"You're Going WHERE on your 50th Birthday?!?

[lisalonglash]

Welcome!!

Where in BC?

I went to graduate school at UBC way back when ...

Thanks, Joel! We're in S. Surrey, very near the WA State border

 

[joelp]

Just ordered my rewards card from Disney VISA - $150 to spend in WDW!!!

... still leaving me about $80 for the next trip ... so far ...


Jed (my brother), Mindy (SIL), and Nina (DN) were up here in NJ (from Tampa) for a short visit - the cousins got to play and chase lightning bugs yesterday ... ... That was a first for Nina, because - of all the bugs they have in FLA - they don't have lightning bugs ...

Looks like Jed and Allan (my other brother) will be doing the Richard Petty drive fast and need clean underwear afterwards thingy on Friday (Sep 18) ... so I'll warm Allan up with Test Track!! Unfortunately, that means he won't be with us for lunch with the Princesses at Akershus (which may be a good thing for the Princess!! )


Have to go ... taking the DD to camp early today ... something about a special trip to hang out with some penguins ... the DW didn't get the whole story Friday ... Hope she doesn't come home smelling like ... ... or worse ...

 

[princess&her4princes]

That's awesome that you have that many rewards!! This is my 1st year with the Disney card and I just cashed my card out last night with only 50 pts. Do you use your card in the parks? Or cash it in for Disney dollars? I read somewhere it was easier to do that...

Hope you have a great day! Is DD heading to Camden aquarium? Or Philly zoo? Sounds fun!!! Hope she has a great day!!

 

[joelp]

That's awesome that you have that many rewards!! This is my 1st year with the Disney card and I just cashed my card out last night with only 50 pts. Do you use your card in the parks? Or cash it in for Disney dollars? I read somewhere it was easier to do that... I haven't used it yet - I'm planning on bringing it to the parks for spending $$ ... I guess we'll see how it works out ...

Hope you have a great day! Is DD heading to Camden aquarium? Or Philly zoo? Sounds fun!!! Hope she has a great day!!

Actually, Jenkinson's Aquarium (in Pt. Pleasant) has a "roving" penguin who was making a visit to a neighboring Kindercare ... (picture a penguin waddling down the side of the road, one flipper stuck out trying to hitch a ride ... )

 

[joelp]

6 Weeks to Go!!!

(- 1 day ... the DW REALLY needed to use the computer last night ...)



The "draft" AK touring plan is ready - I'll try and post it this weekend ...

The VISA bill should be coming in the mail any day now ...

 

[princess&her4princes]

Actually, Jenkinson's Aquarium (in Pt. Pleasant) has a "roving" penguin who was making a visit to a neighboring Kindercare ... (picture a penguin waddling down the side of the road, one flipper stuck out trying to hitch a ride ... )

LOL!! Fun!!

6 Weeks to Go!!!

(- 1 day ... the DW REALLY needed to use the computer last night ...)



The "draft" AK touring plan is ready - I'll try and post it this weekend ...

The VISA bill should be coming in the mail any day now ...

Woohoo!! -2 days 6 more weeks!!!

 

[joelp]

The VISA bill has arrived!!

(OK - that's about the only time I'll be happy about getting a VISA bill in the mail ... )

No sign of the "WDW mail" I REALLY want to get ...

I just realized I forgot to send my AK touring plan home from my work computer ... ... I could probably wing it here ... but you'll have to wait until tomorrow ...

 

[joelp]

My Disney VISA Rewards card arrived the other day - it took less than a week to get here!!!

No sign of that "special" mail from WDW yet ...

Started making my packing list ... actually, going through the "WDW Ultimate Packing List" and crossing out the things I don't need to bring (camping gear ... pajamas for the DD ... satellite TV dish ... )

Was watching some WDW videos on youtube yesterday with the DD - and she was going along naming all the rides and letting me know what she wants to do on our next visit - a long time from now ...

The Imagination Movers are on tour again ... tix go sale here Saturday for the "local" (actually - 1 1/2 hours away) performance at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA ... It's a great old theatre which the DW and I have been going to for lots of years now ... so we don't mind the drive ...

Hope to post my AK Touring Plan tonight ...

 

[princess&her4princes]

I got my Disney Rewards this week too! Yay!! I can't believe you didn't get your "special" mail from Mickey yet, soon I'm sure!!

Oh, what fun to see "Imagination Movers", that sounds fun and in Glenside...love it!! Near Abington, right? We didn't live far from there in Philly.... have you seen them in concert before?

We're on countdown my friend, I have to get going on my packing list, too. I'm so excited that Danielle doesn't know that you're going, how are you going to surprise her again?? I forget!!

 

[joelp]

5 Weeks (-1 day ... fell asleep last night reading the Classics Illustrated version of "Cinderella" to the DD ... )

To GO!!




So that means - to keep with my "to do" list schedule - I'd better post our "draft final" AK Touring Plan ... which will also be the last day of our (way toooo short ) vacation ...

Sept 20 - AK

Get up early, have a light breakfast at The Mara, check out of the AKL and check-in at the airline desk for the flight home ...

Arrive at AK ~8:30 for "The Awakening"

Hit the new centralized FP kiosk and get FPs for Everest (Vicki and Delani) and Dinosuar (everyone else) - and maybe for Kiliminjaro Safaris, too ...

Check out the habitats in The Oasis

10 - Festival of the Lion King (great way to start a day at the AK! )

Camp Minnie-Mickey Characters (the DD loves Minnie!!)

11:30 - Finding Nemo (didn't see this last trip ...)

Maharajah Jungle Trek

Lunch - Flame Tree BBQ or Pizzafari (probably the latter - cuz it will have A/C, pizza, and we've never eaten there ...)

Kilimijaros Safaris (grab a FP ...)

Pangani Exploration Trail

and then just hang out doing what we want, strolling around, shopping, sucking up a last bit of that WDW spirit ... until 3:30 - when we have to catch a bus back to the AKL ... where we'll hang out until the ME bus leaves for MCO at around 5 ...

And thus ends my birthday trip to WDW ...


Whaddya think?

 

[joelp]

I got my Disney Rewards this week too! Yay!! I can't believe you didn't get your "special" mail from Mickey yet, soon I'm sure!!

I'll give it a few more days and then drop a line to the TA ... maybe they send it to her for forwarding to me?

Oh, what fun to see "Imagination Movers", that sounds fun and in Glenside...love it!! Near Abington, right? We didn't live far from there in Philly.... have you seen them in concert before?

Haven't seen them before - the DD really wanted to last year but we missed them ... It should be great, cuz the theatre is gorgeous and not that big ...

We're on countdown my friend, I have to get going on my packing list, too. I'm so excited that Danielle doesn't know that you're going, how are you going to surprise her again?? I forget!!

We're not gonna tell her until we meet up with the rest of the crew at my Mother's ... but I still have to think of a "white lie" to tell her why Ranger is at his "resort", why she doesn't have to go to school, etc. ...

I guess I could say we're all taking a surprise trip down to FLA to see her cousin Nina (which isn't a lie after all ...)

That could work ...

 

[joelp]

[Anyone out there? ... ]

It's hard to believe, but there's only

One Month to Go!!!!!



I finally managed to go through the photos from our December trip and get them loaded onto Shutterfly - now I just have to order the prints ...

Which leads to a quandry: to get the Photopass CD (and book) this trip or not?

Pros: you get some great pictures - including shots of the whole group -and I was going to make extra copies of the Photobook for the nieces as Christmas presents ... (but I could just do that through Shutterfly ...)

Cons: the price has gone up $50 (to a whopping $170!!), we're only going to be in WDW parks for 3 days, and I'm not sure how cooperative the crew will be when it comes to taking photos ... Plus, Vicki will be there running amok with her camera ... and I can take still photos with my videocamera ...

Hmmm - whaddya think?

Still no sign of "magic mail" from WDW ...

Me and the were watching some WDW videos on youtube last night and she gave me her "priority" rides for her next visit to WDW (even though she doesn't know we're going!! ) - Winnie the Pooh, iasm, and - of all things - POTC!! (although I think she's a bit young to have a hankering for Capt. Jack Sparrow ...)

Time to take the DD to summer camp ... only two weeks more ... and then she starts First Grade!!

 

[princess&her4princes]

I'm here Joelp!!!! 2 more weeks of Summer camp and 1st grade..sigh...didn't this Summer go by so fast?!! But on the same note....it gets us that much closer to our trips!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW...photopass is $170 if you prebuy? I swear when I just looked into it, it wasn't that much?!! If it is...I say don't do it for this quick trip, you can still have the Photopass photographers take your pic on your camera, they would graciously offer when we used them last trip, even though I was buying Photopass anyways, it was nice to have some pics sooner than later, you know? Or get a photopass card and just buy the couple that you can't live without? Maybe a nice group one? Or can you split it with your party??

No Disney Mail? I got more this weekend....will update my PTR later...stay tuned!!! And call your TA!!!

 

[joelp]

$170 for the CD and photobook ...

I just ordered my Dec 08 prints from Shutterfly - 242 of them!! (15 were free ...)

But I first pre-paid for 400 prints (at 11 cents each instead of 15 cents ...) - so I'll have about 150 pre-paid left for the September trip ...

And the more I think about it, I'm leaning towards bagging the Photopass deal and just doing photobooks on Shutterfly ...

Oh yeah - paid the VISA bill for the WDW trip today ... (ouch!!) ... but the timing is right cuz there's

Only 1 Month to Go!!


Later ...

 

[joelp]

WDW Day - 30 Update:

I heard from the TA today ... She sent me some forms to sign and send back to her - which I just did ... And she expects to send me the WDW "magic mail" in a week or so ...

I was in the Dollar Tree yesterday and picked up some stuff for the DD and younger DN (Alana) to keep them busy on the plane: a "Disney Adventures" coloring book (which could also double as a storybook - it has Peter Pan, Aladdin, Tarzan, and some-other-story-which-I-forget-at-the-moment) for the DD and a Disney word search book for Alana ...

Nothin' for Delani (the older DN) - but I'm going to hit Borders and get her a copy of "Kingdom Keepers" (Disney After Dark) ... it's been in the bargain section for $2.99 (after I paid $8.99!! ) - and she likes to read ...

And that inspired me to wade through the Disney bags in my closet and organize the stuff I've picked up so far: 24 pins for trading (8 for each kid ...), Tinker Bell t-shirts for the girls (to wear at the MK ...), a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse sticker/activity book, and a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse magnet playset/book ...

I still have to pick up glow bracelets and bubbles!! (don't leave home without them!! ) - and snacks ...

All for now ...

 

[princess&her4princes]

WDW Day - 30 Update:

I heard from the TA today ... She sent me some forms to sign and send back to her - which I just did ... And she expects to send me the WDW "magic mail" in a week or so ...

I was in the Dollar Tree yesterday and picked up some stuff for the DD and younger DN (Alana) to keep them busy on the plane: a "Disney Adventures" coloring book (which could also double as a storybook - it has Peter Pan, Aladdin, Tarzan, and some-other-story-which-I-forget-at-the-moment) for the DD and a Disney word search book for Alana ...

Nothin' for Delani (the older DN) - but I'm going to hit Borders and get her a copy of "Kingdom Keepers" (Disney After Dark) ... it's been in the bargain section for $2.99 (after I paid $8.99!! ) - and she likes to read ...

And that inspired me to wade through the Disney bags in my closet and organize the stuff I've picked up so far: 24 pins for trading (8 for each kid ...), Tinker Bell t-shirts for the girls (to wear at the MK ...), a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse sticker/activity book, and a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse magnet playset/book ...

I still have to pick up glow bracelets and bubbles!! (don't leave home without them!! ) - and snacks ...

All for now ...

Less than a month!!!!! And you heard from TA, woohoo!!!! Can you believe it...it's almost time!!!! 26 days, I can't believe it!?!!

Sounds like you're really getting some great stuff picked up for the trip! You're so good picking up these things for the kids!! They are going to be SO excited!!! I can't wait to hear the surprise!!!

Have you compared our schedules? Will we be passing ships? I haven't compared.....

 

[joelp]

Have you compared our schedules? Will we be passing ships? I haven't compared.....

I think I compared them some time ago ... and we may get to wave to each other on passing buses!! ... again!!

We're at AKL Sep 17, Epcot on the 18th, MK - 19th, and AK and flying home on the 20th ...


WDW Day - 29 Update:

The DD is invited to a "Princess Tea" Birthday Party Saturday - and her friend LOVES Ariel ... so I stopped by my favorite store in the whole world after work: the Disney Outlet in Jackson, NJ - and put my 15% off Disney VISA coupon to work ... Picked up a Satin Ariel Bomber Jacket for the birthday-girl ...


And for the DD for the WDW trip: Tink sunglasses (to replace the pair she lost earlier this summer ... ) ... and a t-shirt with all the Disney Princesses (except Mulan) on it ...

So instead of an autograph book, we'll have the queens-in-waiting sign the shirt and the Disney Character Jr. Encyclopedia I also got her.

And - after a cold and dreary June and a surprisingly pleasant July - we're back to our typical New Jersey August weather: hazy, HOT, and HUMID!!! So we should be "physically conditioned" for anything FLA may send our way in September ... ... except a hurricane!!

I plan to start reading the Fodor's WDW Guide for Kids tonight when I put the DD to sleep. With four kids along on this trip, I need to brush up a little ... ... let's see how far I get before the DD takes me down (and out ...) with her ...

Time for the

Until tomorrow's update ...

 

[princess&her4princes]

Well that just stinks!! It would have been nice to meet you, even for a minute! We'll just have to wave then (again!)...and I think I thought our dates we exact and we're a little bit off....I'm there 9/14-18 and you're just getting started really then....we may need to coordinate better for our 2010 trips....lol!! Only kidding....I know we're both waiting until 2011!

You're so good you do all this shopping, I'm impressed!!! My DH would have nothing to do with that!! Good for you!! And you made out well, nice job! I'm sure the birthday girl will love her new jacket!! And DD will love her new shades!

Did you get any reading done tonight? And did you say HURRICANE? Get that thought out of your mind...NOW! As Hurricane Bill is coming up the coast this weekend...... We can handle it...we're getting the same lovely HUMID 90+ weather here...maybe it's just preparing us for our trips!!

Okay..off to bed myself.....looking forward to your next update!

 

[joelp]

Did you get any reading done tonight? ...looking forward to your next update!

To answer your question -

WDW Day - 28 Update:

Which means ... there's only ...

4 Weeks to Go!!!

The DD went down fairly easily last night, after a Lion King Story, a Pooh/Eeyore story, and in the middle of a Cabbage Patch Kids book (the latter is not one of your better pieces of kid-lit!! )

And she didn't take me down with her (for a change ...)

So I hung for a bit and started reading the Fodor's WDW with Kids (2007 - a tad out of date, but still useful ... but I'll definitely have to get a more recent version for the next trip ... )

And right there on page 8 was the section "Should We Take the Kids Out of School? ...[and we ALL know the answer to that one!! ]

But the book also included a few suggested "educational activities" ... which got me thinking ...

So I went into my e-mail in-box folder WDW - Educational Crap ... and looked over the dozen-or-so AllEars e-mails I had saved over the past few months for some more ideas ...

And decided Danielle's "project" will be a journal/scrapbook ... with two sections. The first will be the "journal", with a couple pages for each day of the trip where she can write what we did/saw - her favorite thing for the day - where/what we ate - anything special that happened, etc. ...

[btw - anyone have any other ideas for things she can "record" in her journal?]

Plus I'll leave some space where she can put in a photo or 2 ...

The second part will have a page for each letter of the alphabet - and maybe the #s 1-10 - where she can write or glue stuff she sees and does that correspond to that letter or number ...

And there's also the Kidcot Stations at Epcot and the Discovery Club Stations at the Animal Kingdom ... not to mention we'll be staying at the AKL ... and the Hall of Presidents and POTC at the MK ...

So she'll probably get more educatin' on our trip to WDW then she would have sitting in her classroom ...

And ... our December 2008 photos arrived from Shutterfly today - all 247 of them!! Big envelope!! REALLY BIG envelope!!

So I have my weekend project ... (among cutting the lawn, giving the dog a bath, cleaning some gutters ... )

Until tomorrow ...

 

[joelp]

WDW Day -27 Update:

I left work 1/2 hour early today and got a pre-WDW haircut .. (exciting stuff, I know ...)

I started working on the scrapbook part of the DD's journal - printed out 2 pages for each letter - printed in 72 point type with some kinda funky font ... looks pretty cool if I do say so myself (which I just did ... )

Walgreens has 3-ring binders and plastic sheet protectors for sale - so that's where I'll be tomorrow ... ... (now if I can just remember where I put all this Disney stickers I bought last December ... )

And - if my 8:30 softball game gets canned tomorrow (rain, lightning, thunderboomers ...) I can take the DD to the special VISA event at the local Disney Store at 9:00 ...

The DD and I sorted the 400+ photos from the December trip into piles for each day of the trip ... now I just have to take a good look at them and decide which ones to use, which ones to reprint, etc. ...

Oh, yeah - I ran through my WDW budget this morning and - by my calculations - I don't need to put any more $$ aside!! Actually - I'm $5 ahead at this point!!


Later ...