Just popping in to see if there were any more updates. Have a great weekend, friend!
Hahaha - I'm a bit behind here - oops!
I am not receiving notifications so I got a little behind; but I have a pass too as I can say I am old; don't you remember being little and when your aunts were in their 50's and 60's you thought they were ancient? Ugh, I will be 60 in a couple of months; just popping in and so excited for this trip! We bought son and DIL a new car seat for each baby when they were born, it was the one luxury item we splurged on; and they have have an extra base they pass around; it really helps; hope Disney transportation research is going well; going to go reset my notifications now so I will be able to keep up!
Hey Carol! Oh yah - LOL - I remember. I'm approaching 50, but they say 50 is the new 30... Let's hope. LOL
I'm working on it! But not making much headway... I need to make a decision!
Omg, I completely forgot that you were doing this PTR. I was scrolling through my FB messages and found it again. So I had to read all of it in one go. Whew! Caught up now. I am Loree IRL btw.
Yes, so many things have changed since you were there last.
Genie+, individual lightning lanes (ILL) and virtual queues are the biggest ones. Although, we only used G+ one day and purchased one ILL for our trip in September 2022. We did Genie+ at HS and purchased the ILL for RotR that same day. And that was only so we could ensure we were able to ride RotR and Smuggler's in Galaxy Edge since DH is a huge Stars Wars fan. We also did the virtual queue for Guardians the two days we were in Epcot.
I am so excited for you guys and can't wait to hear more about your trip.
And you are going on a cruise too! So very, very jealous! We have done two cruises, one western Caribbean and one southern Caribbean. We went to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Jamaica on the western one and Aruba, Bonaire and Grand Turk on the southern one. You should be okay for sea sickness on your cruise since you will be cruising in more protected waters (lots of islands between the ship and the eastern wind). Our southern one was not so protected and we had three sea days to start. I was pretty green by the third day and was sooooo looking forward to getting on solid land. I will be interested to hear what you think of cruising.
Will be looking for your next update now that I remembered this PTR is here!
Hey Loree! <3 Great to see you here! Looks like everyone has been here, but me. LOL Oops!
Yes - Allison and I are very excited for this cruise - it looks like a few friends are joining us - so it will be even more fun! I am a bit nervous sailing on Carnival - I've heard that it has a reputation for being a "party ship" - and we are FAR from party people... but I've also heard the longer cruises are less of a party atmosphere, and ours is a 7 day... So - I'm hopeful. I am hoping to talk to my Dr about getting a patch? We will see?
So apparently Genie + will be changing, although what those changes are are unknown. Rumor has it that it will be similar to the old FP+ except paid. I wouldn't mind paying so much if I actually was able to book the rides I want.
I sure hope so - anxiously waiting for this update! I hope it's before our trip - because as of now, we are planning to navigate the parks without it.
I'm so excited to be in and posting. It's amazing how all of our kiddos have grown up since we were all active on here! Can't wait to read more and see what's to come!
Yes - everyone is so grown!!! It's hard to believe!
Hello! Joining in! The title of your PTR caught my eye. My Best Friend passed away in January, and she was going to teach me how to sew, so when she passed I decided to teach myself how to do it! TBD how that turns out, Ive done a couple small things, but so far from halfway decent!
I am a mom of two youngins! S is 3 and J is 1.5 and I have taken them both to Disney a couple times already. Would have taken S sooner than we did, but that dumb virus derailed our lives for a couple years. So I have sooo many tips and hacks. One of my biggest tips is Check out PixieDustedMom on You Tube. She is amazing.
1. Do not pack diapers. Ship overnight diapers to the hotel. Saves so much packing room. Overnight diapers are more absorbent too so less diaper rash.
2. Diaper Rash spray. Makes diaper changes in tight spaces so much easier since there will be less to clean up!
3. Pare the expectations. I think for one of our trips we never even made it over to Adventureland. We did fewer "things" than ever but it was still my favorite trip ever.
4. Extra outfits, for baby AND YOU! Baby probably won't be eating many solids by the trip, but explosions still happen more frequently on vacation for some reason. The ONE day we did not pack an extra outfit for S last year, was the one day she had a blowout, and well, it was not just contained to me. We both had to buy new clothes in the park.
This is all I can think of now. Love that you are buying the baby a plane ticket. This is such a sensitive subject, but many moons ago, pre-children, I was on a cross country flight and we hit BAD turbulence. Someone dropped their lap child because they were not ready for it. The turbulence came on hard and FAST. No warning. I swore that day forward, if I can't afford an extra flight, I can't afford the trip.
Hi!!! Welcome!!! I am so sorry to hear about your BFF - that must be incredibly hard for you?
I cannot imagine! But how wonderful that you are teaching yourself how to sew now - what a wonderful way to honor your friendship. <3
I will definitely do that!!! Thank you so much for the recommendation!
I think V is planning to order diapers? I will double check with her though? And I will definitely tell her about the spray! That is a great idea!
This trip is definitely going to be a "go with the flow" type trip and baby will dictate everything we do. We've all been there so many times, that we won't be heartbroken if we miss a lot.
Oh boy - yes I didn't even think of that! We will all make sure we have extra clothe with! That is a great one! Thank you!
Yes! I agree! I think it's just safer for baby to be in their car seat on a flight. I do have flight updates I will do below.
Again - welcome!!! So sorry that I haven't checked in to welcome you sooner! <3
I know - I know - baaaad Diser. LOL
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OK guys!!! Lots to update - both IRL and Disney - so I'll try to be quick about it as I only have about 15 minutes.... Hopefully I don't forget anything?
First things first.... Disney....
Resort is booked - as you know - it WAS linked in
MDE, and now it's not... Working in it - I have emails out as I type.
Flights are booked!!! I happened to find a very reasonable airfare for our dates, and at amazing times... Direct flight and for the first time ever, we are flying First Class! It was only $75 more per person and it included our checked bags - so it was a no brainer! It will be so much easier with baby to have the extra room and pre-boarding.
Oh and we have an addition!!!! ALLISON IS COMING WITH!!!!
She asked me last week if she could tag along - she couldn't bear to miss out on Baby's first trip without Auntie in tow... So - the original Girls unite for this trip - hopefully with 3 against 1, we should be able to manage? LOL Pray for us!
We still need to purchase park tickets - that is next on our list... And I need to watch for
MNSSHP tickets to release too. I also still need to figure out how we are getting from the airport to SoG. And - we need to decide which stroller we are renting and from where, and also where we are having it delivered (probably to the resort???).
I think that's it for Disney updates. (trying to plan two trips so close together has become a bit confusing - I don't know how some of you do it??? LOL)
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OK - quick life update...
Let's start with baby... V is currently 37.5 weeks along... Baby is Frank Breech (you can google it, as I don't have time to put a photo in... Unless baby happens to flip, V is scheduled for a c-section in 2 weeks. Baby is also measuring large - at 36 weeks baby was weighing in at 8 lbs! Otherwise everything appears to be healthy and we cannot wait to meet the little darling! <3
Allison is doing good - living the life - loving her cats and her fun apartment.... She is branching out trying to find the right church for her, which I greatly admire... As a "Cradle Catholic" - that is something I struggle with and I am so proud of her for trying to honor her own beliefs. <3
As for Josh and I - we just returned from our 6th trip to Aruba... We were there for 2 weeks and every time we go, we fall more and more in love with it!!! We are already counting down to next year. However - let's talk flights for a moment... We have decided that we will NEVER fly to Aruba again unless we buy the whole row or we fly first class.... We had completely awful flights again and it was mostly due to our seating arrangements. So - now that extra cost is built into our budget.
10 days after we got home, I had to have a hysterectomy.... Not going into specifics on this - just know that the last 2 years of my life has been awful and painful and I was OVER it. I am now 2 weeks post op, and I haven't felt this good in a very LONG time! I am still recovering and I still have major restrictions - which is hard because I feel so good. But I am so glad that part of my life is over - it's a huge relief!!!! And the fact that I never have to worry about it again while traveling - well that's an added bonus!
Now that I am recovering - and pain free - I am just now trying to refocus on my healthy living. Admittedly - over the course of the last 2 years - I've gained back nearly all I lost 10 years ago... But hopefully now that I don't have the added stress on my body of an organ that wasn't functioning properly - I will be able to actually lose some of this weight... It has been a really awful struggle for me this entire time.
Anyways - I think that's everything???? Sorry I've been absent - I'll definitely come back and update as I have updates to add... And now that the trip is approaching, updates should be a little more often.
Wishing you all the best! <3 And thanks for hanging out with me!
D~
