WHAT A DIFFERENCE 6 MOS. MAKES (or how I learned to love MK) COMPLETE-WRAP-UP 12/29

[amandaw]

I was thrilled he made it to Illuminations. We go the Magic Kingdom on Day Two, so lots to share about that trip!

Yay! Excited to hear about MK! We (Reid & I) love MK. Ed is learning to love it more now that we have a little one.

 

[pinkxray]

It looks like you had a great day at Epcot. I love that picture of Max looking at all the treats in the caramel shop.

Your new ticker is beautiful. I dream of staying at a monorail resort on day especially if we ever have more children. It seems so convienent to get to MK.

I can't wait to see how your MK day goes since you learned to love it this trip. Mk is my favorite park

 

[MEK]

What an awesome evening at Epcot! It looks like a fabulous evening weather wise! Max leading the way to Spaceship Earth is precious!

I, too, love spaceship earth. The first time I road it I knew it was a keeper. there is something so magical about going back in time while heading up, up, up!

French, huh? I am usually such a spazz I ended up making our location out in the Pacific somewhere. I can never seem to hit my home!

Glad you got to see Illuminations!

 

[tinacaplan]

Yay! Excited to hear about MK! We (Reid & I) love MK. Ed is learning to love it more now that we have a little one.

It was not my favorite trip up until this trip and now I don't want to spend much time anywhere else. Although if it were just an adult trip, EPCOT would go right back to the top of my list!

It looks like you had a great day at Epcot. I love that picture of Max looking at all the treats in the caramel shop.

Your new ticker is beautiful. I dream of staying at a monorail resort on day especially if we ever have more children. It seems so convienent to get to MK.

I can't wait to see how your MK day goes since you learned to love it this trip. Mk is my favorite park

Thanks.

I'm soooooooo excited that we get to stay there. Not spending a lot on food and cutting the trip down to only four nights made a big difference in terms of being able to afford. And given the amount of time that Max wants to spend at MK, I can totally see how proximity has some value, esp. at his age.

What an awesome evening at Epcot! It looks like a fabulous evening weather wise! Max leading the way to Spaceship Earth is precious!

I, too, love spaceship earth. The first time I road it I knew it was a keeper. there is something so magical about going back in time while heading up, up, up!

French, huh? I am usually such a spazz I ended up making our location out in the Pacific somewhere. I can never seem to hit my home!

Glad you got to see Illuminations!

It was...overall, we had an amazing first day. And, yep...FRENCH! I knew it would make for an amusing story afterwards.

I was happy to be able to cross that off the list, especially so early in the trip. Although I knew that staying so close to EPCOT, no matter what, I'd get to see it, even I saw it solo. But I'm glad I didn't have to do that.

 

[tinacaplan]

So, with how slooooooowly I'm working my way through this report, its likely I won't have time to do a full PTR for our February trip. Oh well.

But I had to share this with you: I woke up this morning to a rather upsetting e-mail. Delta had changed our itinerary. OK, I thought, no big deal, probably means they just adjusted the time a bit. NOPE. They had added a stop to our flight. No. No. NO! I know for many folks a stop isn't a big deal. However, our flight is a mere three hours (sometimes less), plus Mark and I don't exactly love flying, so nonstop is pretty much a MUST for us. The money I might save otherwise always seems insignificant, compared to the convenience of a nonstop flight.

I called Delta right away and I must admit they were OK on this front: they did agree to refund my money; with minimal fuss. I was relieved. Only problem is that I'm going to have to wait a while for the refund to process. Oh well...

On the plus side, we might get to fly Jet Blue now, which my husband is excited about. And it might mean another positive change, too, but I'll wait to see if that materializes before I share it!

Hope everyone is having a great Labor Day weekend. Personally, I'm going in to work in a bit to try and catch up from the chaos that was the beginning of the school year...so much to do. I have recently begun questioning my decision to leave a traditional public school in favor of a charter school. While I'm far happier at the charter, on a number of levels, the sheer amount of work is really wearing on me. I had been under the (misguided) assumption that this year (my third at this school; my tenth in teaching overall) would be easier than the last two. It isn't that I mind working hard, but I'm putting in ten -eleven hour days, regularly (think 6 a.m. till 5 p.m.). Our school day is three hours longer, for one thing, plus the expectations for our planning is much higher, all of which is good, but its a schedule that seems better suited for young kids right out of college who don't have families and houses and lots of other things filling up their time. And let me be clear that teaching is a tough, time-consuming job, no matter where you do it, but I am putting in a ton more time here than I ever did at my previous school and I was never, ever a slacker.

Sorry to complain... but its something I'm thinking a lot about lately. I have a fantasy about chucking it all, moving somewhere much warmer, and going back to waitressing.

 

[natebenma]

I loved the update from your evening at EPCOT. Beautiful pictures!!!

Even though my boys are a lot older, I had to devise a way to drag my feet through the World Showcase in order to keep my family there until Illuminations. When we stay at the Beach Club, I usually go into EPCOT solo to watch the show a couple of nights since it is so easy!

Yum on Karamel Kuche! I think this opened after our last trip. Can't wait to check it out on our next visit.

Looking forward to more, when you have the time!

Sorry to hear about how hard this school year has been so far. Thank you to you, and other caring teachers, who put in so much effort for salaries that do not adequately compensate for all you do!!!

 

[tinacaplan]

I loved the update from your evening at EPCOT. Beautiful pictures!!!

Even though my boys are a lot older, I had to devise a way to drag my feet through the World Showcase in order to keep my family there until Illuminations. When we stay at the Beach Club, I usually go into EPCOT solo to watch the show a couple of nights since it is so easy!

Yum on Karamel Kuche! I think this opened after our last trip. Can't wait to check it out on our next visit.

Looking forward to more, when you have the time!

Sorry to hear about how hard this school year has been so far. Thank you to you, and other caring teachers, who put in so much effort for salaries that do not adequately compensate for all you do!!!

Thanks, Dee. I think this weekend I might have been able to get caught up again.

I got the Photopass CD, btw, and I'm going to get in the mail this week. Sorry its taken me so long.

 

[MEK]

Well - I hope your change to a Jet Blue Flight means more Disney time.

I know that the charter schools here have a much longer school year and a much longer school day, so I am not at all surprised that you are working incredibly long hours. I think teaching is an incredibly hard job because not only do you have a lot of prep work, you are always "on" and that is fatiguing. I really hope things start to level out for you. Just keep focused on February.

 

[amandaw]

Glad to hear that at least Delta is going to refund your money. Hopefully, you'll find a flight that works out better for y'all!

Those are definitely some long days that you're logging! But, for being a teacher, I send this to you...... I absolutely could NOT do it. I have zero patience. I admire anyone who can take on peoples' children (& the parents) to educate them and deal with all of the issues that come along with it!

 

[natebenma]

Thanks, Dee. I think this weekend I might have been able to get caught up again.

I got the Photopass CD, btw, and I'm going to get in the mail this week. Sorry its taken me so long.

No problem at all! I appreciate you sharing with me. Please include a return address so I can pay up!

 

[PirateKate]

It's funny that Max set your Spaceship Earth narration to French. Landon set Jeremy's to German last time.

I'm glad you finally got to see Illuminations. That's one show that I can't seem to get my boys to sit through very well. They love it, until the fireworks stop and the globe spin. Does Max get bored during that part, too?

I hope you get all the details worked out with the flight. Jet Blue's a good choice, especially if it's nonstop.

 

[tinacaplan]

Let's play another round of what would you do...

Well...since my "cheap" flight from Delta has evaporated....I have been thinking and reconsidering my trip. Again and again and AGAIN! And driving myself (and my husband) crazy in the meantime.

So, our original plan was to go down on Tuesday and stay till Saturday. However, I sort of feel, when I lay it all out, that that isn't really enough time and it would be better to go for an extra day, so five nights instead of four.
I feel like an extra day would give us more time to relax, rather than feel like we had a ton of stuff to try and cram in.

That would mean staying at Coronado Springs instead of the Contemporary (or the Beach Club, for that matter, as my husband is still pulling for the Beach Club! ), which I loved....almost everything about! Great pool, decent food court, beautiful landscaping, white linens in the rooms. I've never thought much of the CMs I've encountered there, all are nice but in two stays I didn't encounter one who went the extra mile, though, and sometimes felt like...dare I say it...Coronado kind of lacks that special extra bit of Disney magic. But that does seem like a small thing to save money AND get another day at Disney.

That would be option one, I suppose.

Option two would be moving my reservation to the Beach Club, which would make up for the difference in plane tickets that I am going to have to pay. We would only be going for four nights, though. This is what my husband wants to do, although I have a feeling that IF I were to point out how much less we could stay at CSR for, he'd probably say we should stay there.

Option three would be to sit tight and see if any discounts come down the pike to make the CR a bit more affordable. This is where I really want to stay and I've been planning this trip in my head to be that close to MK and on the monorail resort loop. Because of our proximity, I'd also feel OK with only being there for four nights. My only hesitation is that I know that CMs I met at the BC were fantastic and I wonder if they would be as equally fantastic at the CR.

I suppose this is my way of dealing with everyday stress...start obsessing over the next Disney trip.

I would love any and all opinions on this, though.

 

[tinacaplan]

Well - I hope your change to a Jet Blue Flight means more Disney time.

I know that the charter schools here have a much longer school year and a much longer school day, so I am not at all surprised that you are working incredibly long hours. I think teaching is an incredibly hard job because not only do you have a lot of prep work, you are always "on" and that is fatiguing. I really hope things start to level out for you. Just keep focused on February.

I'm trying to figure it all out, Mary Ellen, but thank you for your kind words. I appreciate anyone who gets how tough teaching can be. Unbelievably amazing, too. And yes, I must admit, that having a trip in the pipeline can make almost anything more tolerable.

Glad to hear that at least Delta is going to refund your money. Hopefully, you'll find a flight that works out better for y'all!

Those are definitely some long days that you're logging! But, for being a teacher, I send this to you...... I absolutely could NOT do it. I have zero patience. I admire anyone who can take on peoples' children (& the parents) to educate them and deal with all of the issues that come along with it!

Thanks...I don't mean to complain, but it does get tiresome. Mostly the paperwork and stuff, not the kids. Love the kids.

I should be pretty happy that Delta is going to refund our money, because I'm not sure they have to. But...this means I am now re configuring this trip in a million different ways and driving myself CA-RAZY!!!

No problem at all! I appreciate you sharing with me. Please include a return address so I can pay up!

Thanks for being so patient, Dee.

It's funny that Max set your Spaceship Earth narration to French. Landon set Jeremy's to German last time.

I'm glad you finally got to see Illuminations. That's one show that I can't seem to get my boys to sit through very well. They love it, until the fireworks stop and the globe spin. Does Max get bored during that part, too?

I hope you get all the details worked out with the flight. Jet Blue's a good choice, especially if it's nonstop.

German, huh? At least French sounds pretty. Max didn't get bored during Illuminations at all, a little freaked out by the fire, though. He does NOT like fire.

We'd love to fly Jet Blue for all the little perks, but not sure its going to work out. Who knows?

 

[eandesmom]

Cynthia...you're back! I can't wait to hear about your cruise.

Very glad we saw Illuminations and were able to cross that off the list so early in the trip.

As for Max, he will sit with his butt on one of my shoulders, but won't sit on Mark's shoulders? Apparently I make him feel safer!

That sounds really painful! (due to it being on only one shoulder so uneven weight distribution).

I have recently begun questioning my decision to leave a traditional public school in favor of a charter school. While I'm far happier at the charter, on a number of levels, the sheer amount of work is really wearing on me. I had been under the (misguided) assumption that this year (my third at this school; my tenth in teaching overall) would be easier than the last two. It isn't that I mind working hard, but I'm putting in ten -eleven hour days, regularly (think 6 a.m. till 5 p.m.). Our school day is three hours longer, for one thing, plus the expectations for our planning is much higher, all of which is good, but its a schedule that seems better suited for young kids right out of college who don't have families and houses and lots of other things filling up their time. And let me be clear that teaching is a tough, time-consuming job, no matter where you do it, but I am putting in a ton more time here than I ever did at my previous school and I was never, ever a slacker.

Sorry to complain... but its something I'm thinking a lot about lately. I have a fantasy about chucking it all, moving somewhere much warmer, and going back to waitressing.

YAY for getting your $$ back but what a bummer about having to re figure it out, buying and finding flights always seems such an ordeal to me anymore.

On the job front...I wouldn't fantasize too much about waitressing. Unless you work nights you can't make that much and nights are impossible with a family. But the moving somewhere warmer does sound lovely.

I don't know what grade you teach at the charter school, but gosh the older grade teachers around here seem to put in those kinds of hours as do some of the primary (definitely not all and boy can you tell who does and doesn't!).

Balanceing work, and home is hard no matter what you do and I swear, just when I think I have it figured out, the kids schedules change and I have to re figure it out all over again! I spent at least 2 hours this weekend just getting our calendars updated to plan out all the various things and then even with that I was late to get Evan to something yesterday and am running the same risk today due to work things that come up at the last minute.

Whatever you do, it will work out, I'm sure the kids you teach are grateful you are there!

 

[amandaw]

Hmmm....what to do for your February trip? I would probably just stay put at CR. You've dreamed of staying there & the location can't be beat with a little one! But, that's just my opinion. No matter what you decide, y'all will have a great trip!

 

[tinacaplan]

That sounds really painful! (due to it being on only one shoulder so uneven weight distribution).

It wasn't bad, actually, he's small and I have pretty wide shoulders.

YAY for getting your $$ back but what a bummer about having to re figure it out, buying and finding flights always seems such an ordeal to me anymore.

It is, especially because I'm really picky about when/how I'll fly. I want to go direct, out of Hartford, and early in the morning and that's what I'll pay for. Not a flight with a change in Atlanta. But I am having to re-think my whole plan for February.

On the job front...I wouldn't fantasize too much about waitressing. Unless you work nights you can't make that much and nights are impossible with a family. But the moving somewhere warmer does sound lovely.

Doesn't it? But I waitressed through my 20s and wouldn't really trade in my current job! But sometimes I feel stressed out enough to think about it.

I don't know what grade you teach at the charter school, but gosh the older grade teachers around here seem to put in those kinds of hours as do some of the primary (definitely not all and boy can you tell who does and doesn't!).

I teach seventh and eighth and I'm a team leader. Teaching is a lot of work, in general. I've always said (and I've been teaching for ten years) that teaching can be a really easy job, or a really hard one if you're doing it well. But I suppose that's anything?

Balanceing work, and home is hard no matter what you do and I swear, just when I think I have it figured out, the kids schedules change and I have to re figure it out all over again! I spent at least 2 hours this weekend just getting our calendars updated to plan out all the various things and then even with that I was late to get Evan to something yesterday and am running the same risk today due to work things that come up at the last minute.

Whatever you do, it will work out, I'm sure the kids you teach are grateful you are there!

Thanks, Cynthia. One of the great thing about the Disboards is that I've been able to connect with a lot of moms who've been through these things before, whereas most of my friends in "real-life" have little kids, too, and are trying to figure out as much as I am.

 

[tinacaplan]

Hmmm....what to do for your February trip? I would probably just stay put at CR. You've dreamed of staying there & the location can't be beat with a little one! But, that's just my opinion. No matter what you decide, y'all will have a great trip!

I'd tend to agree with you on the location, that's for sure. But the extra day is tempting, too. Still not sure, but I don't need to make up my mind right this second, either. And all this back and forth is a welcome distraction. Sometimes it can sound like we're really upset about these decisions, but its all just fun!

 

[KatMark]

I thought I commented on your Epcot Day and Spaceship Earth with the "french" version, but I guess I didn't. I love that Max picked another language; have to love our kids.

I'm glad you are getting your money back on the air travel, but what a pain in the butt. I'm not going to suggest what I think you should do as you will know my answer. All I will say is that we have had MUCH friendlier CM's at the Coronado than in any of our stays at the CR. I can't comment on BC as we've not stayed there (we were hoping to do so next year, but I have a feeling that I'm going to fall in love with OKW in two weeks and will find a "new home").

 

[tinacaplan]

I thought I commented on your Epcot Day and Spaceship Earth with the "french" version, but I guess I didn't. I love that Max picked another language; have to love our kids.

I'm glad you are getting your money back on the air travel, but what a pain in the butt. I'm not going to suggest what I think you should do as you will know my answer. All I will say is that we have had MUCH friendlier CM's at the Coronado than in any of our stays at the CR. I can't comment on BC as we've not stayed there (we were hoping to do so next year, but I have a feeling that I'm going to fall in love with OKW in two weeks and will find a "new home").

Literally did that as soon as I saw your post. I am actually a bit nervous that CR would feel "cold" somehow. Not sure how to explain it, but the CMs at BC were so amazing, I'd feel let down if the CMs at CR were anything less.

We loved CSR, as you know. Loved the BC, too. But when I run the numbers (sounds illegal! ) and see that I can spend a whole lot less for five nights at CSR than for four nights at a deluxe...well...its tempting.

And a new home at OKW??? Oh, no! What will CSR do without you????

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi Tina! Thanks for not racing ahead too far while I was gone!

I'm glad your dinner at Via Napoli was good this time around, and that you got to see illuminations!

French on SE Sometimes I get so annoyed with the loud voice on the self check out machines, that I want to choose Spanish just for the fun of it - DH always stops me, thinking it will seem disrespectful to some.

Wow! I'm excited by news of your Feb trip, but sorry you lost your most excellent flight plans. Sounds like you have alot of decisions to make - it will be fun to have more planning to do!