What exactly DID you do at Disney? May 2011 TR (TR link pg 44)

[mrssmith06]

That's so awesome that you are going back for Halloween, and sounds so fun just being a mommy/daughter trip too!

 

[amandaw]

Congrats on booking your upcoming trip! I'm also dying to get over to WDW for the Halloween party. I love Halloween & think it would be so much fun. I know I could even convince Ed for us all to dress up in costume for the party. He's such a sucker for Reid & I! Now you have me wanting to go price a quick weekend trip in October!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Hurray for a new ticker!

 

[Moira222]

While Caitlin and I checked out the birds, DH went back to the lazy river and the reef area. He said the lazy river was cool and recommended I try going back. I don’t really get anything out of doing stuff alone so I figured it could wait until next time.
I had the Playsport with me for the aviary so all of the pictures from the aviary were taken with that. DH took the Sony and here are the pictures he took while in the reef. He managed to get one of the sting rays we saw earlier next to a person so you can see how giant they are.


There is also a shark section that you can swim next to. I don’t recall where exactly it was but DH said he was swimming along and turned to see sharks next to him. He freaked out for a second and then realized there was a glass barrier. Once again- I failed in my Discovery Cove research (didn’t really do any) b/c I knew there were sharks from last time, but totally forgot where they were. Plus I doubt Caitlin would have stuck her toe in any water if I mentioned them. They are totally avoidable if you don’t want to see them.

I will get to replies later and hopefully another update soon. I want to try to get in some treadmill time before Caitlin gets up. I think I have gained all the weight back that I lost before our trip. Between working full time all summer and Caitlin being home I am totally exhausted. I need a vacation.

I don't know how I missed the DC days....I read about AK day after this
DC looks awesome!!
and I always feel like i need a vacation!!

After DC we headed back to AKL for a bit. DH wanted to relax but Caitlin wanted to do something. Caitlin and I decided to take a walk to check out the flamingos that Caitlin missed that morning.
We took some pictures along the way.

Dont you just love those mommy & me times ......when everything is going smoothly? LOVE the flamingos!

While waiting for DH to meet us downstairs we looked around the store.

Caitlin found these lovely toys.

This is normally the type of thing I try to avoid having in my house, but I let her get one. Mostly b/c I was sure it would drive DH crazy and at that point I was annoyed that he was taking so long to get downstairs. I even paid for the toy instead of having Caitlin use her money. She was thrilled with her new toy, DH was not.....

you too will be sorry when she plays with them endlessly. My BFF gave one of these to Katie after a trip to Puerto Rico once. I frequently hide it.

After DTD we headed back to AKL. Around 9pm we went downstairs to check out the night vision googles. We weren't really sure where to find them so DH went to the desk to find out. Even with the map we still couldnt find it. You need to go past the hot tub on the flamingo area side to the overlook there. I don't have any pictures but the googles are really pretty cool. Definitely worth checking out if you have some time. I was happy that we were able to at least do one thing that was special to AKL. Afterwards we headed to our room and watched TV before going to bed. We had another early morning planned the next day.

they have Night Goggles? HOW COOL!

I am so envious that you have a new ticker!~!!! We got our school tax bill over the weekend. that sorta flushed my hopes for an anniversary trip next year.

 

[Queila]

Congratulations on booking your trip!!! You went from a three year wait to a three month one. NOT BAD.

Can't wait to hear about your plans.

Q

 

[TinksThree]

Hooray on booking a trip!! That is so wonderful!!!

 

[bouncycat]

Hey!!! I've been MIA for a while, sorry about your AK day, that park is fun, and you'll LOVE FOLK. Glad to hear you're going back. You'll both LOVE the halloween party!! You gotta see the parade, the headless horseman is awesome!!

 

[dtr_angel]

I'm sorry you had such a crappy day at AK. DH & I had a similar day at HS. I'm finally all caught up on your TR! Your kitchen stuff is really cute, is it done in all Disney stuff? I must be a bad DISer too, because I didn't know WPE was closed until we got there either. But, we also weren't planning on eating there since we did the 2 trips before so maybe it didn't matter to me, but I still don't remember reading it anywhere. How exciting about your next trip!!! I've never been in the fall or winter (just march, june twice, may, and august - all hot months!) I hope you and Caitlin really enjoy it!

 

[mikenburt]

The Halloween Party is the best!!!!!

 

[MeMom]

I noticed yesterday that I would only be missing you by a dew days. Are you sure you don't want to extend a few days? We will be arriving on the 21st.

I would love to, but we will have to get two little girls back to their mommies. We're going to be gone five days, and that's probably long enough to have them away from home. Kay's granddaughter is a little younger than Brooklynn, and this will probably be the longest she's ever been away from home.

 

[lbuzz52]

Yeah for your ticker i absolutely loved the halloween party! the parade is amazing- i wished i had seen both showings of it!
there are also a bunch of halloween activities at various places (if you find yourself outside of the parks) DTD, the boardwalk, various hotels.
i say plan your next trip in Oct/ Nov 2013. it seems that alot of DIS'ers, including myself, are planning on going then after FL is complete.

 

[KatMark]

Just a little update-


That’s right; we have a brand new ticker! I have absolutely no idea how I managed to get DH to agree. He has been going back and forth between saying yes and no for at last two weeks. Finally on Thursday I asked again and he said “Fine, just go.” I had checked out flight prices and they happened to drop down that day. I told him if he really meant it he had to agree right now b/c the airline tickets were probably the cheapest they were going to get. He said book them. Then, he left to go to blockbuster. He didn’t have to tell me twice, I don’t even think he made it to the stop sign on our street before I was the proud owner of some Southwest airline tickets.


We will only be going for a quick weekend which is totally fine since the whole reason behind this trip is to see the Halloween decorations and do MNSSHP. We are leaving at 630 am on Oct. 21 and coming home early Oct 24. We will arrive by noon on Friday so I am looking at it like we really have 3 days.

I have not told Caitlin that I booked yet. We have been talking and planning a hypothetical trip but I am not telling her quite yet. I am really trying to keep the Disney talk to a minimum around DH and I know once she knows we are going she will bring it up more.


After this trip we will not be back until at least 2013 which is really fine. I have no problem waiting now that we will have attended the Halloween party. That is the one thing I really think Caitlin will enjoy more at her age rather than waiting a few years. The xmas stuff can wait until she is older.

You are going to LOVE the MNSSHP!

 

[Chaitali]

Yay for the Halloween trip! I'm going with my brother from October 23rd to October 30th. I can't wait for MNSSHP

 

[PirateKate]

I have to say, I totally agree with your DH on the Nemo show. If I wanted to get the whole story, I'd just watch the movie. I spent the show checking the time on my phone and wondering how it could not be over yet. We actually left before it ended. Of course, it wasn't enough to ruin the whole day or anything.

I love all the kitchen stuff you bought. Someday, I'd love to have my whole kitchen decorated in Mickey stuff. It must have been nice to go shopping alone, although then spending the night doing laundry sounds sad.

 

[pinkxray]

I am hoping to get to an update soon, but between working everyday and entertaining Caitlin I haven't had much Dis time lately.

I am wondering if anyone knows how long it usually takes to get from MCO to your resort. We are landing in MCO around 930 and only bringing carryons. When should I expect to get to Pop?

 

[crostorfer]

I am hoping to get to an update soon, but between working everyday and entertaining Caitlin I haven't had much Dis time lately.

I am wondering if anyone knows how long it usually takes to get from MCO to your resort. We are landing in MCO around 930 and only bringing carryons. When should I expect to get to Pop?

It's going to depend on how many other stops the bus makes. If the bus is full of Pop people, then it will take about 30-40 minutes, most. If you are on a bus with people that stop at the POR or/and CBR first, it can take up to an hour and a half. Its going to be the luck of the draw. Early morning like that though, you shouldn't run into as big of a problem as those of us in the afternoon. When Kass and I went to the Poly last Sept. we got there at 7:15am and were the only people on the bus going to WDW. The bus driver just drove the two of us there without any wait, I was floored.

 

[pinkxray]

We were in the 90's, bottom floor facing the 70's building. It was a very short walk to the pool. I was a little bummed at first but it was very quiet, close to everything.

It doesn't seem that anything is too far. We are debating on whether or not to stay at Pop now, but if we do I think I'll take my chances.

I'm so excited your DH agreed to the October trip!!! We have a preffered room booked which I think puts us in the 60's, but to be honest I'd rather either be in the 70's or the back side of the 60's by the Mowgli/Balloo statues. I need to call and request that. I want to be near the Classic Hall, but I don't want to face the Hippy Dippy Pool.

We will get to Orlando at 4:30 10/22. I think I have our plans nailed down. We weren't going to go to the AK this time because it's the one park that I find kind of expendable, but we were able to get a Tusker House ressie for 8:30 Sunday morning, so that is where we will be. We'll probably just stay there long enough to ride the Safari and Everest and I am demanding to see FOTLK because it's the one thing we just can't seem to get to, and I REALLY want to see it. We'll come back to the Pop to swim for a few hours and then head on over to the party. I'd like to get there early enough to eat at Columbia Harbor House, which closes at like 6pm on party nights.

I saw over on the Oct. board that your hubby is coming now That much be so exciting.

I mentioned to Caitlin that we were staying at Pop and she wasn't happy about that. We would like to switch to POFQ but it will depend on if any discounts come out or not. I want to stay somewhere I know DH wouldn't like and I have always wanted to stay at the FQ. Caitlin likes the slide and the purple beds.

Yes, it is! After all the reading on the Dis, I've pondered what a Max and Mom trip would be like. Definitely couldn't handle it now, that's for sure, but in a couple years...maybe?

Will you fly out of Hartford? Flying out of a small airport and using Magical Express helps, too. I love just handing my luggage over, curb-side, and then not dealing with it again until I'm in my room!

Hope you are having a great trip!

Yep, we are flying out of Hartford. I am so excited to try ME.

That's so awesome that you are going back for Halloween, and sounds so fun just being a mommy/daughter trip too!

I can't wait

Congrats on booking your upcoming trip! I'm also dying to get over to WDW for the Halloween party. I love Halloween & think it would be so much fun. I know I could even convince Ed for us all to dress up in costume for the party. He's such a sucker for Reid & I! Now you have me wanting to go price a quick weekend trip in October!

Reid would love it. I wish DH would agree to come since he is the fun one. I am sure he would really enjoy the party but he is refusing to come.

Hurray for a new ticker!

I don't know how I missed the DC days....I read about AK day after this
DC looks awesome!!
and I always feel like i need a vacation!!



Dont you just love those mommy & me times ......when everything is going smoothly? LOVE the flamingos!

you too will be sorry when she plays with them endlessly. My BFF gave one of these to Katie after a trip to Puerto Rico once. I frequently hide it.



they have Night Goggles? HOW COOL!

I am so envious that you have a new ticker!~!!! We got our school tax bill over the weekend. that sorta flushed my hopes for an anniversary trip next year.

Darn it! Sorry about the tax bill. I was hoping to convince you to come down for the weekend in Oct. so Caitlin could spend some time with Katie. She is always asking why they never met.

Thanks for the pictures of the dresses. I don't think that they would fit though. Maybe a few months ago. Caitlin was wearing 6 but I am starting to buy her 7/8 for her school clothes now. She must have had a growth spurt recently.

Congratulations on booking your trip!!! You went from a three year wait to a three month one. NOT BAD.

Can't wait to hear about your plans.

Q

DH is insisting no more trips for a few years after this one. Sure, we'll see how that goes.

Hooray on booking a trip!! That is so wonderful!!!

Hey!!! I've been MIA for a while, sorry about your AK day, that park is fun, and you'll LOVE FOLK. Glad to hear you're going back. You'll both LOVE the halloween party!! You gotta see the parade, the headless horseman is awesome!!

I am so excited to go to the party. Caitlin and I have seen the parade on Youtube and it looks so cool. I love the music. We watched the Halloween and Xmas to see which time of year we should go and Halloween looks more fun. I would still love to see all of the xmas stuff but that can wait a few years.

I'm sorry you had such a crappy day at AK. DH & I had a similar day at HS. I'm finally all caught up on your TR! Your kitchen stuff is really cute, is it done in all Disney stuff? I must be a bad DISer too, because I didn't know WPE was closed until we got there either. But, we also weren't planning on eating there since we did the 2 trips before so maybe it didn't matter to me, but I still don't remember reading it anywhere. How exciting about your next trip!!! I've never been in the fall or winter (just march, june twice, may, and august - all hot months!) I hope you and Caitlin really enjoy it!

When we were kids we always went in July or August. DH and I have only been in June or May. I am so excited to try the fall. I love all of the decorations plus I am hoping it won't be 200 degrees this time.

I hope WPE is open this time, although Caitlin seems to have a lot of TS requests this time too and I always give in to those.

The Halloween Party is the best!!!!!

Glad to hear it. I can't wait! I just wish our trip could be longer but I'll take what I can get.

I would love to, but we will have to get two little girls back to their mommies. We're going to be gone five days, and that's probably long enough to have them away from home. Kay's granddaughter is a little younger than Brooklynn, and this will probably be the longest she's ever been away from home.

Aw, that is understandable.

I haven't been on the boards too much lately. I have to see if you started you trip report yet. I can't wait to see how much Bella and Brooklyn have grown.

Yeah for your ticker i absolutely loved the halloween party! the parade is amazing- i wished i had seen both showings of it!
there are also a bunch of halloween activities at various places (if you find yourself outside of the parks) DTD, the boardwalk, various hotels.
i say plan your next trip in Oct/ Nov 2013. it seems that alot of DIS'ers, including myself, are planning on going then after FL is complete.

I really want to go back in Oct or Nov. of 2013 with the whole family. We'll see though. One of these years DH will have to pick where we go.

You are going to LOVE the MNSSHP!

I can't wait! It will just be a short trip but as long as we get to the party I am happy.

Yay for the Halloween trip! I'm going with my brother from October 23rd to October 30th. I can't wait for MNSSHP

How exciting. I wish we could go for that long but I don't want Caitlin missing too much school so early in the year.

Do you know where you are staying yet? We will be at Pop or FQ depending on how my funds look at the beginning of next month.

I have to say, I totally agree with your DH on the Nemo show. If I wanted to get the whole story, I'd just watch the movie. I spent the show checking the time on my phone and wondering how it could not be over yet. We actually left before it ended. Of course, it wasn't enough to ruin the whole day or anything.

I love all the kitchen stuff you bought. Someday, I'd love to have my whole kitchen decorated in Mickey stuff. It must have been nice to go shopping alone, although then spending the night doing laundry sounds sad.

The laundry time was awful. It took forever. I would have just left it had I known it would take so long. Since when does it take 3 hours to wash and dry a load of clothes?

I admit I was a bit bored at the Nemo show, but it was still okay. I wish I had picked the LK. I am guessind DH won't set foot in that one now.

It's going to depend on how many other stops the bus makes. If the bus is full of Pop people, then it will take about 30-40 minutes, most. If you are on a bus with people that stop at the POR or/and CBR first, it can take up to an hour and a half. Its going to be the luck of the draw. Early morning like that though, you shouldn't run into as big of a problem as those of us in the afternoon. When Kass and I went to the Poly last Sept. we got there at 7:15am and were the only people on the bus going to WDW. The bus driver just drove the two of us there without any wait, I was floored.

Thanks for the quick reply. I am hoping we can make it to lunch somewhere but wasn't sure if we would have time. Caitlin wants to go to RFC and I am thinking we can make it to DTD if we are staying at FQ. Then, I think maybe we should try Le Chefs for lunch. Do you eat there last year?

 

[pinkxray]

We are down to our last weekend. Friday morning was the morning we had to switch over to the Beach Club. We had an awful winter this year and while shoveling the snow all winter I spent a lot of my time dreaming of being at BC. Now, that the day had finally come I was dreading leaving AKL.
I woke up pretty early and headed over to BC to check in around 7am.


Check in went pretty easily and they took my number to text us when the room was ready. I headed back to AKL and woke everyone up. We had an 8am adr at Boma. I was prepared to cancel it if we needed to get back to WWOHP again but after our last day at IOA I didn’t see the need to go back.
We brought the majority of the bags down to the car and then headed to Boma for breakfast. It was one of my favorites last year and I couldn’t wait to have some goat cheese scrambled eggs again.

We met our waitress who was okay. She didn’t really talk much and never really refilled our drinks. She was missing for awhile when we were waiting for our check too.

We headed to the buffet. Caitlin got her standard pancakes and DH had a small plate of food.

The food was okay, but not as good as it had been the year before. The eggs were cold and the other stuff was just okay. I figured I would try some more but the next batch of stuff wasn’t much better. Everything was okay but not as good as Tuskerhouse. It could have been an off day though.
After DH finished he had to run back to the room to get the rest of the bags. He decided he would just wait in the car for us to be done. Weird, I know.


Caitlin and I finished up and waited forever to get our check. Once I finished paying and headed out I realized that she had charged our meal to our room instead of using our dxdp that we had started again when we moved to BC. I decided to leave it for when we went back to BC.


Today was our day for Universal Studios.

We parked in the Spiderman section this time.

Our first ride was the Simpson ride.

We went to the gift shop where I thought about buying this mug.

DH ended up buying me a shirt and Caitlin a Simpsons set with pencils and paper plus a Lisa shirt.

After DH dropped a bunch of money in the gift shop we wanted to try MIB for the first time. I found it a bit strange that you had to put your stuff in lockers for this ride. Is it really necessary?

We skipped the Jaws ride b/c I know Caitlin would hate it.

We decided to check out the Mummy. DH rode it while Caitlin and I waited. Afterwards we checked out the Rip tide line but it was way too long. We ended up going to the Twister attraction which was a bad decision on my part. Caitlin has been hearing about tornadoes and is terrified of them for some reason. Why did I think she wouldn’t mind this? She was a bit scared but once it started she was okay.

Caitlin and I headed over to see the animal show while DH tried Rip tide again.

DH met up with us while we were entering the theater. I guess the line was still too long.

Caitlin loved the animal show. It was very cute.

DH even got picked to have the bird fly over to him.

We all really enjoyed the show. We had skipped it last year b/c DH wanted to see the Terminator show. I had a bit of a “I told you so” feeling when Caitlin loved it so much.

 

[pinkxray]

After the show we debated on what to do next. Maybe Shrek? We decided to walk to the front area and see how the lines were. Around this time I got a text that our BC room was ready. It was almost noon at this point. I told DH I was ready to leave. Really I didn’t mind staying but there was really nothing else to do and it was really hot. I just wanted him to know how it felt to have his time interrupted. Too bad he didn’t mind and we all agreed to leave.

We didn’t get much done at US but between this year and last year we have covered most of the park. Plus we needed to leave something new for next time.

We did see the Simpsons on the way out. I wanted to get there pictures since I have never seen them out before but the line was closed and they wouldn’t be back for awhile.

Good bye Universal. See you in a few years.

On our drive back I finally got a picture of the WDW sign. We had missed it when we came the first day.

We headed right for our room. It was on the 3rd floor and I was very excited that I could see parts of France from our balcony. I was hoping we would be able to see some fireworks.

I remember before the trip thinking that the BCV studio rooms were ugly, but they were much cuter in person. The bedspread and curtains have the Little Mermaid characters on them so Caitlin was happy to be in an Ariel room.

Plus it was very nice to have the kitchenette and not worry about if we would have a full balcony or not. Plus paying half price to stay at the BC and use SAB was nice too.


We quickly got dressed in our swimsuits and headed over to SAB. I tried to get some pictures but it is just so big that it is really hard to get good pictures.

Okay, I have a confession. I didn’t love SAB. For me it was too big. Maybe it would be okay if your kids are older but it was too much for me. The slide was fun but it hurt a bit. You could feel each of the seams where the tubes connect. I thought it was just me so I didn’t say anything but later DH mentioned it too. I did like the sand bottom but overall I preferred the quiet pool to SAB. Caitlin didn’t seem to care which one we went to as long as it was a pool.

 

[bouncycat]

Great Updates Pink!!! I'm not a big Universal fan either.....give me Disney any day!!!