs for Brown Derby. We have been to all of the other table service places at MGM but not here. We are not thrilled by any of them so much for lunch or dinner but Sci-Fi is our favorite and 50's Prime Time our worst. Sorry! But just to let you know, that is really just if we had to choose. So I have heard wonderful things about Brown Derby and have wanted to get there for a while. We are usually too busy though and have not yet been there.

I would like to catch the Osborne Family Specticle of Dancing Lights after dinner. We loved this from the very first time we saw it. We were disappointed the one year we came and it was not there. And now, WOW! It was even better where it was moved to and with the now dancing lights. Lou even had to run out and buy the soundtrack after...and that's saying something coming from an 80's hair band/metal loving man!

Fantasmic has an 8:30pm showing. This is our ultimate favorite night time show of all of them in the World! Our kids have never been afraid of it and when Skye first saw it when she was 20 months she kept her little eyes open the whole time waving to her "favorite Mickey" until the very end! She passed out immediately upon Lou standing up carrying her out of the stadium...she just had to hold on until the end! We could watch this every night!

We'll join the herd out of Fantasmic and wait in our long line back to Pop and hit the hay.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Day #6 (January 6, 2008 - Sunday) has us with a 6am wake-up call. I know, that's a horrible time to get up on vacation but we have to...we have an 8am ADR at Ohana with Lilo and Stitch!!!! Now you see why Lou keeps wanting a "relaxing" vacation...he will probably moan about the 6am wake-up call and I will probably be sitting there with the kids all ready to go while he is still in the shower...I hate that part of vacation! But I also know that he would not have wanted us to do breakfast with Lilo and Stitch without him so a little moaning it will have to be! I am planning on a bus to the Magic Kingdom and then a monorail to the Polynesian...does that sound like a good plan at 7am?

Then we will take the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom.

If we need it we can grab lunch around 1pm at Columbia Harbour House. We discovered this place, after reading a lot about it on different planning boards, on our last trip on July 2nd. We really liked it! I don't know if we will need it or not though after our breakfast with Lilo and Stitch so we may just end up snacking.

We intend to see the 3pm parade again since Lou was not with us the first time. Oh, who am I kidding, we love a good parade and would probably want to see it again even if all of us had been present! We will try to see it from around the Train Station this time.

After the parade we will head out to catch a boat to the Grand Floridian for dinner at the Grand Floridian Cafe at 5pm.

If we want to, we can hop the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom for Wishes at 8pm or even watch it and the Water Pageant from the Grand Floridian. Otherwise we can always head back to Pop (via the Magic Kingdom) and call it an early night. See that would make up for the early morning!

Ok, while I am on it though...Lou hates when I wake him up early for vacation but do you know what will probably happen if we call it an early night after dinner? The kids and I will go to bed and Lou will head to the bar! I understand that he meets interesting people at the bars in Disney World (we were at Animal Kingdom Lodge one year with the Stray Cats and a bunch of ESPN guys and someone from Extreme Home Makeover (a behind the scenes guy!) and he has met people from England and Ireland and many from the U.S. too) but then don't argue with me about getting up! I'm done...

more to come soon!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

For Day #7 (January 7, 2008 - Monday) we have another early wake-up call but for an entirely different reason...

So We will be hearing from Mickey and Stitch around 6am again. No breakfast before heading out today! We need to catch a bus to Magic Kingdom around 7am for an 8am Bibbidy Bobbity Boutique appointment for Skyler and Tyler. I know, that sounds funny but let me explain...Ever since Ty has heard about the Barber Shoppe he has wanted to go. He loves his face painted and fake tattoos and anything that will draw attention to him! But we have never been in the right place at the right time. We have been telling him for years that we will go and we have yet to end up there. He also has longer hair...no buzz cut that makes him look like every other little boy in the world here! So I did not actually want a cut. So while we were on our last trip in July Skye kept watching the magnitude of little princesses with perfect hair and make-up and shiny things and princess crowns and dresses and sashes and she told her daddy that she wanted to be a princess too. So her daddy tells me to book it - the whole deal...dress and all! I asked her daddy if he knew how much that costs and he told me that it did not matter, she wanted it! So far be it from me to go against her daddy...I booked it...for both of them...in the castle...before the park opens...WOW! The lady who booked it for me asked which package I wanted and I told her I think the big one but I was not sure. She put Skye down for the big one and said it was no problem to change our minds. Tyler is getting the "Cool Dude" package which is actually what he would have been getting from the Barber Shoppe but a little cheaper and with an appointment before the park opens and while his sister is getting made up too! Cool!

Now, let me tell you...I called the first day I could to get the first appointmemnt of the day in the castle. I think the news of the castle being in operation was not out yet because i had no problem getting the day or the time I wanted. One of the main reasons I wanted that first appointment (beond being in the park before opening) is that if I am going to pay that much money for my baby to be turned into a princess she is going to get the most out of it! I just don't see getting it all done for dinner or on your last day. So she wants to be Ariel in her Wedding Dress (or any dress) as long as she has feet. She does not want to be the fishy Ariel...she was that for her birthday party. I'll let you in on the problem with that at a later time!

So after the appointment, or we'll send Lou while I wait on the kids, we'll hit the Bakery again for breakfast.

I have us a bit of time to maybe go see Ariel in her Grotto before we head for a monorail to Epcot.

We have a 2:20pm ADR with the princesses at Akershus. We did dinner there last time as our goal for that trip (as far as Skye was concerned) was to meet Ariel with fins and feet! We did succeed! She was so excited to meet Ariel...she's her favorite!

We'll play around at Epcot and try to catch any princesses/"guys" we missed at lunch (last time for dinner we had Ariel with feet, Jasmine, Esmerelda, Belle in her blue dress, and Aurora) and then head for the monorail again around 6:30pm.

We have an 8pm ADR for 1900 Park Fare. While the thought of seeing Cinderella, Prince Charming, Suzy, Perla, and the Fairy Godmother was appealling, we are escatic about the change to Lady Tremain and Anastasia and Drizella!!!! Skye loves Anastasia! Don't ask...she's a weird little girl! And Lou loves villians in general. And Tyler, well, he loves princesses (we have a great picture of Aurora in mid-kiss that he will not put into his autograph book no matter how much I plead!) too but loves the dark side a bit more I think!

After that it will be back to Pop (via Magic Kingdom I think...it closes at 8pm will the busses still be running?) for bed and sweet princess dreams!

Day #8 next!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

So since we had a lot of activity yesterday Day #8 (January 8, 2008 - Tuesday) will be a late morning.

We have a late breakfast ADR at Hollywood & Vine for 11:05am. We loved this place the last time we were here for breakfast. We have had dinner here too but we were not that impressed...breakfast is another story. We were thrilled when they brought breakfast back to MGM. And the bonus of getting a late seating is that they start putting out the lunch food and you can choose from both! BONUS!

We will probably see the parade again.

A lot here will depend on Tyler's willingness to ride Rockin' Rollercoaster. He went on it on our last trip top MGM. He came off smiling and said he liked it but was not willing to go again. He has yet to agree to Tower of Terror...

If we feel we need light lunch or a snack we will probably end up at Pizza Planet again around 4:30pm.

Around 7pm we will grab a boat to Boardwalk Inn for our 8:30pm ADR at Flying Fish. I had planned this one year for our Thanksgiving dinner but at the time I had not been able to get much information on it and there were not many reviews. Now I am reading more about it and I am dying to go here!

We will have to grab a bus to Downtown Disney (as much as I don't want to because that is usually the worst transportation of our trip) in order to get back to Pop for bed!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

On Day #9 (January 9, 2008 - Wednesday) we will call for an 8am wake-up call.

We'll grab breakfast at Everything Pop and hopefully be in a bus by 10am to Animal Kingdom.

Lunch will probably be at Restaurantosaurus around 1:30pm.

We'll catch Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade at 4pm. This is our favorite afternoon parade!

Around 7pm we will hop a bus to the Grand Floridian for our 8:30pm ADRs at Narcoossees! I am finding that I love the Grand Floridian and even though I don't know if I will ever actually stay there, I can pretend!

Than once again I think we will have to go back to Pop via Downtown Disney unfortunately...but that's all right.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

On Day #10 (January 10, 2008 - Thursday) we will have a 6am wake-up call again so we can be at Magic Kingdom for Early Magic Hours at rope drop. When were were in the World in July it was for only three nights. My father bought us one day passes. We went to the Magic Kingdom on July 2, 2007. It was the first time we have ever, and I do mean ever, been at the Magic Kingdon for opening let alone Extra Magic Hours! We did get to MGM when we went for Star Wars Weekends a couple of years ago at opening but never anywhere else...promise! But when we were at the Magic Kingdom for Extra Magic Hours in July we had a wonderfully empty park for at least 2 hours! We had Fantastland almost to ourselves for almost two hours...I have pictures! The longest line was for Dumbo...big suprise hu? But it was only about five minutes! It was wonderful! I never expected the second of July to be such a great day for the Magic Kingdom. I guess everyone else was saving the Magic Kingdom for the third or the fourth (we left on the fourth). It was our awakening to how one extra hour in the morning can really make your day much more pleasant! So we wil be trying it again.

We'll grab breakfast from Everything Pop on our way out and then luch from Casey's around noon. Casey's is one of Lou's favorites at Magic Kingdom.

Yes, the parade is an option again...we'll play it by ear!

We want to see Spectromagic at 7pm from near the Train Station so that we can grab a monorail to the Polynesian shortly after.

We have an 8:15pm dinner at Kona Cafe that night. I have to say with all of the reviews lately on this place I am actually looking forward to it mor ethan some of the other more signature places!

Again, we may end up going home via Downtown Disney...or will the busses still be running from Epcot by probably 10pm at the latest...oooohhhh, they should be shouldn't they...maybe we can monorail to Epcot and take a bus to Pop from there!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Day #11 (January 11, 2008 - Friday)

Can you guess where we are going? If you were paying attention to last Friday, you would...

I am going to call for a 9am wake up call just so we don't sleep too late but if we get up earlier that's great!

If we are up early we can stop at Everything Pop for a light breakfast but otherwise we will jump on a bus headed for Epcot!!!! It is Friday after all!

We have 11am lunch ADRs at LeCellier...this is one of our repeats all the time. We all really like it here and have yet to have a bad experience food wise or service wise.

We will do whatever we have not yet or want to do again. The kids love the masks, especially Tyler, and usually end up making a few of them every trip. Since they started offering Sharpie markers though I have been talking them into not coloring them there and saving them for later in the room or at home. I don't want pictures of my kids with different color marker all over them all day long!

Dinner will be Lou's favorite...around World Showcase! However, with so many changes recently, I don't know if he is going to be as thrilled. At least the UK still has his absolute favorite...fish and chips! We will probably also get the kids Mc Donalds again and his Lotus Blossum Cafe. I have always (well not always because I did not even realize it existed for quite a while!) wanted to go to Yakitori House and this will be on my list for tonight! We will probably also hit Kringla Bakeri og Cafe again too!

We will need a good spot for Skye to watch Illuminations with her daddy and then head back to the busses. The kids love to play on the light up side walks so we will probably linger a little while too. Oh, I almost forgot...we will all probably be crying at the trip without Spaceship Earth! Oh how I hope they discover they are actually on schedule or early and it opens before we leave! It is probably our family's favorite at Epcot and a trip without it is going to be sad!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

that was my 50th post!!!!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

But I am having fun doing it so I'm going to keep right on...

So, for Day #12 (January 12, 2008 - Saturday) I have planned a 9am wake up call again just to make sure we don't sleep too late.

If we do get up early enough we can hit Everything Pop for a light snack/breakfast and then head out to Epcot.

If we rise later, we will just hop a bus to Epcot for our 11:30am lunch at Coral Reef. We really like this place. The last time we were there though we were put in the back row along the wall. While it may be true that you can see the tank from anywhere, it does not mean that you have a good view of the tank from any seat...nor does it mean that you will be able to see any fish in the tank or that small children will be able to see much of anything from any seat in the place. So, I was determined to maximize our chances for tank side lunching, and that means getting one of the first seatings. That is the only times we have been right up against the tank or the row next to that. Skye has never actually eaten at Coral Reef and been able to actually see fish!

Then I figured we'd just hit whatever we wanted to do again or anything we may have missed.

We have a 7pm ADR for Yachtsman Steakhouse that evening so about 6pm we will start heading over there.

After dinner I will run to the desk at Yacht Club and ask them to print out our Southwest boarding passes at 9:20pm (if our meal is shorter I will have guest services do it at Epcot). Then I hope it will still be early enough to get back into Epcot and walk through to the front for exit. At this point we have a choice to make. We can either take a monorail to Magic Kingdom as they are open until 11pm that night or we can just grab a bus back to Pop Century for bed. It will all just depend on our moods.

That was the last full day of our trip...

 

[tyandskyesmom]

On Day 13th (January 13, 2007 - Sunday), the last day in the World I have a 7am wake-up call planned. We will check our luggage with bell services and grab a bus to the Magic Kingdom. From there we will monorail it to the Contemporary for our 11am breakfast at Chef Mickey's. We really had fun here the last time we had a full vacation so we decided it would be our last day ritual.

After breakfast we will take the monorail to the Grand Floridian to get out PhotoPass CD made.

From there we will grab a bus to the Animal Kingdom until around 4pm when we will go back to Pop Century, grab lunch, and wait for our pick-up time.

I expect our pick-upp time for Magical Express to be at 6:20pm. We will probably grab a snack/dinner at the airport (most likely McDonalds as per tradition) and catch our 9:20pm flight back to the freezing tundra we lovingly call home!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

So now do you see my beautiful vision???

Do you feel the sadness in my heart when I write this full well knowing that most of this is not going to come to fruition as of three (now into four) weeks ago???

Do you know the desparation I feel to be able to salvage as much (or even as little) of this vision as I can???

So the days have me dreaming up ways of cutting costs. How do we skimp on ticlets, how do we skimp on meals, how do we skimp on souvenears, how are we going to do it????

The nights find me calculating and re-calculating all of the plans that I have come up with to figure out which is the best only to come to the conclusion that all the plans I came up with are all putting me in about the same place!!!

I figure, the plane tickets are already paid for...some with credits that expire after already being given the last extension they will give on January 31st. The room is a static cost and is actually not a bad price. So that leaves me with tickets and food to work with. I have already talked myself out of annual passes...too much up front cost and I guess I am going to need to grow up after this scary awakening and save some money for days like this and don't need to be tempted into squeezing more out of it, it has not been easy and it is only going into week four! We are a family that likes to eat out and go places and do things that all costs money so we have cut back a ton in the past few weeks just to be able to afford the bills of living. I know, that's nothing and there are worse off people in the world but when you are used to being able to live a certain way and then that is all pulled out from under you, it is scary! But anyway, the kids are really looking forward to this trip and I cannot dissappoint them! Plus, I need a vacation. I have even gone the way of sitting a room at Disney for thirteen days is better than sitting at home for thirteen days! And last night, Lou offered to stay home. . I don't like that option and I know the kids will miss him too. But, if he does manage to snag one of those ellusive Union Carpenter positions between now and then, it might not be the best idea to spring on them that he will be on vacation for a week. It is with a heavy heart that I would accept that option if I had to. Is that wrong?

So anyway, on to my musing...

I took a look at an on line grocery delivery service. Now this is usually not our deal at all!!! But in the interest of saving our trip, maybe I could handle it. But, nothing too heavy. I could get a small styrofoam cooler, some breakfast type thingies (drinkable yogurt, cheese heads, cereal, donuts, cinnamon rolls, bananas, and sliced apples, cinnamon toast),lunch/dinner items (bread, Peanut butter, jelly, ham), a 36 pack of bottled water, and snacky things (tortilla chips, salsa, snack cakes) all for under $200.00. That would take care of part of it. Then if I cut out all of our table service meals and just hit counter service, I would save there too. Now, it probably looks like that would be a drastic change for us judging from the ADRs I made but really we are more counter service eaters and are just trying to break into that upper end of eating...so it would not be so bad. But then there is the issue of tickets. Since they don't sell anything more than 10 days we would have to go for a 10 day and a two day. I decided on a two day instead of a three because three days if where you get into that bracket that is a bigger jump. But if Lou does not go, it makes the ticket situation a little easier. Maybe we could get by with a 10 day pass(I told the kids to ask their Grammy and Pa for passes for Christmas)...taking the first day, the last day and a day in the middle to just relax and do things we don't normally do. My fear if that it will be cold and that eliminates swimming (which the kids would love to just have a day to do). What else could we do that does not cost a bunch but would keep us happy fo a while?

I also figured that we could do a lot of sharing at meals or endulge in the use of kids meals for all three of us instead of an adult meal and two kid's meals. That would save about $4 a meal...and it would include a drink. None of us (except Lou) have a problem drinking water and even don't mind Florida water too much.

I have already told the kids that we won't be buying a lot of souvinears so if they want to buy things they better tell anyone who asks what they want for Christmas or for Tyler's birthday that they want money for vacation. We don't usually have a problem here though because we have been enough and we have a Disney Store near so there is not usually much that we just have to have!

So anyone have any other money saving ideas for me...I have to say, we are not usually ones to vacation like this, budget yes but not this tight, so I am hoping there are things that I maight not have considered to cut costs.

Any help anyone has would be greatly appreciated!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

on the football games this weekend...

Tyler's team lost their first game (to the first team that beat them during the regular season) but they played much better and it was not such a big loss. That dropped them into the looser's bracket. Their second game was against the team the lost to last in the regular season and it was like night and day...our boys played awesome! They won easily. Tyler has two sacks and a couple of tackles for the best game in his life so far! Lou was so proud of him!!!

So the best they can get is fifth place but out of thirteen teams, that's not bad. They have a team on Saturday that we have not met in the past three years that Tyler has played so we don't know what to expect. Rumor has it that when they are good they are very good but if they start off bad, they stay that way...we shall see on Saturday! Aftere that it just depends upon the outcome of games. They will only have to play one other game though because they created the brackets so that a repete of last years five games in one day would not happen again!

GO TITANS!!!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

So, thanx to my parents the kids and I are in vacation business! While I have had to cut back a bit from my original plan, I no longer need to worry so much about money. Lou is still out of work but is looking forward to being at home by himself...I think Mr. Momming has gotten to him!

So at my 46 day mark I changed my trip to a package. We have 13 nights at All-Star Movies with 10 day hoppers with the water parks and more option. The hopper and plus options were a "free" add on with the Disney Visa. Pop Century was not available with the package so we were able to get all of the day at Movies...that's just as well though...we love the movies! So now all I need to take care of is spending money. What a relief it is!

We are now at day 36and counting! I am kind of in a lull. Everything is planned. All that is really left to do is pack but it is a bit too early for that, even for me!

So I have been reading trip reports and food porn and anything that seems interesting....gotta keep busy!

Time to change the name of my report!

 

[klj27]

Glad you are able to go. We took that leap last year and paid off our package not knowing what the future held. Everything turned out okay and I am so glad that we still went. You will too!

 

[klj27]

I am glad you decided to go with the ten day tickets. You will love having some off days. We love to explore the other resorts, visit downtown Disney, etc. on non park days. it is also a great chance to sleep in!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

No, Lou is still unemployed but we're doing much better than I expected.

SWA dropped fares the other days and I offered to Lou that he could com eagain since it would be minimal cost to add him again. He told me that the reason he said he'd stay home was so that the kids and I would not have to worry so much about spending money and food costs and such and if he came we would again. So he declined...I think he secretly (or not so secretly) cannot wait to be alone for 13 days! So anyway, I finally cancelled his airline tickets which is going to cause us to lose some of our credits that expire at the end of January but created another. I was also able to get the rest of our return flight at $49.00...leaving on New Years Day has only gone up since I booked. I am hoping that 6:30am on New Years Day is like early Thanksgiving morning or 4th of July because the airports were empty on those days!

So just to re-cap...

All-Star Movies preferred room from January1 -13, 2008 with a 10 days park hopper with water park and more option.

We have ADRs schedules at...
Tuskerhouse for lunch
The Plaza for early dinner
Restaurant Marrakesh for lunch
Hollywood & Vine for late breakfast
Ohana for breakfast
Akershus for lunch
1900 Park Fare for dinner
Kona Cafe for dinner
Le Cellier for lunch
Coral Reef for lunch
and
Chef Mickey's for breakfast.

Fast forward to yeaterday. I am reading someone elses dining review and looking at all the great food pictures and drewling! She also mentioned the Deluxe Dining Plan...which I had not even thought about since our job issue but believe me I thought about it before. The main reason I decided against it is that Lou, while vacation is eating, does not like to be on a schedule to do it. But now....Lou is not going! And without Lou, the rides with a height requirement over 36 inches will be off limits (Skye is just at about 36 inches now - at 3 5/6 years old) so that gives us a lot more time that we would have spent standing in line and riding those rides. So I quickly started figuring. I e-mailed my travel agent to get a definate on the add-on cost. It came to about $1300.00 -- the way I had our expected dining spelled out (and it was with a lot counter services, watching the cost of what we were eating, forced sharing, and NO snacks -- snacks fall under "souvinears" in my budget) we would be spending around $1200.00 for the week without the dining plan. So by my math...if we take the cost of $1300.00 and subtract the cost of the refillable mugs (3 x $11.99) and the cost of the 72 snacks we would be given on the plan that I did not count in my non-plan total (I used the $4.00 as the cost of each snack) I cam up with around $996.00being our cost for the Deluxe Dining Plan. I mean we would have bought the mugs anyway. And you know we would have snacked. Plus, now we will get two or three table service meals a day that all include appetizer, entree, drink, and dessert. In my original plan, we would probably only be getting entrees and maybe one dessert to share and one drink to share. So technically I saved money by getting the Deluxe Dining Plan...that's not-so-fuzzy-Disney-math!!!!

So before I told my travel agent to add it on I had to call to see if at 26 days out I would be able to get ADRs for the places I wanted. I ren out to my car in the 22 degree whether (we are not allowed to be on our cell phones insinde the work place nor are we allowed to use the company phone for personal long distance calls) and spoke to Brenda. She was wonderful! The only thing I was unable to get was lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table -- and I expected that but I had to try! So I now have a new (and final since it is only 25 more days) plan for you all!

SO here it goes...

Tuesday 1-1-08:

• grab breakfast at McDonalds at the airport
• leave freezing Chicago at 6:35am
• arrive in warm Orlando at 10:05am
• Magical Express to All-Star Movies
• check-in/hopefully go to room
• bus to MGM/boat to Yacht Club
• 1:30pm ADR at Yacht Club Galley (never been)
• bus to either Blizzard Beach (if warm enough) or Disney Quest
• Bus to Grand Floridian
• 7:35pm ADR at Citrico (never been)
• hopefully catch 9pm Wishes from there (can you see Wishes from
  Citrico?)
• possibly catch the Electric Water Pageant too
• monorail to Magic Kingdom
• bus to All-Star Movies
• bed

Wednesday 1-2-08

• 6:30am wake-up call
• breakfast at World Premiere
• bus to Animal Kingdom for 8am opening (EMH thru 11pm)
• 11:30am ADR at Tuskerhouse (never been)
• 3:45pm Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade from point closest to the exit
• bus to Grand Floridian
• 5:40pm ADR at Narcoossee (never been)
• bus back to Animal Kingdom if we want - other options would be
  1. go to Magic Kingdom (open until midnight)
  2. go back to the room
  3. go to Disney Quest
  4. go to MGM (open until 8pm but lists an 8:30 Fantasmic)
• bus back to All-Star Movies
• bed

Thursday 1-3-08

• 8am wake-up call (as if we could sleep that late at Mickey's House!)
• bus to Magic Kingdom
• monorail to Grand Floridian
• 10:20am ADR at 1900 Park Fare (Skye asked if we were eating with Alice again - we were not going to - but now we are!)
• monorail to Magic Kingdom (open 8am - midnight...if we were to wake up earlier we could head to Magic Kingdom before breakfast too!)
• 2pm ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern (never been)
• 3pm Disney Dreams Come True Parade (if we make it out from lunch)
• 6:40pm ADR at The Plaza (never been)
• 8pm Spectromagic from around the bridge into Tomorrowland
• 9pm Wishes (want to see Tink fly! - Skye never has!)
• bus to All0Star Movies whenever we are done
• bed

Friday 1-4-08

• 8am wake-up call just in case again
• breakfast at World Premiere again
• bus to Epcot (open 9am - midnight)
• 12pm ADR at Restaurant Marrakesh (never been and I think the kids will share a kids meal here)
• 5pm ADR at Chefs de France (never been and I think they will share a kids meal here too)
• 9pm Illuminations from a good spot (Skye has never been able to just sit and watch)
• stay as long as we want to
• bus to All-Star Movies
• bed

Saturday 1-5-08

• 6:30am wake-up call
• bus to MGM for 8am opening (open until 8pm)
• grab a snack to hold us over if we need to
• 11:15am ADR for Hollywood & Vine
• if we feel the need I have allotted 2 kids credits for Pizza Planet (since they do not have a kids menu we can use kids credits for the meal deals)
• 3pm Stars and Motorcars Parade
• 6:40pm ADR at Mama Melrose (we were on our first trip with Tyler about 6 years ago and were not pleased and while I have read many bad reviews I have also read good ones and let's face it, there really is not a good one credit restaurant in MGM)
• 8:30pm Fantasmic (our absolute favorite nighttime show!)
• bus to All-Star Movies
• bed

Sunday 1-6-08

• 5:30am wake-up call (I am debating this---how long do you think it will take us to get to the Poly?)
• bus to Magic Kingdom
• monorail to Polynesian (will the monorail even be running that early?)
• 8am ADR at Ohana (never been)
• monorail back to Magic Kingdom (open 9am - 11pm)
• 1pm ADR at Crystal Palace (never been for lunch)
• see the 3pm parade if we did not before or want to again (we love a parade!)
• 5:30pm start heading out
• monorail to Grand Floridian
• 7pm ADR at Grand Floridian Cafe (never been)
• monorail back to Magic Kingdom to catch
• bus to All-Star Movies (early morning tomorrow!)
• bed

Monday 1-7-08

• 5:30am wake-up call
• bus to Magic Kingdom
• 8am reservation at the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique for both kids
• grab snack/counter service breakfast after (maybe Main Street Bakery)
• around NOON monorail to Epcot
• 2:20pm ADR at Akershus (never been for lunch)
• around 6:30pm monorail to TTC
• monorail to Grand Floridian
• 8pm ADR at 1900 Park Fare (never been for dinner)
• bus to MGM (open until 11pm - we will either use this as a transfer point or if we feel up to it maybe we'll go in for a showing of Little Mermaid or something!)
• bus to All-Star Movies
• bed

Tuesday 1-8-08

• 8am wake-up call
• bus to MGM
• boat to Beach Club
• 10am ADR at Cape May Cafe (never been)
• if it is warm enough bus to Typhoon Lagoon otherwise Disney Quest
• lunch will be counter service where ever we are
• we will use our voucher at Planet Hollywood that evening for dinner
• if we did not go to Disney Quest earlier we can now
• basically this is a park free day!

Wednesday 1-9-08

• 6am wake-up call
• bus to Animal Kingdom
• 8:40am ADR at Tuskerhouse (never been obviously!)
• 12:30pm ADR for Yak & Yeti (again, obviously never been!)
• 5pm start heading to the bus
• bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge
• 7pm dinner at Boma (Tyler says this is his second favorite restaurant...next to McDonalds!)
• bus either to Epcot if they are still coming or more likely Downtown Disney for transfer
• bus to All-Star Movies
• bed

Thursday 1-10-08

• 6am wake-up call
• bus to Magic Kingdom
• 8:20am ADR at Crystal Palace
• this is where I wanted to stick Cinderella's Royal Table but no dice! So I am going to try to get Concorse Steakhouse instead
• around 7pm start heading out
• monorail to Polynesian
• 8:15pm ADR at Kona Cafe (never been)
• bus to Downtown Disney
• bus to All-Star Movies
• bed

Friday 1-11-08

• 7am wake-up call
• use 2 kids credits for breakfast at World Premiere
• bus to Epcot (open 9am - midnight)
• 11:30m ADR at Le Cellier
• 5:45pm start walking to Boardwalk
• 6:45pm ADR at Flying Fish (never been)
• walk/boat back to Epcot
• 9pm Illuminations again
• bus to All-Star Movies
• bed

Saturday 1-12-08

• 8am wake-up call just in case
• use snack credits for breakfast
• bus to Epcot
• 11:30am ADR at Coral Reef
• 5pm ADR for Tutto Italia (never been)
• try to get boat to MGM for 7pm Fantasmic--we'll see if we can do it!
• bus to All-Star Movies
• pack up
• bed

Sunday 1-13-08

• 7am wake-up call
• take luggage for storage
• 9:30am bus to Epcot
• monorail to TTC
• monorail to Contemporary
• 11am ADR for Chef Mickey's
• the rest of the day is open...all 10 of our passes are done but we still have plus options so if it is warm enough we can head to Typhoon Lagoon if we want to or Disney Quest or even just hang out at Downtown Disney or our hotel
• late lunch will be a counter service where ever and when ever we want to
• I expect 6:20pm to be our pick-up time for Magical Express
• our flight leaves warm Orlando at 9:20pm
• we should arrive back in freezing Chicago by 11:05pm
• Lou will be there waiting
• Skye will be so happy to see "her" daddy and tell him all about our trip!
• we will drive the 10 minutes home
• bed

 

[Pryncesa]

What a great trip you have planned!!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

So with 20 more days until we leave I am feeling like I have a lot but nothing to do...is that weird?

I mean, I keep going over dining plans and gathering all of our travel info and what to pack and reading dining reviews and trip reports but none of it seems pressing. The kids are using their home made autograph books from last time because we really did not see everyone on that trip so they have a lot of room in them. I am working on my travel spiral but even that does not seem to hold my attention for very long. I just want to go now!

I have planned what all three of us will wear to the three business casual dinners. I have packed most of Skye's clothes, although she is getting some for Christmas so I may be re-packing for her. Some of Tyler's and my clothes are packed but I am worried about weather so don't really know what to pack...plus we are getting some for Christmas too. That is my biggest hang up I think. There is no way possible to get an anyway near accurate forcast of the weather this far out. Skye is taking a lot of lacy leggins and cute sweat suits with tank tops so I think she will be good with them no matter what the weather (unless maybe if there is a heat wave, but that is not really what my concern is!). For Tyler, I think he would rather wear shorts and a long sleved t-shirt or sweat shirt than long pants and a t-shirt...but I don't want him to be cold either. And I will probably bring capris and some Disney sweat pants with tanks. We will all have sweaters/sweat shirts/coats too.

And I am praying that the weather we have been having lately stops and holds off until around noon on January 1st! We are used to flying in November and December and we have never had a probelm...no delays, no cancellations. But this time it is in January. Now normally, in January in the Chicagoland area, we do not get continual bad weather...cold yes, but not snow or icy rain. I am hoping for cold and clear for the morning of the first...after that, I don't care so much what the weather is like in Chicago!

The kids are really excited about the deluxe dining plan. I don't think I thougt they'd be so happy about it without experiencing it. In fact, they have given me more feed back than Lou usually does!!!

I have been looking for pictures and reviews of Citricos and some of the other places we are planning to eat and not having much luck. It seems like the people who do dining reviews keep reviewing the same places and/or the same meals. I tend towards the odder dishes...at least enough to want to check them out and I cannot find anything.

Oh, and along the lines of dining, I have a couple of questions about the dining plan. First off, for breakfast it lists a juice, entree, and a non-alcoholic beverage. Is that for kids too? Also, is that for table and counter service places? So could I use a kids credit for a kids mickey waffle/bacon/apple sauce/juice combo and then still get a gateraide (sp?)? I know there are specified drinks that go withthe kids meal but is the extra "juice" anything bottled (even for a kid's meal)? Have people had luck getting other desserts for the kids meals? I mean, my kids don't eat apple sauce or brown sugar apples at all! Will I be able to get them at least a scoup of ice cream instead?

Today we all (all three of us that is) have a doctor's appointment...because we are SICK! THis is our time of the year. We were all there about three weeks ago. Now we are going back again today. It is just under three more weeks until we leave. If we get meds for ten days that gives us ten more days to keep healthy...can we do that? I have this horrible thought that we will be running to the doctor when ever they can fit us in between Christmas and vacation...not fun!

Oh and the good news is between December 22nd and January 14th I on;y have three days to work!!! Woohoo!!! And the 29th is Tyler's 9th birthday and the day of his party. It is also my mom's family's Christmas party so once the 22nd hits, I'm as good as done!

Hey, if there is anyone out there reading this, do you know how I can add a link to my PTR in my signature?

Next up I think I will occupy myself with trying to post some pictures from previous trips to entertain myself!

20 more days!!!​

 

[tyandskyesmom]

and I am still getting the near 2000 pictures downloaded, the receipts in order, and the mamories preserved...I will try to get some posts up soon...

Just for those of you wondering...the Deluxe Dining Plan was wonderful but a ton of eating, a ton of food and a ton of time. But if that is something you are looking for on your trip it was great! I'll give more details further in!