Whose going back to Disney World? That's right we are!

[Caretames1]

Day 2: Animal Kingdom


This will be an early morning for us. We have 8:00am ADR’s at the Tusker House for breakfast. I’m hoping we’ll be done by rope drop. I would like to be one of the first on the Kilinmajaroo Safaris. I’ve heard the animals are more active in the morning. Last time we went it was later afternoon and most of them were snoozing. I’m debating if we should then do Expedition Everest or just get fast passes for later. We didn’t see a Bug’s Life or do Dinoland last time so we’ll be checking them out. I hope to see Di vine.


This park is were we had our “Magical Moment” I was goofing off with DD in her stroller, (popping wheelies) and a Cast Member came up to me and asked me how we were enjoying ourselves, and since it was our first visit how did we like it? I answered we were having a great time, and like it very much. She asked how many in my group, I said 4, my DD, DD, DH & I. She asked us to follow her; my older DD was suspicious of what was going on. It turned out we were asked to open the Lion King show!


We did a countdown and waved the doors open. We led everyone else in and were given VIP seating and a lot of the performers were giving the DD’s attention. At the end of the performance we were given a certificate with our names and what our magical moment was. It was awesome!


When the park closes or when we think out day is done, (after the parade) we’ll go back to POR and relax. We haven’t really thought about lunch or dinner much, I have thought that we may catch a late lunch at Flame Tree. Dinner maybe just counter service at POR, or just snack on something in our room.





Next Up: Day 3, Early Morning at Epcot

Carey

 

[wdwgirl03]

Cool about your magical moment! We had one of those at AK too...we were waiting to see FOTLK and a cast member came up to us and asked us kind of the same thing. But then she asked if we wanted to be in the parade!! It was awesome.

 

[Caretames1]

Well, I have 2 very good bits of news!

It's on! I went to our TA and put down our $200.00 deposit for our very secret and hopefully suprise September trip!

One of the reasons I 've decided to keep it a secret, is that my DD Samantha will not be going with us, she will be in college and you do not take breaks from college, at least not in the frist few weeks! I may end up being person non grata I will tell her shortly before we go. My rational to her will be, "Honey I had 10 years alone with you, and we did many things with you, Weeks at WI Dells, trips to the Zoo in Milwaukee, and other side mini vacations" I hope she understands

I also would like to suprise my DD Kadence with this trip and the MNSSHP.
I really hope she is just so shocked and happy. We have decided not to tell her day of, and make her figure it out, however long it takes ( going under the Welcome to Disney Arch??)


My 2nd bit of great news is, my wonderful, smart, and beautiful DD Samantha has been accepted to the University of Wisconsin Green Bay!!! I don't know if I could be more excited and proud I teared up like a baby when I recieved the letter and certificate in the mail yesterday.

Well, off to do I think it multiplies while we sleep!

Carey

 

[jenseib]

Congrats to Samantha! How wonderful!
Thats great about the upcoming Sept trip too. Can I say I am SOOOO jealous!!

 

[Caretames1]

Day 3: Epcot ( Future World)



This will be a rope drop morning for us. My plan is to tour Future World only today. Last time we only did one day at Epcot. We missed a lot. We hit only the major attractions like Soarin, Test Track, Nemo and Turtle Talk w/Crush show, before running on through the World Showcase like our butts were on fire!
We never even stopped to check out any of the counties represented there, I compared it to a drive-by viewing! I really underestimated that day on that trip.


Anyway……….. Since coming here, with all of you lovely, helpful people. I learned that I can make my family taste yucky beverages (insert evil snicker) go to space, check out the Land, and use our Disney Visa card to get some free character photos! I am so interested in checking out Innovations.


I’m hoping to be able ride and see some things twice, while taking in everything at a slow and leisurely pace.


We have 4:00 pm ADR’s at Garden Grill. We haven’t eaten there, so I did a lot of research and I’ve seen a lot of great reviews. I guess the character interaction is great and food seems to be good. We all love Chip and Dale, I even know how to tell them apart (Chip has the brown nose, Dale the red).


After dinner, we are going to head back to POR and, if warm enough swim, walk the grounds, or just relax. I am considering going over to POFQ to just see what can be seen.





Up Next: Day4 (World Showcase)

Carey

 

[HoltDisney07]

We are going in September 2011 also....I can't wait to read that PTR from you. This will be our second trip as a family. My youngest DS will almost be 3 and this is the earliest I could convience DH to go back to Disney. Our last trip DS #1 was only 10 months old....not a horrible experience but it helped that DH's parents went with us. We are going for 10 days and will be on the DXDP. I know...I know alot of food, but last time we paid a lot oop for stuff and I would rather have no worries when it comes to food.

I noiticed you said you have lost 70ibs in the last year. I have lost 20Ib in the last 2 months and have a goal of another 75 or so before Disney next year. We will see, it's so hard.

 

[Caretames1]

We are going in September 2011 also....I can't wait to read that PTR from you. This will be our second trip as a family. My youngest DS will almost be 3 and this is the earliest I could convience DH to go back to Disney. Our last trip DS #1 was only 10 months old....not a horrible experience but it helped that DH's parents went with us. We are going for 10 days and will be on the DXDP. I know...I know alot of food, but last time we paid a lot oop for stuff and I would rather have no worries when it comes to food.

I noiticed you said you have lost 70ibs in the last year. I have lost 20Ib in the last 2 months and have a goal of another 75 or so before Disney next year. We will see, it's so hard.

HI, Welcome to the Sept 2011 group! My DH just got the idea one day, and after pricing it out, it was a short leap to booking. We have decided that we could afford to do more trips if we shortened the time spent at WDW. I'm hoping once a year if the deals are good.

Congrats on the weight loss. It's hard, and lately I have not been as full of willpower as I should be. I don't know right now how to get motivated, I did alot of walking outside, but with the weather getting colder it's not ideal. Maybe thats just an excuse I would like to lose another 40lbs.

I can't wait for that PTR too!

Carey

 

[jenseib]

We ate at Garden grill a few years ago. It was pretty good. Not great, but decent. Some things were excellent, while others just so so. But I think they changed the menu a bit since then.
The characters were great though.

 

[Caretames1]

Day 4 Epcot( World Showcase) & Day 5 SeaWorld

This will be bit of a sleep-in day for us, okay maybe not so much a sleep-in as it's not a rope drop morning. We have 9:30am ADR's at Akershus. This is something Kadence is looking forward to. She goes back and forth about dressing up for this meal. Some days she wants to wear her Cinderella gown, and other days she wants to get a new dress. What dress, she keeps changing her mind, and since dresses don't grow on trees, I'm a thinking she needs to get a crackin'.

Anyway, I figure we'll be wrapping up our breakfast & finishing with autographs about the time the World Showcase opens, and we be right there already. I don't know how Kadence will like it, but my DH, Samantha, & I are really looking forward to it. I'm going to get Kadence the passport stamp book, so that will be something for her to participate in.

I figure we'll just eat counter service when we get hungry. With it being such a variety, everyone should be happy.
This is the night we'll catch Illuminations, I been researching the best spots to watch, and we grab a counter service supper or snacks and settle in to watch. I figure we'll all be pretty tuckered out by then, and will be ever so happy to get back to the room and sleep.

Day 5: SeaWorld

Well, I made a 7:30am ADR @ O'Hana, and now that I think about it, this may be alittle early for a previous late night. I'm thinking of asking the family what they think. SeaWorld doesn't open until 9:00am and the extra sleep may do us good.

I am so looking forward to seeing "Believe". I've never seen anything like that before, and I think the kids are gonna love it. We are focusing on the shows, and not the rides as DH & I get motion sick very easily, and Kadence is too little to ride the coasters. Samantha wants to ride Manta, but agrees to skip the rest. The reason being this will mean we'll head out of Seaworld early( 5-ish) & hit DTD again. I'm thinking of calling for a ressie for T-Rex. If we decide to go back to POR we'll just chill, or whatever.

I do like the idea of having some free time on some of the days to just relax, because a couple days later we are going to hit it hard 3 days in a row but I'll get to that later

Up Next Day 6: Hollywood Studios & 50's Prime Time( I am not singing or standing in the corner!)

Carey

 

[Caretames1]

I just paid off our Jan trip Our 45 day mark is on Dec 6th, but since I used the Disney Visa, I want to get the points paid off on the Dec billing cycle, so we can use them in Jan.

I think I have convinced my sister to go to WDW, but she doesn't know when. Maybe I can convince her that September is a good choice

I'm a Black Friday shopperand no, I'm not a crazy, run people over type. I have been looking online and I've found most of the ads I'm interested in. I am looking for a portable DVD for Kadence to have for the flights to & from Disney. I found one at Walmart for $49, which I think is really good.
I am looking on ebay for a Belle dress for Kadence, for our breakfast at Akershus. She doesn't want to be Cinderella, which she dressed as in 09'.I found a couple I like, but kinda pricey.

Carey

 

[jenseib]

$49 is a great deal for a portable DVD player. Is that jsut a black friday thing? If so, they probably are carrying two per store.....LOL!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I just paid off our Jan trip Our 45 day mark is on Dec 6th, but since I used the Disney Visa, I want to get the points paid off on the Dec billing cycle, so we can use them in Jan.

I think I have convinced my sister to go to WDW, but she doesn't know when. Maybe I can convince her that September is a good choice

I'm a Black Friday shopperand no, I'm not a crazy, run people over type. I have been looking online and I've found most of the ads I'm interested in. I am looking for a portable DVD for Kadence to have for the flights to & from Disney. I found one at Walmart for $49, which I think is really good.
I am looking on ebay for a Belle dress for Kadence, for our breakfast at Akershus. She doesn't want to be Cinderella, which she dressed as in 09'.I found a couple I like, but kinda pricey.

Carey

Yay for paying off the trip! That always makes me fell all warm and fuzzy.

Keep working on your sister. I'm sure you'll be able to convince her.

I am a Black Friday shopper too. But, only if I see some really good deals. And, I don't go nutso with the other shoppers either.

$49 for a portable DVD player is really good. I paid $79 for our last one. The first one we ever had was over $100.

 

[Caretames1]

$49 is a great deal for a portable DVD player. Is that jsut a black friday thing? If so, they probably are carrying two per store.....LOL!

$49 for a portable DVD player is really good. I paid $79 for our last one. The first one we ever had was over $100.

Yes, it was in Walmarts Black Friday ad, (Target has them for $49 too!) And if there are only 2 per store, I had better get my game plan together! The other items I'm looking at are the Zhu Zhu pets @ $4 each and some clothes for the kids.

 

[jenseib]

Yes, it was in Walmarts Black Friday ad, (Target has them for $49 too!) And if there are only 2 per store, I had better get my game plan together! The other items I'm looking at are the Zhu Zhu pets @ $4 each and some clothes for the kids.

If you want zhuzhu pets, do you have a build a bear near you? They always have all thier zhu zhu stuff for 50% off.

 

[Caretames1]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

Carey

 

[Caretames1]

Well, Black Friday was mostly good to me. I got most of what I wanted, including the laptop at Walmart I got extremely lucky and someone sat in line for 8 hours for me. I owe them a HUGE favor
Since my kids don't read this I can say what I got,
Laptop ( which is getting put away, so I can give it to Samantha for a Grad present in June)
a Moxie Girl car for 1/2 off,
a body pillow for $9, original price 29.99,
a portable DVD player for $49,(for which some stup..... well, not nice person elbowed me in the ribs, when there were plenty to go around)
a couple of games for $5,
A couple Zhu Zhu pets for $3.99( Thanks Jen for the Build a Bear tip, they we cheapest there!)
I did grab a couple of other items that weren't on sale, A doll & bed set for Kadence. I found a sweater(at Justice for 1/2 off!) for her Christmas dress, & and cute headband.
I did miss out on a few items like movies. Mostly because they went on sale at Midnight, and I didn't get there until 3 am.

I also picked up pakages of socks and undies for our trip. I'm also giving my older DD money for new tennies, cuz she too picky for me to just pick some out for her. I figure a month is long enough to get them broke in before Disney.

Next weekend I'm going to take Kadence to see Tangled and then Santa. I am hoping to get some Christmas pics of the girls done next week, so I can send them out in Christmas cards.

Well the Wizard of OZ is on and that is Kadence's favorite movie, and she begging me to watch with her. Night,

Carey

 

[mickeystoontown]

Way to go on the Black Friday deals! Those prices were great!

 

[jenseib]

Great stuff! Glad the tip worked out for you. We went to build a bear too, but we built a new bear. We went shopping with my family at a mall about 1 1/2 hours away, and since Claire was the only little one, I wanted her to be pleasant, so one of the 1st things we did was build a bear and she was good as gold all day.

You just reminded me I need to get my rear in gear and get some christmas cards ordered. I still don't know what picture I'm gonna use.

Claire used to love Wizard of oz and would watch it over and over, and then about 2 years ago she became aware of the witch. So she asked to watch it the other night, and after about 5 minutes (we atarted watching it when they met the tinman) she got scared and said turn it off.

 

[Caretames1]

Claire used to love Wizard of oz and would watch it over and over, and then about 2 years ago she became aware of the witch. So she asked to watch it the other night, and after about 5 minutes (we atarted watching it when they met the tinman) she got scared and said turn it off.

Kadence loves Wizard of OZ so much, that her 6th b-day last year was a Wizard of Oz theme, and her Grandma( who spoils!) got her all the collectable 50th anniversay dolls. Kadence has them all set on a shelf in her room, but has the witch hidden behind the Lion & Scarecrow. She says the witch is scary at night, but not during the day

 

[Caretames1]

Day 6 & 7: Hollywood Studios

I have planned 2 days at DHS. The first day will be a half day. My DD's really, really really want to ride TSM again, and as much as possible, so I figured get to it right away, ride, then get FP's for later. I also have an ADR at 50's Prime Time the 1st day. I've heard varying tales of horror, from horrible service and food, to very glowing tales of best meal ever, and tons of fun. I've decided to not listen to any of that and wait to form my own opinon I figure if it's bad, well we tried, if it's great, well SCORE!
After our ADR, we are going to leave DHS and chill at the hotel or head for DTD again. I don't want to plan anything, just do what we all think is fun.
Day 2 at DHS will be a later morning yay: sleep in) If we can get a FP for TSM great if not, oh well. We'll get a chance to see the new parade and foucs a little more on some charactor meets.
I got a Fantasmic package ADR for 3:00 pm at Hollywood & Vine. This was before we got free dining, and I thought it would be good enough to fill us up for the rest of the day, since we'd have a late breakfast. Now I so wish I would have known we were going to have free dining, I would have picked Mama Melrose.
Oh well, the point of this is, we have seating WITHOUT waiting in line for hours! This will be the first time seeing Fantasmic, and we are excited. I have heard it can be scary or a bit much for younger kiddos, but Kadence can bury her head in my armpit and it will be ok.
I hope that they have 2 showing of Fantasmic that night, that way we won't have to try to get out of the park with everyone else and wait too long for the busses. I'd like to get to bed early. I have 2 days at Magic Kindom next on the agenda and both days will be very early ones, but I'll get to that later on

I took Kadence to see Tangled yesterday, and we had a blast. I thought it was a great movie, and she can't wait to see the characters in person! We also seen Santa, and as well as it went for Kadence, it was frustrating for me I understand that they offer photos for purchase, if YOU want them but, I had very politely declined, held up my camera like almost every other family was doing. They asked if they could take a picture, I said no thanks, I got it. The proceded to snap away as I was and basicly ruined every shot. I know enough about photgraphy to know I didn't need a flash, just played with my ISO settings, and such. The guy behing the camera was then saying" I got a good one" you want to see mine" & " if you use a flash it won't look right", I am a nice person, but I wanted to poke him in the eye! I found I did get one that was ok, and I'm going to have to be fine with that.

Well, now I have to get going on getting the tree up. This should be good, I can't find the directions on the plug-ins Wish me luck!

Carey