10th Anniversary Do-Over In Disney! April 2018 PTR

[Blissikins]

I’ve had this stored in GoogleDocs for months, but as Double Digit Dance Day has already passed us by, I can’t really put the PTR off much longer!

Welcome to my Pre-Trip Report! If you’ve read any of my other TRs you will know that the PTRs tend to go well and the actual TRs go slowwwwwwlyyyyy (and never actually end...). So, now you know what you’re in for, let’s start with the key pieces of information...


Who?

This is us, Sarah & John. This will be our third trip to WDW together, and only my third trip in total (John went with his family as a kid so his count is higher than mine!).


What?

We will be celebrating our 10th Wedding Anniversary!

Was that really ten years ago?! Seems like yesterday! I’m sure I haven’t changed in the slightest…


We have 14 day park-hopper passes, TS DDP (we upgraded), and Universal Studios park-hopper tickets too (Yes, we love “The Dark Side” as well as Disney!). If the Lightning make the play-offs, we will be hoping to get to an NHL game too. As a treat we have also upgraded our flights. Well, it is a special occasion, after all!


Where?

Staying at Caribbean Beach Resort. We love it there!

How could you not love that stunning view?! I took that on our last trip.


Though, of course, now it probably looks more like this…

The Construction Beach Resort! But, it was cheap thanks to online deals and work discounts, and we’re not swim in the afternoon, back to the hotel for a nap kind of people, we’re out all day every day, so hopefully we won’t notice any construction noise.


When?

Well...9 months late, actually, April 2018. Our 10th anniversary was actually in July 2017. What did we do on our actual anniversary? Moved house. Yup. Up at 5am for final prep for the removal men. We celebrated with a whole day of lugging boxes, cleaning, and dismantling and re-building furniture. So we have definitely earned a relaxing (ha!) 10th anniversary do-over in Disney. Better late than never!


John has jokingly threatened to drop in on the next TR, so we will see if that actually happens!


Welcome along for the ride! Though, we're nearly there, not long to go now...I guess that gives me a better chance of actually finishing this one!

 

[Blissikins]

YOU GOTTA EAT HERE!
The Food Bucket Lists...

We start the Disney Bucket Lists early around here. Like on the plane on the way home from our last trip in 2015. So what’s on our wish lists this time? Here we go:


Restaurants

We got QS DDP “free” with our package this year, and we have upgraded that to a TS DDP for both of us, so we want to try some new places that we’ve never been to, as well as going back to some old favourites. On our first trip, we weren't very adventurous at all. It was mainly something-and-fries. Last time we were there we had the QS DDP, so we did branch out quite a lot, and try new places and foods. It's easier to take the risk when it doesn't feel like you're paying for it!

So...After many hours watching Disney Food Blog videos, our Must-Visit list for this year:

Narcooses
Ohana
Boma
The Plaza
Big River Grill
Yak and Yeti
Whispering Canyon
Chef Mickey's
Be Our Guest
Le Cellier
1900 Park Fare
The Poutine Truck
Blaze Pizza
Sci-Fi Dine In
Satu’li Canteen
Liberty Tree Tavern
Hoop-Dee-Doo
The Polite Pig


The Food

We keep adding to this one on a regular basis!

Blueberry Cheesecake (Satu’li Canteen)
Cheeseburger Pods
Poutine
Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake
Nutella Waffle Sandwich
Turkey Leg (can you believe we haven’t had one yet?!)
Cheddar Cheese Soup
Blaze Pizza (as instructed by our nieces who visited last summer)
The Kitchen Sink
A Sprinkles Frosting Shot
Loaded Tots

 

[absolutmey]

Following! I'll be there in April too

 

[Blissikins]

Following! I'll be there in April too

Welcome! Not long now until our trips!

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Now, where have I been?! Bailing on a PTR/TR on the first page is seriously slacking, even for me! Since my last post, things have been very stressful to say the least, and our trip was/is very close to being called off.

Some of you might know my Mum's health isn't the best, with multiple long-term conditions. The weekend immediately after my first post my Mum took seriously ill and we ended up in an ambulance. At that point, I was ready to call off our trip, but we decided to wait, and see if it was just a one-time thing. A week after she came home in mid-February, she had a stroke, and was back in hospital. They let her out before she was ready, and a day later we were back to the hospital again. Now? She's still in but doing much better. So for a lot of the time since my last update I've felt sick even thinking about Disney, let alone being a 9hr flight away from home. Mum is improving daily though and apart from a blip a couple of weeks ago seems much better.

So at the moment, I'm still seeing how things go, but we're planning as if we are going (two weeks today! OMG). I say "planning"...I am worrying, stressing, not sleeping, and generally being in a state about life in general, he is planning. Nothing is washed, nothing is packed, no outfits are planned, no toiletries bought (tell a lie actually, I bought a bottle of sunscreen the other day). But, all that can be sorted. Everyone is encouraging us to take the chance and go, if we were to cancel/reschedule there's no saying we would ever find a "good" time to book with two elderly grandparents and a sick parent, and depending on how generous the insurance company were feeling (Ha!) would lose 90% of what we've paid for the trip. Considering all the extra bits and pieces we added because it's a special anniversary trip, that could take years to replace. Obviously none of that matters in the slightest if we do need to cancel, of course we will without a second thought. I want to have a chat with her consultants before we make any definite decisions, I love medical staff who you can ask "If it was your Mum, what would you do...?" and get a straight answer. For the most part we are lucky to get that kind of people at our regular hospital and I trust their opinions!

So, there we go. I'm a mess, but at the moment, I am dragging my messy self to Disney in a fortnight.