You Said What to Alice and the White Rabbit?-the end, 1/10 pg 15

[jeremysdisneymom]

I'm still here Erika! I am JUST as bad with my own updates right now, so no apologies necessary!

So GLAD you found (or your friend found) that money!! What an awful feeling!!

We are staying at AKL for our very first time in October and I sure hope we get to see some of the great things y'all did!

Congrats on the waitlist coming through. I always LOVE getting those DVC envelopes in the mail when I'm on a waitlist.

Ready for more... whenever you are!

Hi Sooze! It is hard to update now with school and everything else going on.

You will AKL. We had visited it several times before and really thought I would never want to stay there but it really changed my mind. Not sure what part you are staying in but be sure to check out Kidani. If Ty and Shae are with you, be sure to take them to their pool. They would love it (it's my next post!!!).

I was very excited when my waitlist came through! I really never thought it would happen.

Yay Erika! So glad to find an update!

Glad you found Jeremy's Souvie $$! At least it was at home and not in a trash can!

The view from your room is so cool! I so want to stay there one day!

I'm doing good..counting doen these weeks til baby arrives...I;m ready! The 100 + degree days here in TX are no fun...i basically stay in the house!

I did survive DD's first day of preschool this week! There were tears but I came home and took a nap! Tomorrow is day 2 for her! She loved it...hope she does as well tomorrow as she did on the first day!

Can;t wait to read more updates! I'm going through those Disney Blues right about now!

Yay for you getting the waiting list to come through!

You will definitely have to give AKL a try. However, I don't know if I could ever stay there again and not do savannah view. It really spoils you.

Ugggh, about the heat! That's miserable enough let alone being pregnant.

So glad you got through DD's first day. Jeremy is riding the bus for the first time this year since the elementary kids have their own bus now and I will admit, I was so sad the first day to see him go. Not sure why it was different than me dropping him off but it was! Funny thing is, its an all elementary bus but there has already been 2 fights! And of all things, the one starting the fight was a kindergarten girl!

Good Luck with the Disney Blues! It can be terrible! We are heading back in November but not sure about next year. We have another land we are wanting to visit next summer.................... More on that later!

 

[MeMom]

School should be interesting this year. Jeremy is in 4th grade and they switch teachers. He seems to be adjusting fine. The district has placed a lot of expectations on the teachers and went so far to tell some that if their test scores don't come up, they would have to find another job next year. In reality, I think they are putting more pressure on the students. He doesn't go to school now until 9 and gets out at 4. He is exhausted when he comes home and often times has homework. He only has 10 minutes of recess a day and 30 minutes lunch. Beyond that, it is all instructional time. They are not allowed to have anything "fun" during the day that is not instructional in nature. Will see how it goes.....

This sounds very familiar. Beat the teachers more to get the kids to perform better so that numbers in boxes can look good. On the way down the hall, be doing Math problems. On the way to lunch, be reciting Vocabulary. Never give them a minute to relax or learn how to socialize with each other. Put all your fun in a box and put a heavy lid on it. Work, work, work - teach to the test. Yep, that sound very, very familiar. Don't you know how this makes kids so anxious to get up and go to school every day?!?!?

Can you tell that I will be more than ready to retire when my time comes?

 

[DisMomAmy]

I like doing PTO but we have a new supt. who is making life difficult for us. We can no longer do anything during the school day (ie. Santa Shop, Mother's Day Flower Sale) unless we do it at lunch time. The students barely have enough time to eat their lunch let alone do those things as well. If this continues, I am afraid he is going to make a lot of parents want to quit PTO. It is very frustrating. What fun activites does your PTO do? I am always looking for new ideas!

We have a back to school BBQ, which is keeping me busy right now, a father/daughter dance, a mother/son event (in the past it was dances but last year we did a bowling night, not sure about this year yet), ice cream social, green eggs & ham lunch during Read Across America week, an end of year family dance, planting flowers around the school with the first graders, teacher appreciation lunch... that's pretty much it for events. We went to a minor league baseball game a couple times but interst faded so we're taking a break from that. As far as fundraising events, we have a boring fundraiser every fall (selling wrapping paper, flower bulbs & school apparel), we hold a craft fair every November that raises money for the 5th graders to go to a week of environmental camp. We have a tiny school that feeds into a very large middle school so the camp is nice because our school goes the same week as several of the other smaller schools. We also run the Friday pizza lunch program, which actually raises a little money & we do a really fun spring funraiser with the art teacher where parents can buy their kids' artwork in various formats (mugs, tshirts, quilt squares, matted prints). We sell pies at Thanksgiving.

What do you guys do? I'd love some new ideas!

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

It seems that these updates from me keeping coming too few and far between. I promise to do better. I want to have this trip done before we leave in November for Thanksgiving.

To recap what has happened so far, we were pixie dusted with a savannah view room, Tom snored in the lobby at AKL, a crane had laid an egg outside our room, and the beds squeaked all night long! It was the makings of a great trip.

Tom had rather frankly stated that he did not want "run to death" this trip and would like to go with the flow. It took some will but I did not plan any park days this trip other than those involving sit down meals. I did make a daily index card with the park hours, shows, etc. but nothing was planned.

So, guess where we went our first day? Here's a clue....

If you guessed the pool at Kidani Village then you were right!
I think it is called Samawati Springs. We got there super early to stake out our spot. They didn't even have the slide or children's play area open. It was very relaxing and lots of fun once everything was running. Jeremy had a blast as you can see. It is a great place for kids.

I think he was pretending to fight off the alligator for my picture!

The slide was very fun! I know....I gave it several tries as well.

(continued in next post.....it may be a bit...I have to run to the bank!)

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

The only drawback to the Kidani pool was that the bar area was not open when we were there at lunch time so we had to go back to Jambo House for lunch. It ended up being okay since the rains started coming while we were eating! After lunch and a quick nap for the boys, we headed to EPCOT.

Our first ride was none other than Spaceship Earth! As you can can see, Jeremy and I rode together and Tom was beside himself.

And away we gooo..............

As always, we really like this ride. It is so relaxing and I just love the earth scene. Afterwards, we checked out some of the activities.

Jeremy and I started this game but Tom took over for me. Goodness, there would be no power in the city if I had to play this!

It was getting close to our dinner ressie time so we made it over to the Garden Grill. We have eaten here every trip once we discovered the dining plan. It used to be one of Jeremy's favorites and high on mine and Tom's list. However, the menu had changed some this trip and it was probably one of the worst meals we had. I don't think we will be going back here anytime soon. As always, the characters here are great and Jeremy would get up and get a picture with them.

Jeremy with the Living with the Land ride in the back.

Look, the tween actually gave a character a hug and he is smiling about it!

After dinner, we headed to what I think is a very cute ride but Tom thinks is very annoying. He can never get the song out of his head....Imagination.....Imagination...... you know how it goes.....
Jeremy likes being a conductor at the end!

I love all the fountains at EPCOT!

We decided that since the wait for all rides were long and fast passes were gone, we would enjoy a stroll around the world. Imagine my surprise when I saw that these guys were still up.

I know I will eventually make it to the Flower and Garden Festival............................................

(continued in next post)

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

I wanted to start on the Canadian side but Jeremy was in the mood to ride something so we thought Mexico would be the perfect start!

After a quick ride in search of Donald Duck and Jeremy's search for the perfect sombrero (no, he didn't get one right then), we continued our trek around the world. I was super excited when we came out and saw the Mexico Donald was out. We had never seen him before. However, the tween was not a bit thrilled. He refused to get in line. So, what does a tween's mom do? Jumps in line herself! Guess what?! That embarrassed the tween more so he decided to get in line himself! I was glad he did and I think he enjoyed himself. I just love these pictures!

On to the land of Vikings!

Maelstrom had a ridiculously long wait so we kept moving on to China.

We had never set and watched the China film but did this time. I can remember doing this with my parents when I was younger and the thing made me motion sick. However, it didn't this time and we all really enjoyed it.

Afterwards, we spent some time browsing the shops. I think there are some really neat things in China. It was at this point that Jeremy had his sights set on something he really wanted, however his father did not. Tom thought it was a waste of money. Knowing Jeremy, I knew he would have a lot of fun with the toy. So, Tom and I conferred and agreed that he would have to buy it from his money and that when he ran out to not ask us.

With bag in hand, we continued on to Germany.

We stopped in the caramel shop and got some caramel popcorn.

Of course, Jeremy spent a long time looking at the trains.

We were getting tired given the fact we had just walked halfway around the world so we took the boat back and went to see Nemo and his friends before heading back to the resort.

I love this hidden Mickey!

It had been a great day and a wonderful start to our vacation.

Oh, I almost forgot. Here is a picture of what Jeremy purchased in China. That poor Ostrich was all over the room at AKL and BLT and has since been all over my house!

Up Next....
Our new favorite restaurant with a special guest.
Is something wrong with Jeremy?

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

One more little update....(yes, I am on a roll today)

I was able to book the Tomorrowland Terrace Wishes Dessert Party for November 23rd! That is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Jeremy knows I have been trying but I may keep it a secret that I was successful. He was sooo excited when I told him last week that I got us two more nights at the Boardwalk. He even thanked me and gave me a big hug!

I did cancel the dinner reservations I made as we decided that the dining plan is too much for us and especially me. So, I booked Chefs de France and and a Crystal Palace breakfast. I also booked a CP package at Le Cellier the last day we are there. That should be a fun way to end our vacation. We plan on actually eating off property some this trip.

One more thing...l finally broke down and got on facebook. So, please pm if you would like to be friends and I can give you my info. Would love to keep up with all my dis friends there as well!

 

[Poolrat]

What a great set of updates!!!

Fun at the pool and EPCOT.

I will pm you about FB.


I can't wait to try out the AKL pools.

 

[reelmom]

Oh yes, the puppets. My DH and I had that same conversation a few years ago with our boys. The boys won out and we have two dragon puppets that haven't been played with since they got in the car after they were bought. And everytime we pass by the kiosk that sells them, they both want another one. Crazy kids.

 

[MEK]

Just found your TR and subbing. Will be back to read very soon!

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

What a great set of updates!!!

Fun at the pool and EPCOT.

I will pm you about FB.


I can't wait to try out the AKL pools.

You will love their pools---Very nice! I like Kidani's the best. Are you staying in Jambo or Kidani?

Oh yes, the puppets. My DH and I had that same conversation a few years ago with our boys. The boys won out and we have two dragon puppets that haven't been played with since they got in the car after they were bought. And everytime we pass by the kiosk that sells them, they both want another one. Crazy kids.

Guess what, I noticed Jeremy's in the corner of his room yesterday. Sort of made me mad. I will know better in the future.

Just found your TR and subbing. Will be back to read very soon!

Welcome! I have been enjoying your girls trip. You take some great pictures. I actually explored Moracco more this trip after see all your great pictures from there. That is later on. Glad you are here.

 

[lbuzz52]

that pool area looks really fun!
sounds like you have some nice times set up for your November trip! I can't wait to do the Dessert party next trip!

 

[MeMom]

It was getting close to our dinner ressie time so we made it over to the Garden Grill. We have eaten here every trip once we discovered the dining plan. It used to be one of Jeremy's favorites and high on mine and Tom's list. However, the menu had changed some this trip and it was probably one of the worst meals we had. I don't think we will be going back here anytime soon. .


I know I will eventually make it to the Flower and Garden Festival............................................

We are glad we tried Garden Grill, but for the price, it wasn't a big hit with us. The character interaction was very good, and the food was fine. It just didn't go on the 'must do again' list.

Flower and Garden is lovely. After a cold winter, it is incredible to see all the pretty flowers and greenery.

 

[Poolrat]

I have a savannah view at Jambo house booked. I am driving DVC nuts by calling almost every other day to check on Dec 29-31. Have rooms for the 29th and 30th but nothing for the 31st. The points for a 1 bedroom are nuts so I am trying to stick to a studio.


I sent you a pm. Try FB again, I adjusted my privacy settings so you should be able to find me now.

 

[MEK]

Welcome! I have been enjoying your girls trip. You take some great pictures. I actually explored Moracco more this trip after see all your great pictures from there. That is later on. Glad you are here.

Thanks. Glad you are enjoying our TR and the pix!!!!

I am all caught up on your TR. I know all about the tween thing. By the time my tween was 13 he was practically done with Disney. It's a tough age, so good luck cause it gets tougher before it gets better!

You view is awesome! I can't believe the CM said the 3pm check in is for the "paying" guests. That type of comment could get him in trouble, so I would hope he just wasn't thinking when he said it. I'm hoping it just came out wrong.

Congrats on getting BWI for November. I have never stayed there yet, but I hope to either next summer or next fall.

Looking forward to more!

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Quick update today! I was home sick yesterday so I am behind on housework, laundry, you name it!

Well, I have some bad news and some good news! For the bad news, it looks like the Christmas trip will be shorter than planned and less one member. Tom's part-time job with the squad comes to an end the end of this month due to a new law in Ohio that requires drivers to have more certification. Therefore, he has decided to get his EMT certifcation again. Yes, I say again because he had it several years ago and let it lapse once he went to work with the sheriff's office. So, he lucked out and a new course just started that he was able to join. However, it runs until the first of December and he will have to use a lot of vacation time to attend so there is no way he can go the week of Thanksgiving or even later in December.

So, Jeremy and I will be going solo! I am actually looking forward to it as I know he and I will have a blast and it will be the first time we have ever done anything just the two of us. Tom insisted that we both go as well so that made it a lot easier. I am going to spend the afternoon looking for flights and changing things around. We will probably come home the day before Thanksgiving which means we will miss the candlelight processional but that is okay.

For the good news, Tom wants to go over Spring Break! So, I have to do some work on that as well. It looks like those AP's are going to pay for themselves after all. Plus, I will finally get to see the Flower and Garden Festival!!

Hope to have another update up tomorrow and an update on all of our changes.

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

that pool area looks really fun!
sounds like you have some nice times set up for your November trip! I can't wait to do the Dessert party next trip!

See my post on page 6. My November trip is changing some. Still not sure if I will do the dessert party or not. It will depend on airline prices today!

The pool was a lot of fun.

We are glad we tried Garden Grill, but for the price, it wasn't a big hit with us. The character interaction was very good, and the food was fine. It just didn't go on the 'must do again' list.

Flower and Garden is lovely. After a cold winter, it is incredible to see all the pretty flowers and greenery.

I am going to Flower and Garden!!!! See my latest post. I am super excited as I always wanted to see it!!

I have a savannah view at Jambo house booked. I am driving DVC nuts by calling almost every other day to check on Dec 29-31. Have rooms for the 29th and 30th but nothing for the 31st. The points for a 1 bedroom are nuts so I am trying to stick to a studio.


I sent you a pm. Try FB again, I adjusted my privacy settings so you should be able to find me now.

I found you on FB and sent you a message. I loved staying in Jambo House. While I liked the pool at Kidani, there is no counter service other than a few offerings at the pool bar which was closed while we were there. I know what you mean about the one bedroom. Those points are outrageous!!! We are sticking to the studio as long as we can. I am not sure if your son is going with you (I think I read he was) but be careful about the sleeper bed. We didn't realize it until the end of our stay but the vent was over it and Jeremy got a bad cold with the air on him all night.

Thanks. Glad you are enjoying our TR and the pix!!!!

I am all caught up on your TR. I know all about the tween thing. By the time my tween was 13 he was practically done with Disney. It's a tough age, so good luck cause it gets tougher before it gets better!

You view is awesome! I can't believe the CM said the 3pm check in is for the "paying" guests. That type of comment could get him in trouble, so I would hope he just wasn't thinking when he said it. I'm hoping it just came out wrong.

Congrats on getting BWI for November. I have never stayed there yet, but I hope to either next summer or next fall.

Looking forward to more!

I dread the day when Disney is not as much fun to him! I keep my fingers crossed that it will never come.

We loved AKL and really lucked out on the view. I was soo excited.

I am looking forward to the Boardwalk. Jeremy cannot wait to give that scary clown pool a try! I am sure he will be in it even if the weather is not so warm in November.

 

[Poolrat]

I found you on FB and sent you a message. I loved staying in Jambo House. While I liked the pool at Kidani, there is no counter service other than a few offerings at the pool bar which was closed while we were there. I know what you mean about the one bedroom. Those points are outrageous!!! We are sticking to the studio as long as we can. I am not sure if your son is going with you (I think I read he was) but be careful about the sleeper bed. We didn't realize it until the end of our stay but the vent was over it and Jeremy got a bad cold with the air on him all night.

Thanks for the tip on the studio. You may need to send me another message. I didn't get a request yet.

Chris is planning to go and we have flights booked. However I am not sure if he can stay the whole time due to school but we are planning on it.

 

[MeMom]

You and Jeremy will have a blast! You won't have to worry about Dad getting tired of it, and he will be more ready to go back and enjoy it in the spring. You will love going in the spring, especially if the winter is as long and drawn out as it was last year!

I'm going to try to find you on FB, too.

 

[shannon47142]

your pool time looked fun

your next trip should also be fun for the two of you but Im sorry Tom cant make it