We love Donald Duck, oh yes we do! - Link to the PTR - COMPLETE

[Charleston Princess]

59 days!!!!! I love it when a countdown hits below 60, it just seems to fly by from there. And then the 30 day mark usually enduces some panic of "Is everything ready? I need to change every ADR!"

Don't I know it! I am waiting for that 30-day panic to hit since I have not been near as meticulous with all the planning this year -- it is bound to dawn on me sooner or later that I probably should be doing more.

 

[k_reile]

About the tickers...mine says today is 9 mos and 4wks away. Is that even possible??

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Just found your TR from reading BellaSoleil's TR. Love it and thanks for using the links on the first page!

Where in MN are you? I'm guessing not in the Twin Cities from the beginning of your TR.
Your son is adorable! I've loved the great pictures you took.
When are you going back - November or December? We're going Dec 6 -10. I know, too short, but we're doing the 3 day cruise after that.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Don't I know it! I am waiting for that 30-day panic to hit since I have not been near as meticulous with all the planning this year -- it is bound to dawn on me sooner or later that I probably should be doing more.

Then your last handful of days will really fly by because you'll be frantically planning!! Or, are you going to do a "whatever happens happens" sort of trip with loose park days and just ADRs?

About the tickers...mine says today is 9 mos and 4wks away. Is that even possible??

It is possible - it would land you at WDW sometime in Feb/March 2010 I think. I suck at math!

Just found your TR from reading BellaSoleil's TR. Love it and thanks for using the links on the first page!

Where in MN are you? I'm guessing not in the Twin Cities from the beginning of your TR.
Your son is adorable! I've loved the great pictures you took.
When are you going back - November or December? We're going Dec 6 -10. I know, too short, but we're doing the 3 day cruise after that.

Hi there! WELCOME! Thanks for reading! No prob on the links!

We are in Hutch-1 hour west of Mpls. We are looking to move to Mpls though! Hopefully soon. Are you in the Twin Cities?

Thank you for the kind words about Henry and the pics! My current ticker is for a December 8 trip, BUT our plans have recently changed. I'm saving all that fun for the PTR that I will start after this TR.

5 days of Disney + a 3 day cruise sounds HEAVENLY! Ahhhhhh! I want to do a cruise SO BADLY....but part of me wants to wait until Henry is a bit older to take advantage of the Kids Clubs-he would just have a blast in them!

 

[jenseib]

OOH! can't wait to hear what the change is.

 

[k_reile]

yeah I suck at math too but I was aiming for Feb 6th i think it was...whatever the sat around then is. But our dates are not set in stone and depending if my mom wants to go to Jamaica that year too then the Jamaica trip would be in Feb (just my mom and dad though) and WDW possibly in March but my dad doesn;t really want to do two big trips back to back and I don;t think he is too thrilled to go to Jamaica that trip (they go with a big tour group that goes somewhere in the cariebean every feb) and it is someplace they have already been.
But my parents also want to really go to WDW with the kids so i am betting we will go early feb.

 

[brookelizabeth]

OOH! can't wait to hear what the change is.

I can't wait to talk about it!

yeah I suck at math too but I was aiming for Feb 6th i think it was...whatever the sat around then is. But our dates are not set in stone and depending if my mom wants to go to Jamaica that year too then the Jamaica trip would be in Feb (just my mom and dad though) and WDW possibly in March but my dad doesn;t really want to do two big trips back to back and I don;t think he is too thrilled to go to Jamaica that trip (they go with a big tour group that goes somewhere in the cariebean every feb) and it is someplace they have already been.
But my parents also want to really go to WDW with the kids so i am betting we will go early feb.

I'll take the Jamaica trip off their hands, problem solved!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Then your last handful of days will really fly by because you'll be frantically planning!! Or, are you going to do a "whatever happens happens" sort of trip with loose park days and just ADRs?

I haven't quite decided yet -- a big part of me just wants to plan loose park days, but my OCD tends to flare up occasionally.

 

[brookelizabeth]

The next morning started around 7:30 am, Henry woke up, but was happily playing in his crib with his "Dut dut" and Mickey. Joe and I took advantage and stayed in bed until we could tell he was starting to get bored-right about 8:00 am.

And guess what?

It was another lazy morning around the villa!

Our mornings at home are almost always rush, rush, rush-so I was diggin' good on this lazy morning thing.

However, this wasn't quite as lazy as normal because today was our last full day in Disney, and we were moving to the Studio Villa. We opted to milk those Developer points to the last drop, staying an extra day and just dealing with moving to a smaller room. I was kinda excited in a way-even though we bought DVC with staying in a 1 bed in mind-just to check out what a Studio was like.

So packing was going on, along with the normal morning activities of eating, coffee, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. (Aside from the packing, that is what EVERY morning in our family is like! )

And I also snapped a zillion pictures of the Villa, "for research purposes".

Mirror in the entry way

Table in the entry way

Much of the art in the room was old school pictures from the actual Saratoga Springs. Kinda neat!

Tilework in the kitchen

A little boy making a complete mess of the window...

More Stacy!

The tilework in the shower

And I took this video...it's 10 minutes long, but gives a very detailed look at an SSR 1 bedroom in case you have ever wanted to see it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bHso9NeUB0

Mousekeeping came around 10:00 and...no way were we ready! They were very nice and understood. We finally were done right around 11:00 am and I called Bell Services. Oops. Meant to arrange that last night.

Thankfully they were not horribly busy and the CM arrived at 11:15ish. He was very nice, nicer than average, very helpful and cheery-but not annoying cheery. It was a good sign of the day to come!

The Bell Man took our bags, with the instruction that the leftover Skinny Cow ice cream sandwishes were of most importance. He totally understood.

We zipped up with him on his golf cart to the Carriage House where we refilled our mugs, found out our room was not ready, and bought charcoal---for lunch we would be grilling out!

Joe and I LOVE to grill out. I love it because he's cooking (he he ) and he loves it because in the end is a most wonderful Johnsonville Beer Brat.

Drool.

While he grilled out, Henry and I zipped around SSR. We failed to open the can of baked beans before leaving the 1 bedroom, and did not have a can opener. I figured I would run up to the shop and find one for sale, or figure out something.

The one they had for sale was $6 and wasn't even a real can opener. It was like one you'd find in a survival kit with a cute Mickey handle.

Uh, no. Not paying $6 for that.

Plan B. Beg.

Begging worked! A CM took pity on me, glanced around, looked at me straight in the eye and said "This has to be returned" and she handed over the same "can opener" they had for sale, but this was from behind the counter.

I felt kinda special.

I assured her she had nothing to worry about, I would return it promptly.

After the can opener was secured, I went to Horsin' Around Rentals and got the BBQ tools. Then back to Congress Park area where Joe had already started putting the brats on.

Sorry vegetarians!

Da Master of da Grill!

By this time Henry was asleep in his stroller. So, after my hike all over SSR, I just chilled at a picnic table and savored the beautiful aroma of the brats.

They were done soon,

Yum. And check out the beautiful brat with that background! So nice!

the can opener and some muscle was used and the beans were warmed over the coals. Potato salad was had.

I had two! OINK.

Continued in next post

 

[brookelizabeth]

Continued from previous post

Uh HUH! Yum! The weather was perfect, the view was breathtaking, the food was perfection from a grill and the company of my sleeping baby and husband made the moment complete.

Henry woke up and we played for a bit at the playground that is right next to the BBQ area (same one as earlier in the week).

There was another child at the playground and he and Henry would "talk" to each other through this pipe thing-it came out on the other side of the playground. Really cool!

I LOVE this look! He doesn't do it much anymore, but it had started that week and I was happy to capture it!

Static much?

Mom. No.More.Pictures!

Then, he decided, quite clearly, that he was hungry.

I kinda figured this was going to happen, so I came prepared with a Gerber meal. Back to the Carriage House we went!

I warmed up his meal in the microwave and he was nearly ballistic. Joe fed him while I returned the can opener as promised. Henry DEVOURED that meal like something I've never seen before!!

After he was satisfied we walked around a bit

Fancy-schmancy.

Outside of AP.

Outside of AP.

Outside of AP. Children would color on these easels and then hang their picture in the entry way to AP. It was always fun to see the "art of the moment" walking in!

The pool area.

Near the front entry way.

The stroller/wheelchair walkway beside the pool. There are steps in the pool area.

and then changed into our swimsuits so we could enjoy the pool. If you recall, Henry wasn't too thrilled with the pool earlier in the week when we went one evening. We were hoping the warmer weather would help and he'd enjoy it.

Enjoy it, he did!

At first he was a little apprehensive, but very quickly realized he could splash and splash, and splash! We took turns walking around the pool with him, he loved every second!

And anytime he caught a glimpse of the Donald Duck statue, he would point and exclaim "Dut!" So, after some swimming we headed over to visit Donald. Once again, no line to wait to meet him!

"Dut!"

"Whatcha got in there?"

After having a little chat with Dut Dut, looking in his bucket about 73 times, Henry and I just chilled poolside and watched Daddy swim.

I love, love, love these pics of him with the towel around his neck!

Little tiny shoulderblade.

Continued in next post

 

[brookelizabeth]

Continued from previous post

Little wet footprints.

Beautiful pool!

After a bit we headed over to the hot tub and enjoyed that again.

Joe put Henry's feet in this time and he LOVED it. I was a nervous wreck about it, knowing babies generally shouldn't be in the hot tub. I figured just his feet for 2 minutes would be fine, but ugh-I was freaking.

Of course, he was fine.

After a while, we checked on our room again, it was right around 3:00 pm and it was ready! YAY!

We had made zero requests on this room...what would we end up with?

Up next: Room #1301.

 

[brookelizabeth]

I haven't quite decided yet -- a big part of me just wants to plan loose park days, but my OCD tends to flare up occasionally.

I TOTALLY understand!!
I let my OCD side have it's way and made "just in case" plans. Just in case we got to the resort, or to the parks, or on our "down day" and couldn't figure out what to do.

In reality. Uh, you are at Disney World-there is ALWAYS something to do. But, it helped to make those plans...and I had to let myself be completely okay with not getting to all of them. That was the hard part!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Fabulous update Brook! Your little cookout sounds like fun, I love to grill too - for the exact same reason as you - DH is doing the cooking!

I'm so glad Henry liked the pool this time, and those pictures of him with the towel wrapped around him are too precious! He looks so grown up.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Awesome update! Aren't lazy afternoons just the best? Hurrah for the save the day with a can-opener cast member! And another hurrah for a CM who understands that skinny cow is of the UTMOST importance!

Henry does look so grown up with the towel around his shoulders. Too cute!

I am intrigued by these changes you are anxious to talk about...

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

What a great day with the family. A cookout in Disney is way cool!!! I can not wait to hear about the next room and I am happy to hear Henry loved the pool. That Duck area is very neat for the kiddos.

 

[troobabiee7]

Love the pool pictures! The ones of Henry with the towel are too cute!

And I really liked the tour of the villa, it looks gorgeous!

 

[wickesy]

Lovin' your report Brook. I also have to thank you for introducing us to the wonder that is corn dog nuggets. We wandered into Casey's Corner last week and remembering that I had seen them in your signature Dad and I decided to order them. They are FANTASTIC and we absolutely loved them.

We didn't make any requests for our studio either and we ended up in The Paddock, first floor just a few steps from the parking lot. Not much of a view but perfect for carrying things to and from the car.

 

[k_reile]

I'll take the Jamaica trip off their hands, problem solved!

Yeah my brother told them that they could take his son and him and his wife would go to Cancun...my moms like I don;t think so! Who wouldn;t want to see their son's 1st trip to Disney!

Thats what mousekeeping is for!


MEMOM: I got it figured out!! The qouting I mean! Some things I probably will never figure out!

 

[PopArtGal]

omg the footprints are so cute!

 

[MRYPPNS]

I love the "dut dut" water play area for kids. I can see us staying at SSR in the future.