I've got good news and bad news.
The bad news is that we had to completely deplete our cruise savings to pay off a debt that was looming over us.
However...the good news is....we have already MORE than made up for it!
I had $448 over there on my thermometer earlier...now it's $523!
Of course if we hadn't had to use that $448 we'd be close to $1,000 now, but well...life happens, right? I expect to have a few more good amounts coming in before the cruise, and hopefully a few unexpected ones too.
I have much more to blog about - continuing our Disney trip and a LOT of NYC things, but I have to end this here as I have a scrumptious meal of Mac & Cheese on the stove. LOL A goal of mine this week is to post a new NYC update and what's stirring with the family!
10.24.2011
10.04.2011
Castle Girl
When I left off, we just got off the Peoplemover and we had those FastPasses from Stephen-the awesome Cast Member. Where to go?
Joe and I had only ridden this on our honeymoon -- and this would be Henry's first flight. And this might be blasphemous to say to other Disney Fans, but while we enjoyed the ride during our honeymoon, it wasn't something that we felt like was a MUST DO. We never felt it was worth getting a FastPass for or waiting in line for....and that line is ALWAYS long!
However! We DID want to ride it, and we had those "freebie" FastPasses. We wanted to do something together, this was the perfect time!! I had zero memory of the ride, other than just thinking it was fine/cute/whatever, so it was like I was riding again for the first time.
Into the line we went! We handed our FastPasses over to the Cast Member who was working the line,o Henry quickly made friends with her. We chatted with her a bit while standing there--and just before we moved on, she handed us back our FastPasses and SEVEN more! They were good until the next day too!
We boarded our ship and were off to Neverland!
And....I gotta say...this ride is GREAT! We loved it! My, how opinion changes once a little one is involved! Henry was mystified with the flying ship and seeing Peter Pan and Captain Hook. He sang "Tick, tock, tick tock!" through the ride after seeing him for the first time.
This was a big hit, and we knew we'd be back on before our trip was over.
But now, it was time to ride It's a Small World just across the path. I believe this ride was down for refurb during our last trip, and even though Henry has ridden it several times, he had no memory of it.
As we were sitting in our boat, waiting to launch, Henry noticed the "castle girl", a Cast Member ride operator up in a little castle bridge above the ride. He started waving at her and blowing her kisses. She responded as soon as she saw him and just played it up with him -- he LOVED it. It was completely adorable.
When we got back to the load area, Henry instantly started waving at his castle girl again. She noticed him and played it up again with him. She motioned to another Cast Member who asked us if we'd like to ride again-and before Joe or I could respond Henry shouted out a "Yes!" So....off we went! And we got our own boat! Henry was ALL GRINS and blew many kisses to his new girlfriend. It was a fantastic magical moment!
After our second spin through, we knew it was time to go. We were all getting tired and it was very late--waaaaaaaay past Henry's bedtime. We slowly made our way up toward the Castle and through it
Once on Main Street we stopped to browse and use our snack credits.
Joe purchased Butterfinger Fudge.
Henry got some jellybeans and I chose a chocolate croissant from the bakery...
I love these things! None of us wanted those things at that hour, but we brought them back to the room for the next day and later in the trip.
We got back to the Boardwalk after 12:00 am. I cannot recall, but I'm pretty certain that hour Henry was fast asleep on the bus! Joe and Henry went straight to bed, meanwhile, your crazy host did a bit of Facebooking and computer work until 1 am.
Finally, the end of our first full day at Disney.
Yes, we are only done with the first full day. Can you believe that? 12.5 more to go!! I'm thinkin' I need to pick up speed...just a bit! LOL
Joe and I had only ridden this on our honeymoon -- and this would be Henry's first flight. And this might be blasphemous to say to other Disney Fans, but while we enjoyed the ride during our honeymoon, it wasn't something that we felt like was a MUST DO. We never felt it was worth getting a FastPass for or waiting in line for....and that line is ALWAYS long!
However! We DID want to ride it, and we had those "freebie" FastPasses. We wanted to do something together, this was the perfect time!! I had zero memory of the ride, other than just thinking it was fine/cute/whatever, so it was like I was riding again for the first time.
Into the line we went! We handed our FastPasses over to the Cast Member who was working the line,o Henry quickly made friends with her. We chatted with her a bit while standing there--and just before we moved on, she handed us back our FastPasses and SEVEN more! They were good until the next day too!
We boarded our ship and were off to Neverland!
And....I gotta say...this ride is GREAT! We loved it! My, how opinion changes once a little one is involved! Henry was mystified with the flying ship and seeing Peter Pan and Captain Hook. He sang "Tick, tock, tick tock!" through the ride after seeing him for the first time.
This was a big hit, and we knew we'd be back on before our trip was over.
But now, it was time to ride It's a Small World just across the path. I believe this ride was down for refurb during our last trip, and even though Henry has ridden it several times, he had no memory of it.
As we were sitting in our boat, waiting to launch, Henry noticed the "castle girl", a Cast Member ride operator up in a little castle bridge above the ride. He started waving at her and blowing her kisses. She responded as soon as she saw him and just played it up with him -- he LOVED it. It was completely adorable.
When we got back to the load area, Henry instantly started waving at his castle girl again. She noticed him and played it up again with him. She motioned to another Cast Member who asked us if we'd like to ride again-and before Joe or I could respond Henry shouted out a "Yes!" So....off we went! And we got our own boat! Henry was ALL GRINS and blew many kisses to his new girlfriend. It was a fantastic magical moment!
After our second spin through, we knew it was time to go. We were all getting tired and it was very late--waaaaaaaay past Henry's bedtime. We slowly made our way up toward the Castle and through it
Once on Main Street we stopped to browse and use our snack credits.
Joe purchased Butterfinger Fudge.
Henry got some jellybeans and I chose a chocolate croissant from the bakery...
I love these things! None of us wanted those things at that hour, but we brought them back to the room for the next day and later in the trip.
We got back to the Boardwalk after 12:00 am. I cannot recall, but I'm pretty certain that hour Henry was fast asleep on the bus! Joe and Henry went straight to bed, meanwhile, your crazy host did a bit of Facebooking and computer work until 1 am.
Finally, the end of our first full day at Disney.
Yes, we are only done with the first full day. Can you believe that? 12.5 more to go!! I'm thinkin' I need to pick up speed...just a bit! LOL
9.16.2011
Flying Blankies, Flying Elephants, and Defending the Galaxy
I cannot believe it's been almost two months since I last updated on the Trip Report! Yikes!!!
If anyone can remember, we left off as we were leaving Fantasyland and heading toward the "Flying Blankies" (commonly known as the Magic Carpets of Aladdin) in Adventureland.
We went into the line, which was fairly short and Henry made a buddy.
Waiting in line was completely painless with the two of them entertaining each other, and us!
Soon enough we were ready to load
Henry was quite inquisitive about this ride - asking all sorts of questions about how it worked and why there was water under it...he was pretty pumped to get his ride on!
It wasn't long...
On our very first rotation around Henry just happened to have it lined up so the camel that spits water at the "flying blankies" got me DIRECTLY in the side of my face, and naturally, I shrieked! This lead to peals of laughter from the front seat and it became Henry's mission to get me as much as he could!
I made it unscathed for the rest of the ride, but just before we landed, the request was made to ride again...so we did!
This time H rode with me
and....he got me with the camel AGAIN!!
After two rides and two direct Mommy hits from the camel, this quickly became Henry's favorite ride of the trip. As time goes on in this report, you'll see how many times we rode...!
We got off our second ride on the Flying Blankies and Henry made a request for...........Dumbo.
Do you find the irony in this? 1) We were JUST in Fantasyland and had suggested Dumbo, which he instantly shot down; and 2) How is Dumbo any different than the Flying Blankies?!?!? (Oh ya, a spitting camel...)
But, all well, we don't have an agenda! Let's go back to Fantasyland!
When we got to Dumbo the line was 20 minutes, which neither Joe nor I were too keen on...so we tried to suggest/bribe Henry on other things, but he wasn't having it. He said he didn't mind that the line was long - so in we went!
And really, the line moved pretty well, it didn't seem long at all and he was highly entertained by both people watching and his spinner toy we had brought.
Eventually we were in the holding pen with just one family in front of us.
Henry had requested a BLUE Dumbo and the sweet family in front of us insisted that we go in first to ensure he got his blue Dumbo.
Poser!
We had a great flight! Dumbo is simple, but it's still so enjoyable. I have a fondness for these classic rides. I did try to spy on the new Fantasyland over the the construction wall as we flew around, but I couldn't see much. I figured we'd ride again later in the trip...
As we got off the ride and made our way toward the exit, I saw a HUGE crowd of people laughing and smiling--turns out Mickey and Minnie were on our circuit! I had NO idea during the flight, but they exited just in front of us holding hands. They had rode with a couple kids. What a magical moment for those kids!!!!
We made our way into Tomorrowland
we wanted a spin with the Space Ranger!
This line was almost a walk-on
"Hi Buzz!!!"
When I was next to get on, the woman in front of me stepped on the moving belt and sorta half-slid around the barrier they have to get into a ride vehicle - the Cast Member tried to stop her, but wasn't successful--and boom! the ride shut down. It sat there for about 5 minutes,
they went through their checks, the Cast Member on the microphone had to repeat their little phrase about staying in the ride vehicle around 48 times (not sure if there was an offender, or if that's just how it goes?). But soon enough we were on and defending the galaxy, shooting up Zurg!!
My score
As we emptied into the gift shop Henry knew just what to do!
I have a picture of him behind bars with Zurg from almost all our trips.
After all that hard work of successfully defeating Zurg we were in need of something relaxing...off to the Peoplemover!
All three of us enjoy this ride. It's such a relaxing and entertaining ride gliding above Tomorrowland.
It was getting late, but we still had those Fast Passes from Stephen, Cast Member extraordinaire, where should we use them?
If anyone can remember, we left off as we were leaving Fantasyland and heading toward the "Flying Blankies" (commonly known as the Magic Carpets of Aladdin) in Adventureland.
We went into the line, which was fairly short and Henry made a buddy.
Waiting in line was completely painless with the two of them entertaining each other, and us!
Soon enough we were ready to load
Henry was quite inquisitive about this ride - asking all sorts of questions about how it worked and why there was water under it...he was pretty pumped to get his ride on!
It wasn't long...
On our very first rotation around Henry just happened to have it lined up so the camel that spits water at the "flying blankies" got me DIRECTLY in the side of my face, and naturally, I shrieked! This lead to peals of laughter from the front seat and it became Henry's mission to get me as much as he could!
I made it unscathed for the rest of the ride, but just before we landed, the request was made to ride again...so we did!
This time H rode with me
and....he got me with the camel AGAIN!!
After two rides and two direct Mommy hits from the camel, this quickly became Henry's favorite ride of the trip. As time goes on in this report, you'll see how many times we rode...!
We got off our second ride on the Flying Blankies and Henry made a request for...........Dumbo.
Do you find the irony in this? 1) We were JUST in Fantasyland and had suggested Dumbo, which he instantly shot down; and 2) How is Dumbo any different than the Flying Blankies?!?!? (Oh ya, a spitting camel...)
But, all well, we don't have an agenda! Let's go back to Fantasyland!
When we got to Dumbo the line was 20 minutes, which neither Joe nor I were too keen on...so we tried to suggest/bribe Henry on other things, but he wasn't having it. He said he didn't mind that the line was long - so in we went!
And really, the line moved pretty well, it didn't seem long at all and he was highly entertained by both people watching and his spinner toy we had brought.
Eventually we were in the holding pen with just one family in front of us.
Henry had requested a BLUE Dumbo and the sweet family in front of us insisted that we go in first to ensure he got his blue Dumbo.
Poser!
We had a great flight! Dumbo is simple, but it's still so enjoyable. I have a fondness for these classic rides. I did try to spy on the new Fantasyland over the the construction wall as we flew around, but I couldn't see much. I figured we'd ride again later in the trip...
As we got off the ride and made our way toward the exit, I saw a HUGE crowd of people laughing and smiling--turns out Mickey and Minnie were on our circuit! I had NO idea during the flight, but they exited just in front of us holding hands. They had rode with a couple kids. What a magical moment for those kids!!!!
We made our way into Tomorrowland
we wanted a spin with the Space Ranger!
This line was almost a walk-on
"Hi Buzz!!!"
When I was next to get on, the woman in front of me stepped on the moving belt and sorta half-slid around the barrier they have to get into a ride vehicle - the Cast Member tried to stop her, but wasn't successful--and boom! the ride shut down. It sat there for about 5 minutes,
they went through their checks, the Cast Member on the microphone had to repeat their little phrase about staying in the ride vehicle around 48 times (not sure if there was an offender, or if that's just how it goes?). But soon enough we were on and defending the galaxy, shooting up Zurg!!
My score
As we emptied into the gift shop Henry knew just what to do!
I have a picture of him behind bars with Zurg from almost all our trips.
After all that hard work of successfully defeating Zurg we were in need of something relaxing...off to the Peoplemover!
All three of us enjoy this ride. It's such a relaxing and entertaining ride gliding above Tomorrowland.
It was getting late, but we still had those Fast Passes from Stephen, Cast Member extraordinaire, where should we use them?
9.12.2011
My Travel Facebook Page
I recently created a Facebook page for posting the travel deals and news I come across. I post deals for all sorts of vacations -- Disney included of course! I am also working on uploading pictures I have taken on our various trips (both to Disney and beyond).
I'd love it if you took a moment to go 'Like' it and follow along!
Brook Wozniak - Vacation Specialist with Mouse World Travel
I'd love it if you took a moment to go 'Like' it and follow along!
Brook Wozniak - Vacation Specialist with Mouse World Travel
8.31.2011
More Moola!
$70 has been added to my thermometer on the right! This was one of my Mouse World Travel paychecks, it feels GREAT to put my paycheck into the travel fund!!
8.09.2011
$25 Disney Gift Card Giveaway!
The Travel Agency that I work for, Mouse World Travel, is having a giveaway! For every 100 people who "Like" them on Facebook, a $25 Disney gift card will be given away at random to the followers!! That gift card can be used at any Disney store (or online), in the Disney parks, or on Disney Cruise Line.
Please take a moment to "Like" Mouse World Travel - and share this with anyone who might be interested, or wants a chance to win!
Mouse World Travel on Facebook
Please take a moment to "Like" Mouse World Travel - and share this with anyone who might be interested, or wants a chance to win!
Mouse World Travel on Facebook
8.08.2011
$40 in loose change
The other day we took a stroll to a local grocery store and cashed in our change with their handy little machine. Henry had $20 and we had $20. Pretty nice!
I had originally planned on that $20 of ours going toward the cruise fund; however, we paired it with another bit of "found money" we had and Joe purchased a new pair of Keen sandals off Amazon instead.
He GREATLY needed these shoes, and they are for our vacations - so it works! We ended up paying only $12 out of our checkbook. So while the cruise money hasn't increased, we did get a pretty stinkin' good deal for a pair of Keens.
Loose change certainly adds up!
Henry will be using his money to purchase toys he will most certainly want on our upcoming trip. We are only buying him 1 or 2 things - the rest will come from his money, and when it's gone, it's gone! Tough lesson for an almost 4 year old. We'll see how it goes....yikes!
I had originally planned on that $20 of ours going toward the cruise fund; however, we paired it with another bit of "found money" we had and Joe purchased a new pair of Keen sandals off Amazon instead.
He GREATLY needed these shoes, and they are for our vacations - so it works! We ended up paying only $12 out of our checkbook. So while the cruise money hasn't increased, we did get a pretty stinkin' good deal for a pair of Keens.
Loose change certainly adds up!
Henry will be using his money to purchase toys he will most certainly want on our upcoming trip. We are only buying him 1 or 2 things - the rest will come from his money, and when it's gone, it's gone! Tough lesson for an almost 4 year old. We'll see how it goes....yikes!
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