~~~~~ Sew, sew, sew – off we go with Grand-baby in tow! ~~~~~ (September 2024)

[Pluto0809]

maybe the Sunshine Flyer?

So the Sunshine Flyer doesn't really exist anymore. They merged with Mears recently and the combined company is now called Mears Driven By Sunshine. It's basically the same as the Magical Express except you have to pay now. Location is the same in the Orlando Airport and it's the same system where they put you in line by resort. Since it's switched to pay I've experienced walking right on a bus or having a wait up to 30 minutes. They also combine resorts still so you may or may not be the first stop.

 

[Wood Nymph]

so now we have a 2 hour layover both directions - which for me is the perfect layover...

That's a whole lot better than the former layover. We once had a 45-minute layover in LA for a flight to Hawaii and of course we missed the connection. It is no fun to hang around an airport for a few hours when you are in a hurry to get to paradise.

I am also taking a cruise with Allison in September 2024.

That should be a lot of fun. It should be cheaper than a Disney cruise, so there is that.

 

[rdkeim]

Yah - there is just so much to know... I mean - in all honesty - we are there for the Coconut Dole Whips and the rest of the food! Hahaha!

That is super frustrating! I wish they'd allow you to do it further in advance than that - So annoying and hard to plan! I"m thinking we will be focused on characters, food and photopass... The little one will dictate everything I"m sure!


Hey hey neighbor! How fun!!! I've taken our girls many times over the years (feel free to peruse my old PTRs and TRs if you want)... So many great memories have been had! Disney has never once been a regret for me (or for them) - we love it there and love the planning together! We are so excited to plan with a baby too now!

Oh yes -there is nothing like Florida heat! LOL We've done a couple of August trips and yah - it was so HOT! Just glad our weather is cooling off here this week, I'm ready for fall!

Ooooh!!! That's awesome that your husband's business is embroidery! Hopefully he is staying busy these days!! I've found my business to be a little slow over the last year or so - thankfully Josh is the breadwinner and the money I make doesn't really provide much to our family budget, or we'd probably have to find a better income for me. I"m just grateful that Josh lets me do what I love to do - and it allows me to still be flexible with our girls - because even though they are grown and gone - I still do a TON for them and with them... And I wouldn't want it any other way! <3

Super happy to have you here and following along! I look forward to getting to know you!



Hey!! Welcome back! I'm happy to see you out of "lurk mode" I look forward to doing another PTR and getting into some fun planning with my Dis friends!

It's kind of neat now - that I have a small "time capsule" on the Dis - where people can still get to know us if they wish - and they can still go back and read all of my old PTRs/TRs.

We are so, so, so excited!!! It's hard to believe we will be grandparents!


Awesome! I'll try to get over there today!

Yes - we do love the extra large room sizes there!

That is good to know - I'll be researching like crazy soon! I so hate that this is something we have to pay for now.

Oooh that's interesting - I will be looking that up too! THank you!


Thank you!!! Hahaha - I"m loving grand babies too - so far!

Oh how fun!!!! I love that she was that age! Do you think it was a good age to go?

We are having a really hard time finding Disney clothes right now - but retail is gearing up for winter in MN, so everything out there is warm... Once spring hits, then we will really start buying for the trip, because the clothing will be much more geared towards Florida weather. I have managed to get a few swim suits for the baby that he/she can wear in Florida while we are there - so there's that - but that's about all I've been able to do.

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OK - well yesterday was a nice day!

I have a small baby update for you all! Good news!!! Victoria is 17.5 weeks along... baby has a nice heartbeat of 150 bpm!!! She swears she can feel baby moving already... I don't remember feeling the girls move at all until closer to 20 weeks... but who knows? We are just happy that baby seems to be healthy! She has her 2nd ultrasound in 3 weeks, so we are all very excited to see the baby again!

For the record, Victoria did have genetic testing done, so we do know the gender of the baby... but Josh doesn't want to know - so we are keeping it a secret from him. We also know what the baby will be named - and a little pat on the back for myself - they actually chose one of the names I suggested.

I did look into rental cars a little bit yesterday (I can't remember if I updated about this yet or not?)... But prices were WAAAY cheaper with Sam's Club than they were with USAA - which was kind of surprising to me and a little disappointing... I think we were hoping to get a car for closer to $250/week - and we want a little bit bigger car, so of course that's more expensive. We are still looking into other options though - maybe the Sunshine Flyer? Any experience with that? I honestly feel safer on a bus than in a towncar? I think?

I know that our Aruba vacation doesn't have anything to do with Disney really - except that we fly over on our way there and back. LOL But I did get notice the other day that our flights were changed in our favor - so that always makes me feel better. I had to book with a very close connection (45 min layover in Miami) - and I"ven been super nervous about it. We always lay over in Miami when we are going to Aruba - we like the airport and it's an easy layover - but 45 min is cutting it pretty close - I'm always worried that our luggage won't make it. Anyways - the airlines adjusted our flight, so now we have a 2 hour layover both directions - which for me is the perfect layover... It gives us enough time to use restrooms and grab a meal before we have to reboard. We are under 100 days for this trip, and I am truly excited about it! Josh and I have managed to go every year for the last 6 years (but we did miss 2019) - and last year for our 25th wedding anniversary, we splurged with 2 weeks instead of 1... And we can't go back on that now. 2 weeks in paradise wasn't enough either - LOL but definitely better than 1... Maybe once Josh retires we will be able to add on a 3rd week? We'll see... He just doesn't quite have enough vacation time for all of the time off he takes if we were to take a 3rd week in Aruba. So, anyways - I'm almost at the point where I need to start making dinner reservations for that trip... We have our favorites and we are hoping to add in a new restaurant this year too.

As long as I am talking about other vacations... I am also taking a cruise with Allison in September 2024. You guys didn't think I'd leave her out did you? LOL It's NOT a Disney cruise - which I am kind of sad about... but it is a cruise with a few of my friends. And it's my first cruise ever - so totally new to me and I"m actually kindof excited about it. We will be on the Carnival Magic and we will be hitting Belize, Cancun and Carnival's private island. It's a 7 day cruise - I"m a little nervous about getting sea sick - since I do get motion sickness... So hopefully it isn't too bad?

So - anyways... 2024 will be a busy vacation year for me! (not complaining) - but after not doing Disney for so many years, and branching out into other places - it has been kind of nice.

Alrighty... Today...

Nothing exciting going on. I"m working on this week's bag - I'm loving how it's coming together!

I don't think I am going anywhere today? I do need to go visit my dad... He is now living in a nursing home about 15 miles away. He was on hospice earlier this year, but he improved miraculously, so they graduated him off of it. I'm thinking tomorrow will work better for my schedule to visit him.

And I think that's all I have for you guys for today! Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday!

D~

Exciting baby news! Does 150 bpm signal a girl? I'm sure that "rule" is an old wives tale. With my second baby my sickness was late afternoon/evening. It seemed to pass quickly. 2024 will be a very busy year for your family! A cruise sounds really good to me right now. We just got back from a vacation where we were changing hotels every couple days. A cruise lets you unpack and your hotel room moves with you. Sounds like a fun itinerary!

 

[Texan]

So I am gone for the day and I miss all the juicy gossip! Everyone knows if it's a boy or girl except Josh - that is going to be a HUGE secret you have to keep!!! I would not do well keeping that a secret! And yay for the baby name! WTG Granny! A 2 week Aruba trip is such a wonderful vacay to look forward to every year; and yes 3 weeks would be even better! PM if you want to talk about cruises and a forums site I really like where you can research the ship and ports. We used to cruise quite a bit when the boys were younger. The sea bands and bonine make a lot of difference. Bonine will not make you sleepy. You have a lot to look forward to! I think the Disney trip with V and your grandbaby will be such a special memory maker. I am glad Sams had a decent rental rate; I hope you can fit it into your budget. Count me in for a dole whip with rum please. Following along!

 

[DMGeurts]

So the Sunshine Flyer doesn't really exist anymore. They merged with Mears recently and the combined company is now called Mears Driven By Sunshine. It's basically the same as the Magical Express except you have to pay now. Location is the same in the Orlando Airport and it's the same system where they put you in line by resort. Since it's switched to pay I've experienced walking right on a bus or having a wait up to 30 minutes. They also combine resorts still so you may or may not be the first stop.

Got it - I guess I was just referring to whatever the new ME equivalent is? LOL It's an option for us for sure... I get the feeling that none of our options will be exactly what we want unless we do actually rent a car?

That's a whole lot better than the former layover. We once had a 45-minute layover in LA for a flight to Hawaii and of course we missed the connection. It is no fun to hang around an airport for a few hours when you are in a hurry to get to paradise.

That should be a lot of fun. It should be cheaper than a Disney cruise, so there is that.

That is so awful that you missed your connection for Hawaii!!! Were you able to get on the next flight?

Oh yah - I knew when booking our flights that our 45 min layover was risky at best - I paid extra for seats at the front of the plane so we might actually have a chance of making it. Just glad they switched our flights - I love it when we can take a break from flying and have time to grab a quick meal. I was actually looking yesterday, since I booked non-changeable flights - but since THEY switched our flights, we can now change... I looked at switching to first class, ahhh but I just cannot bring myself to pay double. Maybe next year??? The small seats are super hard on Josh's back - having the layover truly helps him though... Although I may switch us to comfort seating. I plan to dig deeper today.

Exciting baby news! Does 150 bpm signal a girl? I'm sure that "rule" is an old wives tale. With my second baby my sickness was late afternoon/evening. It seemed to pass quickly. 2024 will be a very busy year for your family! A cruise sounds really good to me right now. We just got back from a vacation where we were changing hotels every couple days. A cruise lets you unpack and your hotel room moves with you. Sounds like a fun itinerary!

I am not sure - I just know it's a healthy baby bpm, and that makes me so happy! V started taking a different antacid the other day - and it seemed to help a little bit? Hopefully it continues to keep the sickness at bay...

Oooh - that might get difficult switching hotels often like that? I get that it would be hard to settle in. So tell me - where did you all go?

So I am gone for the day and I miss all the juicy gossip! Everyone knows if it's a boy or girl except Josh - that is going to be a HUGE secret you have to keep!!! I would not do well keeping that a secret! And yay for the baby name! WTG Granny! A 2 week Aruba trip is such a wonderful vacay to look forward to every year; and yes 3 weeks would be even better! PM if you want to talk about cruises and a forums site I really like where you can research the ship and ports. We used to cruise quite a bit when the boys were younger. The sea bands and bonine make a lot of difference. Bonine will not make you sleepy. You have a lot to look forward to! I think the Disney trip with V and your grandbaby will be such a special memory maker. I am glad Sams had a decent rental rate; I hope you can fit it into your budget. Count me in for a dole whip with rum please. Following along!

Hahahaha... Yes everyone knows baby's gender except for Josh. :haha: So far, so good... As long as he doesn't start digging into my baby outfit stash - although I do have "decoy" outfits mixed in of the opposite gender - though the decoy outfits are starting to be overtaken by the real outfits.

I am super excited about the baby name... The middle name is a bit ~um~ weird, but that wasn't my doing. LOL Once you hear it, you'll know exactly what I'm referring to. <3

Yes!!! We love going to Aruba so much... Not only do we love the island - but getting that time alone to reconnect and just be together is so wonderful - it's definitely something that we will continue to do for as long as we can.
I'd love to know more about this cruise planning forum! Send me the link! <3 And good to know about Bonine - I've heard that before, but I'd forgotten about it.

We are both having so much fun planning this Disney trip!!! When the girls started getting older - some of the Disney magic had changed... Meeting characters got a little awkward... So we are definitely excited to bring a tiny one to the parks to restore some of the old magic that was missing. DOn't get me wrong - Disney has always been wonderful - but it was different as the girls aged.

***************************************************************************************************************

I just wanted to hop on this morning and catch up on responses. Hopefully this is something I can keep up with?

I don't have anything exciting to update about the Disney trip... However - I do plan to hop on our airline website and see about switching our seats for Aruba - maybe getting the bigger seats at least, so our ride is a little more comfortable?

Have a great day everyone and I"ll be back soon!

D~

 

[Wood Nymph]

That is so awful that you missed your connection for Hawaii!!! Were you able to get on the next flight?

We were put on a flight that left about two hours later. We booked nonstop flights to Honolulu for future trips.

 

[rdkeim]

To answer your question, we went on a tour of Italy! 13 nights. Our stops were Rome, Sorrento, Florence, Venice and Stresa. Great trip but it might have been a little too much on the go. But, we did see a lot of wonderful sights. I totally agree on paying for bigger more comfortable seats and with some leg room! We will do that on our next long flight.

 

[AliceNDinah]

Hey hey neighbor! How fun!!! I've taken our girls many times over the years (feel free to peruse my old PTRs and TRs if you want)... So many great memories have been had! Disney has never once been a regret for me (or for them) - we love it there and love the planning together! We are so excited to plan with a baby too now!

Oh yes -there is nothing like Florida heat! LOL We've done a couple of August trips and yah - it was so HOT! Just glad our weather is cooling off here this week, I'm ready for fall!

Ooooh!!! That's awesome that your husband's business is embroidery! Hopefully he is staying busy these days!! I've found my business to be a little slow over the last year or so - thankfully Josh is the breadwinner and the money I make doesn't really provide much to our family budget, or we'd probably have to find a better income for me. I"m just grateful that Josh lets me do what I love to do - and it allows me to still be flexible with our girls - because even though they are grown and gone - I still do a TON for them and with them... And I wouldn't want it any other way! <3

Super happy to have you here and following along! I look forward to getting to know you!

We're neighbor's? How awesome. By the way, my name is Dana and we're in a suburb of St. Paul. Yes, my husband's embroidery business is going well, he's been doing it for almost 6 years now. What sorts of things do you make in your business? You are very crafty, that is so cool!! I thought your sewing room picture was super cute!

Ha, you're not kidding about the Florida heat, it was like an oven down there last year. We were at the Beach Club Villas, so we just threw ourselves into Stormalong Bay, ha ha. I will have to check out your old PTRs and TRs soon, for sure. You all seem like a fun family! I am so happy about your grandbaby, so awesome. What a lucky baby, to get to go to WDW in their first year What are your trip dates?

Hope you have a nice Thursday---again, so nice "meeting" you and am so living vicariously through your plans. I am itching to get back down there!!!!! I know on the bottom, in my signature, it has trip countdowns, but those are not valid anymore, and I have no clue how to get rid of them, lololol.

Take care!!

 

[Born2BaPrincess1]

Hi! I think 8 months was a good age. She was fascinated by all the color and movement. Naps were hard but she was pretty good at sleeping in her stroller or in the front carrier. She loved that. She wasn’t into the characters. You’re going to have so much fun!

 

[cindianne320]

Excited to follow along! Congrats!!!

 

[Becky2005]

That is a TRUE Disney fan people!!! We just justified a $4000+ trip with the purchase of a $5 used sweatshirt. :lmao Life doesn't get much better than that! <3

D~

I laughed at this because it is something I would do! An offhanded comment from my son is how my recent trip came about. I totally understand your justification for the trip, seems logical to me. Love it.

 

[DMGeurts]

We were put on a flight that left about two hours later. We booked nonstop flights to Honolulu for future trips.

Well - glad to hear that you didn't have to wait around too long for the new flight!

Oh gosh - nonstop to Honolulu - that would be a LONG flight? How long is it for you?

To answer your question, we went on a tour of Italy! 13 nights. Our stops were Rome, Sorrento, Florence, Venice and Stresa. Great trip but it might have been a little too much on the go. But, we did see a lot of wonderful sights. I totally agree on paying for bigger more comfortable seats and with some leg room! We will do that on our next long flight.

Oh yes - I knew that! I think I saw you post on FB? I would love to see some of those cities - Venice especially. I was actually talking about this with V the other day - mentioning that a friend just got back from Italy (Didn't correlate that it was you), and she was talking about her trip and how she hated Rome because it was so dirty, but loved the Mediterranean Sea so much. I just laughed at her... Even though it was difficult for us financially at the time - I am so glad we were able to send both of the girls to Europe for the summer after they graduated - it's something that they will likely never get to experience again - or at least not in that way - now that they are both settling down with big girl jobs and families. <3 I suspect it will be many years before they make it over again - and when they do, it will likely be with husbands and kids of their own. <3

Hey hey neighbor! How fun!!! I've taken our girls many times over the years (feel free to peruse my old PTRs and TRs if you want)... So many great memories have been had! Disney has never once been a regret for me (or for them) - we love it there and love the planning together! We are so excited to plan with a baby too now!

Oh yes -there is nothing like Florida heat! LOL We've done a couple of August trips and yah - it was so HOT! Just glad our weather is cooling off here this week, I'm ready for fall!

Ooooh!!! That's awesome that your husband's business is embroidery! Hopefully he is staying busy these days!! I've found my business to be a little slow over the last year or so - thankfully Josh is the breadwinner and the money I make doesn't really provide much to our family budget, or we'd probably have to find a better income for me. I"m just grateful that Josh lets me do what I love to do - and it allows me to still be flexible with our girls - because even though they are grown and gone - I still do a TON for them and with them... And I wouldn't want it any other way! <3

Super happy to have you here and following along! I look forward to getting to know you!

We're neighbor's? How awesome. By the way, my name is Dana and we're in a suburb of St. Paul. Yes, my husband's embroidery business is going well, he's been doing it for almost 6 years now. What sorts of things do you make in your business? You are very crafty, that is so cool!! I thought your sewing room picture was super cute!

Ha, you're not kidding about the Florida heat, it was like an oven down there last year. We were at the Beach Club Villas, so we just threw ourselves into Stormalong Bay, ha ha. I will have to check out your old PTRs and TRs soon, for sure. You all seem like a fun family! I am so happy about your grandbaby, so awesome. What a lucky baby, to get to go to WDW in their first year What are your trip dates?

Hope you have a nice Thursday---again, so nice "meeting" you and am so living vicariously through your plans. I am itching to get back down there!!!!! I know on the bottom, in my signature, it has trip countdowns, but those are not valid anymore, and I have no clue how to get rid of them, lololol.

Take care!!

Yes! We are neighbors... We also live near St. Paul (I never disclose our exact location publicly on these boards - you never know who's reading ) I make custom purses, but I am also very careful about talking about my business on these boards, just because I have been accused of "advertising" in the past... But I love what I do, and I've had my business for coming up on 12 years in January.

Yes - we are pretty excited to be able to take the baby to Disney... A little nervous about it, as I've never brought a baby before... Buuuut - V and I are seasoned veterans of the parks, so we will just go with the flow and enjoy whatever we are able to enjoy. I know she has a few specific photos she wants with the baby, and a few character meals she wants to do (I'll talk a little bit about that below). We are booked for September of 2024. <3

I understand the "itching" to get back part... For the better part of a decade, we always had a trip booked - it helped our girls and I get through the many difficult years of pre-teens, teenagers and young adults - when things at home or at school weren't always wonderful - we always had a Disney trip to plan, to talk about or to be excited about. And now that the girls are grown - we talk about these trips often and how they really got all of us through some difficult times. I wouldn't trade any of those memories for anything. Our last trip as a trio was in 2018 - it was an amazing trip! But Covid and the price hikes have kept us from the parks mostly - I've done a couple trips with just V since 2018, but Allison hasn't been able to come with due to school and now work... So, this time it's just V and I again with the baby. <3 Allison loves Disney - but the cost and the crowds keep her away - understandably so.

I hope you are able to plan a trip again soon!

Hi! I think 8 months was a good age. She was fascinated by all the color and movement. Naps were hard but she was pretty good at sleeping in her stroller or in the front carrier. She loved that. She wasn’t into the characters. You’re going to have so much fun!

I am hoping this is the case with the baby too - I'm hoping he/she will be content enough to be in the stroller or in the carrier. Hoping we can get a few character pics though! I know that's something V really wants. <3

Excited to follow along! Congrats!!!

Welcome!!! I'm so happy to have you here! <3

I laughed at this because it is something I would do! An offhanded comment from my son is how my recent trip came about. I totally understand your justification for the trip, seems logical to me. Love it.

Hahaha - Yah I definitely found the humor in it. Nolan - not so much. Poor guy... V tried to warn him over their years of dating, that we could literally find ANY justification for a WDW trip... I don't think he quite believed us? :hahaha: I'm not even sure he still quite believes us? Just happy he's agreed to let us go and take baby with. <3

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Alrighty... Not too much to update here today...

Disney trip update: Josh and I decided to order the car seat and extra base for V for Christmas... What does this have to do with Disney you ask? Well... The car seat comes with a base - which will be V's Christmas gift from us - but I also ordered an extra base for my car. V and I spend SO MUCH time together - and we live a bit far from town - so we take turns driving. Once baby arrives, it will be so much easier if I have a base for my car too - so we can just transfer baby to my car and off we go.

Anyway - the plan for WDW is we've decided to buy baby a seat on the plane... That way baby can have his/her own space, we don't have to worry about checking or gate checking the car seat (which isn't safe) because we will use it on the plane. So, Josh will take us to the airport that morning, baby in car seat in my car using my base - then we will take the whole contraption out and onto the plane with us.

This is the car seat she chose to get... She did all the research on it and we just bought it. LOL



She is planning to get a stroller that works with it - but not sure which one that is? I know it's not the Chicco one, because she needs to buy an adaptor for the car seat to lock in. I'm encouraging her to rent a stroller while we are in wdw, because we WILL have to gate check the stroller, and I know her stroller is expensive - I would hate to have anything happen to it in the parks or to have it get wrecked by the airlines. Buuuut - she is being cheap about this - so I may have to step in and rent a stroller for her? We will see???

There is SO MUCH that goes into taking a baby to Disney... Or at least there is for us. We are over thinkers. LOL

So that's all I have for Disney planning today.

I will be working out shortly, then getting ready and planning to record some content for my Seint business... then I'm running out the door... I have some errands to run, and I have my annual physical later this afternoon, I am also hoping to stop by and visit my dad at some point either before or after my Dr appointment.

This weekend - we have a festival in a nearby town - I"m not sure if you guys know this or not? I know that those of you who are my FB friends know... but V and Nolan own a pizza restaurant... When they are short staffed or doing fun events, I often go and volunteer to help out... So this weekend they are selling pizza by the slice at the festival, so V and I will be running the tent. It should be fun! It's definitely cooler weather here than it has been - so it should be fun and comfortable.

I hope you all have an awesome weekend and I'll check back as I can.

D~

 

[Bama Mom]

This trip was obviously meant to be, the baby shirt was the sign! following along with your plans. BTW, I still have my Mickey/Minnie bag you made me in 2019.

 

[missjackiemcg]

Playing catch up here! We have used Mears and Sunshine Flyer (before they merged) and felt it was pretty much like the old Magical Express, just have to pay for it now, and don't get the cute Disney marketing videos to watch on the way LOL. We've also used Cast and Crew Transportation, which is a private SUV that picks up at the airport. It was started by some laid off cast members during/following Covid--their service was excellent.

When we took Jimmy as a baby, we also paid for a seat for him to be in car seat. I just felt safer with him all strapped in, too.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Oh gosh - nonstop to Honolulu - that would be a LONG flight? How long is it for you?

A direct flight from Chicago-O'Hare to Honolulu is almost ten hours long. Then you need to add the island-hopping flight to Kauai, our favorite island. It is a shorter flight coming home because you are traveling with the jet stream instead of against it. But it makes for a very long travel day. We stopped going years ago, though, and started to go to WDW more often.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Wow, D~ you are CRANKING out the “content” these days! The resort is booked!! It’s going to be a great trip!

Maybe a gender guess game for V’s baby? My guess would be a boy. I was not sick with either of the girls, but sick with Gabe. DD was sick in the first trimester with her pregnancy and lo and behold….BOY!

I am so happy to hear Allison has found love again. She deserves the very best in life!

We are taking a cruise with Carnival for New Year's with stops in Belize and Cozumel! Belize is where I would most love to sightsee. But, alas, this is DS's senior trip and he chose an excursion for Belize that will take ALL DAY. As you know the girls and I enjoyed our first cruise with Carnival in May. You'll have such a great time! Which private island are you going to? We went to Princess Cays and LOVED it!

I absolutely love the photos and memories from your Aruba trips!

Have a great weekend serving delicious pizza! We finally have a weekend with no where to go, so we are having the kids over Sunday for our annual bonfire and pumpkin carving. We normally have it closer to Halloween, but baby boy makes his entrance that week.

 

[DMGeurts]

This trip was obviously meant to be, the baby shirt was the sign! following along with your plans. BTW, I still have my Mickey/Minnie bag you made me in 2019.

Right? LOL This trip is definitely meant to be! <3

Awww - that's awesome to hear!

Playing catch up here! We have used Mears and Sunshine Flyer (before they merged) and felt it was pretty much like the old Magical Express, just have to pay for it now, and don't get the cute Disney marketing videos to watch on the way LOL. We've also used Cast and Crew Transportation, which is a private SUV that picks up at the airport. It was started by some laid off cast members during/following Covid--their service was excellent.

When we took Jimmy as a baby, we also paid for a seat for him to be in car seat. I just felt safer with him all strapped in, too.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

I've also been researching the CCT option - I am so undecided on this part of the trip... Like there is no really good option - they all have their +/-... We have time to figure it out, but I like to have all my ducks in a row months in advance - so it makes me a bit nervous to wait. LOL

Yah - and they are used to being strapped in when they are in their car seats, so I feel like it's the best option. I know we won't leave him/her in the seat for the whole flight, but definitely for take off and landing.

Thanks Jackie!!! You too!

A direct flight from Chicago-O'Hare to Honolulu is almost ten hours long. Then you need to add the island-hopping flight to Kauai, our favorite island. It is a shorter flight coming home because you are traveling with the jet stream instead of against it. But it makes for a very long travel day. We stopped going years ago, though, and started to go to WDW more often.

Oh wow - that is a long flight! I know I dislike our flights to Europe for that very reason - they are so hard!

Hahaha - yah, the flight to WDW is much easier. LOL

Wow, D~ you are CRANKING out the “content” these days! The resort is booked!! It’s going to be a great trip!

Maybe a gender guess game for V’s baby? My guess would be a boy. I was not sick with either of the girls, but sick with Gabe. DD was sick in the first trimester with her pregnancy and lo and behold….BOY!

I am so happy to hear Allison has found love again. She deserves the very best in life!

We are taking a cruise with Carnival for New Year's with stops in Belize and Cozumel! Belize is where I would most love to sightsee. But, alas, this is DS's senior trip and he chose an excursion for Belize that will take ALL DAY. As you know the girls and I enjoyed our first cruise with Carnival in May. You'll have such a great time! Which private island are you going to? We went to Princess Cays and LOVED it!

I absolutely love the photos and memories from your Aruba trips!

Have a great weekend serving delicious pizza! We finally have a weekend with no where to go, so we are having the kids over Sunday for our annual bonfire and pumpkin carving. We normally have it closer to Halloween, but baby boy makes his entrance that week.

Hahaha - yah - I'm doing content everywhere these days! I hope I"m able to keep up with everything!

Hahaha - maybe??? That would be fun! I'm purposely keeping the gender a secret here - gotta keep some excitement alive. :lmao

Yes - it's so wonderful to see her happy again... She had such a traumatic end to the last relationship, it's so wonderful to see her moving on and finding happiness again!

Those are our stops too!!! Belize (thinking of doing the Mayan Ruins), Cozumel (maybe doing Paradise Beach?) there???? And then I think our last one is Mahogony Bay??? Allison and I really want to have one excursion day where we stay on the boat - and we haven't quite decided which day that will be yet... But really looking forward to our first cruise! We booked a cove balcony room, so we are pretty excited about that too - I am quite terrified of heights - so having a balcony that isn't so high up, I think that will be a good thing for me?

We LOVE Aruba... Like - recommend it to everyone!!! It's such a beautiful island with the most amazing and wonderful locals! And the food... Ahhhh - YUM! LOL

I hope you enjoy your quiet weekend! The bonfire and pumpkin carving sounds like a blast and what a WONDERFUL reason to do it early!!! So excited about your grand baby coming!!! Have they chosen a name for him yet?

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I don't have any Disney stuff to update today...

But I will have some Doctor stuff to update at some point when I have a few extra minutes... Nothing bad I promise - but it does pertain to Disney - so I will include a bit of that here.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

D~

 

[branmuffin]

Hi, D! You have been very vigilant with updating here! Good job! I am teaching 8th grade English right now, and I feel like a don't get anything done except work stuff throughout the week. I've been looking forward to catching up all week! It sounds like the plans are coming together pretty well. Hooray for an Aruba countdown. Your pictures always look so fantastic; it really looks like paradise!

(I am still terrible with the quotes) I really hate that they have destroyed the Shades of Green Walkway! I hope they have some kind of transportation options in place when y'all get there. I love that Disney takes care of us military families. We would not have been able to go over the years without the salute tickets and hotel discounts. That being said, my husband went rogue this year and decided that he wanted to go to WDW for Christmas! We'll be there right in the thick of the busiest time of year. I'm not sure how I feel about the crowds, but it will be a first for us, so I am looking forward to experiencing the Magic at Christmas!

I am sorry that V is having a rough time with "morning" sickness. Pregnancy is such an incredible journey and different for everyone. I hope it's more good than bad for her!
The cruise sounds so exciting! I've only been on 1 cruise- when I graduate college. It was a Carnival cruise, and I had a wonderful time! My DD, Emma is graduating from HS this year, and one of her gift options is a Disney Cruise. She is not a person who likes a party or to be the center of attention. She would rather go on a trip. We have so many things in the air right now, so planning is difficult. My DH has one more promotion board this fall- if he gets promoted, he will stay active duty, but if he doesn't, he plans to retire after 26 years in the Marine Corps. It will be a major life change for us, some good, some difficult.
Looking forward to hearing more updates; hope there is good news in the health update! Have fun at your festival!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Oh, I do NOT expect you to share the gender, just allow us to guess and then see who got it right after the baby is born. Just a suggestion!

DD and DSIL do have a name picked out, but they are keeping it secret until he is born. I know the name, quite by accident. We spent the day helping them get the nursery set up and I opened a package that contained his little wooden name board for the birth announcement. I felt HORRIBLE, but I promised her I would not tell another living soul.

In Belize we are doing a zipline/ cave tubing adventure. It will take all day and they will serve us lunch as well. I am excited for it, and the hike to the caves will give us some exercise on an otherwise sedentary vacation. We have not decided what to do in Cozumel. Our Belize excursion is quite costly, so we will probably just do a little shopping and grab a bite somewhere then get back to the ship for some empty boat leisure time by the pool. We are not stopping in Mahogany Bay. We have three sea days and the suits us just fine. We sea days the most.

Have a great Monday, friend!!!

 

[DMGeurts]

Hi, D! You have been very vigilant with updating here! Good job! I am teaching 8th grade English right now, and I feel like a don't get anything done except work stuff throughout the week. I've been looking forward to catching up all week! It sounds like the plans are coming together pretty well. Hooray for an Aruba countdown. Your pictures always look so fantastic; it really looks like paradise!

(I am still terrible with the quotes) I really hate that they have destroyed the Shades of Green Walkway! I hope they have some kind of transportation options in place when y'all get there. I love that Disney takes care of us military families. We would not have been able to go over the years without the salute tickets and hotel discounts. That being said, my husband went rogue this year and decided that he wanted to go to WDW for Christmas! We'll be there right in the thick of the busiest time of year. I'm not sure how I feel about the crowds, but it will be a first for us, so I am looking forward to experiencing the Magic at Christmas!

I am sorry that V is having a rough time with "morning" sickness. Pregnancy is such an incredible journey and different for everyone. I hope it's more good than bad for her!
The cruise sounds so exciting! I've only been on 1 cruise- when I graduate college. It was a Carnival cruise, and I had a wonderful time! My DD, Emma is graduating from HS this year, and one of her gift options is a Disney Cruise. She is not a person who likes a party or to be the center of attention. She would rather go on a trip. We have so many things in the air right now, so planning is difficult. My DH has one more promotion board this fall- if he gets promoted, he will stay active duty, but if he doesn't, he plans to retire after 26 years in the Marine Corps. It will be a major life change for us, some good, some difficult.
Looking forward to hearing more updates; hope there is good news in the health update! Have fun at your festival!

I'm trying hard to stay caught up. 8th grade!!! Wow! How are you liking that?

Yes - our Aruba countdown is getting much smaller... Josh likes to tease me about it - as I start the countdown again as soon as we get home & randomly I like to remind him how many days we have left... It sure starts to get exciting and real once we hit double digits!

I know - the SoG walkway is definitely awful - we used it daily and often... Most often to walk to Capt. Cooks to eat... Now it will be a bus to TTC then walk to the Poly from there to eat at CC if we wish... and CC is one of our favorites - so we will be doing it several times. Agreed - there is no way we could go to Disney without all of the military benefits they do offer us. How exciting to go at Christmas time!!! I do love Christmas there- but I dare say - I love Halloween more. LOL Only because our very first trip was during Halloween and those memories are so cherished - every fall, I get the itch to go back! I can't wait to hear about your trip and how it goes!!! I hope you'll lmk!

Well - V's morning sickness has been better over the last week or so - her and her Dr. are certain that it's coming from her acid reflux (she always had issues with this and now her pregnancy is making it so much worse) - the Dr. put her on Prevacid and that seems to be helping immensely - she's been able to keep her food down for a week now! I think she does love being pregnant (I know I did) - and they do plan on having many children...

A Disney cruise would be the ultimate - and something that is definitely on my bucket list! I secretly hope this is what Emma chooses! LOL How fun and what a wonderful graduation trip!

Good luck to your hubby - I hope it all works out! That would be a definite life change for you all... but coming from the other side of Military retirement - it is good. And the adjustment is much easier than you may think.

Ahhh - the health update... I will have to do that another day - there is just too much to type and I don't have the time today. But I will sit down and do it this week. <3

Thanks for stopping by Brandi - it's always wonderful to see you here!

Oh, I do NOT expect you to share the gender, just allow us to guess and then see who got it right after the baby is born. Just a suggestion!

DD and DSIL do have a name picked out, but they are keeping it secret until he is born. I know the name, quite by accident. We spent the day helping them get the nursery set up and I opened a package that contained his little wooden name board for the birth announcement. I felt HORRIBLE, but I promised her I would not tell another living soul.

In Belize we are doing a zipline/ cave tubing adventure. It will take all day and they will serve us lunch as well. I am excited for it, and the hike to the caves will give us some exercise on an otherwise sedentary vacation. We have not decided what to do in Cozumel. Our Belize excursion is quite costly, so we will probably just do a little shopping and grab a bite somewhere then get back to the ship for some empty boat leisure time by the pool. We are not stopping in Mahogany Bay. We have three sea days and the suits us just fine. We sea days the most.

Have a great Monday, friend!!!

Oh yes - I think guessing would be fun!!! We will have to make a game of it!

I have to admit - I'll be stalking your FB a bit and watching for baby announcements - I am so very excited for you guys!!! I cannot wait to hear what baby's name is!

Oooh - that does sound fun in Belize!!! I am terrified of heights - so I don't think I could ever zip line - though it looks super fun and amazing! I am looking forward to an empty ship day too - we just need to decide which day we are staying on board.

Thanks for stopping by Connie! It's always wonderful to see my friends here.

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I do have a big health update to do - but I just don't have the time for that one today. Hopefully tomorrow or Thursday... I'm always thrown off when we have Federal holidays - since Josh is always off of work - I always take off of work myself and then I have to make up over the course of the week. So it gets a bit crazy!

Wishing you all a great day!

D~