Will writing a PTR make the next 12 weeks go by any faster???

[Kristi391]

I hope your Dad gets some answers soon. And YIKES on the airline tix thing! Thank goodness they were able to get it straightened out!

Thank you! That means a lot!

The airline thing was just so crazy. Trying to figure it all out based on emails and a copy of my credit card statement is enough to make my head spin! Each of the 33 reservations were refunded separately but when they were "purchased" it was done as 1 for my tickets and 1 for both my parents together. And many different fares! So trying to make sure we were charged the lowest fare option was enough to make my head spin!!! And to top it off, when I looked online under my Rapid Rewards # it said I had no upcoming travel plans! Finally I called and it looks like everything is good...well except that my credit card balance still says $9178! Can't wait for that to go down by about 8k! That is by far the highest balance I have ever had on a card and I don't like it so much.

In fun news, both my mom and I got Mickey Mail today!!! It is different than what we got last year...this year it's a whole booklet with a Toy Story theme cover. So fun! I hope my brother gets one today too and he shows Wes! My mom's said "Smith Family Vacation" and mine say "Smith Party vacation". Guess I am just more of a party girl than she is! . In other mail related news...all 3 other groups got confirmation letters last week about the rooms and they all said Attention: Kristi but I never got one for my room. I just find that kind of weird.

 

[Dream426]

I hope your dad gets answers. That is so funny and stressful at the same time with the airline website and tickets. Glad everything worked out with it though.

 

[BearcatsFan]

If it were me, I'd probably submit a letter to the credit bureaus explaining that high-high balance if that's unusual for you. That way if an issue comes up in the future (as in, we can't give you a loan, look how much you are capable of charging at one time! ), it will be on record what actually happened.

YIPPEE for Mickey Mail!

 

[Kristi391]

Yay!!! My credit card balance is down to where it should be...just the 3 airline tickets, the deposits for the 4 rooms and a few odds and ends I had purchased before booking the rooms! If I spend 8k, I better be going on a REALLY good vacation for longer than 4 days!

Dad had a broncoscopy (I think that is the right word) yesterday and apparently the mass they have been seeing is polyps and the doctor doesn't think they are malignant, but they are being biopsied, just to be sure. He was still out of it from the morphine when I went over last night, but mom seemed a bit less stressed, so even though we don't have final answers or a treatment plan yet, it could have been a worse outcome, so that is good.

I got some more Mickey Mail yesterday. I had ordered the personalized maps from the WDW website a few weeks ago and kind of forgot about them, so I was super excited to get that little package in my mailbox yesterday! I really like them and love how they come with stickers to put on the maps for your favorites. I also like how they have a whole resort map with the hotels on it. Such fun! Even though he won't really get it, I can't wait to show them to Wes on Monday. He will like the pictures and he loves stickers, so it will be fun.

Amy was supposed to book her flights this week but she didn't get to it. Her dad is visiting from Alabama, so she has been visiting with him and her stepmom. We did have a conversation about Jeff and his grumpiness and she has a theory that I think is probably pretty accurate. She thinks he is going to be fine once we get down there (I agree with this) but she thinks he is being grumpy because he hasn't had a lot of imput in the planning and he is used to being in control ALL the time and doesn't really know what to with himself because he is not for this. I tired to include him a few times, but didn't get a very receptive response so I just did what I thought was right for the whole family. It is going to be great once we are there, it is just getting through the next 9 weeks!

Family dynamics...such fun!!!

Mom and I had a conversation about dinners while we are there. She and I have talked about doing a sit down dinner on Saturday night as I think that would be the best night for all 8 of us to be able to do that. She really liked Trails End when we went a few years ago and since we can't get into a lot of the places we were thinking about going, that one is open and think it would be ok for everyone. She also would really like to take Wes over to the Chip and Dale campfire/sing-a-long since it is at the same basic place. Hopefully that will work out.

The beginning of August has flown by, so hopefully the rest and all of September will as well!!!

 

[BearcatsFan]

More for your dad. I hope the biopsies come out clean.

for Mickey Mail! The remaining weeks are going to fly by for you. Trust me, it seems like just yesterday I was starting my PTR at 100 days to go, and now we're at like 35 days.

 

[Kristi391]

59 days to go!!!

Dad's health update: He is, as I type, at his follow up to the bronchoscopy appointment. I had taken a message from his doctor last Friday (the day after the procedeur) and doc said that he was "Much less concerned now than he was before." So, hopefully today's appointment is easy and we can stop worrying so much!

Trip stuff:
We all have our flights booked!!! Jeff and Amy finally decided today was the day to book and of course the price went up a bit, but we used my Disney Visa so at least we will get some $$$ on my card to use down there! Jeff, Amy and Wes will be on the same flight as Derek and Kelsey and we are all on the same flights going home!!!

This morning, Mom and I were trying to explain to Dad just how big the entire resort is. Dad has been there before, but not for about 13 years and he doesn't always remember things correctly. He thought we would be able to walk from the hotel to all the parks and other hotels! We set him straight and talked to him about how much walking there actually is. Mom told him we are getting him a wheelchair when we go to the parks and he wants no part of that! They are going to talk to his doctor today about him starting a walking program and hopefully that will be a go. My parents have a fantastic .5 mile track just down the street from their house, so if he could start walking there every morning just a lap to start, it would be so beneficial in so many ways!

So, to recap my plans for the first day, mom, dad and I are flying out bright and early Friday morning and should get to MCO at 9:50. I am hoping to get to Pop around 11ish and we can grab a bite to eat there. We are really hoping at least one room is ready, as mom will need a bit of a nap. She works nights and usually gets home around 3am, so since we need to leave for the airport at 4:30, she won't be going to bed. So, if a room is ready mom and probably dad too, will lie down for a little while. I plan to go check out AoA. I CAN'T wait to see it. Last year, mom and I were able to look at the progress over the bridge and so it will be so exciting to see the finished project!

After mom and dad rest (or right away if we can't get into a room) we plan to introduce dad to some resort hopping. Mom loves AKL so we will take dad over there and I really want to see Poly, as I have never been there before. We are undecided about dinner...any suggestions for the 3 of us (not in a park) would be greatly appreciated.

We want to be back at Pop by 8 so we are there when the others arrive! Their flight gets into MCO at 7:15 and they will text me when they land so if we are out and about we can start to head back to the resort. I can't wait for Wes to see all the fun statue things around the property!

Wes, Mom and I watched a few youtube disney videos yesterday. We watched the FOTLK and Wes had lots of fun practicing his animal poses and noises. We also watched a video showing Pop and he loved the big Mickey phone!

Funny side story...we have been talking with Wes about going to Mickey's House and how we have to take a plane to get there. Well, yesterday afternoon we were playing outside and a plane flew overhead so I asked Wes, "Where do you think that plane is going?" because I thought he would say, "To Mickey's house." Well, he looked at me like I was an idiot and said, "To the airport." I guess it was a pretty dumb question on my part!

Upcoming Disney plans:

Mom wants to go see the Timothy Green movie, so that will be a bit of Disney in the next week or so. I really want to check out some craft stores and see what I can do about making a Halloween shirt. There are some fantastic disigns I found on here that I could try doing the iron on, so maybe that will be the route I take...I just want to see what all my options are!

Ok, off to do real life stuff...ugh...I have a ton of laundry to do! Which is way less fun that playing on Disboards!

 

[BearcatsFan]

So glad to read the positive news on your dad! I had to at him thinking you could walk everywhere, though!

DH and I had such fun with all the statues around POP, particularly Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head. And we were in the 80's building, so we had to walk by Roger Rabbit on that huge barrel every morning to catch the bus. You all are going to have a blast!

 

[Kristi391]

So glad to read the positive news on your dad! I had to at him thinking you could walk everywhere, though!

Thank you!!! His doctor said they were just going to keep an eye on the polyps, so no surgery for now!

It was so funny when dad was talking about walking from the hotel to the parks! Hopefully he started walking this morning...although we had heavy rain, so it might have to wait til tomorrow.

 

[Kristi391]

Just want to say hi to all those reading! Glad I am not talking to myself!!!

I don't really have anything new about the trip to report. Hopefully I can talk to Amy and Jeff about some dinner/breakfast options. I am really hoping we can do at least 1, possibly two table service meals with all of us.

Today Mom, Wes and I went shopping. We have some new outlets that opened up near us and I was looking for new sneakers. The Asics outlet opened this week, so I wanted to check that out. They didn't have anything good, but I found the most comfortable sneakers ever at Nike, so I bought those! At Disney we found some great bathing suits for Wes for only $6.59! There was a wicked cute Mickey with a surfboard, but the biggeest size they had was 3T and it looked small, so we went with Buzz in a 4T. We also got a Toy Story tee to go with it. They also had flip flops for really cheap...I think they were $3.99 and an extra 40% off, but when I showed the Buzz ones to Wes he said they were yucky and wouldn't try them on! They also had a whole table of adult tee shirts. I am not a big character wearer, but they had a few that I was thinking would be good for MNSSHP. One that I absolutely LOVED! It was a black v neck with sliver glittery Mickeys going down the side, so it was pretty simple and not very busy...of course they only had xs (never in a million years would that fit) and 2x...if it had just been 1x I would have gotten it, but the 2x would have looked awful. I went online to try to order one, but can't find it. I am going to try the regular (not outlet) Disney store in the mall, but I don't recall them having adult stuff.

I was looking at some old photos and thought I would share a bit of Disney pictoral history...just for fun! (Some of the quality isn't the best!)

I don't have any of my first trip when I was about 13 months old, but the first trip I remember was when I had just turned 6. Jeff is just about the age Wes will be when we go in October, so that is fun to see how much they look alike! We drove from Massachusetts down to Disney for a week, then over to Texas to visit family friends, then, since we were that far west, my parents figured we might as well hit the Grand Canyon! (I don't think they realized just how BIG Texas is...we were in Corpus Christi!)

This is my brother and I during that trip!

Jeff waiting for a parade!

We went again when I was 12 and I don't have any pics of me on that trip, but this is Derek and Jeff.

The next time we went was in 99, but I am having difficulties scanning, so no pics of that trip! That was the last time we went as a family.

I went in 2002, 2003 and 2004 with a friend, but no good pics of those trips. In 2004 I went with mom and cousin and her parents and kids.

Mom at our first stay at Pop!

Me and Jess!

Group

Festival of lights...wish my eyes were open in this pic!

In 2005 I went with my friend Tami and her family to Orlando in March and then in July, Tami and I went for a girls getaway to California!

Tami and I at Epcot.

Crazy long line to get into Disneyland on the 50th anniversary of the park. We got golden mouse ears embroidered with the date as we entered...it was pretty cool.

I loved how they had the number 50 everywhere that year!

I also loved how they had classic "paintings" all over the place that were made out of pics that people had sent in of their vacations to Disneyland!

I went to Disneyland again in 2006 and 2010 (twice) but the best time was when I took Jessica to celebrate her 16th birthday! It was just the 2 of us and we had lots of fun!!!

 

[Kristi391]

53 days to go!

Apparently my dad is feeling better because he is driving me nuts!!!! When mom and I were talking to him last week about all the walking we thought we had convinced him to start walking each day, if even for only a little bit. Well, last Friday he was up early and not really doing anything so I encouraged him to go down to the track before it got too warm. He kept saying he would, but then didn't. Wes, mom and I went out for a while and when we came back I asked dad if he went for a walk. He said, "No, it got too hot." Stuff like that gets me so frustrated!!! I told him walking in the AM would be much better! I didn't see him all weekend, but I know he didn't go walking and this morning I decided that I am not going to keep nagging him about it, if he doesn't want to do this for himself and to make things better, when we are at Disney, he is just going to have to deal with being pushed around in the wheelchair! GRRR!

I had been talking to Derek about dinner on the Saturday we are down there and how I was sad we coldn't get into the restaurants we were hoping to. He works for Fidelity so he was going to try their concierge to see if they could help us. They couldn't. He called me today because the woman he was dealing with offered Be Our Guest and he wanted to know my thoughts on that. I didn't want to do a restaurant in a park because I am not planning on getting hopper passes (I just figured if people wanted to go to Epcot after AK on Saturday they could upgrade their own tickets) so as much as I would like to try a new place, I said no. I also didn't think it would be a great place for Wesley, as he has never seen Beauty and the Beast (and I don't know if he will before we go).

Mom really wants to go to Trails End and then do the campfire thing after so I am going to talk to Amy about it tonight and hope she is ok with that. Also need to see if she wants to do Hollywood and Vine for the breakfast on the day we leave, since we are planning on HS that day anyways.

I have to go back to work on Thursday, which makes me sad. I am really looking forward to my class this year and I am hoping being back on a more normal schedule will make time go by quicker, but I am not looking forward to dealing with some of my principal's craziness (she is a tough one to work for...I feel like I NEVER do anything right with her) and I am going to REALLY miss my days (and nights) with Wes.

 

[Kristi391]

51 days to go!!!

When Amy came to pick up Wes on Monday afternoon she said really wanted to book the Hollywood and Vine breakfast for our last day, so I grabbed my laptop and pulled it up. We were able to get an 8:15 reservation for all 8 of us, although it states that we will not all be seated together. I have never done a character breakfast, but it should be good. We will be in HS, so it seems that, even if we are not completely done with breakfast, one of us could take all the tickets and go get TSM fast passes at 9am when the park opens...is this right? Hopefully that will work out. I have never done TSM in Florida, but I loved it in California.

So, after that ADR was secured, I asked Amy about our Saturday night meal plans and told her what mom was hoping to do (Trails end/campfire sing along after dinner). Amy said that sounded good and we should book that too. So we did and then she started looking at the menu. She said to me, "You can get drinks there, right?" Now, I don't drink (only once in a blue moon) so it doesn't ever occur to me to look at cocktails on a menu. I said to her, "I would think so, but I don't know for sure." She said that Jeff is going to want a drink at dinner and is going to complain if he can't get one and that will be miserable for everyone. I called WDW and while I was waiting to ask, Amy googled it and we found that, no, they don't serve alcohol there. At first I was kind of annoyed thinking, "He can go one dinner without drinking" but then I thought that it's his vacation too, so lets try to see what else we can find that would work. So, we pulled up every restaurant at WDW that had availability for a group of 8 around 6pm. Then we narrowed it down to places NOT in theme parks. Then we looked at each menu and discussed pros and cons for our group and narrowed it down even further. It was quite the process!

There were a few places that Amy thought sounded pretty good and I was open to almost anything...I am pretty picky, but I told Amy, "Hey it's Disney, they cater to kids so if worse comes to worse, I can always get chicken fingers and fries." She said, "No, that's not fair to you." When we pulled up the Whispering Canyon menu Amy got excited! The first thing on the menu was Tinkerbell or Buzz Punch and she was all over that! We scrolled down a bit more and she was thrilled! She loved all the options and thought Jeff would like them too. I told her that mom and I had lunch there before and it was really fun and they did lots of interactions with kids, so that set her mind up even more. She asked if I thought mom would be ok with that option. I said yes and we booked it and our Trail's End was cancelled!!!

I called mom later that night and she was happy with the choice! So, we have our two sit down, all together meals booked! I think the rest of our meals will all be quick service, as we will be in the parks and on the go! Mom, Dad and I might have a table service meal before the others arrive, but I don't know where yet and I think it will be much easier to get a table for 3 than a table for 8, so I am not too concerned, especially if we go at an off time!

So excited that part of the planning is done!!!

The other thing Amy and I discussed was going to Jellyrolls. Amy said we should go Friday night after Wes was asleep...the grandparents would stay with him. I had asked Derek a few weeks ago if he thought Friday night would be a good night to go, but he said he didn't want to go that night after working and then traveling all day. I told Amy this and she thought that was crazy. "We are on vacation! What does he think, we are going to go to bed at 9??? I will change his mind, or maybe just me, you and Kels can go for a girls night out and the boys can stay with the sleeping toddler!" We shall see how that all plays out!


So, I just went to a different website and found that bar service IS available at Trail's End! Oh well, Whispering Canyon will be good!