We're Only 1800km and 47 Days Away From Our F&W, MNSSHP, and Birthday Extravaganza!

[archdandy]

So it's been a while again, I really need to keep up to date with this better! While I was away we went on our first year anniversary trip to Algonquin Park and I almost have the pics ready to post. There's not a lot of them because it was a pretty short trip.

We also managed to finally figure out what we are going to do about getting there. We have decided to fly! We managed to get a pretty decent price from Sunwing.ca and for both of us including taxes and luggage its $599 RT non-stop. It's not the best deal I've ever gotten but it will do, haha. I'm just really happy that the final details are falling in place finally!

We will hopefully be booking the apt. for our tattoo's this weekend so I will let you guys know about that! I'm a bit nervous but hopefully it will be okay. I am also really looking forward to Brave coming out. It looks so good!



Also we only have two weeks until we will be in the double digits! This deserves banana dances!

++124 Days!++​

 

[archdandy]

Okay so I said I would post some pics from our trip to Algonquin Park for our anniversary. I finally got them uploaded to photobucket. There aren't a lot of them as we only stayed for a few days and we tried to relax as much as we could. We left June 13 around 1:30pm after dropping off our puppy to SIL's house and I was worried that it would take forever to get there and we wouldn't arrive until 4:30pm. It was an extremely beautiful drive and we really enjoyed it. Usually driving stresses DH out so I was glad it didn't this time. We arrived earlier than I expected at around 3:30pm and checked in.

The room was really awesome! I knew it was going to be nice but I was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. Plus we had a balcony which I wasn't expecting!

That's the view from our balcony. We spent the first night there relaxing and reading and we ordered in dinner and had it at the table in the room.

The next day we had breakfast in the room and we decided to walk through a trail but we got confused and had a hard time finding it. So we decided to do something else instead and we spent a couple hours out on the lake with a paddle boat.

It was really fun! Neither of us had been paddle boating since we were children, haha. It took a lot more work than I thought it would to move around and I eventually got a leg cramp but luckily it passed quickly

After that we went back to the room to relax and read some more until dinner. We ordered dinner in the room again and we spent some more time relaxing. Can you tell there's a theme here? We actually debated going home on this night instead of the next morning because I missed my puppy terribly (it was the first time she was away from us) and I wasn't sleep well in the beds. They were super comfy and squishy but I think they were too soft for me. In the end we decided to stay and I'm glad we stayed for one more night.

The next morning we got up bright and early and I think we were out the door for 8am. DH had to work at 12pm so we wanted to get home with enough time. The drive back was just as nice and along the way we saw a black bear crossing the road and we also some moose hanging out by the side of the road.

We got home with plenty of time to spare and our puppy was super excited to see us! While we both enjoyed our time there we agreed that we wouldn't be in a rush to go back. It was expensive and in our minds anyways it wasn't spectacular enough to crave coming back. Perhaps one day we will go back in the fall or something because I think it would be stunning that time of year.

++119 Days!++​

 

[ForeverDance]

The Algonquin area is so beautiful. We've only driven through the area when we dropped my daughter off at camp Olympia, but I've been thinking about making a trip up there. Glad you had a good time.

Did you ever book those tattoo appointments? My DH actually has an appointment today to get a tattoo done. He is finally get his back piece finished after 13 years (there is a very long story behind this) and adding our newest daughter's portrait. That's the part he is most excited about.

 

[archdandy]

The Algonquin area is so beautiful. We've only driven through the area when we dropped my daughter off at camp Olympia, but I've been thinking about making a trip up there. Glad you had a good time.

Did you ever book those tattoo appointments? My DH actually has an appointment today to get a tattoo done. He is finally get his back piece finished after 13 years (there is a very long story behind this) and adding our newest daughter's portrait. That's the part he is most excited about.

It really is beautiful! We loved driving through there. It's funny because we both mentioned having our ears feel weird once we started getting closer. We weren't sure if it was because we were at a higher altititude or what

No we haven't booked the tattoo's yet I guess we've been procrastinating on that one but we are still getting them done. I'm going to try and call them today to set up an appointment. So whats the story of him not getting it done for 13 years?

 

[archdandy]

I just thought I'd make a little post about some odds and ends that wouldn't really be good as a full post themselves.

1. We went to see Brave at the Barrie drive-in on Saturday

I was super excited to see this movie and I liked it, I really did, but it was kind of disappointing. Maybe its because the story line was so different from what Pixar usually does. It felt like the story wasn't as epic adventure as I was expecting it to be. Also I thought there would be more of the three little bears in it. It was a good movie though and I will definitely add it to my Disney collection. Plus it took me more than one watch to really love Tangled and now it's one of my favorites!

2. We joined the Disney Blu-Ray Movie Club! I know that these things usually suck you in and then you get trapped with stuff but I saw an offer on the website while I was checking my Disney Movie Rewards and I couldn't resist. We got 6 movies, 4 of them blu-rays for $29.95. I thought that was a pretty good deal. Now we only need to pay for 4 more regularly priced movies in the next two years. That shouldn't be that big of a deal for us. I'm trying to remember what movies we got. I think it went something like this:

-Pixar Shorts Vol. 1 Blu-Ray
-James and the Giant Peach Blu-Ray
-Hercules
-Atlantis
-Ratatouille Blu-Ray
-Enchanted Blu-Ray

I'm pretty excited about getting these in the mail! And hopefully we will use some of these as countdown movie nights.

3. I got an email over the weekend saying that some details about our flight had been changed. I was dreading having our departure messed with so much that when I opened the email to read the details and saw the departure time as 10:35 instead of 6:30 I freaked out a little bit! But then I calmed down and really looked and it and realized that the departure time wasn't changed and I was looking at the day we leave to come home. The only thing that was different was now we do not have a stop on the way home! I was worried about this when we booked because we had never done a stop before and it was a 5.5 hour flight home instead of a 2.5 hour flight and now I don't have to worry about it! Ahh pixie dusted already!

++114 Days++​

 

[ForeverDance]

No we haven't booked the tattoo's yet I guess we've been procrastinating on that one but we are still getting them done. I'm going to try and call them today to set up an appointment. So whats the story of him not getting it done for 13 years?

Well the back piece was started by one tattoo artist he was just starting out so we got a pretty good deal on it. He was pricing by the piece at the time (instead of by the hour) so we paid him up front for the tattoo. Well I think it took longer than he expected and after two sessions it still wasn't done. After that we could not get him to give us a time to come in. And any time we would try to make an appointment something would come up and he would cancel. So eventually we gave up. The problem is that not too many tattoo artists want to finish something that someone else started.

3. I got an email over the weekend saying that some details about our flight had been changed. I was dreading having our departure messed with so much that when I opened the email to read the details and saw the departure time as 10:35 instead of 6:30 I freaked out a little bit! But then I calmed down and really looked and it and realized that the departure time wasn't changed and I was looking at the day we leave to come home. The only thing that was different was now we do not have a stop on the way home! I was worried about this when we booked because we had never done a stop before and it was a 5.5 hour flight home instead of a 2.5 hour flight and now I don't have to worry about it! Ahh pixie dusted already!

That is so awesome. Yeah for pixie dust before the trip even starts!

 

[archdandy]

Well the back piece was started by one tattoo artist he was just starting out so we got a pretty good deal on it. He was pricing by the piece at the time (instead of by the hour) so we paid him up front for the tattoo. Well I think it took longer than he expected and after two sessions it still wasn't done. After that we could not get him to give us a time to come in. And any time we would try to make an appointment something would come up and he would cancel. So eventually we gave up. The problem is that not too many tattoo artists want to finish something that someone else started.

Well that was nice of him to do that to you guys!

 

[archdandy]

Okay so there have been some significant changes that will affect how Day 1 goes so I decided just to re-do it all. So here it goes!

Day 0: Leaving Home

I always count this day as our real departure day because its the day we leave home for our trip. We'll have been packed the day before and so in the morning I will wake up and take DH to work depending on if he can get out working that day or not. Then I'll come home and spend a couple hours packing some more essential things and making sure we didn't forget anything, plus clean the house a bit (take out the garbage, make sure the dishes are done etc.).

After thats done I will more than likely be going out for lunch with my best friend because I won't get to see her for a week and plus I won't be on my diet anymore! We'll just grab something light and quick because I have to pick DH up by 1pm on the nose. So I'll quickly run home, grab the luggage and our puppy, say goodbye to the cats and make a mad rush to DH's work!

Once he is settled in the car it's time to burn rubber baby! We will make our way to Toronto to drop off our puppy, Maple, at our friends house for the week. Our plan is to spend some time with the friend and maybe go out for an early dinner. Then we are going to leave Maple with her and head to the hotel that is on airport property. I want to be in bed trying to sleep by at least 8pm because we are going to have to get up around 2am. More than likely I'm not going to be able to sleep and will be completely exhausted the next morning, but we are going to Disney!!

Day 1: Arrival Day

This is the day where plans start to change from what they were. My mom (as previously mentioned earlier in the TP) has decided that she is now coming the same dates as us, on the same flight. I think I've just accepted it and we plan to spend some time together in a couple of parks so my mom can go on rides with her husband and I can watch my little brother. So maybe it won't be so bad. Anyways on to the plan!

So like I said, we are getting up at 2am and hustling our butts out of bed. We haven't decided if we are just going to walk to the airport from the hotel or if we are going to take the shuttle. The website for the hotel says that flight crew stay there all the time and walk back and forth but they dont say how long of a walk it is.

Either way we need to be at the aiport by 3:30am. We'll check in, go through security, and wait patiently for our flight to board. The flight should take about 2.5 hours but usually we land a bit earlier. It leaves at 6:30am so we should have landed by 9am. Last time it took us a long time to find ME and we also doddled in the Universal store looking at HP stuff. This time its straight to ME! (Well straight to ME after going to starbucks for a pick me up).

I really want to be at the resort by 11am but who knows if this will happen? The plan after that is to check in and if the room is ready drop some stuff off in our room. And then we are going to take a bus to Hollywood Studios and walk over to the Beach Club resort. I've wanted to have lunch at Beaches & Cream so bad for a long time! I can't wait to try the No Way Jose!

After lunch we might spend a little while looking around the Boardwalk area and then back to the resort to spend some time in the pool! We have a dinner ressie at Narcoosee's so we will hop on a bus to MK and then take the monorail from there. This is our first time here so I'm a bit nervous there won't be anything DH likes because he can be picky but hopefully it will go well. We have to try not to stuff ourselves because after dinner we are going to MK to the Wishes Dessert Party! If there's time after dinner we might hit up a couple of rides, Splash Mountain for instance (our favorite). This is also our first time watching Wishes and eating at the dessert party, so it should be a magical night!

After Wishes we will probably linger in some of the shops on Main Street and let the huge crowd of people move out first. We never spend enough time i these shops anyways. Hopefully we will make it back to the resort at a decent time because we will have to be up early for our next park day!

++91 Days++​

 

[ForeverDance]

Sounds like a good start to your trip. Our family has done Beaches & Cream once, we had the Kitchen Sink and it was delicious! Of course we all left feeling sick from it, but it was totally worth it.

 

[archdandy]

Sounds like a good start to your trip. Our family has done Beaches & Cream once, we had the Kitchen Sink and it was delicious! Of course we all left feeling sick from it, but it was totally worth it.

Of course it would totally be worth it! DH and I are both huge peanut butter and chocolate fans so we will probably split the ice cream. Did you have to wait long to get in to Beaches and Cream?

 

[ForeverDance]

Nope. We went just as it opened and got in pretty much right away.

 

[archdandy]

Nope. We went just as it opened and got in pretty much right away.

I'm hoping we can make it in time for their opening too. I doubt we will want to wait very long after being on a plane for so long and not having any food

 

[archdandy]

Day 2: Animal Kingdom

On our first full day park we will heading to Animal Kingdom, we chose this park because according to the Touring Plans crowd predictor its supposed to be the best park for this day. We've used them on our last two trips and its worked out well enough so I keep using them

The hours posted for this park so far are 9am-5pm so it won't be a very long park day. We will probably get up around 7:30am and take a shower and get ready for the day. I'm really hoping the walk from the Little Mermaid section is not too far of a walk to the bus stops. On the way I will probably use my refillable mug and make myself a tea. I want to arrive by atleast 8:45am because we've never seen the opening show (I know its small compared to MK but I still want to see it).

I've heard that the animals are most active in the morning so we will make our way to the Kilimanjaro Safari and hopefully see some lions! *fingers crossed*

Next up we will make our way to Expedition Everest and hope the wait's not too bad. If it is we will just grab a fastpass. I always get little butterflies in my stomach when we start to go backwards on this ride

I'm not sure what we will do next. Maybe head to Dinosaur and get 3/4 of the major attractions done. Perhaps we will even head to Kali River Rapids after that and get all four major attractions done by lunch time (I can dream, right?)

It will probably be getting close to lunch time now and we have an ADR at Rainforest Cafe! This is our first time eating at this location, we ate at the DTD one last trip and really enjoyed it.

After lunch we will only have 4-5 hours left of park time as AK closes so early. I'd really like to get the two trails done before lunch or just after lunch. I love looking at the bats and tigers!

We will probably end up on Kali River Rapids again because for some reason we really enjoy getting wet on rides and having to walk around in wet clothes afterwards

Four things that I must do this trip in AK are watch The Lion King show, watch Finding Nemo The Musical, see the It's Tough to be a Bug 3D show, and visit the petting zoo at Rafiki's Planet Watch. I've only ever seen the shows once each and I've never been to Planet Watch

At some point during the day we will probably get a snack. For some reason nothing comes to mind on what I am craving from AK. So let's just say I will get a Mickey Bar and DH will get a jalapeno stuffed pretzel.

I imagine it will be getting close to park closing time after all of that. Hopefully we can squeeze in another trip on the safari and maybe even ride Primevil Whirl (one of my faves, not DH's though ).

I can't even imagine staying until park closing for this park because we have never done it in the past but its our goal this time to not just leave the parks around 4pm and never come back. We have a nasty habit of going back to the hotel to rest and then never going back to the parks that day

After the park closes we will head back to AoA to freshen up because we have an ADR at Artist's Point! This is another new one for us and I can't wait. Some of the foods I'm looking forward to trying are the Smokey Portobello Soup (mmmm, mushrooms!) and the Chocolate Indulgence! I'm really excited to get a look at the Wilderness Lodge! It looks so cool and I would love to stay there one day.

Once we are finished with dinner we will probably explore the Wilderness Lodge and then go back to the resort and maybe swim or watch a movie and relax.


I also have some exciting news on the planning front. And here.it.is.

WE'VE BOUGHT OUR MNSSHP TICKETS!! ​

Ahem. We bought our tickets for our first ever MNSSHP for October 23rd! Now I have to convince DH to wear a costume! Maybe I could be sneaky and get him to wear a Disney tshirt that somehow subtly makes a costume!

++83 Days++​

 

[archdandy]

Day 3

Not my picture​

Today is our EPCOT day. This is not a favorite park among either of us but I am excited to go this time for the F&W festival! There aren't really a lot attractions here that we and Test Track is still going to be closed when we go But our must do's for this park this time around include:

-Spaceship Earth (only been on it once)
-Innoventions East (never been but I am looking forward to the Sum of All Thrills!)
-Universe of Energy (I really dislike listening to Ellen talk but we have never done this so its a maybe)
-Mission: SPACE
-Club Cool (I'm hoping to get shots of my mom and little brother drinking Beverly LOL)
-The Seas with Nemo and Friends (I love looking at the fish at the end in the Seas Pavilion)
-Living With the Land
-Soarin' (Of course!)
-Captain EO (DH's choice, not mine!)
-Maelstrom

We have an early ADR that I was able to snag for Le Cellier for lunch which I am beyond excited about! I tried for weeks to get one and I finally managed it! Its our first time and I am dying to try the filet with mushroom risotto. Our plan is to just eat F&W offerings for dinner and snack around the world! I don't know if we are going to watch Illuminations or not. We never have before and neither of us are really big on fireworks but maybe if we are still there when they show we will watch.

Day 4

Can you guess where we are headed on this day? Yup, Hollywood Studios! Aside from MK this is our favorite park. We love the feel of it and the old school Hollywood theme. Our must do attractions for this park include:

- Rock 'N Roller Coaster (multiple times please!)
- Tower of Terror (only once please!)
- Indiana Jones
- Sounds Dangerous (if its playing)
- Star Tours II
- Lights, Motors, Action! (we've never been!)
- Muppets Vision 3D (I wish they would update this)
- The Magic of Disney Animation (our first time)
- One Man's Dream
- Studio Backlot Tour (never done this)
- Toy Story Mania (of course!)
- Voyage of the Little Mermaid
- Beauty and the Beast
- The Great Movie Ride
- Fantasmic! (never done )

So for it being our favorite park I just realized there is a lot we've never done! But we've always liked to keep some things new for our next trip. I will get a chocolate peanut butter cupcake from Starring Rolls. On our last trip when I went to get one they were closed! I might even get one for breakfast just to ensure I get one of this puppies. I'm going to try and drag my mom on Tower of Terror with us because I think it will be hilarious, I'm such an evil daughter

We have a dinner reservation after Fantasmic! for Yachstmans Steakhouse. We tried this for the first time last trip and DH still dreams about the porterhouse steak there. After that we could hang around the Boardwalk just to see it all lit up at night or we could go back to the hotel and sleep, depending on how tired we are.

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I've also got some exciting news for the trip. We paid off our trip! I love the feeling of having everything paid off and knowing that your going to be getting Mickey Mail soon. Ahh, bliss!

++47 Days++​