Meeska-Mouska-Mickeeeeeey's House! **8/21 - Preparation Pictures!!**

[seamama71]

Thanks to all who are following!! I've been crazy this week with work and, actually, updating this darn computer! It took hours last night! Updated to a new version of my iPod, then it was too advanced for iTunes, then all that was too advanced for my internet browser. Sheesh! True test of my internet addiction So I've been really eager to respond to you guys. This is really the first time I've ever "connected" with folks via a message board, and what a neat welcome you all have given! I think I picked the right crowd -- Disneyfans are great!

I'm in!! Nice start to your 1st pre-trippie!! Your boys are beyond adorable! I'd love to have a little boy someday, but I'm not sure it's in the cards for me! I do love my girls though! My youngest is a Disney souvenir from last year trip! You've gotta love the magic of Disney!

We stayed at the BCV 2 years ago and loved it. Your boys are sure to love SAB! The sand bottom pool is so much fun for the little ones!

Anyway, I can't wait to hear about the rest of your plans!

Hi, thanks for reading!
Heehee! I feel the same about a little girl. I never would have thought that I'd be a boy-mom after growing up around all girls (cousins and all), but here I am! LOVE my boys, but some days I wander through the girl's clothes section of the store and dream...
But, I think we're sticking with 2, so... we'll try to avoid *that* Disney magic !!!
I would love to hear about your BCV experience! I'll be posting about all my crazy little detailed questions related to the resort
PS - LOVE the Doofenshmirtz quote!!! P & F is on several times a day in our house
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Great PTR so far!! We'll be going to WDW in September, too. I always get so excited when I find someone else doing a PTR who is going in Sept! You have a beautiful family. I can't wait to read more!

Thank you so much yes, I definitely seek out other PTRs for September, too! I figure that our touring plans and tips for that time of year will be so helpful for each other. I also love reading about completed trips from that time of year. We can also countdown together!![/COLOR]

Your kiddos are SO cute! I'm super duper jealous that you're staying at the BC. That is my dream resort (that and the Poly). We're eating at Cape May on our trip, so I'm really excited to check it out and get some good pics for scrapbooking!

Thanks We feel so spoiled to be staying at BCV!! This is totally a dream trip for us. We are (I think) doing a b'fast and a dinner at Cape May. The boys will love the characters, and I can't pass up seafood [/COLOR]

Hello Sarah!

I popped over from my PTR to read your's! Your little boys sound cute! How did you ever survive three (years old)? That is what it feels like today anyways. It has just been one of those days, so bear with me! I am glad to see our date overlap a bit!

for BCV! I would like to stay there some day. :

We LOVE EP--it is mine and DH's favorite park though we did not spend as much time at MK during our only trip to Disney thus far. Oh boy, is that ever going to change this go around. I am right there with you--love researching and figuring out our trip stuff! I probably border along those lines of too much planning (especially if you ask my DH ) but I like to do it! :

Love the pictures--TFS! Your boys are cuties Do you live close to the ocean? My DD would love to be closer since she fell in love with the ocean in August this past year. Still talks about it!

Looking forward to reading along.

Glad you're reading along, and back at'cha
We don't live near the beach (I wish!!); we're in western Maryland. Pretty, more mountain/lake territory.

Hope you made it through your challenging day! Whoever said the "twos" were terrible hadn't gotten to the "threes" yet...
And they can change so much, part of my planning is based on trying to predict how the boys will "be" by September: what schedule will they tolerate, what will they be most interested in by then, etc...!

I WILL get to the next part of my PTR soon, I promise! I probably won't get to it this weekend; I may be without my computer most of the time but I may not be able to stay away...!

I can't wait to get some feedback on our Days at Disney! Can we make it to MK on arrival day?! Are we insane to try AK in half a day?! Stay tuned to see what the plan is (and then the revised plan, and the next revised plan, and...)

 

[All7OfUs]

We're still here, Sarah!!! We all go through busier times than others, so no worries!!

Your children are adorable! Long eyelashes are a hit with me!!

Your DH is looking pretty crispy in that picture- make sure to pack some good sunscreen!

 

[Charlefours]

I am still here! Just been busy too like you.

 

[seamama71]

Ok, I've grabbed a few minutes of quiet computer time - yipee!

The Itinerary*
as it stands right now...

Wednesday 9/15: Arrival Day

ME to BCV, get there possibly as late as 2 or so (flight arrives 12:15)

See room if it's available, otherwise, leave extra carryons at hotel desk and do one of two things -
1) meander through Epcot using International Gateway. Make our way up to monorail when it's time to head to 5:30 ADR at Chef Mickey for dinner.
2) bus directly to MK and spend a little time in Fantasyland (?) before walking or monorail to Chef Mickey.

After dinner, depending on energy levels, we'd head straight home to BCV or go to MK for Wishes at 8:00


Thursday 9/16:

Early hours at MK - be there as close to 8 as we can be!

Break mid-day for naps.

Either 1) return to MK for more fun, QS dinner, and Spectromagic Parade and fireworks (this is our best/maybe only night for parade)

or 2) head to Epcot for Future world and ADR at Garden Grill. If we do Epcot, we could get really crazy and still monorail to MK just for the parade and fireworks, but I think I'd rather pick one or the other and not do all that running around.


Friday 9/17:

Animal Kingdom rope drop

Break mid-day for naps after QS lunch at Flame Tree

Epcot: FW, then ADR at Teppan Edo (DH's only request!), then WS and Illuminations before bed

Some grown-ups may return for late-night EMH at Epcot sans kids


Saturday 9/18:

DHS, morning EMH

long morning there before heading home for break/nap

afternoon/evening at hotel -- SAB!!! and ADR at Cape May for dinner


Sunday 9/19:


Possible b'fast ADR at Cape May, 9:00 am. Head to Epcot or DHS, if we want to do more there (??)

Break mid-day

Spend our last evening in MK, with ADR at Crystal Palace for dinner. Wishes is at 8:00. MK is open until midnight, so we could let the kids go wild and stay up late.


Monday 9/20:

Our flight leaves at 3:10 pm, so we'll plan to board ME around noon. Might have time for something close-by at Epcot? or pool!


You can see, I'm uncertain about the plans so far! I can go into more detail about our actual plans for each park - what we want to do there. For example, I've only allotted a long 1/2 day each for AK and DHS. I think that will be ok for AK, but we may want to return to DHS. And with only 4 full days, it was hard to get pool time, which we really wanted - especially with having SAB.

I would LOVE suggestions, feedback, ideas, thoughts, etc!! I've done lots of research and reading, but nothing compares to real peoples' real experiences.

I've also overbooked a TS, to choose between the Garden Grill dinner or the Cape May b'fast.

I think for my next major entry, since I already wrote here about our ADRs, I'll go through our "must do" attractions for each park. That may help with getting an idea about how much time we'll need, and you can give me an idea about things I'm missing!

TIA

 

[seamama71]

Ok, I feel like I want to post a simplified version of my above rambling!

9/15: arrival / brief MK or brief Epcot
ADR @ Chef Mickey 5:30 pm

9/16: MK EMH / MK or Epcot FW
?ADR @ Garden Grill 6-ish pm

9/17: AK / Epcot WS
ADR @ Teppan Edo 6-ish pm

9/18: DHS EMH / Pool
ADR @ Cape May 6-ish pm

9/19: DHS or Epcot / MK
?ADR @ Cape May 9:00 am
ADR @ Crystal Palace 6-ish pm

9/20: Pool? / Depart

 

[All7OfUs]

Hi Sarah!

Everything looks great! I like how you've left our options open on the 16th.

 

[seamama71]

Hi Sarah!

Everything looks great! I like how you've left our options open on the 16th.

Thanks

I keep going round and round about what may/may not work! My brain just wont stop!

But at least it's fun stuff to be obsessing over

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I'm subbing Sarah! Love your PTR so far, I'll look in more detail at your plans in the next couple days. I'm green with envy that you are staying at one of the Epcot resorts, my DH and I want to do this for our Anniversary trip next year. There's nothing like walking to Epcot!

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Sarah, your plans look great! We'll also be at the MK on 9/19. Possibly just in the evening after dinner at WCC if we end up going to BB that day - but we may go in the morning to. I'm playing it by ear.

I love your photos - you're a really good photographer!

 

[Dancegrl624]

Plans look great! I hope to post my plan in more detail soon on my PTR.

 

[All7OfUs]

Thanks

I keep going round and round about what may/may not work! My brain just wont stop!

But at least it's fun stuff to be obsessing over

Certainly could be worse!

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Subbing....

I think your plans look great so far. We will be there at the same time this year. I love Disney in September.

Your boys are very cute.

 

[seamama71]

I'm subbing Sarah! Love your PTR so far, I'll look in more detail at your plans in the next couple days. I'm green with envy that you are staying at one of the Epcot resorts, my DH and I want to do this for our Anniversary trip next year. There's nothing like walking to Epcot!

Thanks for following!! I am still a bit in shock myself that we're staying at BCV. And I wasn't even trying to trick my DMIL into it (I swear! ) - we talked about connecting rooms at all the types of resorts. But in the end, she really liked the option of having a kitchen. I REALLY love that it's an Epcot resort. I'm just hoping that all the boys love Epcot as much as I do. At any rate, it's the best food!

Sarah, your plans look great! We'll also be at the MK on 9/19. Possibly just in the evening after dinner at WCC if we end up going to BB that day - but we may go in the morning to. I'm playing it by ear.

I love your photos - you're a really good photographer!

How fun that we may cross paths in the park.
That was the one part of my itinerary that I felt strongly about - spending our last night at MK. Coincidentally, my youngest has become attached to a big Tigger stuffed animal this past week, so Crystal Palace will be even more fun if he stays a Pooh/Tigger fan!

And I wish I could take credit for the photos! My DMIL is a-mazing with her camera. We have never had a need or desire for professional portraits of our boys!

Plans look great! I hope to post my plan in more detail soon on my PTR.

Thanks! And I can't wait to see your plans

 

[seamama71]

Certainly could be worse!

yes, could be worse. I'm sure that is part of why I'm so drawn to vacation planning right now! My alternatives are stressing over work (budget woes), or trying to sell our house (NOT happening very quickly ). I'd MUCH rather think about Disney

Subbing....

I think your plans look great so far. We will be there at the same time this year. I love Disney in September.

Your boys are very cute.

Thanks for reading! I'm having a lot of fun here. Yes, we're hoping September is a good choice for us; not too many more years we can do the off-times without taking the boys out of school!

 

[seamama71]

Muaaaaahahahahaaaaaaa! *evil laugh*

I've got a couple pics from my first trip to Disney when I was 12. Me, my sister, and mom. I was shocked to see that I was sporting a fanny pack!

And I also don't remember being into getting autographs, but my sis said that we really loved finding the characters. Back then, it was a little competition between us to spot them first, just wandering in the park. Doesn't seem like that happens too much now! Until I started planning this trip, I didn't realize that the character meetings have become so "organized"!

So, since she'll NEVER see this , here are some old pics:

I'm the tall one We had great fun planning that trip too. Note the strategic fanny packs and bathing suits (for wet rides? We may have been going to Typhoon Lagoon that day, too)

My sister. Rockin' the "jams".

 

[Charlefours]

We could possibly both be at MK on Thursday for the parade and fireworks and EP for WS and Illuminations Friday evening. It would be great to see if it would work for us to meet up.

From what I read, Cape May is better than Garden Grill but it is all based on personal preference. Your itinerary looks great to me The only thing would be later nights followed by early mornings be rough on you?

Great flashback!!

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Cute flashback pictures.

 

[Dancegrl624]

Great throwback pics! I use to love walking into the Studios and see the Chinese Theater. Don't get me wrong, I love our pics in front of the Hat, but that doesn't say Hollywood to me.

 

[seamama71]

I need to break away from the PTR a bit to spread the word about my beloved hometown, Nashville. I think I'll just copy some links and status updates that are going around Facebook. I'm not living there now, but I have lots of family there, including my parents, and friends who have been seriously affected. All my folks are safe, thank God, but there are MANY who have lost everything. Thanks in advance for thoughts, prayers, positive vibes you could send their way.



.... just re-read guidelines and I'm requesting permission to post more about helping this cause.... I'll edit again and re-post if ok'd!

 

[All7OfUs]

So sorry to hear about Nashville. It's even headline news on BBC, which the British new website we read over here. Scary and horrible stuff!!!