"You and me, we're in a club now!" - a DFTW/Disneymoon/Vacay August 2017 PTR

[ariane37]

I'm also excited because I was able to change our PPO breakfast ADR at BOG from 8:20 to 8:05 the other day, and that makes me feel awesome about planning and whatnot!

I just set up an alert with TP for a PPO BOG breakfast for our trip next month. We did that once before on our departure day, we have to catch ME around 2 so it'll give us just a little more park time that day.

And fingers crossed for being able to hit 7DMT afterwards now. YAS.

You should have no problem! We had an 8am last time and got on Mine Train twice before the RD crowd ran in!

Great news about Discovery Cove While it's not up my alley it's something my sister would LOVE and I've heard so many great things about it. Sounds like N will have a wonderful time!

 

[once_upon_a_melora]

Just finished reading your last trip report and had to come follow your adventures here! I'm from East Coast Canada tooo (NS) and heading to Disney World for the first time in February. Can't wait to see all your plans

 

[vamassey1]

I'm here I'm going back to read and get up to speed.

 

[Ladyfish77]

Joining in your PTR. Have enjoyed it so far! Congratulations on your engagement and upcoming wedding!

I'm a braille transcriber to pay the bills

Cool job!

performance artist doing spray paint art. (Shameless promo of his FB page!)

Awesome! I checked out his FB page--he is very talented! My DS is a balloon twister, so I have an idea of the crazy schedule of a performance artist!

So it only made sense to start planning a Disney Fairytale Wedding (DFTW).

Congrats! Have fun with the planning and be sure to ENJOY your wedding.

Aug. 19-22: Polynesian

Yay! I'm staying at the Poly this fall for the first time! It's a beautiful resort.

My BFF has Celiac's. We traveled together for a "significant" birthday trip on a cruise, which we chose because it looked like they could accommodate her diet. It went well. Glad Disney is also good with it. FYI if you happen to be driving around (always around--never through) the DC area, here's a link to a wonderful restaurant in Northern Virginia that handles gluten free very well: http://www.choicesbyshawn.com/about_us

And, because everyone has advice, I'll throw in my 2 cents: No matter how much you plan (and we all over plan our weddings) someone will not be happy with a part of the planning. Don't let others ruin your day. You can never please everyone, so don't waste your time or your emotions trying to. Just do what you think is best and move on. Have a wonderful event!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Subscribed....loved your December TR! Congratulations on your engagement and your upcoming wedding. A Disney wedding was always my dream.
A fellow Canadian here, moved from Vermont to Kissimmee 2 years ago, (after my DH passed away ).
Stayed at AKL for the first time last year when my 20 year old DN came to visit me from Montreal, we both fell in love with it.
It's funny, I spent more time at Disney when I lived in Vermont. Now I live 25 minutes away and have only been 4 times in 2 years.
I'll use the reason that I had major foot surgery
I really enjoy your writing, looking forward to reading everything up to and including your amazing wedding!

Thanks so much for the well wishes, and for following along both here, and on our December TR! We're getting so excited—you're right, a Disney wedding is definitely the dream. We feel pretty blessed...even if we will be melting in August! It's great to hear from another Canadian! We've got to stick together! N and I have jokingly mentioned looking for jobs down south and moving to Central Florida someday...but the more we talk about it the less it seems like a joke.

AKL is so beautiful! We toyed with the idea of going back there again, especially when passholder deals came out last week and the rate was so good compared to what we'd pay for Poly...but in the end Poly won out. It's so gorgeous, and N is itching to stay there, and neither of us have ever stayed at a monorail resort before. I don't know when we'll be able to swing it again if not this time, so we kept the reservation. But we're definitely enthused to be going back to visit for a couple of meals!

It's funny how we never seem to visit tourist attractions near our own homes! I'm envious you're so close to the Mouse though! And I hope your foot has been healing well.

 

[MeghanEmily]

A big to everyone who's dropped in to this thread!! You all make me so happy. As the young folks say: Foe realz!

Just finished reading your last trip report and had to come follow your adventures here! I'm from East Coast Canada tooo (NS) and heading to Disney World for the first time in February. Can't wait to see all your plans

Thanks for reading and for following me here! NS isn't too big, maybe we've crossed paths and never known! Always nice to see another Maritimer on here, and it actually happens more frequently than I would have expected. I figured I'd be one of the very few! You're going to have the most amazing time!! February is an awesome time to go for crowds and weather (while the locals usually find it cold, I could go without long sleeves many afternoons with no problem.)

I'm here I'm going back to read and get up to speed.

Nice to "see" you—thanks so much for dropping in! I loved reading about your family, so I've been going back and reading some of your older TRs, too. Right now I've started the girls trip you did with Danielle, Tena, and Bailey. What a wild ride! I'm an only child, but Nathan has 3 sisters...I don't know how we'd do traveling alone with them!

Joining in your PTR. Have enjoyed it so far! Congratulations on your engagement and upcoming wedding!

Thank you! And thanks for joining the fun

Cool job!

Thanks, I think so! It was a totally new skill and new field for me. Strange how you can just fall into something. It's pretty rewarding to make books for students who wouldn't be able to do the same school work as their sighted peers without us.

Awesome! I checked out his FB page--he is very talented! My DS is a balloon twister, so I have an idea of the crazy schedule of a performance artist!

Thanks for checking it out! He's come a long way, and I still get blown away by his paintings once in a while. Isn't the life of a performance artist crazy sometimes!? It's been worth it for us, though, and Nathan loves what he does.

My BFF has Celiac's. We traveled together for a "significant" birthday trip on a cruise, which we chose because it looked like they could accommodate her diet. It went well. Glad Disney is also good with it. FYI if you happen to be driving around (always around--never through) the DC area, here's a link to a wonderful restaurant in Northern Virginia that handles gluten free very well: http://www.choicesbyshawn.com/about_us

Oooh, thank you for the tip! That could come in very handy depending on our route and where we make pit stops. Looks like a wonderful place with a great story.

And, because everyone has advice, I'll throw in my 2 cents: No matter how much you plan (and we all over plan our weddings) someone will not be happy with a part of the planning. Don't let others ruin your day. You can never please everyone, so don't waste your time or your emotions trying to. Just do what you think is best and move on. Have a wonderful event!

Thanks for this. I'm trying to stay in this mindset and go with the flow. I've always been a people pleaser, but I find the older I get the more I grow out of it! Life's too short, especially on one of the biggest days of our lives.

 

[vamassey1]

Nice to "see" you—thanks so much for dropping in! I loved reading about your family, so I've been going back and reading some of your older TRs, too. Right now I've started the girls trip you did with Danielle, Tena, and Bailey. What a wild ride! I'm an only child, but Nathan has 3 sisters...I don't know how we'd do traveling alone with them!

That trip was very different from the wedding trip. I'm glad it's in the past. So far I've gotten two of my sisters to go to Disney. I have a half sister that goes all the time. I just have 1 more to get there.

I'm up to speed and loving your report. Both my girls would love to be Disney friends. Danielle was a Disney friend yesterday at the Special Olympics held at her high school. I told Belle once at CRT that Michelle wanted to be her, while perfectly in character she told me "But there's only one me". I think you make a great Belle and Anna.

I feel for you on the family drama. This was one of the reasons we went with a small Disney wedding. I hope it gets better before August.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Plans Change...and That's Okay

First of all, I just want to say how exciting it has been to see some extra activity and some new faces on this thread! You all are awesome. It does a Dis-loving girl's heart good!

So today is Good Friday. Happy Easter weekend, everyone! N and I have pretty chill plans this weekend. I have four days off work. We're celebrating at church with my mom on Sunday and going out for lunch afterwards, but the rest of the weekend is just us taking a much-needed break. This is the last weekend N won't be away painting somewhere between now and the wedding, so we're looking at it as a mini vacation. Tomorrow we're having "Easter breakfast" with ham, eggs, sweet potato hash, etc, (I'm not even counting calories or anything ALL weekend!) and we're spending part of the day catching up on all the superhero tv shows we're behind on. And earlier today, I surprised N with a trip to the zoo!

We met llamas. One guy told me a secret, and one guy chewed on my shirt. I was so giggly.

So I alluded in my last update that there may be some changing of plans for the Disneymoon, but that nothing was settled. Well...now it's settled! (At least for now.) Which is exciting, and also feels good when you're an obsessive someone who thrives on "settled" in all aspects of her life.

Originally we were spending Aug. 16-26 in Orlando, and I had a schedule all worked out which included a day at Busch Gardens in Tampa (I haven't been since I was a kid, and N's never been. Admission is included in our Discovery Cove ticket, so we wanted to take advantage!) and our last day before driving home was at Daytona beach. I was waiting on passholder deals, and had also heard rumors that Aug. 25 might be the first time that Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) started in August. I've never done a Halloween party, and I'm always working or in school in September/October, so that appealed to me...

Passholder deals came out, and we were able to upgrade our room at CSR to a King preferred room and still save money over our original reservation, which was great! We had already booked our Poly stay under the summertime discount, but we weren't able to find any availability at all with the passholder deals for a standard room at Poly on the first day they came out. Shoot!!

Shortly after it was revealed that MNSSHP would, indeed, begin on Aug. 25. We could go!! But wait...I did NOT factor that into our schedule. I didn't want to sacrifice the time we had set aside to do other things, and I didn't want to try to cram too much into our days knowing that I don't do well with the heat and would need frequent breaks in August...so what to do...?

I took it to N and we discussed... we decided we had time and money to do 2 of these three options: MNSSHP, Busch, or Daytona. We were leaning toward cutting the beach but were having a hard time pulling the trigger...until I figured it out...and suggested cutting our pit stop in NYC on the drive home...and adding ANOTHER night at Disney! As much as we wanted to do New York, we live closer to NYC than Florida and it's easier to visit on a long weekend some other time. It would also be more ideal to see NYC (since N's never been) at a time when we'd be less rushed and could do more. We were even going to be there on awkward days when we wouldn't be able to fit in more than one Broadway show. We could do better. We both agreed.

So now we needed another night booked at Disney. We couldn't change our stay at my grandmother's timeshare at the end of our trip, so we decided to book one more Disney night after that. We wanted to save some money so we were planning to book a value for that night...but then I got on the phone with Disney...many many MANY times...like, I have the number memorized now...I won't go into the long story that was my calling experience... and I finally got the passholder deal on our stay at Poly! Which saved us $160!! Which just happened to be the difference between booking a value night on the passholder rate and booking a night at Wilderness Lodge on the passholder rate!

I've been wanting to stay at WL for quite some time now (@xlsm's preference for it has been very persuasive!) and now I'm psyched that I'll have one night there to get a little taste of it and decide whether we should try to stay there again on another full trip someday.

So now we're in the process of changing plans around. Most things stay the same, but originally our Busch Gardens day was Aug. 26th. Now we're planning to move it back to the 24th because now that we have another Disney reservation we'll have access to EMH at AK on the 26th incase we miss out on any Pandora stuff, etc.

Yay!

In other news, we've decided for our January 5K trip that we'd like to try to book a family suite at All Star Music for myself, N, and my mom. All Stars will be new to some of us, and we like the idea of being all together and having a kitchenette. We're also planning to invite my grandmother along for the ride, but no word on that yet. She's been away visiting and helping out an aunt who lives in China and just had surgery, but she'll be home soon and we'll chat about it then.

Wishing you all a fabulous and restful weekend, and that those of you who celebrate Easter enjoy your festivities. ​

 

[Raeven]

So today is Good Friday. Happy Easter weekend, everyone!

Happy Easter!

(At least for now.) Which is exciting, and also feels good when you're an obsessive someone who thrives on "settled" in all aspects of her life.

I totally get it I hate when we have to decide on things and haven't "settled" on anything yet.

I was waiting on passholder deals, and had also heard rumors that Aug. 25 might be the first time that Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) started in August. I've never done a Halloween party, and I'm always working or in school in September/October, so that appealed to me...

I've seen people complain about more parties, and I don't get why because this is why it's a good idea. Some people can't go in September/October and everyone should get to celebrate Halloween at Disney!

We were leaning toward cutting the beach but were having a hard time pulling the trigger...until I figured it out...and suggested cutting our pit stop in NYC on the drive home...and adding ANOTHER night at Disney! As much as we wanted to do New York, we live closer to NYC than Florida and it's easier to visit on a long weekend some other time.

You completely made the right decision. On our first trip I actually planned a weekend in NYC prior to going to Disney and once we got to more planning I ended up cutting it out and I think it was for the best. We've gone to NYC another time and didn't enjoy it as much; but I think it would've been way too much to put them both in the same trip.

I won't go into the long story that was my calling experience... and I finally got the passholder deal on our stay at Poly! Which saved us $160!! Which just happened to be the difference between booking a value night on the passholder rate and booking a night at Wilderness Lodge on the passholder rate!

I've been wanting to stay at WL for quite some time now (@xlsm's preference for it has been very persuasive!) and now I'm psyched that I'll have one night there to get a little taste of it and decide whether we should try to stay there again on another full trip someday.

Ooo we're staying at the WL for the first time in May I'll let you know all about it!

 

[2disneywego]

Woo hoo for you staying at WL! DH and I stayed there in a 1 bedroom villa for a week in 2009, absolutely amazing, loved everything about it. My nephew loved AKL, but I think WL was a close second.

As far as the wedding, remember it's the day for DH and you.

I'm the anti-wedding person. DH and I got married 7 weeks after we decided to, in our living room and we cherished those memories for the next 16 years. It suited "us" perfectly.

And believe me, we got more hassle about from everyone than we could believe. Luckily DH and I were in total agreement and it never caused a problem between us.

My MIL (wow, could I tell stories....) got up, left our house and wouldn't speak to my DH just because she knew we were going to tell her we were getting married!!

Funny story regarding name change, my (slightly unstable) sister screamed at me during the wedding ceremony (over the Reverend) because I was taking my DH name. Then she stormed out,slamming the door so hard she broke a window.

Luckily I'm used to her, she's no longer in my life after deserting me when my DH passes, so it didn't upset me.

I had a total of 18 years with my my DH, my soul mate, my DH, and I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world.

Sorry for TMI. Just trying to say that your love for your DF shines through everything you write and to hold onto that, ignore the "noise", and the people who love you will be there for you.

And, you never know, there may be a few lurker DIS people wishing you the best your special day!!!!!!

 

[vamassey1]

Happy Easter!

Fabulous news. Another day in Disney and another great resort. I've always wanted to stay there. And going to the Halloween Party is even better.

We're staying in a ASMU family suite for the first time next month. I hoping it will give us some space but at the same time be able to watch over the teenagers.

 

[MeghanEmily]

I've seen people complain about more parties, and I don't get why because this is why it's a good idea. Some people can't go in September/October and everyone should get to celebrate Halloween at Disney!

Yeah I've noticed that too. And I get that August is really early to start celebrating Halloween, and that Disney is totally just making as much money as they can out of the events...but obviously there are people who want to go that early if Disney thinks it'll be profitable to offer the parties. I think it's great for those of us who don't typically get the chance to go in the Fall.

You completely made the right decision. On our first trip I actually planned a weekend in NYC prior to going to Disney and once we got to more planning I ended up cutting it out and I think it was for the best. We've gone to NYC another time and didn't enjoy it as much; but I think it would've been way too much to put them both in the same trip.

I hope you're right, but it definitely feels like the right decision. I like New York, and I think Nathan will enjoy things about it at least, but it doesn't need to be done this trip, and it doesn't really fit anymore. I think we'd feel too rushed in both places.

Ooo we're staying at the WL for the first time in May I'll let you know all about it!

Oh yay! Let me know what you think of it! I'll keep an eye out if there's a trip report.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Woo hoo for you staying at WL! DH and I stayed there in a 1 bedroom villa for a week in 2009, absolutely amazing, loved everything about it. My nephew loved AKL, but I think WL was a close second.

As far as the wedding, remember it's the day for DH and you.

I'm the anti-wedding person. DH and I got married 7 weeks after we decided to, in our living room and we cherished those memories for the next 16 years. It suited "us" perfectly.

And believe me, we got more hassle about from everyone than we could believe. Luckily DH and I were in total agreement and it never caused a problem between us.

My MIL (wow, could I tell stories....) got up, left our house and wouldn't speak to my DH just because she knew we were going to tell her we were getting married!!

Funny story regarding name change, my (slightly unstable) sister screamed at me during the wedding ceremony (over the Reverend) because I was taking my DH name. Then she stormed out,slamming the door so hard she broke a window.

Luckily I'm used to her, she's no longer in my life after deserting me when my DH passes, so it didn't upset me.

I had a total of 18 years with my my DH, my soul mate, my DH, and I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world.

Sorry for TMI. Just trying to say that your love for your DF shines through everything you write and to hold onto that, ignore the "noise", and the people who love you will be there for you.

And, you never know, there may be a few lurker DIS people wishing you the best your special day!!!!!!

Oh I'm so glad to hear you had such a great stay at WL! We're really looking forward to it. We're AKL people, so I think we'll like WL for the similarly rustic/cozy vibe. And I'm excited to see the grounds, and I love the idea of boat service to MK.

I'm actually kind of anti-wedding, myself. I had a few friends/acquaintances get married recently, and it seems every wedding I go to makes me feel more like I'm not a "wedding person." I love love, but a lot of the traditions and little details of weddings get lost on me as unnecessary. I'm usually a details kinda person, but when it's all for one day, I know people get really stressed and that's not how I want to spend my wedding day as much as possible.

Crazy stories with the in-laws! But I'm so glad your DH was such a true soul mate for you and you cherish the time you had together. It's inspiring!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Happy Easter!

Fabulous news. Another day in Disney and another great resort. I've always wanted to stay there. And going to the Halloween Party is even better.

We're staying in a ASMU family suite for the first time next month. I hoping it will give us some space but at the same time be able to watch over the teenagers.

We're getting excited for the Halloween party! Now we need tickets to go on sale, and we need to start thinking costumes...

I'd love to hear how you like the ASMU suite! Hopefully it'll work well for you.

 

[vamassey1]

I'd love to hear how you like the ASMU suite! Hopefully it'll work well for you.

I'll be sure to let you know.

 

[krrrristen]

I finished reading your proposal TR yesterday and just completed this one... 2 seconds ago!

First off--I am definitely a baseball cap girl so I LOVE your baseball hat Mickey ears! Too cute, they look awesome!

DBF and I are in the final stages of pulling the trigger on a Busch Gardens AP (I work about 10 minutes away and get a discount! ). Let me know if you guys have time to meet up on your day there!

 

[MeghanEmily]

I finished reading your proposal TR yesterday and just completed this one... 2 seconds ago!

First off--I am definitely a baseball cap girl so I LOVE your baseball hat Mickey ears! Too cute, they look awesome!

DBF and I are in the final stages of pulling the trigger on a Busch Gardens AP (I work about 10 minutes away and get a discount! ). Let me know if you guys have time to meet up on your day there!

Thanks so much for coming over here next! That's such a great perk to get a discount and be so close to Busch! Once we get our schedules sorted we will probably have time for a meet up!

 

[missangelalexis]

That picture with the llama is SO cute!!

Ohh those sound like good plan changes! How exciting that you will get to go to MNSSHP and stay a night at Wilderness Lodge! I think you made the right decision in cutting out NYC this time around. One day definitely wouldn't be enough there!!

 

[MeghanEmily]

That picture with the llama is SO cute!!

Ohh those sound like good plan changes! How exciting that you will get to go to MNSSHP and stay a night at Wilderness Lodge! I think you made the right decision in cutting out NYC this time around. One day definitely wouldn't be enough there!!

Thanks! We're feeling really good about the changes. I'm pretty psyched about WL. We wouldn't be able to make it work without passholder deals (25% off for that night!), at least not this time around, so it worked out great!

 

[KathyM2]

Pretty much read your whole PTR albeit quickly so forgive me if I missed something!

our Disney Fairytale Wedding is going to be a dream that neither of us thought would be possible for us.

This is so cool, I'm so excited for you!!!

while home visiting this week I was able to go to our international mailbox

Hilarious. A lot of my friends do this with boxes in Buffalo for all that great US online shopping.

And probably my favourite purchase...a TEENY TINY BOOKBAG!

This is the best. I bought one of these a few months ago even though I had no firm Disney trip plans, I always thought it would make the perfect park bag.

we've decided for our January 5K

Oh what? do you have a PTR for that one too? Do you mean the 5K run? I totally want to do a RunDisney one day...they just never seem to fall at times when I can go...sigh...