The Harrisons Take on the World - August 2011

[tyandskyesmom]

Hi all! It's been a long time since I have really hung out over here but I need something Disney to cling to for the next 64 days so I figured I'd start by telling you about my upcoming trip and the plans that are in place so far...and then continue into a trip report when we return...ok? K!

So here's the story...

Well, coming home on the plane from our last trip in April the kids, well Skyler mainly, cause she's a Daddy's Girl...and he's a sucker....said she wanted to bring Daddy back because it has been a long time since he went with us. See our last three trips have been sans Daddy. So we have spent over 35 days in The World while he vacationed at home... Hey, it works for all of us! But back to the story. So, she is going on about it and Tyler jumps in (I think because he's had a lot of estrogen on his vacations in the past three trips...not that he has a problem with it, he's good with princesses and all but an evened out playing field probably sounded good right about now!). So I tell them that if they want that to happen, they will have to start cutting back on the extras...meaning not eating out all the time, not begging for stupid toys that they will play with once and never again, etc. And they say ok. In fact, they both had spending money with them from Christmas and their birthdays (one just after Christmas and one just before Easter) that they did not spend all of and they both said it was going into the savings for our next trip to Mickey's.

And you know what???? They came home and the first thing Skye did was take out all her left over money and stuff it into the change jar...and Tyler followed her. Truthfully, I did not really expect an 11 year old (Tyler) and a 6 year old (Skyler) to do that...especially without coaxing...but lo and behold, miracles do happen! So we told Daddy what they were doing and he said he'd believe it when he sees it. And we went to bed.

The next day after school and work Skyler asks when we are going to count the change in the jar. They love counting the change in that jar! So we did. And we were off to a good little start.

The next day at work I decided to figure out the "when, where, and how much" of a Disney Vacation. I tried various senarios...different resorts...different dining plans...different tickets. I finally came up with a plan that sounded like something do-able with a medium amount of being good on the money spending front.

I decided we'd venture out from July 14, 2011 thru July 31, 2011. The first eleven nights would be all of us and then the rest would be just me and the kids...becasue with Lou's job I don't think he'll be able to get that much time off but that first eleven days would be just a week off becasue of the way his schedule works. We'd stay at All Star Movies (becasue for some reason whenever we talk about which hotel is our favorite Tyler and I say Animal Kingdom Lodge and Skye says the Dalmation Hotel.) We would do the quick service dining plan with 10 day hoppers. I was not sure what we would do got the last part but I was leaning towards turning the kid's and my passes into Annual Passes. The reason for that was the extra days on this trip and becasue Skye's Dance Team was planning on dancing there in 2012 and it would all work out.

I contacted Wendy at Magical Journeys and booked it...11 nights All Star Movies, QSDP, 10 day hopper on one reservation and a six night room only at All Star Movies.

[tyandskyesmom]

As I looked at our reservation again and again (as we all do over and over again) I got to thinking about seasons. No, not summer, fall, winter, and spring...Disney Seasons. And I knew that July was peak vacation time so would be one of the most expensive times of the year to go. I also figured that it is probably one of the least likely times of the year to get discounts.

And then the discounts were announced for into 2011. And my dates did not fall into these at all.

And the kids would miss the first two weeks for football and cheerleading.

So I immediately went to the free dining offer dates. The kids and I had Deluxe Dining on our fourteen and fifteen night trips prior to the last one. And on our April trip with Grammy we had the Quick Service Dining Plan. We loved both of them but the Deluxe sooo much more! So I looked at those dates. Darn! We cannot do a two week trip all under the free dining time frame becasue the kids go back to school. Now I don't mind pulling them out of school at all...I've done it many times but it will be the first week of school and Tyler is starting junior high next year...so I did not want him to miss the start of that. Darn, darn, darn. They really know how to work it don't they?!?! So after more figuring I decided to check out cost of All Star Movies room only from August 13, 2011 thru August 19, 2011 for me and the kids and then August 19, 2011 thru August 28, 2011 for all of us at All Star movies with the free dining upgraded to Deluxe Dining and also the same at Caribbean Beach. Wendy priced it all out for me and all of it was cheaper than the other one...by quite a bit. And Caribbean Beach would only cost a few hundred dollars more than All Star Movies.

SO guess what we ended up with??? Come on guess!!!

I cancelled the first trip in July and booked for August. All-Star Movies for six nights room only for me and the kids. Caribbean Beach for nine nights for all of us with the upgrade to Deluxe Dining and two day base passes.

We decided to do two day base passes becasue I was still unsure about tickets for the first part and still considering annual passes. And if worse comes to worse, which is still WONDERFUL!!!!, we can upgrade the two day base passes to ten day hoppers when we arrive. That works for me.

And then I come into work on day and there is a little e-mail from Mickey. It is a PIN code for free hopper and water parks and more added to a four night stay/four day base pass. And our dates fall into the timeframe!!! Getting the PIN is not the remarkable part of this story becasue I seem to be getting them every time I turn around! But getting one I can really use...now that's exciting!


So I though about it.

And thought some more.

And Lou hates, hates, hates water. I mean, I am lucky he showers. No, I am exaggerating there...and he will sit in a hot tub for a very short timeframe. But I cannot even get him to take the kids to the pool in the summer and sit on the deck...dry...hates it that much.

But on one of our long trips in January, the kids and I got a free water parks and more form Disney Visa. It was our first time exploring the water parks. Well, unlike my husband, my kids LOVE water!!!!

So then I came up with the plan.

I contacted Wendy again (good thing she loves me! ) and had her book the first six nights with four day base passes with the free hopper and water parks and more. And had her leave the second part alone. I will probably just upgrade the two day base passes to ten day hoppers when we arrive. That way my package that will need to be paid off will be about $700.00 cheaper at the 45 day mark.

And we found out since then that Skye's Dance Team is actually planning DisneyLAND in 2012...so that will be a whole new experience for us!!!

So my ticket delema is solved.

[faline]

Terrific plans! Have fun!

[tyandskyesmom]

So I guess it's time to introduce us...

First we have Skyler...She is 7. Even though she was born at a whopping 11 pounds 2 ounces she is my little dinky dink. She is now just over 41 inches tall and about 37 poounds. Yep...tiny!

She is my positive child. She is smart. She was a Titan Cheerleader (her second year) where she was a flyer and tumbler four times a week. She is a gymnast (since she was 3) once a week where she Just got promoted to Silver II which is an intermediate second level class. Twice a week she is a dancer (since the age of 3)...she has a ballet class, a tap class, and a jazz class with her age group and just this year was asked to join the competition level one team. She is one of nine girls and all the others are over ten years old. She is so excited. My favorite quote from her was when her dance instructor asked if she wanted to be on the team. We walked out of the class and got in the car and she said to me "See Mom, sometimes hard work is fun." They had their recital back in May and she did great. She was in both shows and loved every minute of it. They have a show at Great America on Sunday and then a competition coming up in a few weeks.

She loves all things Disney. She is a better eater than her brother and is less chicken...even though her favorite animal is a chicken...

We call her Princess Chicken Wing or Monkey or Mouse.

Her favorite color is Hot Pink and she is in the provess of turning her room hot pink and brown and white zebra patterned. Ya, we skipped little girl and went right to teenager. Her favorite character is Ariel but she is not all princessy anymore...she's much to cool for that...but in a good way! Her favorite movie is anything Shrek. Her park is Disney Hollywood Studios. Her favorite ride is Big Thunder Mountain. Her favorite restaurant is "Little-knee" or Tutto Italia in Italy.

While she is a girl and high maintenance, she is my easy child. She is not whiney or picky and will usually do whatever and enjoy herself. Where she came from I really do not know!


And then there's Tyler...Hmmmm....

Tyler is my first born...by baby...and will be the death of me. He is is like me in all the wrong ways...I mean, just about everything I would like to change about myself, I have apparently passed onto him. He is emotional, he is moody, he likes to do his own thing but just does not quite know how to go about doing that. But he is also super smart and fun and interested in all kinds of things.

He plays football (Super Bowl champs last season!!!) and baseball, is a black belt in Tae-kwan-do, loves to read and play video games and watch movies. He is a disney nut...and loves trivia of any kind.

There is not a puzzle he cannot handle.

He is 12 and is in sixth grade for seven more days...which is causing him more trouble than any other. Not becasue the work is hard, in fact, it is super not hard! But becasue, despite my letting the teachers know what I expected at the beginning of each and every year and letting them know that the work is not challenging for him but that I was afraid that some day he was going to hit a wall as far as studying and organization and things like that and that would be his downfall. Everything has just always been soooo easy for him, it has never been an issue. Now, all of a sudden, they want to change it on him. So now they expect them to just know how to study (which really has never been an issue) and how to write their assignments in a notebook all by themselves when they have held their hands completely prior to this year. And things like that. Well, that is Tyler's problem...he is like Einstein smart.

He is also my cautious child. He was nine before he was brave enough to climb a rope ladder (like in the Boneyard)...he'd get half way up and cry for someone to come get him. He was afraid of the ride in Norway, Test Track, Figment, Dinosaur, etc... This past April he got brave and rode all of that...and even liked most of them. He even rode Everest and Tower of Terror. He had been on Rockin' Rollercoaster once before but said he did not want to go back but in April he suggested it. He hated Tower of Terror (but I cannot blame him there...I felt like I was holding onto Skye for dear life!!!), Everest and RR was ok but we only rode them once each. But I think what pushed him into being brave was that Skye was finally big enough to ride a lot of other things (not the coasters) and he did not want her to show him up.

So moving on...he will tell you that Hercules is his favorite character. And Big Thunder Mountain is his favorite ride. Animal Kingdom Lodge is his fav hotel. He loves seeing characters, even the girly ones. His favorite restaurant is Boma because he has a competition with himself and he holds his chocolate chip cookie eating record at 12...hey, it is vacation!

He loves his sister to death and they actually get a long very well but he does get jealous lately that everyone says how cute she is all the time. So I have to keep reminding him that when he was little people used to say that about him too! He gets called "Princess" a lot or referred to in a femine way becasue of his hair but I really do not understand it becasue he looks nothing like a girl otherwise...especially standing next to Skye.

He is outwardly like Lou. And that drives Lou crazy. They fight a lot. And when they are fighting they fight hard but the next minute, they are the best of buddies and screwing off driving me crazy!

Lou is the husband, the daddy. He is 41 as of this past October. He is a trained Union Carpenter...which means that he has not worked in Carpentry in about the last 4 years. He has been a forklift driver as a news paper plant about 5 minutes form home for about a year now. He is working a fireman's shift overnights so it has taken a bit getting used to but it does have it's benefits.

He loves sports and video games. He'd be happy to go back to the days of 80s Glam Rock. He is a huge University of Michigan fan. I think he truely believes "he who dies with the most toys wins!". I am trying to break him of that. Nothing ruffles his feathers so when he thinks something is out of line, I know I am justified in my feelings. He is the calm to my storm. He balances me out.

We met at a nightclub 16 years ago and got married 15 years ago on Thursday. And about two and a half years later along came Tyler.

He and Tyler do not get a long very well most of the time. I think the problem there is that Tyler is just like Lou in the ways that Lou bugs everyone else...so now he gets to see how it feels. But they will fight back and forth and each wants to have the last word.

As much as he fights with Tyler, Skyler has him wrapped around his little finger. She can get him to do just about anything she wants. He thinks I am too hard on her and too easy with Tyler.

He has sacraficed our last three trips and stayed home becasue he said if he went we would have either not been able to go or we would have had to be tighter on money. I think he likes being home alone honestly. But he does love Disney...maybe not quite as much as the rest of us but he's there. Disney Channel is most often when is on when he is home...Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, Phineas and Ferb...he can recite them as well as the kids can.

He hates playing Disney Trivia games with us becasue he does not remember the details like we do and usually does not win.

He wants to be told where to be and when to be there. His eyes glass over when I start talking about planning...especially if I start using too many letters. He has never used a dining plan with us...and he is worried that dining will put us too much on a schedule and he does not want a schedule while we are on vacation. But he loves eating. However, he is a little picky. Like he does not do creamy sauces or soups. Gravys should only be on mashed potatoes. Wants your standard veggies with a meal, none of that fancy stuff. And has never eaten Mac & Cheese in his life...in fact, he's not a huge cheese fan at all (which is odd becasue the kids could live off the stuff!). He does like a good steak but always forgets how he likes it done. I tell him medium rare but he knows how I like mine (he said just club the cow so it doesn't moo on the plate) so orders medium. He enjoys a good beer and sometimes a fancier/more expensive drink but not really a wine or champagne drinker. I think in the end he will come away having loved the deluxe dining plan...but he is not so sure right now. He also cannot believe we sould eat over $3000.00 worth of food in 10 days...we'll show him!

His favotire movie is Pirates, fav character is Mater or all villans, favorite park is Disney Hollywood Studios, favorite ride is either Pirates or Haunted Mansion, favorite hotel is Animal Kingdom Lodge but he does want to check out Wilderness Lodge, and his favorite restaurant is Le Cellier.

[tyandskyesmom]

And then there's me...Sherry...just turned 40...the mommy and wife...

I am an insurance collector for a large hospital system in the area. I am recently a cheer coach and my kid's biggest fan.

I am a planner and live for those times when we can arrange vacation or other times when my family can just be together...without hassles or house hold work or school or work...those are the times we have the best memories from.

I love everything about Disney. At this point in time, my favorite hotel is Animal Kingdom Lodge but I would love to stay at the Grand Floridian or in the tower at Contemporary with a Magic Kingdom view. My favorite character is the Cheshire Cat but I love a lot of them....my favotire move is Nightmare Before Christmas and Emperor's New Groove but I love them all! I guess if I had to pick a favorite park it would be Magic Kingdom but only if I had to. If we have limited time to spend and I had to pick only one of two of them, I'd have a really hard time. I like Rockin' Rollercoaster and Everest but again, I like it all...except Tower of Terror and I have yet to ride Mission : Space on the real side. My favorite restaurant is Narcoossees but I do like restaurant Marrakesh too.

I love the freedom the deluxe dining plan brings my family and while we normally would not eat that way, it is vacation and that just makes a great trip. So by eating that way we actually do save a lot of money. I am not much of a drinker anymore so adult beverages most likely will not come into the picture for me.

[tyandskyesmom]

I just love thinking about dining in the world. I plan and re-plan dining all the time. I have spreadsheets and I go over menus and dining reviews again and again.

A little background though. Until the kids and I took our first two week trip in January 2007 (I think) that we actually dove into Disney Dining. Before that we'd do a table servie meal here and there but nothing that would lead to a Dining Review or anything like that. We had been to the Coral Reef, Le Cellier, Biergarten, Artist Point, Hollywood & Vine, Sci-Fi, Mama Melrose, Crystal Palace (dinner), Akershus, Boma, and ESPN. But that was spread out over our many trips (Tyler has been to the World about 14 times in his 12 years of life). When the kids and I went in 2007 we got an offer of free dining and then upgraded as the last minute to Deluxe Dining....and loved it! At the time though, they were both Disney Children and one of them was too little to ride the big kid things and the other was too chicken to ride them. So we did not spend time waiting in lines for things like that. We also have been in the off-peak times for the most part so park hour we shorter which made for late dinners.

The next time the kids and I went back was November 2008 for two weeks. We got a ticket upgrade on this trip and bought the Deluxe Dining plan...it was so much easier. And we still loved it! We tried a few different places and a lot of venues we had loved before...and a few we were on the fence about that we just had to figure out.

Then this past April 2010 the kids, my mom, and I went back for an 8 day trip with the Quick Service Dining plan. And I have to say, we loved it too. But we did miss the sit down dining. And the kids asked about a couple of places while we were there.

So we have done the QSDP and the DDDP but never the DDP. And I don't think we will ever to the DDP. And here's why...we always purchase mugs so that is a huge savings for us. Granted, we probably would not get four of them but then we would have to deal with the kids fighting about sharing and what to get in them and so on...four just makes it easier! And we also like the two snacks per person per day as opposed to the one snack per person per day on the DDP. Now, when we used to go, there would be a lot of whining about wanting ice cream or a pretzel or a slushie or whatever...with two snack per person per day...I don't have to tell them no. And we usually end up with extras at the end of the trip and we take home fun Mickey snacks...which is always a bonus! And this is even more important this trip becasue we are going when I am expecting it to be very hot. So extra hydration will be needed...although we did discover free ice water at any food service venue...which is another place those refillable mugs come in handy! And when it comes right down to it, we, the kids and I, loved the aspect of dining! And we want to share that with Lou. I was somewhat surprised that the kids actually loved it as much as they did. I mean, we used to dine out a lot at home but I was not sure how they would react being taken away from the kid's Disney into maybe a less "fun" Disney...but I needn't have worried...they loved everything about it. Not once did I hear a complaint about stopping what we were doing to get to a reservation...in fact, they started asking. They loved taking pictures of our food. The loved seeing what the insides of the venues looked like and even trying a few new things. And the loved having dessert with every meal.

So one day I got Lou to go through a few menus with me. I say a few becasue his lack of interest was driving me crazy! His reply was "how am I supposed to know what I might want to eat in eight months???" uuuggghhh!!!! He just does not get it. So he gets no opinion then. I am sure he'll love it once it is happening. And if he doesn't he will have no room to complain becasue I gave ample opportunity to give his thoughts.

As far as our eating style goes, we're not gourmet at all but we like things to taste good. Skye is a bit more adventurous than Tyler but he is coming around and lately has found he likes steak and talapia (and other fish like that) and chicken snack wraps at Mc Donalds (but with no sauce) and meximelts at Taco Bell. Neither one of them has been willing to try a hamburger yet...god, what I'd give for a kid to eat a hamburger! Skye eats more veggies (broccoli, snap peas, green beans, potatoes) than Tyler (he loves fries but will not eat potatoes cooked any other way and nothing green). They will both eat salads but no dressing. And then Lou is anti sauce generally. No mac & cheese or sour cream. No creamy soups. But he will douse a good steak with A-1 which I cannot stand even the smell of (and on our cruise for our homeymoon 15 years ago the other people at our table who owned a steakhouse gave him hell for!) and catsup is a common condiment for fries and fried fish. But he loves to cook and even thought about going to culinary school when the economy crashed and carpentry was not fluent anymore. But we told him he would have to taste things to cook and that, he is not so willing to do! I, on the other hand, have very little eating issues. I mean there are things I love and things I dislike but I am usually game to try anything. In fact, I'd love to try sushi (have never had it before) but am scared and no one I know eats it so as to guide me in the right direction for starters. I like my meat medium rare (Lou says just club it!) so I have found that most chicken at The World is too dry for me. I don't know if they cook it too long to make sure no one gets sick or if it sits too long waiting to be picked up but each time I have ordered it at table service venues it is awefully dry. We tend to not need a lot of care at meals and prefer a waiter take the order, bring the food, keep the glasses full, check back here and there to see if we need anything and bring the bill. I am a hard tipper. A waiter starts chipping away at their tip from the moment I sit down. I think I am pretty easy in what I want/need from the wait staff so if I sit too long with an empty glass, I am not happy. Our meals have seemed to average somewhere between 45 minutes to 90 minutes. We do not mind dressing it up a little for our signature meals (although I don't know how Lou is going to take it) so we do bring a change of clothes with us in the morning to change into before dinner and freshen up.

My approach to the dining plan is very different this time around and I do not hear many people talking about it this way but here I go. Since Tyler is now 12 he is considered a Disney Adult. But he does not generally eat enough food to be an adult or the kinds of foods to be an adult. So I plan on using the dining plan creatively. We will have a total of 81 adult meal credits and 27 child credits and we are looking at them that way. We will be paying out of pocket for a lot of Tyler's kid's meals and some of Skye's meals. This way, we have covered most of our food on the dining plan. This gets us more meals and a higher out of pocket cost between paying for the meals and the tips and maybe an adult beverage here and there. But the way I have figured it (and believe me, I have figured it!) we will still come out about $2200.00 ahead.

And I have also split the trip into two parts...the first part with just me and the kids without a dining plan and then part 2 once Lou arrives and we have the dining plan.

Let me see if I can break this down so someone other than me understands my way of thinking...

I figure we are paying to upgrade to the deluxe dining plan from the regular dining plan (staying at Caribbean Beach for that portion of the trip) which cost us $747.00 for nine nights. We will be eating about $3356.49 in dining plan meals, $216.00 in snacks, and $60.00 in mugs (well we won't be eating those!). I figure we will spend about $578.00 on dining for part 1 and out of pocket (meals and tips) will be about $677.49. Which puts us at a DDDP value of approximately $2200.00!!!! Now would we normally eat this way? No...no way...but most of that would be becasue we would not be willing to spend the money. And even if we did do three sit downs a day, we would be watching prices and not ordering the most expensive things on the menu (which is seems are usually what we really want) and we probably would not order three or four desserts, we would share one and probably share one appetizer...but not becasue we would not want to each order our own! So the dining plan allows us to make even meal a vacation. Could we dine in the world for less? I'm sure we could but not for much less and it would certainly bring more stress and thought into eating. The deluxe dining plan just makes the vacation more vacation-y!!!

[tyandskyesmom]

I don't know what came over me or why I was even thinkong abou tthis but at some point I started thinking about extending our stay by one day. I think I was considering a relaxing day before heading home. I was looking at Contrmporary and Yacht/Beach Club.

Well...

I decided to stay at the Yacht Club as opposed to the Contemporary becasue of the weather. I really do not know what our future holds as far as vacations but I do know our preferred time to travel at this point in time is fall and winter. So weather is a bit colder then and Skye loves to swim but hates ot be cold. After 15 nights of sweating our butts off, I think Storm Along Bay may be just what we need! And I htink that there will be other opportunities to stay at the Contemporary where the draw is not the pool but the view and proximity to the Magic Kingdom. Believe me, it was a hard decision but a win-win situation so all's good!!!!

So now it is kind of like we are stepping up through our tour...we are starting with six nights at All Star Movies - moving to none nights at Caribbean Beach - and ending up with one night at Yacht Club.

And I think I may need to rethink my touring and dining...and you all know how I hate that right???

But since we are paying for a deluxe, I'd like to spend a lot of the 28th and 29th at that deluxe...so back to the drawing board!

[tyandskyesmom]

So I had been waiting for Southwest to open up flights for our dates (the had stopped on the day before we leave) and they did on February 8th.

So I went to the website, not too excited becasue I was actually kind of scared to see the prices. Well, let me tell you...I was able to book all of our tickets at $97.00 each way!!!!! I was thinking we would be paying around $1200.00 for tickets but I got 'em all...including booking Lou with the Early Bird Check In both ways!!! Lou is booked seperately because he is coming down six days after us and I always do all the work 24 hours in advance so I figured I'd make it easy on him and then on the way home, his boarding pass will get pulled early so it won't matter so much where our boarding passes are. But for all of our tickets I paid $881.60...around $320.00 less than I expected!!!!

[tyandskyesmom]

8-13-11
8:30pm Planet Hollywood

8-15-11
1:00pm Chefs de France

8-18-11
8:00pm T-Rex

8-19-11
2:00pm Whispering Canyon Cafe
7:50pm California Grill

8-20-11
10:00am Hollywood & Vine
5:00pm Mama Melrose

8-21-11
8:05am Crystal Palace
2:00pm Teppan Edo
8:00pm Citricos

8-22-11
11:00am Yak & Yeti
7:00pm Boma

8-23-11
7:55pm Ohana
2:00pm Le Cellier
8:00pm La Haciends de San Angel

8-24-11
10:20am Tuskerhouse
5:50pm Cape May Cafe

8-25-11
11:30am Brown Derby
6:40pm Cinderella's Royal Table

8-26-11
9:45am Akershus
2:00pm Marrakesh
8:40pm Narcoossee's

8-27-11
7:45am Chef Mickey's
2:15pm Liberty Tree Tavern
8:40pm Artist Point

8-28-11
8:00am 1900 Park Fare
12:55pm Tutto Italia
6:40pm Yachtsman Steakhouse

8-29-11
10am Cape May Cafe
??pm ESPN or Beaches & Cream

What do you all think????

[tyandskyesmom]

And then on March 2nd I got a PIN code.

Yep...a PIN code...for free dining that ends on August 13, 2011. Now I had read all the posts about the offer and did not think anything of it...until it landed in my mailbox! And then id dawned on me...AUGUST 13 IS OUR ARRIVAL DAY!!!!! But i thought I remembered Disney removing that loophole so that you could not get the deal for your whole trip unless it all fell within the dates...but i forwarded the e-mail to Wendy and she said...yep, it'd save me money and yep I can get it...the bad news is that I will have to go with a preferred room at All-Star Movies to get it...well, a preferred room and free dining and saving money...nothing bad about that!!!! And I also had her drop the hopper part on Part One of the trip becasue I really did not plan for us to take advantage of that...it was just free so what the heck! So I saved $217.59 and upgraded to a preferred room...not too bad!

[tyandskyesmom]

So, I've ordered 200 trading pins from E-bay and received them.

I've ordered two sets of customized maps and received them.

So here and there we have been picking up extras for the trip that we see as we find them. We got some summer clings for our windows, hand held mini fans, and some toiltries we needed. We got a bit further on our countdown calendar but we didn't make it to 100...so maybe we'll have to see how far we get and just go from there. I have recently paid off Part one and about 3/4 of Part two. We did have a scare with the school district that I was really worried about though. I specifically scheduled our trip so we would return home two days before the first half day of school. So that way the kids would have a day off to recoup and get all their things together. I did not want Tyler to miss he first day/days at Junior High. Well, a rumor began going around that they were going to change the schedule to go more with the high school's which starts two weeks before ours....and thus encompassing my whole trip!!!! I was starting to stress! But I spoke to the assistant superintendent and she said that is absolutely not true as they cannot start any earlier than six days prior to Labor Day. They were proposing August 29 as the first half day of school...so Ty will miss the first half day. I can deal with that.

[tyandskyesmom]

Ok...so on Sunday we went to Great America with some Twickets we had from a work party.


But the relavence here???? Well, while Skye was a little winey when she was hungry (we had to wait to find Ty becasue he was off doing something (slides or in the splash zone or something like that) and she was very hungry), I am now re-considering the stroller. I am sooo not wanting to bring it!!! But after the 80ish degree heat yeaterday in Illinois in early June, and being hot and tired and not lugging a back pack or anything that wouldn't fit in pockets, I am wondering if we wouldn't just be more happy being able to bring all the **** that will keep us comfortable in the heat of Orlando at the end of August.

Here's my reasoning...Skye would use it. She does not need to use it but she would if we had it...and that might make her a little happier which makes us all a little happier...and it would keep her little body (at 7 she is not right around 44-45 inches tall and almost 40 pounds) where I know where it is when we are in a crowd. We would also have someplace to put the backpack with our sunscreen, rain ponchos, the mugs from the hotel that we always fill and carry with us until they are done, cameras, and extra clothes on Signature dinner days. And that's just the stuff I will probably be carrying with me whether we bring a stroller or not. But if we bring the stroller, all that is a breeze...plus we do have a Disney water bottle with the fan for cooling off...that I am not lugging without a stroller. We have a Mickey blanket to use on hot seats or the curb for a parade that I am not bringing if we do not have a stroller. And the popcorn bucket (we always buy one and then dump our Dining Plan box of popcorn into it and we also have found it useful for putting ice in and carrying around a counter service dessert or left over food), and glow junk for he kids so I don't have to buy any, and anything else that might me more of a luxury than a necessity.

I am not opposed to finding a spot and parking it and working our way around that area without it so that is not really the issue. I am not opposed to pushing it is a crowd. What is really the thorn in my side, the thing holding me back is the transportation. I don't want to wait for after everyone exits the plane for someone to bring up my stroller. I don't want to store my stroller under the DME bus (they never used to make you but out last couple fo trips the did) and wait until the driver pulls it out (inevitably the last item out) before I can go into check in behind all the other people I could have been in front of. I don't want to have to fold up a stroller to get on a bus and I don't want to have to hold the stroller when I am on the bus.

So I guess my decision is going to be made by which luxury is the one I cannot do without...the extra stuff or the ease and quickness of travel...

And let me just say for the record that we do not travel with stroller any other time. In fact we have a very nice, easy to handle one that I paid a good amount of money for and she hardly used...and it is storred in the garage wrapped in plastic and duck tape...so I am not talking lazy kid here...she is the most willingly active 7 year old I know!

And I was all set that we were not bringing it until Sunday.

What would you do????

[tyandskyesmom]

What do I do with my Rebel when it is raining?

Obviously, I do not want to have to lug the big case around all day everyday. But what do I do with the extra lens when I am not using it? I dont want it left in the stroller. I don't want it just rolling around in the backpack.

This will be the first time with it at Disney and possibly the first time we have a possibility of hitting a bit of rain daily. How do I keep it dry? And what if there are picture to be had in the rain...what to you guys with big cameras do then?

I definately want to lug it. I don't actually mind carrying it with me...although I'll let you know when we return if I changed my mind on that in the heat of August.

Do you have a problem going from indoor air conditioning to the heat/humidity of outside with it?

Anything else I need to know...I am a relatively new owner with basically no photography experience...although I am considering taking a class at the local community college just to learn how to use it the best I can. Even without it though, I have been able to get some awesome pictures with it. I will post some of our last few activities when I get a chance.

So anyone with advise please speak up and help me out!

Thanx in advance!!!!

[tyandskyesmom]

9 more days!!!

We have all of our Magical Express Tags (which were a it of a scare for me but good in the end), our package documents, and we are checked in on-line for our first six nights.

I decided to upgrade part one to deluxe dining a couple of weeks ago too. I made a dining change or two on our part two too.

We are working on packing and so far Skye is pretty sorted out (10 pairs of shoes later!) and our extra toiletries are ready to be packed too but the other three of us still have not started to pack.

I cannot believe it is almost here...we're all so excited!!!

[Bucs300]

Just think, next weekend you're gonna be in Disney!!

You seem very excited about your trip so I hope you have lots of fun on it, can't wait to hear all about it.

[ponmommy]

Have a great trip

[January-2007]

I'm so excited for you and your family, what a wonderful vacation you have planned! Thanks so much for the detailed trip reports, and what have you decided in terms of the stroller? What about just renting one at the parks so you don't have to deal with the issues on the bus and what not? Hope you have a marvelous time!

[MinnieMommie]

How nice that DH will be able to come on this trip. This sounds like a family trip to remember!

[KylesMom]

You really have some great dining planned for your family - only a few more sleeps and you'll be there!!!

Have a wonderful time, Sherry!

[princessgirls]

You have a great trip planned!! Enjoy it!!!!

Julie