It's Fall!!

It's Fall again!   And even though I'm a warm weather fan that exclamation point means that it's time for my fall trip to Disney World!


Aaaahhh,   Fall in Disney.....    What else can I say?  Disney in the fall has always been like a delicious treat to be savored.   For most years it meant low crowds, warm weather, special deals on rooms and that all elusive Disney Free Dining.  And let me tell you we ate it all up.  Again and again and again.......

But,  (Isn't there always a but?)  In the last few years people have caught on to our little secret.  And of course Disney has monopolized that time of year with public announcements of all the "deals".

Fall now means every fall break in every city of America will converge on Florida.   Trust me.  We play the license plate game.   We have gone from getting about half the tags of the US to last year even getting a Mexico and Hawaii.   WHAT??????

The crowds will be thick my friends.  The deals are absurd.  $706 for one night in a standard room at Polynesian????   $160 for Pop Century? Which we used to get all the time for $54 when we wanted a cheap trip!!!  We have stayed at them all but I think the rest of our future trips will be at a value resort.  Which are better than none right?   My Disney snob teens call these resorts Disney's ghetto.   Shame on them!  And I can't repeat what my husband calls shoehorning 4 people in a Pop room for 7 days.  All 3 of my guys are 6 ft or over.....   Those beds while comfy feel like sleeping on a twin.  It takes family love to a whole new level.  And dimension.  

Thank you baby Jesus for Petals Pool Bar.......


Ok, back on track.  Be cool.   If you are a Disney Fanatic, Disney Fan, Disney Lover, Disney Nerd you will know what to do.  

Book Early!!  Book Early!!  Book Early!!     As soon as you have a vague idea when you are going  book it.  You can arrange and change later.  Just get something booked.  If you have to have a $260 (which is the current rate for 4) dinner a Hoop De Doo Musical Revue   Book it!!!!    Are you seeing a pattern here?

I have several reservations lined up for next year just in case.

And most importantly.   SET UP YOUR FAST PASSES.   Yes, it goes against the grain for me too.  I loved the freedom of seeing events and riding rides when I felt like it as I wandered from park to park.   That's in the past folks.   For the past 2 visits I've been nagging my son to make sure I get on Toy Story Mania.  We would spend our first evening eating and setting all that up.   This past spring trying to set up fast passes when we arrived didn't fly.  Sure we got some but not everything we wanted.   

We set ours up a month before we left.    Thank goodness.  I couldn't handle the stress if we didn't.   

Now we are 7 days away and I can relax and pack.   Relax and pack??   Ha!  Fall also means making sure your entire family have costumes for the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party which also books up.   Then of course you want to decorate your hotel window to let everyone know YOU are the biggest Disney fan at the resort.  

In fact, I'll have to post more later.  I've got to get up in the attic and see how I can top last years decor........lol       True Disney fans do all this because we love it!!!!!  

Selfie Sticks Banned From Disney Parks

I am so sad!   My Sister In Law gave me a pink selfie stick recently because she knew how bad I wanted one while we were in Disney.   I usually take my 2 teen sons to Disney twice a year and let me tell you getting a picture out of them is like well getting a picture out of them.   So,  here I am with the best invention ever if your with a family that won't take pics and Disney bans them from parks!  I get it, their annoying and I guess could be dangerous but darn it I wanted to get some good pics on rides.   I can't honestly say on my next trip I won't try and sneak a few here or there.  And if you see me I'll deny it.   Here are some pics of me practicing.....

Spring Break Disney

Oooohhhh I've been a horrible blogger!!!   Ok, there was my 10 seconds of guilt!

So, I'm rather blue that we did not do our annual last week of May Disney trip.  But, we went on Spring Break.  This was my little brother's first trip with his little family and he wanted big Sis to be there and show them the Disney ropes. 

Trust me I was happy to do it.  Just to see his face and his family's excitement was terrific!   

We've haven't done Spring Break at Disney in years.  And our reasons are these.  The weather is unpredictable as far as warmth.  I have a problem going to Orlando and wearing pants and a jacket! Second,  My guys are high schoolers now and we have to be careful not to go around the crucial times of exams and whatnot.  (Oh, how I miss the days of letting them skip school to go to Disney!)
Third, Spring Break in Disney is now notorious for the stroller set.  No biggie, we were once in that category and it was great then, but now  we like to go at times when our heels aren't being run over by overzealous Dad's pushing 40 ton strollers to get to Frozen stuff......

Seeing Disney's side for the younger set brought out the best of us.  We reminisced about all the times we did it when the boys were little. It was a wonderful time for all of us!   Trust me.  Go back every now and then to the "little kid" stuff and you will see magic again.  

As for us "big kids" we will be back in October going to MNSSHP and next year we will be right back at it for all of Mays fun times.  ie.  Star Wars Weekend and the 24 hour party!

Spring Break was fantastic. I would highly recommend it.   The weather was incredible and seeing Disney through little and big eyes who have never been was just unforgettable.

This just goes to show that any time of the year is a great time to go to Disney World!

Cousins!!

Run Disney Run!

(This is a blog I wrote from last year.  Unfortunately I got the flu right before the race.  Bad flu. Thought I was dying flu.  So my girlfriend and I signed up again this year but we have not spoken about as to not to jinx it.  That works.  Right?)   Cross your fingers in 4 weeks we will be doing this!!!

Okay,  I have finally done it!!   After several years of debating I have finally decided to run my first 5K at Disney World!!!   

Let me tell you though,  either I've been under a rock or am just not too bright. (Let's just assume the latter)  I had no idea until a year or so ago how freaking POPULAR the Run Disney events are.   Last year I tried to sign up online for one of the runs about a month after registration opened.   DUMB DUMB DUMB.   Apparently I am the last fool on earth who didn't know that most of the races at Disney sell out within hours.  

I started looking at blogs and asking questions about why and how a certain race I was trying to book was full.  Let's just say after several scathing replies I was so glad my real name wasn't visible.  Jeez!  These runners take this seriously!!!   OK.  Do not assume you can get registered for a Disney Race days after it opens.   Duly noted.

So, this year I'm smarter.   The race my Bestie and I wanted to run in February opened in June.  The day registration was open I was on my computer at the designated time ready to roll.   After several hours of being shut down and frozen up I finally got us registered for the Princess Half Marathon Weekend in February 2015.   And no, we are not running the half just the 5k.   I love Disney World but don't want to die there in a puddle of sweat.

Now all I have to do is figure out my perfect running outfit.  Oh yeah,  and train to run. (yikes)   

These are the pictures I'm imagining will be me a the race....

But in essence will be more like this....

Show Your Disney Side Halloween Style

I have thoroughly loved this years Disney's theme "Show Your Disney Side"!!

And boy have I shown my Disney side!!  Two good trips within 4 months of each other! Wow! Both were totally different but fantastic in there own way. (which is exactly why I love Disney World)

You can read about my earlier trip this year with "10 Magical Days in Disney Parts 1&2 on my blog.

My second adventure this year was a much anticipated Fall trip for the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.  As Halloween being my favorite holiday my boys and I took it to a new level this year.  Every year that we go I (and everyone else)  dresses up like a Disney character.  I sported a Tinkerbell costume for many years since she was my favorite.  You know Tink, not quite a Disney princess but pouty and temper tantrums galore.  More like me......

But with the years passing rapidly an aging Tinkerbell is not so cute so for the last few years I've been more of a well, Witch.  No particular Witch.  Just a Witch.

So, to incorporate my love of Disney and Zombies we did this:

And let me tell you we had more comments and compliments than we could almost handle.  Cast members were telling us how much they loved our costumes and everywhere we went people were yelling "zombies"!!  My boys don't like a lot of attention but they were loving it like rock stars.   Their costumes were last minute old t-shirts out of suitcase cause they didn't want to dress up.  I think when they saw Mom in her zombie attire they were like "why not"??? 

Madame Carlota was at her best outside the Haunted Mansion.   Telling stories and talking with guests in line.  It is a treat if you can catch her there at night.  She is a riot!

This was the first time we caught the Cadaver Dans.  An amazing sounding group of dead gunslingers in Frontierland.  The boys and I got a nod from them for being fellow un-dead.  Think Barbershop Quartet.  But Dead.....
  

And don't forget to bring your trick-or-treat bags!  If you don't bring one Cast Members are passing them out at the the front gate.  I heard that Disney brought in 220 tons of candy for this years Halloween festivities.  Yum!

So, If your skeptical about paying for Disney's Not So Scary Halloween Party (DNSSHP) trust me, do it once.  It will be well worth it!!

10 Magical Days in Disney Part 2

I know nobody likes a lengthy blog but in this case I just had so much to share!

So day 6 of 10 The Mr. (babies daddy, Hubby etc.) arrived via plane and Magical Express bus.  We started our new reservation at Beach Club Resort that day so he wouldn't have to step one snobby toe on a value resort.  What a snoot!  But, he's good for a laugh.

Beach Club Resort.  Wow. Where do I start??   The lobby is fantastic.  Totally like an old time beach club.  Beautiful fresh flowers everywhere, Staff members dressed like little sailors.  Some older man strolling around looking like Thurston Howell the III.  I'm guessing he was staff unless he takes traveling to another level....

And there we were.  The Clampetts.  Me, clutching my giant stuffed pig I have to sleep with along with about 6 other pillows and my favorite cooler (cause I'm cheap and wanted a few adult beverages that I didn't pay $10 each for)  I think the staff was offended because I said "no thanks" to their offer to carry my pillows.   At other resorts I make 15 trips to the car and it's really no big deal to me.  The cool part was I looked around and there were plenty of other "Clampetts" trying to unload mini-vans and with crap tackier than ours!

the view from Beach Club

Ok,  on with the resort!   The decor was so beautiful one of my boys said "Mom, this may be too fancy for us"   I said, "It's Disney fancy so we can handle it"!!  A short walk up the stunning staircase and we were at our room.  Standard??  Wow, nicest standard we've stayed in on property.  A lovely balcony with table and chairs that faced the beach and Boardwalk.  The beds were queens and so comfy.  The sofa was a demi/quasi pull-out?   Turned into a twin.  Perfect!    Once we gave the room a looksi we decided to roam around and wait on our luggage to arrive from Pop Century.  If you ever change resorts during your stay at Disney the staff are kind enough to get your luggage to the next resort.

Outside was the amazing pool I've only seen from passing by in a boat.  The bottom is sand and there are rocks surrounding it to give you a east coast beachy feel.  Climb up the wrecked pirate ship and hurtle your self down the enclosed water slide.  I loved it!  I must have done it 20 times in a row one afternoon!  There is a nice kiddie section which was separate with big piles of sand the kids could build with.  

The funny thing to us was that we don't need housekeeping every day. We are just not that needy or picky.  Good housekeeping to us at a value resort was finding a bag of towels on your room door after a long day at the parks.   At Beach Club on the days we didn't have housekeeping someone would call us and ask if everything was alright?  Was housekeeping not to our satisfaction?  TWICE A DAY they would call concerned!  That was rather amusing to us.

Having the ability to walk from our room straight to Epcot or take a boat from the lighthouse to Hollywood Studios was a fabulous perk of staying at Beach Club.  It made it easy if we were trying to hit 3-4 parks for shows or fireworks.  And then an easy walk or ride back to our room.  Very nice!!  Of course like most Disney resorts there was a campfire with marshmallows to roast and a beach side movie.  All of these things combined made for some great memories!

Waiting on a boat at Beach Club                                             Lighthouse

Never too tired to dance with my                             boys

The Mr. and I

The Mr. getting his annual 3rd degree burn...

Can't contain his excitement!

Why is everyone taller than me???

So Handsome!!!

Rainforest Cafe   Volcano!!

My fellow Disney nut

Absolutely!!