Disney or Bust- A Celebration of Life- October 5th-12th 2012.... About This Page:

[rosanna]

Your plans sound great and it looks like you will get the most out of your DxDP. I can see you do love Tusker House if you are going to do it twice. We have only done breakfast at Ohana so far ( it was awesome), but this trip we are going to check out 1900 Park Faire. We are not big breakfast people most of the time (we just grab something in the room), but we do like to go on our last day. I am so excited for you! I say go to CRT by yourself and let the boys go to Tony's.

[Tabitha34]

Great dining plans!

[lazanya]

Great dining choices!

[CatNipRules]

Okay, so after I posted this list, I made a few changes. Because I wasn't quite happy with what I had decided. Plus, I figured that for a rough draft, it could only get better. LOL!! So, taking into account what some people have told me, I decided to make a few changes. I think they are for the better. I'm thinking that this will work better with the parks that have the EMH hours for the time that we are going to be there. I've pretty much reworked everything. LOL!!

DS & DH usually don't eat breakfast. That would be my thing. LOL! However, when we are on vacation they will humor me and eat breakfast.

Before this trip, we always drove and didn't do the dining plan. I think that my problem is that I'm worrying too much about getting my money's worth on the plan. I think I'm just going to eat where we want and not worry about whether it's counter service of table service. I'm stressing myself out over it really. LOL!!

So, here are my revised plans. Hopefully, they won't change again. Thanks for sticking with me. LOL!

Friday- T-Rex

Saturday-
Breakfast- Tusker House
Lunch- Yak & Yeti
Dinner- Ohana's

Sunday-
Breakfast- Crystal Palace
Lunch- Liberty Tree Tavern
Dinner- Chef Mickeys

Monday-
Breakfast- Hollywood & Vine
Lunch- Mama Melroses
Dinner- Hollywood Brown Derby

Tuesday
Breakfast- Tusker House
Lunch- Teppan Edo
Dinner- San Angel Inn

Wednesday
Breakfast- Kona
Lunch- Le Celier
Dinner- Garden Grill

Thursday
Breakfast- FQ Counter service
Lunch- Columbia Harbor House
Dinner- Liberty Tree Tavern

Friday- Downtown Disney and Disney Quest
Breakfast-
Lunch- T-Rex
Dinner- Cape May Clam Bake

[Cam22]

Great rearranging of plans!

[Colexis Mom]

Great revised plans!

[CatNipRules]

Okay, so after days of stressing out over my ADR's, I finally decided that I was going to dumb it down a bit. DH doesn't like having too many ADR's and would be happy with winging it the entire time. I'm the exact opposite. I want to plan every meal.

So, our TA finally told us that we should compromise. So, DH said that he was good with doing early breakfasts and late dinners. That way, we would have most of the lunches free to do as we please. I did schedule a few lunches for us, but for the most part, we are looking for ADR's for breakfast and dinner.

When I sent my previous list to my TA, she was kind of hesitant, because I had sooooo many lunches on the list. So, I sat back and thought of what she tried to tell me. That you can't possibly schedule every meal and that you need to be flexible. Which is exactly what my DH was saying.

So, here is what we finally came up with.

Friday October 5th
Dinner- T-Rex

Saturday October 6th
Breakfast- Tusker House
Dinner- Ohana's- Would like a later reservation. Like 8:15 or so and a table so we can see Wishes. This was actually one of my TA's suggestions.

Sunday October 7th
Breakfast- Chef Mickey's
Dinner- Crystal Palace

Monday October 8th
Lunch- Mama Melrose's- Fantasmic Package
Dinner- 50's Prime Time

Tuesday October 9th
Breakfast- Ohana’s
Dinner- Cape May Clam Bake

Wednesday- October 10th
Breakfast- Kona's
Lunch- Le Celier or Biergarten
Dinner- Garden Grill

Thursday October 11th
Breakfast- Boma’s
Dinner- Tony's Town Square

Friday October 12th
Breakfast-Crystal Palace
Lunch- Biergarten or Le Celier
Dinner- San Angel Inn

I know that we are doing a lot of buffets, but our family really enjoys them. Mostly because DS is such a finicky eater sometimes. He can usually find something to eat on a buffet. He has gotten better over the years though. LOL!!

I know that I have Le Celier and Biergarten on their twice. I'm trying for one for each day and if I can't get Le Celier, then we will settle for Biergarten and take the other one off.

I haven't told DH about eating at Ohana's late Sunday night. DH always loves watching fireworks and the parades. DS and me? Not so much. We would rather ride the rides while everyone else is busy watching the parades. So, he usually ends up missing out on them. I want this trip to be different. He is such a wonderful husband and father. I know that I don't tell him that nearly enough. He really puts up with a lot from me sometimes. I know that I can be a handful sometimes. I'm picky about a lot of things and he just goes with the flow a lot of times. I know that he does it to make me happy and I love him for that. So, this trip, I want to do everything I can to make some of his wishes come true. We've been married for 16 years and not a day goes by that I don't ask myself how I managed to marry someone like him.

And I know a lot of people don't like Tony's, but I want to give it a try. A lot of the restaurants will be a first for us, so we shall see.

Okay, now I ordered a few things off of the disneystore.com website. LEt me just say, that site confuses me sometimes. I odered two things last week and one was shipped on Friday. Okay, so I figured that they would come together. Right? Apparently not. Because I got one on Monday and the shipping label said that both items should have been in the box. Strange. I looked in the box. DH looked in the box. Even DS looked in the box. It would have been a funny sight for someone to see. LOL! Thre people looking in a box that was clearly empty.

Well, I just assumed that it was the only order coming from them. So, I called Customer Service and the girl said that she would have to send an email to them because it was one of their external vendors. Okay, so I'm scratching my head at this one. I'm thinking that surely this has to be a mistake. I didn't think to check the UPS website and see if this was the package that was supposed to be delivered. I just assumed that it was.

Well, yesterday I decided to check. Low and behold, it wasn't the package that I had been tracking. It was another one. Strange. So, when I got home last night, there was another package waiting for me. It had the other item that I ordered. That was downright odd. The stranges part was that the box said, 1 of 1. I've worked in corporate offices and I know how mailing works. Lets just say, that was weird. I'm getting one last package today and hopefully that will be the last until our trip.

Thanks for reading my ramblings.....

[Colexis Mom]

Great plans!

[CatNipRules]

It occurred to me tonight that it might be a good idea to post a picture of the man that is partially responsible for the title of this pre-trip report. LOL! I loved this man like my own father. In fact, when I lost my dad shortly after my son was born, he sort of adopted me and my sister. He was a wonderful man that never had an enemy. Even though he didn't have to, he always made my sister and her daughter feel welcome in his home. He bought my niece birthday presents and Christmas presents. It might not seem like much to some, but to us it meant the world. So, losing him was like losing my dad all over again.

I was looking for the perfect picture. I found one with my three favorite guys in the world. My son is on the left. My father in law is in the middle and my husband is on the end. This picture was taken on my sons 14th birthday. Three generations of men and I must say that they are very, very handsome. LOL!!

My father in law had lost a huge amount of weight. So, this picture always makes me a bit sad. Looking back on it I'm glad that we spent the time with him that we did.

He's the one that told us that he wanted us to take a nice vacation after he passed away. I kept trying to tell him that he could beat it. That he was strong enough to kick it. I think he realized that I was trying to make myself and him feel better.

So, I just wanted to share this with everyone.

[Cam22]

Great dining choices! Your DFiL sounds like the best sort of people!

[CatNipRules]

So, the last month has been a dizzying experience for me. DH and I have been going through a lot of medical tests. Nothing serious, just things that we've been putting off for awhile now. LOL!

Well, DS came home from school last Friday sick. He didn't have a fever, but it popped up on Saturday. Well, I usually always get sick. Sure enough, I came down with it Monday night. And when I get sick, I get sick. I've been out of work all week. Coughing my head off and just feeling generally like yuck.

Well, I did manage to email my TA and she bought MNSSHP tickets for us. So, that is a great thing. LOL! The best part is that it was the exact date that I wanted. Since we already had an ADR for that night we didn't have to change anything. LOL!!

It occurred to me that I should probably post a picture of myself. I don't usually like my picture taken. So, I'm going to share a picture that DH took with me and my sister.



Please forgive my hair. It was a long, long day and I was sweaty and hot. LOL!! I'm the one holding the purple rose. LOL!

[lazanya]

Congrats on getting your MNSSHP tickets!
Hope you all feel better soon!

[Cam22]

So sorry you have been so sick!

Congrats on getting your MNSHHP tickets!

[CatNipRules]

Okay, so you know what they say about the best laid plans? They often go astray. Well, last week it looked like our trip just might not happen after all. I hate a major panic attack and I ended up working myself into a huge tizzy.

Why? Because our state legislature decided that our schools here in Alabama can't start any sooner than two weeks before Labor Day and they have to end no later than the Friday before Memorial day.

Why you ask? Because the counties that make up the Gulf Shores need the extra workers and most of them are high school workers. So, because 2 counties here in Alabama wanted this bill, the rest of the school districts have to follow suit.

The Governor vetoed the bill and sent it back with an Amendment, which both the house and Senate overruled. So, the new bill went into law.

So, instead of starting on August 8th, our schools are now starting on August 20th. So, this means that our fall break is now offically done with. Unless they extend the school day, which isn't likely to happen. They could extend it by 10 minutes a day and they would reach the mandatory 1,080 hours.

Well, after talking it over with my husband. Venting about it here. Talking with our TA and my friends, we decided that we are going to still go.

My son is an A/B student and we have never taken hom out of school for a trip like this before. However, we did it in good faith before the legislature decided to do this. So, the only saving grace is that the new Superintendant of the school system here is willing to work with parents that already have travel plans.

I did write him a note on Friday expressing how I felt and asking him to do whatever he can to save the fall break. I haven't heard back from him yet, but I know that I'm not the only one that emailed him about this. So, hopefully they will take the parents wishes into consideration.

Now, I can hear you asking, Why not just go another time of the year?

It's not that simple. I work in accounting so January through May is out. DH works in retail and Christmas is out. I refuse to go there during the summer. Way too hot and the crowds are terrible. So, that's why we've always went in October. We love the weather and the crowds are manageable.

So, thankfully the Superintendant is willing to work with us and other parents that have scheduled trips during this time. Also, apparently the school board allows for 10 days for family trips. I had no idea on this. My TA sent me a link and it had a letter that I can send to the school officials.

So, everything is on track to go. We have on MNSSHP tickets bought. The trip is 100% paid for and the letter has been sent to the principal. I will send him the letter again at the beginning of the next school year. After worrying about it the whole weekend, I'm finally getting excited about the trip again.

Because when it comes down to it, I hate taking him out of school. Especially if it means that he's going to get unexcused absences. Excused ones are better. What would be great would be if the teachers can give him the work

DH said that I was moping around the whole weekend. LOL! I don't see that, but I was defintely a bit down because of it. I know, that in the grand scheme of things, this isn't a big deal, but our family really, really needs this trip after everything that we've gone through this past year. I know. It sounds crazy. It's crazy to type that. How can a family need a trip to Disney? I've had many friends ask me that. I can never really explain it to them. There's just something magical about Disney and it's something that you can't really explain to anyone. They either get it or they don't. Unfortunately, I have very few friends that actually 'get' it.

Most of them think we are crazy. Why would adults want to go to a place for 'kids?'

Again, I try to explain that it's my happy place and it lets me forget my everyday troubles and just lets me relax for awhile. I try to tell them that it isn't just for kids. That even adults can have fun there.

Again, most of them don't get it.

Sorry. I just can't wait for our trip and love coming here and talking with others that enjoy Disney just as much as me.

So, the trip is still on. Still obsessing over every little detail. I can't wait until we get to under 100 days. It seems like so far away now.

Thanks again for listening to me go on and on. You guys keep me sane in this crazy thing called life. LOL!!

[Cam22]

Glad your trip is still on!