Well, this trip was....different. UPDATE - 9/1!

[pas130]

At least I'm not alone! Must be a Mommy thing.

I'm sure Even hubs eyes up my plate...

 

[CandleontheWater]

I can't believe you walked by the Vegan booth, you mean cashew cheese was not high on your list of things to try!

You guys did make some good choices, but I can't believe you skipped South Korea! The pork lettuce wrap is one of the best things at the festival! You'll just have to go back

I hope you ended up feeling better and didn't have to cancel that ADR!

 

[Leslieann1024]

From there, we are leaving (with my sister's family) to drive about 8 hours to Grapevine, Texas. We are taking the kids to this really neat resort and we'll be doing a Polar Express train ride sometime during the weekend.

Would this be the Great Wolf Lodge ? Great place, fun for the whole family (and fun year round, since the water park is inside !)

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Really nice food choices at Food and Wine...

I'm totally with you on Le Cellier ... I haven't been and I really don't know if I could justify the 2 TS credits/the new prices... not with so many of the other Signature Dining...

I like the Maelstrom too... I wish they'd put in another ride like it in another country... like maybe Italy or Japan... somewhere on the other side to break things up a bit...

OMG I love Reid's hungry face... (cause I'm sure you never feed him... He's got a future in Hollywood I think...

 

[hstrickland]

Finally caught up! Ok...so tell me about these black spots on Soarin'. It's been over a year since we rode it, so I don't remember seeing anything like that. I had to laugh at your statement "I'll probably be banned from the Dis...." Perhaps it does need a refurb if black spots are floating around the screen. The best seat to get is on the second row. If you're up high, you can kind of see where the screen ends, and if you're at the bottom, you can kind of see the feet above. Sorry you didn't like it. I use to LOVE it, and we would ride it back-to-back. Now....the appeal has deminished somewhat, so it's not a rope drop must.

Yalls food looked wonderful!!! I'm all about trying new things, especially when it comes to cuisine. I probably would have made myself sick from all that food.

It didn't appear that the crowds were bad....looks kind of empty in some of your pics.

Heather

 

[amandaw]

Sorry I haven't been on in a few weeks! Things have been really, really busy! I am going to do some replies, have lunch & then I'll be back with a real-life update as well as finishing up our afternoon at EPCOT.

Sorry you that you were feeling so run down while trying to enjoy food and wine. You did pretty good at trying so many things though! I am in awe. Aside from a couple drinks I only had one item.

I was determined to try some yummy food! I would have liked to try a few drinks but I'm not a huge drinker and with not feeling well, I just didn't think it was for the best.

I love the braided version of Reid. He is very cute. What is even cuter? His “I have no food so i am sad” look

Thanks! He is such a ham sometimes!

great updates!!!

Thank you!!

I'm sure Even hubs eyes up my plate...

Ed does the same thing to me!!

I can't believe you walked by the Vegan booth, you mean cashew cheese was not high on your list of things to try!

I know, right?!?

You guys did make some good choices, but I can't believe you skipped South Korea! The pork lettuce wrap is one of the best things at the festival! You'll just have to go back

Well, go back we must then! If I remember right, after getting lunch for Reid, I just didn't feel up to going back to South Korea.

I hope you ended up feeling better and didn't have to cancel that ADR!

I'll be getting to that as soon as I can get some late lunch in my belly and write the next update!

Would this be the Great Wolf Lodge ? Great place, fun for the whole family (and fun year round, since the water park is inside !)

It is the Great Wolf Lodge!! That place was so much fun! I'm already hoping to take a short trip there again this fall.

Really nice food choices at Food and Wine...

Thank you!!

I'm totally with you on Le Cellier ... I haven't been and I really don't know if I could justify the 2 TS credits/the new prices... not with so many of the other Signature Dining...

Yeah, I think the other Signature restaurants seem more "worth it".

I like the Maelstrom too... I wish they'd put in another ride like it in another country... like maybe Italy or Japan... somewhere on the other side to break things up a bit...

I completely agree!

OMG I love Reid's hungry face... (cause I'm sure you never feed him... He's got a future in Hollywood I think...

Thanks! I pray he never wants to be an actor. Although, he probably would be very good!

Finally caught up! Ok...so tell me about these black spots on Soarin'. It's been over a year since we rode it, so I don't remember seeing anything like that. I had to laugh at your statement "I'll probably be banned from the Dis...." Perhaps it does need a refurb if black spots are floating around the screen. The best seat to get is on the second row. If you're up high, you can kind of see where the screen ends, and if you're at the bottom, you can kind of see the feet above. Sorry you didn't like it. I use to LOVE it, and we would ride it back-to-back. Now....the appeal has deminished somewhat, so it's not a rope drop must.

If I remember correctly, we were on the 2nd row. There were just black spots here & there all over the screen. It just interrupted the experience.

Yalls food looked wonderful!!! I'm all about trying new things, especially when it comes to cuisine. I probably would have made myself sick from all that food.

There was soooo many yummy things to try! When/if we ever go back for F&W, we'll definitely figure in at least 2 days at EPCOT.

It didn't appear that the crowds were bad....looks kind of empty in some of your pics.

Heather

Crowds weren't terrible this day. Which was nice b/c it made the kiosk lines not very long for food.

 

[amandaw]

Hi Everybody!

I’m so sorry that I haven’t been on in a few weeks! Things have just been really busy at home.

As some of you may or may not know, Reid was born with a hearing loss in his right ear. We’ve been doing some testing over the last couple of weeks to see what’s going on with it. While the results were not what I hoped for, they showed the loss to be the same. However, we’ll be going back to the doctor again soon and I have a feeling his ENT is going to want to do either an MRI or a CT Scan to look at his inner ear structure since some of the test results were conflicting. I know we need to do such a test but it just has me nervous.

We also went away the 1st weekend of February to visit my aunt & uncle that are coming on the cruise in June with us. We always have a great time with them! And we got some planning done as well.

In addition to that, this past week was Mardi Gras so we hit up a few parades. And Valentine’s Day was the day the kids went back to school. So, I had Reid’s class party that day. I’m Room Mom so I am in charge of all parties.

As if that wasn’t enough, we have signed Reid up for his 1st year of TBall. And Ed is coaching his team! We had our first practice yesterday. He is very excited to play ball!







And last, but not least, I have a change to our December Disney trip. We were supposed to be going to Disney the 2nd week of December. Well, with all this talk about MRIs & CTs, I started to get a little worried about $$$. Not to mention we owe an ugly amount of taxes this year. We have to pay for our own health insurance and have horrible coverage. So, I know we’ll have to fork over a pretty penny for whatever test Reid has to have.

Then, Reid told me one day in the car that he really wants to celebrate his 6th birthday next year at Disney. Well, I got to thinking and scheming. I realized that Mardi Gras is late next year - the first week of March and Reid’s bday is March 16th! So, we have decided to move our December trip to the 1st week of March 2014. This way, he’ll only miss 2 days of school & we’ll celebrate his bday just 2 weeks early. It should also be fun because my best friend & her family are going the same week! I’m not sure if we’re still going to stay at CR or not. A lot of that will depend on what happens with Reid’s tests. I’m contemplating a lot of different scenarios.

So, that’s the majority of what’s been going on around here. Even though TBall is about to completely take over our lives, I really am going to make a better effort to DIS more regularly. Afterall, I need to finish this TR because we leave in 103 days for our cruise!!!

Alright, now that I have y’all caught up, back to the TR!



When I last left y’all, we had stuffed ourselves silly with samplings from the different F&W kiosks. I figured it was about time we did something for Reid, so we headed here:



It was time to ride Figment! After our journey, we had to stick around a bit for some play time:



Every time we ride Figment, Reid insists on making his own Figment:





We then started making our way towards Spaceship Earth.









After riding Spaceship Earth, we decided to head to the Festival Center. They had the Chase Lounge in there that Disney Visa members could utilize. I was still feeling pretty bad and I thought it would be a nice break.





Inside the Festival Center, they also had stuff you could buy as well as places for the different seminars. We made our way to the lounge and it was packed!! It didn’t help that the lounge was very small. But, it was air conditioned and it had free soda! Ed got drinks for us while Reid & I found a spot on the floor out of the way. We sat in there for quite some time enjoying our free beverages. It was also here that we realized that there are free “passports” for the F&W festival. It lists all the different kiosks and their offerings. There are even boxes for you to check off what you’ve tried. And you can get stamps in your passport from the kiosks.

After our break, Ed was wanting to find some Mickey crocs for himself so we headed to Mouse Gears. We stayed in there quite a while. Ed found him some Crocs and I got cute Mickey notepads for Reid’s teachers. We also just did a lot of looking. While trying on some hats, we noticed a strange interaction. There was a woman crying hysterically to a manager. Evidently, she had had a bad encounter with another guest in line. I guess the other person accused her of being rude to a child or something. The woman was wanting the manager to find the other guest and explain that she wasn’t being mean to the child. I don’t know what came of it because I just had us walk away.

When we got out of Mouse Gears, I noticed two things. First of all, the sky was starting to look very dark. And, secondly, I was starting to feel worse. Like I was just going to crash at any moment. Well, I knew we had an ADR for 6:20 pm in the World Showcase. I told Ed that we should just go and see if we can get in early. If not, we’d decide what to do then.

So, we made our way to the World Showcase and were soon in Italy. Our ADR was for here at 620pm:



*Note: that picture was taken earlier in the day so that is why it is sunny.

Ed parked & covered the stroller while I went inside to see if we could be seated early. It was 5:30 pm. There was a group in front of me checking in. While I waited, I took this pic:



The hostess was very nice when I asked if we could eat early. She looked like she was going to say no but asked how many were in our party anyway. When I told her “2 adults & 1 child”, she eased up and said, “Oh yes. That’s no problem." We maybe waited 5 minutes before being seated.

Our server was nice though a tad slow. I will say that our food came out very quickly here!

Reid had a fruit cup, cheese pizza & chocolate ice cream. He enjoyed all of it especially the pizza and ice cream.

Ed went with the pepperoni pizza & pistachio gelato. He said all of it was fantastic.

My choices were the mushroom pizza & tiramisu. Again, it was all very good. I have to say the tiramisu was one of the best I’ve ever had!

During dinner, we noticed that it had started storming outside. When we were done & got out of Via Napoli it had stopped. But, the skies still looked very troublesome. We quickly got Reid into the stroller, under his rain cover. Between the bad weather and not feeling well, I was done with EPCOT. So, we decided to leave.

We started booking it out of the World Showcase, heading towards Mexico when it started storming again. This was NOT your typical Florida shower. I’ve never experienced a storm like this while at Disney. It was raining incredibly hard, very windy and lightning every few seconds. I wanted nothing more than to get to the safety of our car.

We got to our car at 7 pm & were at OKW for 712 pm. It continued to storm for a few more hours. I was really glad we had left EPCOT. Reid played with his racecars while Ed relaxed and I journaled and uploaded pictures.

We were all in bed for 815 pm!!

 

[RGirl]

You're back!!!

Oh my! I am so glad that you got out of Epcot when you did!!! What awful weather. I hope that the next update has you feeling a lot better. Glad that the dinner was good at least - I would like to try Via Napoli, but I am just not convinced that they would be able to do gluten-free very well.

 

[amandaw]

You're back!!!

Oh my! I am so glad that you got out of Epcot when you did!!! What awful weather. I hope that the next update has you feeling a lot better. Glad that the dinner was good at least - I would like to try Via Napoli, but I am just not convinced that they would be able to do gluten-free very well.

I was so happy that we had left EPCOT! I honestly have never been in such a horrible storm while at Disney. It was an absolute torrential downpour!

Have you checked out the restaurants board about how gluten-free friendly Via Napoli may or may not be? I bet you could start a thread asking about it and someone probably has an answer for you.

 

[hstrickland]

Glad you're back at it! Sorry to hear about Reid's news, but it sounds like yall are very positive and upbeat about it. His hearing loss certainly doesn't appear to hold him back from anything Your new plan sounds great...very smart and proactive.

The rains in Florida can be horrendous, can't they?! And they come up so quickly. Last June when we were at AKL, I sat on the bed watching the worst storm ever! I remember thinking..."those poor people in the parks..." Good thing you didn't have to wait on a bus to take you back. Sounds like you got plenty of rest, too.

 

[marDgreen88]

Glad to see you updating again!!!

I'm sorry about all the stress with Reid's tests... I hope everything works out okay! I also hope that you'll still get to stay at CR when you go in March, but I think rescheduling to celebrate Reid's birthday was a great idea! That will be awesome!

I'm sorry you weren't feeling well that afternoon. I REALLY hope it didn't last. I'm so glad yall enjoyed your Via Napoli meal though! That place is amazing!

 

[baseballmickey]

Hi!!

Late to the TR!! Getting caught up. Reid is getting so big!! I texted my wife as I was reading to tell her about the Tabby Tray.

Had flashbacks about potty-emergencies on the road. I feel for you and I was relieved to read you were able to use one at the toll plaza.

Beach Club and Boardwalk. I totally agree with you about the long hallways straight out of "The Shining"... I felt the same way. Especially one night when I was up doing laundry at 1am.

Definitely would also put in request to be by the elevators for future stays. Also prefer the BW side. Our last trip we just found ourselves on that side of the lake more, so it would have made sense to be over there. Never knew about the kiddie pool on the ship at SAB!!!! kicking myself over that one. I think Bella would have liked it.

Great job. My congratulations to both you and ed on finishing your races!! I know neither went as planned, but you both perservered and got it done!! Way to Go!!!

Can't wait to read more.

 

[amandaw]

Glad you're back at it! Sorry to hear about Reid's news, but it sounds like yall are very positive and upbeat about it. His hearing loss certainly doesn't appear to hold him back from anything Your new plan sounds great...very smart and proactive.

His hearing loss really doesn't hold him back. No one even knows unless I tell them, including his teachers. Thankfully, his left ear has done a fantastic job of overcompensating for the right & his speech has been able to develop normally.

The rains in Florida can be horrendous, can't they?! And they come up so quickly. Last June when we were at AKL, I sat on the bed watching the worst storm ever! I remember thinking..."those poor people in the parks..." Good thing you didn't have to wait on a bus to take you back. Sounds like you got plenty of rest, too.

Yeah, I was really happy to be able to just jump in our car and get back to OKW. The rain was unreal that night!

Glad to see you updating again!!!

Thank you!!

I'm sorry about all the stress with Reid's tests... I hope everything works out okay! I also hope that you'll still get to stay at CR when you go in March, but I think rescheduling to celebrate Reid's birthday was a great idea! That will be awesome!

Thanks! I hope we can get in with his ENT soon to discuss what we'll do next. I'm just ready to have it over with.

I am excited about going to Disney during his bday month. I would have liked to be there on his actual bday but Mardi Gras week will just work better. At least it's in the actual month.

I'm sorry you weren't feeling well that afternoon. I REALLY hope it didn't last. I'm so glad yall enjoyed your Via Napoli meal though! That place is amazing!

Via Napoli was delicious! I am really glad they were able to seat us early. I don't know if I could have just hung around EPCOT for another hour waiting for our ADR time.

Hi!!

Late to the TR!! Getting caught up. Reid is getting so big!! I texted my wife as I was reading to tell her about the Tabby Tray.

Hi there! Glad to see you here!

Reid is getting big! I don't think I'm going to handle his 5th birthday very well next month. And let's not even talk about starting Kindergarten in the fall.

That Tabby Tray has come in handy on sooooo many road trips! Wasn't expensive but it is worth every penny....many times over!!

Had flashbacks about potty-emergencies on the road. I feel for you and I was relieved to read you were able to use one at the toll plaza.

I was so thankful that the toll booth operator told us there were bathrooms there. I was really getting worried!

Beach Club and Boardwalk. I totally agree with you about the long hallways straight out of "The Shining"... I felt the same way. Especially one night when I was up doing laundry at 1am.

So glad I'm not alone on this!! I can only imagine how creepy it is at that time. I didn't like walking those halls by myself in the middle of the day.

Definitely would also put in request to be by the elevators for future stays. Also prefer the BW side. Our last trip we just found ourselves on that side of the lake more, so it would have made sense to be over there. Never knew about the kiddie pool on the ship at SAB!!!! kicking myself over that one. I think Bella would have liked it.

Awww....I bet she really would have liked it! It was such a perfect place for little ones.

Great job. My congratulations to both you and ed on finishing your races!! I know neither went as planned, but you both perservered and got it done!! Way to Go!!!

Thank you so much!

Can't wait to read more.

Thanks!

 

[jennyjinx3]

Hi Amanda! I hope you felt better after heading back to OKW, did anything come of your yucky feeling? I know those days when you have just had enough and want to go relax and crash. I cannot believe how close your cruise is! You must be busting!

 

[shan23877]

So glad to see you back Amanda!

Sorry that life has been hectic lately, I sure hope that it settles down some for you soon.

Reid looks so cute getting ready for Tball! I love those pics!

I'm so sorry that you still weren't feeling well. I'm really glad that you liked VN though! Isn't it yummy? I'm still bummed that we didn't save room for dessert.

Wow! That storm sounds so scary. I'm glad you got back to OKW safely.

 

[afwdwfan]

Alright, now that I have y’all caught up, back to the TR!

Well, it looks like there's a lot going on. First and foremost, I hope that things go well with Reid and the test all go ok and give you some answers to figure out what is going on. It is a shame that you're going to miss out on the Christmas season at the parks, but I'm sure Reid will love spending his 6th birthday at Disney World... (6????) Good luck to both Ed and Reid

There was a woman crying hysterically to a manager. Evidently, she had had a bad encounter with another guest in line. I guess the other person accused her of being rude to a child or something. The woman was wanting the manager to find the other guest and explain that she wasn’t being mean to the child. I don’t know what came of it because I just had us walk away.

Wow... is this what society is coming to? We have to have a moderator to keep everyone from having their feelings hurt?

So, we made our way to the World Showcase and were soon in Italy. Our ADR was for here at 620pm:

I don't care how bad you feel, if you skip out on an ADR here, then I'm done with this TR.

The hostess was very nice when I asked if we could eat early. She looked like she was going to say no but asked how many were in our party anyway. When I told her “2 adults & 1 child”, she eased up and said, “Oh yes. That’s no problem." We maybe waited 5 minutes before being seated.

Awesome! I'm glad they were able to accomodate you. You can't go wrong with Via Napoli!!!

We got to our car at 7 pm & were at OKW for 712 pm. It continued to storm for a few more hours. I was really glad we had left EPCOT. Reid played with his racecars while Ed relaxed and I journaled and uploaded pictures.

We were all in bed for 815 pm!!

I'm sorry the weather and the fact that you weren't feeling great put a little bit of a damper on the evening, but at least you were able to get back to the room for some rest. I hope you're feeling better in the morning.

 

[LisaAnn06]

Just caught up and am joining in for the rest of the ride!

 

[jaman12]

Look at me! I have caught up on your trip!!!

Seeing all the pictures, I can't wait for our trip next year. Now, if the school would only put out their calendars so we can pin down some dates!!!!!

I just love that Reid of yours! He does deserve an award from that acting hungry with no food. That is priceless!

I miss you guys. We need to get together soon...after soccer and tball!!

 

[amandaw]

Hi Amanda! I hope you felt better after heading back to OKW, did anything come of your yucky feeling? I know those days when you have just had enough and want to go relax and crash. I cannot believe how close your cruise is! You must be busting!

In retrospect, I'm kind of glad it rained that evening. It forced me to go back to the resort and rest up.

I am really getting excited about the cruise!! I have been doing lots of planning for pirate night and think I have our costumes pretty much figured out. I get to book our excursions soon, too!

So glad to see you back Amanda!

Thank you, Shannon!

Sorry that life has been hectic lately, I sure hope that it settles down some for you soon.

Every time I think I can handle everything we have coming up, something else is plopped into my lap. I knew we had a fundraiser for St. Jude's coming up at school. Now, I found out that we have a fundraiser through karate 2 weeks after that for a local cancer charity. I can't ask people to double donate so I guess we'll fundraise for one & just make a donation to the other. And now, another mom at school has convinced the director to let us do an Easter parade for the kids. So, I have to try & collect money from parents for this, decorate in the days leading up to the parade, man the parade and do the class Easter parade the same day. Oh and did I mention this is the same day as registration for kindergarten?!? I need a clone!

Reid looks so cute getting ready for Tball! I love those pics!

Thank you!!

I'm so sorry that you still weren't feeling well. I'm really glad that you liked VN though! Isn't it yummy? I'm still bummed that we didn't save room for dessert.

Via Napoli was delicious! You simply must go back and make sure to have dessert!!

Wow! That storm sounds so scary. I'm glad you got back to OKW safely.

Thanks! It really was a crazy storm. I honestly was scared with how much lightning there was and that it seemed so close.

Well, it looks like there's a lot going on. First and foremost, I hope that things go well with Reid and the test all go ok and give you some answers to figure out what is going on. It is a shame that you're going to miss out on the Christmas season at the parks, but I'm sure Reid will love spending his 6th birthday at Disney World... (6????) Good luck to both Ed and Reid

Thank you. I'm really hoping we can get some answers soon so that we can understand his hearing loss better.

I'm really excited that we'll get to celebrate Reid's bday next year at Disney! Maybe it will help me deal with him turning 6.

Wow... is this what society is coming to? We have to have a moderator to keep everyone from having their feelings hurt?

Right?!? I thought it was so bizarre that she involving a manager.

I don't care how bad you feel, if you skip out on an ADR here, then I'm done with this TR.

No need to worry! I was NOT missing that meal!

Awesome! I'm glad they were able to accomodate you. You can't go wrong with Via Napoli!!!

It was really delicious! Definitely glad we made that ADR!

I'm sorry the weather and the fact that you weren't feeling great put a little bit of a damper on the evening, but at least you were able to get back to the room for some rest. I hope you're feeling better in the morning.

That weather was really insane! I will say that the extra rest definitely did help. But, it still might not have been enough.

Just caught up and am joining in for the rest of the ride!

Welcome!! Thank you for joining in!

Look at me! I have caught up on your trip!!!

Yay!!! I'm so glad to "see" you here!!

Seeing all the pictures, I can't wait for our trip next year. Now, if the school would only put out their calendars so we can pin down some dates!!!!!

I'm thinking we're going to leave on the Friday, Feb 28th to drive halfway there. Will check in on Sat, March 1st & will leave on Sat, March 8th. Reid will miss 2 days of school. Hopefully, he won't miss too much those days. I know it's harder for you though since your kiddos are older. I hope y'all get the Mon-Wed off like us though!

Also - you need a new ticker!

I just love that Reid of yours! He does deserve an award from that acting hungry with no food. That is priceless!

Awww....thank you!! You know how much of a ham that boy can be. Oh - and I told him that y'all will probably be there next year too. He's so excited & already planning everything he wants us all to do together.

I miss you guys. We need to get together soon...after soccer and tball!!

I miss y'all, too!! We really do need to do a get together. Maybe when things calm down for both our families, we could do a family together at our house!

 

[KatMark]

I'm playing catch up....again.

I understand why you moved your December trip to March, but I'm selfishly sorry that you did because now we won't meet.

Now the fun begins...sports. It becomes very time consuming, but enjoy it because it just all goes too fast.

I'm sorry you still weren't feeling all that great. Your photos in Epcot are so clear and bright...beautiful.