Out of a job on Friday, Surprise Disney trip on Saturday? Sure!

[AimeeAurora]

Hi everyone! Long time lurker, not-so-frequent poster.

Who: My name is Aimee, and in just 10 short days, we will be back to my happy place! My husband (we'll call him Woody) and I have been together 20 years, married for 14 (on Halloween!), and have a 5 year old son (let's call him Dash). My husband and I have gone to Disney alone once before, and this will be the 3rd time with Dash. My profile pic is from our last trip in 2016, since mean hubby wouldn't agree to going last year. This was from his first trip in 2015. The joy on his face was worth it!



So about the title! My hubby has been with his job for 15 years. In August they decided to get rid of his position. He was told he could find a different position in the company (likely sales related, which he HATES!), or take severance. Guess what he chose! So it turned out that his last day would be the day before we left for Disney, which was already planned almost a year ago! Well, it's paid for, and what better way to kick off being "retired" at 41 years old than Disney! So, here we go! Hopefully the Disney magic will lessen his stress for a week. <3 Annnndddd, we are going to surprise Dash! He has been on a plane other than Disney, so we are going to tell him the night before that we're going on an "adventure", our code word for surprise outing, wake him up at the buttcrack of dawn, and see how far we get before he figures it out! Eeeeek! We have never surprised him before, so I am cautiously optimistic.

When: We are staying 10/27 - 11/3 this year. We usually stay around this time, and I love it. Halloween is my favorite holiday (and our anniversary), and I love fall.

Where: I decided to try renting points this year, and got a 1 bedroom Villa at the Beach Club. I am SO excited to have a bedroom! We have stayed at the Contemporary (Garden Wing) and Port Orleans Riverside before. Grumpy hubby agrees that if you are going to Disney, stay in the bubble. Plus we loved walking to MK when we stayed at the Contemporary, so I wanted to make sure we could walk to a park.

Food: We had an extra year to use our Disney Visa, so we have a good amount of rewards to spend on meals. Going to try for breakfast in the room, and then a mix of QS/TS for lunch and dinner. Here are the ressies I have so far:

• Biergarten lunch
• 50s Prime Time lunch
• Boma dinner

I have been trying to only eat at new places this time. I was thinking of trying to eat an early dinner before MNSSHP but am not sure if we should do a TS. Also, any lunch recommendations for TS at AK besides Tusker House?

What: I have a set itinerary for the most part.

• Arrival day (Saturday) is pool day and Boma dinner.
• Sunday - MK
• Monday - EPCOT
• Tuesday - HS in the morning, break, and then MNSSHP
• Wednesday - AK, and then we are getting a sitter and doing F&W at EPCOT as our anniversary dinner.
• Thursday - HS in the morning, and then Disney Springs in the evening
• Friday - EPCOT in the morning, and AK in the evening
• Departure day - HS in the morning because I have a FP for Slinky!

I feel like I'm planning less in terms of rides, since we know what we're doing, and since Dash is older, we can stay out longer and/or later. Either way, I can't wait to get back to my happy place!!!

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[emilyhuff]

Following! We will be there from 10/26 - 11/3! Your plans sound great!

 

[AimeeAurora]

9 days out. Single digits. Now is when we panic!

Did I plan enough? Is this going to be a disaster because I'm trying not to plan? I keep staring at my planning page (I use my Kenny's crowd calendar) and it looks too empty.

9 days out is NOT when we start from scratch people. Or is it? NO!

I need something (an app, a piece of paper, something) that can show me park food by category. Say I am at MK, and we are in Frontierland, and I want to know where to get a slushie or a hot dog. I wish I could just look at my notes for "hot dog" and find the closest place. Boom. Done. Someone out there has to have this! I have a husband and always-hungry 5 year old son, people. This is important!

It should be a rule that you don't have to work the week before a Disney vacation. I can't think anyway.​

 

[AimeeAurora]

5 days of work and then we're off! This is going to be the longest week ever! Because it's a surprise, we are throwing clothes and toiletries into laundry baskets right now and keeping them in our bedroom. So much for my primo organization skills. Friday night after kiddo goes to bed, we'll be hauling out the suitcases, throwing everything in, putting them in the car, and passing out so we can get up at Zero Dark Thirty to make our 6am flight!

And of course I have started making changes. That's what you do the last week, right? We have 2 late nights, with MNSSHP on Tuesday and adult-only F&W night on Wednesday, so I booked us a leisurely breakfast at Cape May for 9:05 on Thursday. It's right in the resort, and we don't have any other character meals booked. That means I am pushing back our start time at HS, which is fine. I think we'll need the rest by then.

Most important now is to figure out where I can get some type of bread pudding dessert. O'Hana is out. Too hard to get a reservation and I don't think we'll all like the food. If anyone has any other suggestions, I'm all ears. And stomach, apparently.​

 

[emilyhuff]

I think you can get the Ohana bread pudding at the temporary bar set up at the Polynesian (since the Tambu Lounge is closed for refurb)- if not, I am going to be super disappointed!

 

[AimeeAurora]

I think you can get the Ohana bread pudding at the temporary bar set up at the Polynesian (since the Tambu Lounge is closed for refurb)- if not, I am going to be super disappointed!

OMG. That would be amazing! I'm going to have to keep an eye on that. Thanks!

 

[AimeeAurora]

4 days out! Here are my most recent changes.

Got a reservation for the Diamond Horseshoe at 4:50 the night we go to MNSSHP. I figure a good dinner is a must, plus it allows us to rest and gear up for a night of fun, since the boy is coming along this time. We always left him behind. I really wanted Liberty Tree Tavern (the toffee cake is calling me), but I can't get one. YET! (ETA: Got one! 4 o'clock, not what I wanted, but at least we're in!)

Because of this, I am cancelling our 50s Prime Time that I had for an early lunch that day. Figured we'll do a little QS instead and not waste the time at a TS. Backlot was always good to us; a/c, plenty of tables. However I am watching the weather and the highs are only supposed to be in the upper 70s and low 80? What is this nonsense?

I expect to be sweating my buns off and cranky when I am at Disney in October and November. I won't know what to complain about! But, while the crazy southerners are putting on parkas and fuzzy socks, guess where we will be?

Heated pools, right? Good enough for us New Englanders!

Well, off to stalk MDE for random FOP fast passes and a LTT reservation. Oh, and work. That too. ​

 

[stralkeral229]

Came over to read your PTR after your comment on mine. I love that you all are taking a "negative" experience and turning it into something happy by still going on your trip. I'm excited about the weather temps as I've been watching everyone talking about how hot it's been the past few weeks which I was dreading more. 70's and 80's is my ideal weather in the south.

 

[AimeeAurora]

Came over to read your PTR after your comment on mine. I love that you all are taking a "negative" experience and turning it into something happy by still going on your trip. I'm excited about the weather temps as I've been watching everyone talking about how hot it's been the past few weeks which I was dreading more. 70's and 80's is my ideal weather in the south.

Thanks! It's a big change, that's for sure. Hubby's last day is today, so I'm making him some baked ziti and getting an ice cream cake to celebrate. Tomorrow he has a ton of stuff to do to get ready, like take out the air conditioners (I was holding out hope for a last hurrah from summer), pick up some of my mom's stuff and bring it to our house (she is dogsitting for us, but uses a walker, so hubby is saving her a few trips from the car on Saturday), take out cash, etc etc. Then tomorrow night after the kiddo is in bed, we shove everything into suitcases, load up the car, and try to sleep. 3am will come quickly!

And, I was able to change my 4pm LTT for a 4:50. That sounds much better. We get to take our time and I can probably snag a few FPs before MNSSHP too. Plus that Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake is calling my name!

 

[emilyhuff]

Have fun! We leave tomorrow morning as well!! Enjoy your trip!

 

[AimeeAurora]

TOMORROW is the big day! OHMYGODDDDD!!!!!!!!!

I woke up at 445am to use the bathroom, then realized that I would have to do online check in for my flight at 610 because we're leaving TOMORROW! So of course I couldn't fall back asleep until oh, 555 or so. Checked in at exactly 610 and still got B boarding group. I refuse to pay for early bird check-in though! It doesn't matter because we're going to DISNEY! Then of course I couldn't fall back to sleep again until about 10 minutes before the 5 year old crawled in bed on top of me demanding "huggies" (hugs). Thank god he's cute.

Hubby is home on his first day of no job, and he has a honey-do list a mile long. Bwahahaha!!! I'm still at work, but leaving a little early for a last minute chiropractor appointment. I am SO unfocused today.

But, I made a quick lunch visit to my friend the LuLaRoe dealer (I mean, representative) because I messaged her last night asking if she had any Disney shirts, since I am sadly lacking in the department. I ran over, got some puppy snuggles (sorry, no pictures), and 2 new shirts! Eeeek! The pictures are lousy because I took them in the parking lot. They have 3/4 black sleeves, which should be perfect for 50-60 degree evenings.



Tonight we have to tell the boy about our secret "adventure" tomorrow, get him to bed, check the list, pack, re-check the list, and try to sleep. Try. ​

 

[AimeeAurora]

Just scheduled a surprise massage for my hubby for tomorrow when we arrive! Right at the BC spa. I'm so excited. We have our Disney Rewards Redemption card that we can use, but you get a 15% discount when using your Disney Chase Visa card. Hmmm... I'm assuming we'll have plenty of time. We land at 9am, and he doesn't have to arrive there until 1230. I'll make sure he gets an adult beverage first, and then give him the good news. This is all about relaxing.

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[sheri18]

Joining in