Welcome, Foolish Muggles! IoA/US/MK/SW *July 2013 Trip Report Link*

[ddluvsdisney]

That's great that you are getting your reservations. I keep forgetting about the one-a-day for offsite guests. Let us know your lineup when you are done.

I'm bummed that I won't be making reservations for the class trip in June- I think we get vouchers for counter service meals. And I will be letting the kids pick where they want to eat. I'm hoping Nate will take the planning lead for our group. I have already quizzed him about where we should eat in each park- and I was pleased with his answers:

MK- Pecos Bill or Columbia Harbor House
EP- Sunshine Seasons (or lunch around the world)
AK- Tamu Tamu
HS- He didn't have an answer for this one.

We haven't really had counterservice meals at this park, but I hear good things about Starring Rolls. I think the giant sandwiches and even gianter cupcakes would please 13-14 year olds!

Dee-
You have definately taught that boy well! lol
Looks like what I would choose.
Starring Rolls would probably be your best bet!
1 more ADR to make tomorrow- I'll let you know.

Deb

 

[natebenma]

Well if that just ain't the crappiest way to end vacation

But, looking on the bright side (as I usually do), at least that storm was not DURING one of your vacation days. If it's GOTTA rain like that, I guess that was the best time to do it!

Glad you had a good time at Universal. A lot of people compare the two and...well, it can just get ugly

Sorry to see your vacation end, but no doubt next one is in the works

Thanx for sharing your vacation with us!

That really was the bright side- the only rain we had during that week was the evening at Sea World. We have been VERY lucky the past 3 years. We have visited Orlando the 2nd week in July, and only had a few inconvenient thundershowers.

We really did enjoy Universal! We have Atlantis (Comfort Suites) booked for April, but nothing booked for February, when we really like to travel. We came seriously close to booking Universal again for February this afternoon (With one Disney day). Like Mark had filled in our names for the air travel and everything. But we decided it was probably too soon to go back. February 2013 might be nice though for a Disney/US trip.

And Nate and I will be going to Disney in June for his 8th grade class trip.

But other than that, nothing planned.

Thanks for coming along for our trip! I have appreciated your input!

Dee-
You have definately taught that boy well! lol
Looks like what I would choose.
Starring Rolls would probably be your best bet!
1 more ADR to make tomorrow- I'll let you know.

Deb

Yes, he has certainly learned his Disney lessons well. Wish this would carry over into his schoolwork!!!!!!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

OK Done with ADRs yay!!!
Sun.- R&C dinner to watch Illuminations (my mom loves Illum. she is gonna be so surprised!! She's never eaten here)
Mon.- Via Napoli for lunch (never eaten here before- excited)
Tues.- Garden Grill dinner (this is our new fav. character dinner- excellent food)
Wed.- Cali Grill dinner ( we've eaten here a couple of times to watch Wishes- another surprise for my parents)
Thurs.- Sci-Fi lunch (boys' fave my parents will probably love it)
Fri.- Flying Fish dinner (this is DH's new fave- kids love the BW at night)
Sat.- Chefs for lunch (mom loves this restaurant- we do too Remy is so cute!)
Well there they are- we definately chose our favorites this trip with 1 new one to try.
We might throw in a b-fast one day too but haven't decided which one yet.
So excited. I love taking people to places for the first time.

Deb

 

[natebenma]

OK Done with ADRs yay!!!
Sun.- R&C dinner to watch Illuminations (my mom loves Illum. she is gonna be so surprised!! She's never eaten here)
Mon.- Via Napoli for lunch (never eaten here before- excited)
Tues.- Garden Grill dinner (this is our new fav. character dinner- excellent food)
Wed.- Cali Grill dinner ( we've eaten here a couple of times to watch Wishes- another surprise for my parents)
Thurs.- Sci-Fi lunch (boys' fave my parents will probably love it)
Fri.- Flying Fish dinner (this is DH's new fave- kids love the BW at night)
Sat.- Chefs for lunch (mom loves this restaurant- we do too Remy is so cute!)
Well there they are- we definately chose our favorites this trip with 1 new one to try.
We might throw in a b-fast one day too but haven't decided which one yet.
So excited. I love taking people to places for the first time.

Deb

Sounds like an excellent line up!!!

The only place we have actually eaten is the Sci Fi, but I hear lots and lots of good things about all of the places you are going! Dining is one of my favorite activities at the Disney parks and I am officially *jealous*!!!

.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Sounds like an excellent line up!!!

The only place we have actually eaten is the Sci Fi, but I hear lots and lots of good things about all of the places you are going! Dining is one of my favorite activities at the Disney parks and I am officially *jealous*!!!

.

Thanks Dee!!
You'll have to try some of them next time!

 

[jmskinner]

I feel like I have accomplished something...your TR. I am in awe of your and your family and how commando you all are. We end up with meltdowns you wouldn't believe and that is the adults.

Reading your TR has made me want to try to go to Universal next summer if we make it to Orlando for Star Wars Celebrations like we plan.

Sorry you didn't get to see the Horror Makeup Show, I'm one that raves about it.

Really enjoyed your TR and look forward to reading the next one.

 

[DrMomof3]

What a nightmare trip home. I think it's always made worse by the fact that you are going home!
Thanks for the Universal tips!

Amanda

 

[natebenma]

I feel like I have accomplished something...your TR. I am in awe of your and your family and how commando you all are. We end up with meltdowns you wouldn't believe and that is the adults.

Reading your TR has made me want to try to go to Universal next summer if we make it to Orlando for Star Wars Celebrations like we plan.

Sorry you didn't get to see the Horror Makeup Show, I'm one that raves about it.

Really enjoyed your TR and look forward to reading the next one.

Hi Melissa! I'm so glad you made it over here! Thanks for reading my report You were the very first reader on my first report and I am thankful to have you around. I have enjoyed following your adventures too!

I'm glad you are planning on heading to the Star Wars Celebration. Have you been to IoA since the Wizarding World opened? If you are Harry Potter fans at all, you must go!

I'll be over to check out your reports tomorrow (if we are not piled under a foot of snow with no electricity). Trying to catch my breath a bit- in between Ben's theatre rehearsal and the boys' football games today. I ran two events last night- a movie night for the middle school 5th graders and a Halloween dance for the 7th and 8th graders .

What a nightmare trip home. I think it's always made worse by the fact that you are going home!
Thanks for the Universal tips!

Amanda

Once we have started the journey home, all we want is to be there as soon as possible. We did not enjoy our delayed return!

I hope you find some of the Universal tips to be useful! I'm sure we will be chatting a bunch of times before December.

 

[Queila]

Great top 10 things!!

Q

 

[natebenma]

Great top 10 things!!

Q

Thank you!!!

 

[dtr_angel]

Well I am really late to the party, but after a DIS boards hiatus I finally came back and finished reading your TR! It always amazes me how much you are able to fit into a day. We are definitely going to have to get better about getting up early on vacation and getting to places early. I'm sorry about the ending to your trip, what a bummer. I had to laugh when you said you were quizzing your son about what CS to eat in the park, lol. For HS, my DH & I like Pizza Planet but Starring Rolls is good too - ummm, butterfinger cupcake! I hope you have a good trip and I'm hoping for a trip report when you return!!! Our May vacation is probably not going to be to Disney much to my dismay so I'll need a Dee Disney fix

 

[natebenma]

Well I am really late to the party, but after a DIS boards hiatus I finally came back and finished reading your TR! It always amazes me how much you are able to fit into a day. We are definitely going to have to get better about getting up early on vacation and getting to places early. I'm sorry about the ending to your trip, what a bummer. I had to laugh when you said you were quizzing your son about what CS to eat in the park, lol. For HS, my DH & I like Pizza Planet but Starring Rolls is good too - ummm, butterfinger cupcake! I hope you have a good trip and I'm hoping for a trip report when you return!!! Our May vacation is probably not going to be to Disney much to my dismay so I'll need a Dee Disney fix

Hey! Welcome Back!

AND CONGRATULATIONS!!! I noticed your ticker and I know how much you wanted this. So happy for you! I hope you have been feeling well. Have you announced your news on your last TR? I haven't seen it yet!

Are you still going on the cruise this year?

So there has been a little drama regarding the class trip. The same day I made my ticker, Nate got his report card. His grades were great- all As and Bs. He had all 1's and one 2 in effort and conduct in all of his classes. EXCEPT Life Skills (Home Ec). He had a 4 (lowest grade) in effort. Well, the 4 put him on probation for the trip. If he gets another 4 or two or more 3's in effort or conduct in any classes on the same report card, his trip is off!

I have been on pins and needles. But I have been following up with his teachers and he is doing better in Life Skills this term and I think the other classes are ok. I paid the final balance for the two of us, and the next report card comes out at the end of the month.

So IF we go on the class trip, I will most definitely be writing a trip report. I'll probably do a mini-report after our trip to Atlantis in April, too.

 

[dtr_angel]

Hey! Welcome Back!

AND CONGRATULATIONS!!! I noticed your ticker and I know how much you wanted this. So happy for you! I hope you have been feeling well. Have you announced your news on your last TR? I haven't seen it yet!

Are you still going on the cruise this year?

So there has been a little drama regarding the class trip. The same day I made my ticker, Nate got his report card. His grades were great- all As and Bs. He had all 1's and one 2 in effort and conduct in all of his classes. EXCEPT Life Skills (Home Ec). He had a 4 (lowest grade) in effort. Well, the 4 put him on probation for the trip. If he gets another 4 or two or more 3's in effort or conduct in any classes on the same report card, his trip is off!

I have been on pins and needles. But I have been following up with his teachers and he is doing better in Life Skills this term and I think the other classes are ok. I paid the final balance for the two of us, and the next report card comes out at the end of the month.

So IF we go on the class trip, I will most definitely be writing a trip report. I'll probably do a mini-report after our trip to Atlantis in April, too.

Thank you!!! We are SO excited! I definitely feel less than stellar right now but it's all worth it. Unfortunately since I marked my TR as complete it got moved to the completed trip reports forum and it's locked. I can't reply or update! So I PMd the mod for the forum yesterday hoping it can be unlocked, but I haven't heard anything back yet. We aren't going on our cruise because I was supposed to start my new job 1/9 (we were planning for the last week in January to cruise). After we found that out my husband put his vacation bids in for May and October of this year. Of course, 2 days before Christmas we find out that I'm not starting until 2/13 but it was too late for my husband to change his vacation bids. So unfortunately it doesn't look like we'll get to Disney this year In May/June during my husband's first vacation I'll be too pregnant (at least 32 weeks) to fly and waddle around Disney World, plus it will be too hot and crowded. On his second vacation, the baby will be much too young to go to Disney for the first time. Right now the plan is to in April/early May of 2013 (when baby will be about 9 months old) but that seems too far away. We'll see - I'm going to start a PTR here soon even though it's all so up in the air LOL.

Oh no, that is terrible! I really hope Nate is able to pull it off. I would be on pins and needles too! Definitely looking forward to reading the TR (since it will be so different than your others!) and about your Atlantis trip too!

 

[natebenma]

Thank you!!! We are SO excited! I definitely feel less than stellar right now but it's all worth it. Unfortunately since I marked my TR as complete it got moved to the completed trip reports forum and it's locked. I can't reply or update! So I PMd the mod for the forum yesterday hoping it can be unlocked, but I haven't heard anything back yet. We aren't going on our cruise because I was supposed to start my new job 1/9 (we were planning for the last week in January to cruise). After we found that out my husband put his vacation bids in for May and October of this year. Of course, 2 days before Christmas we find out that I'm not starting until 2/13 but it was too late for my husband to change his vacation bids. So unfortunately it doesn't look like we'll get to Disney this year In May/June during my husband's first vacation I'll be too pregnant (at least 32 weeks) to fly and waddle around Disney World, plus it will be too hot and crowded. On his second vacation, the baby will be much too young to go to Disney for the first time. Right now the plan is to in April/early May of 2013 (when baby will be about 9 months old) but that seems too far away. We'll see - I'm going to start a PTR here soon even though it's all so up in the air LOL.

Oh no, that is terrible! I really hope Nate is able to pull it off. I would be on pins and needles too! Definitely looking forward to reading the TR (since it will be so different than your others!) and about your Atlantis trip too!

I just saw that you got your TR unlocked and I commented over there. Hooray!

I did the same exact thing with my "Never" going in the summer again report. I thought marking the report "Complete" would just move it to the Completed TR forum. I didn't know it would lock it from editing or additional postings!

 

[eandesmom]

Yikes for Nate! That would totally stress me out, fingers crossed he pulls it off.

 

[-Hope-]

I followed you over from momabaarjo's TR and I'm so glad I did! Your TR was great and full of good information and tips for our first trip to the dark side.

I hope you don't mind but I pinned your top ten post to my Orlando board on Pinterest so I wouldn't lose it!

 

[mnmrmustard]

I started this TR, got tangled up in RL, and finally made it back for the finish. I can't fathom taking on all that you did in that heat, but you all got in a super-sized load of fun!

Since your TR is still open i wanted to let you know that your first page post with all of the links is missing one, the Shamu show. Here is the link if you want to add it in for future readers:

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=42064030&postcount=235

I can say for sure that I basically want to steal your route/methodology for getting FPs at MK, that was just staggering! One question I have is how did your hubby swing the extra FPs for Mickey's Philharmagic? Did they come out of the machine he was at (I think he was at Peter Pan)?

We are doing a combo Universal/WDW trip in late November/early December and I know you've inspired me in my planning. You had some great ideas for breaking up the trip to keep the kids/teens from getting too burnt out. Our girls will be 13 and 16 when we go and I know how the attitude/cranky thing can come out if we push it too hard.

I know we'll be doing the single rider bit FJ quite a bit to get in as many rides as possible. And I'm glad that there are no sodas at WWoHP, that was a good call by J.K.

I too am a camera nut and sneak pics whenever I can. That was a great shot you captured of the big T-Rex on the Jurrassic ride. I was able to take pics through the building up until the turn that lead to the big guy. But a lady came over the loudspeaker and called me out specifically ..."you in the second row, put the camera down or we stop the ride!"

Thank you again for taking us along on your adventure!

 

[natebenma]

I followed you over from momabaarjo's TR and I'm so glad I did! Your TR was great and full of good information and tips for our first trip to the dark side.

I hope you don't mind but I pinned your top ten post to my Orlando board on Pinterest so I wouldn't lose it!

Thanks for your kind comments! I'm glad you found some helpful information.

I started this TR, got tangled up in RL, and finally made it back for the finish. I can't fathom taking on all that you did in that heat, but you all got in a super-sized load of fun!

Since your TR is still open i wanted to let you know that your first page post with all of the links is missing one, the Shamu show. Here is the link if you want to add it in for future readers:

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=42064030&postcount=235

I can say for sure that I basically want to steal your route/methodology for getting FPs at MK, that was just staggering! One question I have is how did your hubby swing the extra FPs for Mickey's Philharmagic? Did they come out of the machine he was at (I think he was at Peter Pan)?

We are doing a combo Universal/WDW trip in late November/early December and I know you've inspired me in my planning. You had some great ideas for breaking up the trip to keep the kids/teens from getting too burnt out. Our girls will be 13 and 16 when we go and I know how the attitude/cranky thing can come out if we push it too hard.

I know we'll be doing the single rider bit FJ quite a bit to get in as many rides as possible. And I'm glad that there are no sodas at WWoHP, that was a good call by J.K.

I too am a camera nut and sneak pics whenever I can. That was a great shot you captured of the big T-Rex on the Jurrassic ride. I was able to take pics through the building up until the turn that lead to the big guy. But a lady came over the loudspeaker and called me out specifically ..."you in the second row, put the camera down or we stop the ride!"

Thank you again for taking us along on your adventure!

Welcome back!!!

Thanks for the heads up on the missing link! I'll add that back in.

Yes the Philharmagic FP came out automatically at the Peter Pan FP machine. You sometimes get it with Winnie the Pooh, too. The only problem now is that Disney is changing their policy about accepting FP after the time window expires. We are going to have to figure out a whole new way of touring now!

We rode JP a couple of times in a row. The first time, they made the announcement to put away cameras because some people pulled them out, but then the second time there was no announcement, so...

Sounds like a great trip this winter! I look forward to reading about it and seeing some amazing pictures.

 

[mnmrmustard]

Welcome back!!!

Thanks for the heads up on the missing link! I'll add that back in.

Yes the Philharmagic FP came out automatically at the Peter Pan FP machine. You sometimes get it with Winnie the Pooh, too. The only problem now is that Disney is changing their policy about accepting FP after the time window expires. We are going to have to figure out a whole new way of touring now!

We rode JP a couple of times in a row. The first time, they made the announcement to put away cameras because some people pulled them out, but then the second time there was no announcement, so...

Sounds like a great trip this winter! I look forward to reading about it and seeing some amazing pictures.

No problem on the link, I had to track it down to see the new show. We last saw it in 2008 when they were still doing the Belive show.

That is too bad that Disney is changing their policy on the use of their FPs. Hopefully the ride CMs will still have some flexibility if you're only a few minutes late. And there's the ride breakdowns - they'll have to have a contingency for that.

This will be our first "holiday" trip and will probably be our last one to WDW before the girls are all grown so I want to make sure it is a special one. I'll be taking LOADS of pics for sure. I'm having to use self control to not start my PTR 10 months before the trip

Good luck with that 8th grade trip, can't wait to see how it comes together!

 

[natebenma]

Listen, my children, and you will see
The midnight flight of Mark and Dee
To Puerto Rico we did flee
For our 25th Anniversary


July 19, 1986

Mark and I met in Junior High. Can you believe that? From 8th grade on, we were in all of the same classes at school. We didn’t really start connecting until our Sophomore year, in Biology class, when Mr. Dailey decided to alphabetize the seating in class because we were all so chatty. Mark and I were both “C”s, so we were placed at the same table. Throughout the year, we discovered our Chemistry was really compatible, and we started dating at the end of 10th grade.

We finished High School together, worked together at a local seafood restaurant and attended the University of NH together. We actually got married in between our junior and senior years of college.

Fast forward 13 years, and our son Nate was born. Three years later, Ben joined our family.

And although it seems like just yesterday when we were married (or maybe the day before yesterday…), 25 years have gone by. And I am blessed to still be spending every day with my best friend!

But there was a problem. Since Nate was born, we have not spent any time away, together, alone. Not one night! We have had a couple of nights at home here and there when the boys have had sleepovers with friends, but I can count those on one hand and still have my thumb left over.

Well I am happy to say that Mark and I were able to plan a quick getaway to Puerto Rico from March 4/5 (We had a midnight flight, Sunday night) to Thursday March 8. We stayed at Las Casitas Villas in Fajardo, which is on the east coast, about an hour from San Juan. We had such a relaxing, amazing time! Hope you will join us as we enjoy some sun, some sand and some other stuff that begins with “s” (Snorkeling, people, this is a family discussion board). Although I can't guarantee that you won't be exposed to a little (food) porn along the way.

March 5, 2012