Nineteen nights of MouseFest, Disney and Christmas - THREAD 1 - UPDATED 1/11 About This Page:

[MontiMouse]

Whew, you sure managed to fill in all of your 19 nights very nicely!! And how cool that you got 2 Illuminations cruises

[PrincessSharon]

Congrats on getting those two Illuminations cruises! Your itinerary is shaping up quite nicely. I guess I'll see you before I can read another update, so I'll have to read about the rest of your plans when I get back. See you soon!

[mestitch]

Wow that's a lot of great stuff you have planned!! And how cool you're going to do the photos! You'll be so glad you did, especially with your family there! Tell Robyn we said hello!!

[Starla4436]

I always love reading your TR's! I am really excited about this onr its filled with so many neat things!

[mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince]

Well, first of all, I can tell this is going to be a fabulous TR, as we've all come to expect from you, Cheryl. I can't wait to see your special pics around the Beach Club!

I know all about little girls changing their minds about their favorite characters! My DD6 loved Cinderella (and the color blue) forever, so before our Jan. 2007 trip, I booked us at GF for Cinderella's feast. She changed her mind about two weeks before the trip: her favorite color was now PINK so her favorite princess had changed to Aurora. It was going to be a bit hectic getting us over to GF and then to MK for the P & P Party, so I quickly changed our dinner to Cape May Cafe. No sense going to any hassle if Cindy wasn't the favorite any more.

Can't wait to read more; I hope your vacation goes by ssssslllllllloooooowwwwwwwwwly, but before we know it, you're back and can tell us all about it.

[award]

Great update!!! Hope ya'll have a great time and maybe we will bump into ya'll sometime during the trip!! Have a safe flight! Are you both healthy now??? I remember you posting about Mark being sick! Have a great flight!

[MickeyMAC]

You've really got some great plans. A lot of Disney and a lot of non Disney, your trip report is going to be great.

[mattnkatsmum]

Fabulous plans, Cheryl.

I'll see you on Saturday!

[elbug10]

Yay! The beginning of another Chez TR! Your plans sound FABULOUS and I'm SO jealous of the 19 days at Disney! I was exhausted after a week there, though so I can't imagine how you do 19 days. Not that I couldn't like to try, mind you!

I'm eager to read your itinerary and see what you have planned for your 35th birthday ( early, BTW). I'm thinking about spending my 40th at WDW in 2010, so I'm interested in seeing what you have planned. I'd love to stay even for one night at the Beach Club or Boardwalk, and an Illuminations cruise sounds amazing, too. Can't wait to read the full report!

Have a great time on your trip!

[goofysdtr]

I still can't get over the 19 days!

Have a great time! I'm really looking forward to a great TR when you get back.

[wayneava81]

Wow 19 nights is a long time! My longest was only 5. Can't wait to read the rest. Have a great time!

[chezp]

Pre-trip report – part four: what do you mean, you now like Minnie????


Pre-trip report part five: our itinerary

I’m with Eileen (I think that was you! ) – I think you either enjoy reading other people’s itineraries or you dread it. If you fall into the latter category, then I’d bypass this post, as really that’s what it’s all about. For the rest of you, read on at your peril – you have been warned, this is going to get long, involved and complicated!

Saturday 8 December
3.10 Our flight arrives – head straight for Disney
Dinner at Spoodles with Sue, Steve, Bill, Jan and Donna
8.45 Illuminations keychain meet in Italy, Epcot – looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Sunday 9 December
7.45 Segway tour with Sue, Steve, Bill and Jan
Go over to Animal Kingdom – try for lunch at Yeti and Yak

Dinner at House of Blues with Angie, Donna, Sue and Steve
8.30 Adventurers’ Club meet, which Sue and I are hosting – can’t wait to see everyone!

Monday 10 December
Breakfast at Whispering Canyon Café with Sue, Steve, Bill, Jan, Donna, Terri, Lesley, Sara, Shawn, Robin, Yvonne, Sam and Kassie – yes, that’s right, 14 PassPorters!
Spend the day at the Magic Kingdom
Dinner at Crystal Palace with Sue, Steve, Bill, Jan, Angie and Donna (originally we had planned to all eat at Boma, but when Sue suggested a meal with my beloved donkey, how could I say no? )
Enjoy Evening Extra Magic Hours and Wishes at Magic Kingdom

Tuesday 11 December
Breakfast at Maya Grill with Sue, Steve, Bill, Jan, Donna and Angie to say goodbye to Sue and Steve.
Move to the Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas
No real plans for the day!
Early dinner at Cap’n’Jacks
6.00 La Nouba
Evening at Pleasure Island

Wednesday 12 December
Breakfast at Kona Café with Bruce, taking his misguided tour
See ICE at the Gaylord Palms Resort later in the day
Evening Extra Magic Hours at Animal Kingdom
Dinner at Jiko with Angie

Thursday 13 December
Move to Beach Club Villas
Day at Universal
Lunch at Emeril’s Tchoup Chop
Dinner at Le Cellier
Illuminations

Friday 14 December
Probably spend the morning with Mark’s family, who arrive the day before – either at Animal Kingdom or Epcot
Lunch at Marrakesh
Gifts of a Lifetime photo session in the afternoon
Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern with Maureen, Kevan and their family and their friends Brandi and Tom
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party where Angie, Melissa and Andy will also be joining us

Saturday 15 December
Meet Wendy and Ben when they arrive, then day at Magic Kingdom
Lunch at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant with Wendy and Ben
Dinner at Chefs de France with Wendy and Ben
Illuminations

Sunday 16 December
Day at Discovery Cove
Sleigh ride at Fort Wilderness
Dinner at Artist Point

Monday 17 December
Day at SeaWorld
Dine with Shamu for lunch (although the times appear to be 4pm, so we may have to skip this )
Dinner at Chef Mickey’s with Dave, Barb, Anne, Sean, Hannah and Oliver
Evening Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom

Tuesday 18 December:
Yuletide Fantasy tour in the morning
Lunch at Tutto Italia – it’s a Candlelight Processional package, so we may watch that in the evening.
Dinner at Bistro de Paris
Illuminations

Wednesday 19 December
Day at Busch Gardens Tampa
Savings a Species tour at lunch time
Dinner at the Concourse Steakhouse with Bruce, Marta, Rob and Keith (from our Med cruise)

Thursday 20 December
Wild by Design tour in the morning
Lunch at Hollywood Brown Derby
Spend afternoon at MGM
Dinner at ‘Ohana – hopefully watch Wishes

Friday 21 December
Lunch at Crystal Palace
Afternoon at Epcot
Dinner at California Grill with Mark’s parents, Maureen and Kevan – watch Wishes
Evening Extra Magic Hours at Epcot

Saturday 22 December
Morning Extra Magic Hours at MGM
Lunch at Teppanyaki with Claudine and family
No plans for the afternoon
Dinner at Maureen and Kevan’s

Sunday 23 December
Lunch at Turf Club and Grill
See Fantasmic and Osborne Lights
Dinner at Il Mulino with Claudine and family

Monday 24 December
Day at Kennedy Space Centre
Dinner at 50’s Prime Time Café with Claudine and family

Tuesday 25 December
Breakfast with the family at the Cape May Cafe
Day at Animal Kingdom or Epcot
Dinner at Boma with the family
Possibly back to Epcot for Illuminations – if we can get in there!

Wednesday 26 December
Breakfast at Tusker House
Spend the day in Sarasota
Hoop Dee Doo with Joy and Suzie

Thursday 27 December
No plans for the morning – probably go to Epcot
Lunch at Beaches and Cream with Joy, Suzie, Karen and family and Suzie and family – it’s turned into quite a meet now!
7.55 Fly home

For those who survived that – and I think about ooh none of you! – I just wanted to add that we are finally on the road to recovery ahead of this trip. As many of you will know from my rather too regular posts in the Family Room, Mark hasn’t been at all well over the past few weeks. It started late in October when he came down with a terrible cough. He went to the doctor’s, got some antibiotics, it eased up, it seemed to be getting better. Then he stopped the antibiotics, it got worse again. So back to the doctor’s he went, he got some antibiotics, it eased up, it seemed to be getting better – you get the idea. Three times this happened and throughout all of this, the coughing was so bad that the poor guy just wasn’t sleeping and was relegated to the living room, as his coughing is not only bad enough to keep me awake – but also the next door neighbours – seriously!

Finally, a couple of days ago, on his fourth visit to the doctor, they gave in – at least that’s what it felt like to me – and gave him an asthma pump. Even though he doesn’t have asthma, it’s helping to ease the problem and finally the coughing seems to be easing. Just as well, otherwise I could’ve seen a mutiny on board the plane with passengers sick of having to put up with nine and a half hours of coughing!

As for me, I wasn’t exempt. Despite doping myself up on Echinacea and Vitamin C, I still managed to contract a cold last weekend, but fortunately that’s now dying off, just in time to fly off.

And that brings us up until now – with 48 + hours until we board the plane. The weather forecast looks amazing and we can’t wait to get on that plane and head off for nineteen nights of MouseFest, Disney and Christmas!

Next: the trip report...

[lauriep]

I made it through, Cheryl! You certainly had no trouble filling the 19 days--what a lot of fun times and yummy food. Glad you and Mark are both feeling better.

[bonphil]

Glad your both feeling better! I have asthma, so I know how annoying the cough can get!

Hope you have a wonderful and safe trip, and I'm looking forward to your trip report!

[mestitch]

That's quite an itinerary!!! And it all looks like so much fun..you've got such a great variety of plans! We can't wait to see you two again!! I'm so glad we'll be able to party together I hope Mark brings his blinking tree hat