I've got the Disney bug and I can't stay away. AKL June 2018 TR started 6/25

Still having fun reading about all your plans! I hadn't ever heard of the EMM, so that's kinda fun... $69 ain't bad either. :) Definitely going to think about this for our next year's family trip.

YAY for no strike. That would have REALLY sucked! Yikes!
 
I am starting to try out photo hosting sites and as part of that endeavour I will share some photos with you from my two week vacation that I just enjoyed. First up, the Canadian Tulip Festival in Ottawa!

Tulips are my favourite flower. I love their many colours and shapes. I love that they signify the official arrival of Spring and warm weather. They are absolutely lovely and there are few things I enjoy more than soaking up their beauty the few weeks they are in bloom.

Ottawa hosts a Tulip Festival every May to celebrate the special friendship it has with the Netherlands. During WWII Canada sheltered the future Queen and her family when their country was occupied by the Nazis. As a thank you Ottawa (capital of Canada) was gifted 100,000 tulip bulbs. I try and visit the festival every year. This year I went up to Ottawa with a friend from work.

Here are a few pictures from our day enjoying the tulips and the city.























 
I'm going to Disney this month!!! I can't believe that June has arrived! I have only three shifts left at work and then I am on vacation until the end of June! I won't be at Disney that whole time but it will be amazing to be off work for so long.

With only 9 days to go there is still much to do! I have three 12 hour night shifts to get through, Mom is running a yard sale this weekend with our neighbour. Any money we make there will be Disney money so here's hoping for a good turnout! I have a bridal shower to go to and I still need to get a gift for that. I have plans to meet up with my good friend and her baby who I adore (I will so tempted to buy him lots of presents on this trip). On top of that I have to get ready for the trip - visit the bank to get some US currency, go through my closet and pull out clothes and then try them all on to make sure they look okay, pack everything once it is sorted, clean the house, make sure the cats have enough food and litter.

I am going to try really hard to not procrastinate on packing for this trip. I often do and then I am rushing with minutes ticking down before we need to leave the house and I almost always forget something. One time when going to visit my grandparents I forgot to pack a bra! :laughing: That turned into a trip to the mall where I bought way more stuff than I actually needed to get through the weekend. So it is especially important this trip that I not forget anything important as we won't have a rental car so it will not be an easy thing to head out and pick up whatever I forget in my last minute packing. ;)

I also need to decide if we should book a hotel room in Toronto the night before our flight. The pros for that are that we won't have to wake up as early so we will be more rested for our arrival day. I will get to visit my new favourite pizzeria/bakery for dinner, and it will generally make things a little more relaxing. The flight is at 0930 so we should be at the airport by 6:30 as it is an international flight. If we don't stay at the hotel we would have to leave our house at the latest 0300 to allow plenty of time to get to the airport (2 1/2 hours away but you never know what you will encounter on the highway!). Cons for staying in Toronto the night before: only one - extra cost. I think I will probably book a room though just for piece of mind and reduced stress.

On another note here are some more pictures from the vacation I just finished!

The purpose of this last vacation was having time off to spend with my brother and his girlfriend who flew to Ontario to visit. Jessica had never been to Ontario before so we did some sightseeing.

Mom and I picked them up at the airport in Toronto and then we drove into Downtown Toronto (nerve-wracking) in order to visit Ripley's Aquarium of Canada and so that Jess could see the CN Tower up close and personal.

I had searched online before going downtown to see where a good parking garage would be and I found one right near the aquarium that had a decent price. Miraculously I found it and we arrived to our parking spot safely. Can you tell I hate driving in Toronto?

We grabbed dinner at Boston Pizza which was packed full of people in Blue Jay's gear as a game had just ended and the Rogers Centre where they play was just across the street next to the aquarium and CN Tower.

After dinner we made our way over to the aquarium. Jess and Erich decided that they did not want to get the combo ticket which would have given them admission to the CN Tower (extra $25).

The aquarium was wonderful! None of us had been there before as it is fairly new (2013) but so many people had told me how great it was.












After the aquarium we went to our hotel (Mom and I had checked in earlier that day before Erich and Jess arrived) and crashed.

The next morning we woke up bright and early and enjoyed our surprisingly delicious complimentary breakfast (way to go Fairfield Inn). The scrambled eggs were actual eggs and not that fake powdery runny stuff that you often get at buffets. There was also a waffle station and they had some delicious sausage. There was also the other normal breakfast fare - cereal, bagels, fruit, etc.

After breakfast we went back up to our rooms to get all our stuff together and Mom realized she left her purse downstairs!! I told her to run down and pray that it was still there. Luckily the breakfast room was not too busy and the people who were in there were honest and her purse was still there and untouched. What a relief!

After checking out we loaded up my car and hit the road. We were headed to Niagara Falls! We had opted to spend the night in Toronto instead of Niagara Falls because we were being cheap. We got two rooms in Toronto for the same price as one room in Niagara Falls.

The weather was overcast when we arrived so instead of heading straight for the falls we decided to play Dinosaur Mini-golf!! This was a lot of fun. It's not a real family vacation unless we play a round of mini-golf.

The course was well-maintained and had a good mix of easy and challenging holes. I won by one stroke!





I was impressed by the Disney level detail in the paths between holes



After I won at mini-golf we went up in the SkyWheel where Jess got her first glimpse of the Falls and I explained to her that the Bridal Veil Falls are on the American side and that the Horseshoe Falls are on the Canadian side but that no matter who owned what Falls Canada had the better vantage point of the Falls and so a visit to Niagara Falls is always better when competed on the Canadian side.

After our ride on the SkyWheel we made our way to the Falls by way of one of my favourite spots in Niagara Falls, this beautiful garden.



We got lucky and the sun was coming out at this point.

We strolled along and took in the Falls and then we got our tickets to ride the Hornblower (Maid of the Mist). This boat takes you right up to the Falls. It is so much fun and I don't think a trip to Niagara Falls is complete without it.





Our boat sat right in front of the Horseshoe Falls for what felt like 5 minutes. So much "mist" was blown at us from the Falls. The power and force of the Falls is awe-inspiring. When you go on one of these boat rides you get a poncho which is necessary or you will be absolutely drenched after the experience.



We grabbed lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe so that I could get my favourite Twisted Mac and Cheese.

We went back down to the Falls after that and walked along the length of them. It had gotten BUSY since we arrived that morning. Wall to wall people.







After we had our fill of the falls we fought our way through the crowds (felt like exiting the Magic Kingdom after Wishes) to the Rainforest Cafe, another first for Jessica, where we ordered the Sparkling Volcano for dessert. It is big brownie slices with vanilla ice cream and whip cream. Delicious.

We had to leave after that though as it was getting late in the afternoon and we had a 5 hour drive home to complete.
 


We dove past Buffalo last Christmas and I was mad that we did not detour in and go see the Falls during winter. My husband decided to get past Buffalo, so we wouldn’t have to deal with traffic in the morning so we drove past and stayed the night near Rochester.

Our poor tulips froze off, we had unseasonable freezing weather in late April and a ton of snow. Everyone said this was a terrible year for tulips, you must not have gotten that crazy freezing weather. The tulips were beautiful.
 
Hi!! I'm joining in, even though you're just about to leave!

I have a serious case of Disneyitis and while I enjoy travelling the world and experiencing new places I can't help but yearn for the comfort of my happy place hence this pre-trip report.

I'm the exact same way! Some of my friends get mad at me for returning to Disney so often. I like traveling the world, but I also like the comfort of a familiar place where I can just be myself!

I am an RN and I work A LOT

Twins! I'm an RN too. I should probably pick up more...

img_3710-jpg.299067

OMG I have this dress, and wear it to Disney! It looks great on you!

Are you planning a summer Disney vacation?

I am! June 21-28! We're staying at AKL for part (HOORAY!) and Contemporary for the rest.

We stayed here on our last trip and I loved the resort. One of the best themed resorts on property in my opinion.

It's the best ever :lovestruc I've loved it since it was built and then I was lucky enough to work there on my College Program in 2006.

Wilderness Lodge

Dying to stay there! It's so beautiful, I love all the changes they've made.

Will you be checking any of them out?

The Guardians dance party sounds like so much fun!

After going back and forth between several different resorts I decided to go ahead and book at Animal Kingdom Lodge!

:love::cheer2:

Well, the opening date for Toy Story Land was released today and it is June 30th. That means we will miss it by 10 days.

Ugh the opening is such a disappointment. Maybe there'll be some soft openings...

Any suggestions for handling the crowds at Pandora?

I never found it particularly crowded, though the lines do get long. My suggestion is to refresh refresh refresh MDE and you may get lucky with some same day FPs! I've found Flight of Passage 3 or 4 times same day.

The Oak-Grilled Filet Mignon with mac and cheese.

It's worthy of all the hype! Hope you love it!

Bon Voyage Breakfast at Trattoria Al Forno

Yesssss, I'm going here too! The food is so cute, and I've always wanted to meet Flynn!

It looks like I despaired too soon over a room discount, Disney just released 25% off (Deluxe) for our travel dates so I switched our reservation back to Animal Kingdom Lodge!

So glad this worked out for you. CSR is great, but nothing compares to AKL

I found Epcot a struggle as the second tier fastpasses are for things that don't really need fastpasses so I just picked the characters and Spaceship Earth

Epcot's FPs are the worst. Basically only the Tier 1 rides are worth using FP for.


You leave 2 days before I get there:sad:


That is a seriously cute swimsuit, great choice!

No visit to the outlets

You could always try Uber or Lyft if you really had your heart set on it. It's pretty convenient, and inexpensive.

I worry about sizing although I have been told we should have no problem.

I don't think you should have any problem at all!

Do you have any recommendations?

I use Flickr and it's been working great.

I have three 12 hour night shifts

Oh night shift problems! Do you find it hard to switch to days on vacation?
 
We dove past Buffalo last Christmas and I was mad that we did not detour in and go see the Falls during winter. My husband decided to get past Buffalo, so we wouldn’t have to deal with traffic in the morning so we drove past and stayed the night near Rochester.

That's too bad, I would love to see the falls in the winter when they are all frozen over. I have seen pictures and they look magical.

Our poor tulips froze off, we had unseasonable freezing weather in late April and a ton of snow. Everyone said this was a terrible year for tulips, you must not have gotten that crazy freezing weather. The tulips were beautiful.

Oh dear! We did have an ice storm in early/mid-April that made me concerned for our Spring flowers but as you saw they recovered.
 


Hi!! I'm joining in, even though you're just about to leave!

Welcome! That is true but that just means you will be there for the start of the TR! :goodvibes

I'm the exact same way! Some of my friends get mad at me for returning to Disney so often. I like traveling the world, but I also like the comfort of a familiar place where I can just be myself!

Luckily the only person in my life who is vocal about my repeat visits to WDW is my Dad. He hates Disney and thinks it is a waste of money. Everybody else is jealous that I go so much and they all come to me for advise when planning their trips.

Twins! I'm an RN too. I should probably pick up more...

And I should probably pick up less. :laughing:

OMG I have this dress, and wear it to Disney! It looks great on you!

Thanks! It may make it back into the WDW outfit rotation for this trip as it is light and breezy, perfect for the hot and humid weather.

I am! June 21-28! We're staying at AKL for part (HOORAY!) and Contemporary for the rest.

Sounds wonderful!

I was lucky enough to work there on my College Program in 2006.

That's awesome! I wish I had known about the College Program back when I was in university.

Ugh the opening is such a disappointment. Maybe there'll be some soft openings...

I know! And to add to the disappointment Toy Story Mania will be closed our whole trip. I have lost almost all motivation to visit Hollywood studios this trip.

Oh night shift problems! Do you find it hard to switch to days on vacation?

No, it's not too bad adjusting as I am constantly flipping back and forth. I'm full-time so my rotation is DDNN and then five days off.
 
Luckily the only person in my life who is vocal about my repeat visits to WDW is my Dad. He hates Disney and thinks it is a waste of money.

Oh no! At least your mom likes it! I got lucky that my dad is a huge Disney fan too.

It may make it back into the WDW outfit rotation for this trip as it is light and breezy, perfect for the hot and humid weather.

I agree - it's a great dress!

I know! And to add to the disappointment Toy Story Mania will be closed our whole trip. I have lost almost all motivation to visit Hollywood studios this trip.

I didn't know it was closing?! That does leave very little to do at Hollywood Studios, but I just love the atmosphere there. Plus TOT is my favorite.

I'm full-time so my rotation is DDNN and then five days off.

Oh I can't imagine switching back and forth like that, but it might actually be a little easier. I'll usually work Thursday Friday Saturday, then have Sunday Monday off, work Tuesday Wednesday Thursday, Friday Saturday off, and then Sunday Monday Tuesday, and then 8 days off until the next Thursday Friday Saturday. It's all nights so it can be super tiring, but I love the 8 days off! What type of nursing do you do? I'm on a renal/tele floor so the patients can be pretty sick.
 
Oh no! At least your mom likes it! I got lucky that my dad is a huge Disney fan too.

Yes, Mom raised a bunch of Disney lovers. When my brother Erich was visiting we played a bunch of board games including Disney Scene It and Disney Trivial Pursuit. Alek and Erich had their girlfriends over and I think they quickly relized they would have to brush up on their Disney to fit in with the family. :laughing:

I didn't know it was closing?! That does leave very little to do at Hollywood Studios, but I just love the atmosphere there. Plus TOT is my favorite.

Yeah, it closes the day we arrive and reopens the day we leave. :headache:I like Hollywood Studios well enough and we usually have a great time while there. If my brother Alek were going there would be no hesitation but my Mom won't ride ToT or RNRC and I hate to ditch her while I get my ride on. She isn't a huge Star Wars fan either so she isn't particularly jazzed over those offerings. So she will ride Star Tours with me but she won't be very interested in the character meets. So that pretty much leaves Beauty and the Beast, Frozen, and Indiana Jones. She did say we could see the Star Wars fireworks instead of Fantasmic since that would be a new experience for us. So for this trip I think we will do a half-day in HS arriving mid-afternoon and staying for the nighttime shows.

What type of nursing do you do? I'm on a renal/tele floor so the patients can be pretty sick.

I work in Complex Medical Care which is a mixed bag of patients. Some are very sick/acute and some are stable and waiting to go to long-term care. I describe it mostly as a place for those who do not need to be in an acute care hospital anymore but are too sick/complex to be at home or in a community setting such as long-term care. We have named our unit "The Island of Misfit Toys" because they are the patients that don't fit anywhere else in the health care system.
 
6 Days!

I am officially on vacation!!! :cool1: I just got home from a 12 hour night shift and I am so ready to relax after working those six shifts in a row. I will start my vacation by sleeping all day! :laughing: I say I am on vacation but they may sucker me into an overtime shift later this week. We will see. ;)

There are a few things to do this week in preparation for the trip:

  • Visit the bank and get some American currency. Our exchange rate is terrible right now so I am not looking forward to that or paying the hotel bill when we arrive. Right now $100 American is $130 Canadian :scared1: I miss when our dollar was at par.
  • Pack
  • Make sure that I have all the chargers for my various devices - two cameras, phone, laptop, portable charger, ereader, fitbit.
  • Get a new memory card for my camera.
  • Download a book or two to read by the pool or on our balcony if we have a good view (crossing my fingers)
  • Purchase Memory Maker
  • Arrange for our hotel in Toronto the night before departure and prepay for airport parking in order to get a discount
  • Review all our ADR's and make some final decisions about what we do and do not want to keep. Right now I am on the fence about keeping the Early Morning Magic. It seems like a lot of fun but it is also pricey and I wonder if we could spend that money better elsewhere.
  • Watch a few Disney movies to get in the Disney mood
  • Get Mom to watch Avatar so she understands the new area.




 
Gorgeous photos of the tulips! You did a really great job capturing them!

Your time with your brother looked perfect! Loads of fun things you got to do- Someday I'd like to go to Niagara Falls.

Long list of stuff, but this one:

Get Mom to watch Avatar so she understands the new area.

is huge. The whole thing would have been lost on me if I hadn't have watched.
 
I had not seen the movie and still thoroughly enjoyed Pandora ;)

I am sure it is entirely possible to enjoy the area without seeing the movie but I do think it would probably add more to the experience. That being said, I dragged Mom to Star Wars Weekend many years ago and she knew nothing about Star Wars. :laughing:

Gorgeous photos of the tulips! You did a really great job capturing them!

Thanks! It is easy to take decent pictures of such beautiful flowers.

Your time with your brother looked perfect! Loads of fun things you got to do- Someday I'd like to go to Niagara Falls.

We had a great time. I don't even want to know what my final total was for all the gas I used driving around with them that week. :laughing:

The whole thing would have been lost on me if I hadn't have watched.

And that is why I want her to watch it.
 
YAY!!!!! How exciting that you're officially on vacation! Enjoy every second, I can't wait to hear about it and see your beautiful pictures!
 
5 Days!!!

So the only thing I have accomplished from my list of things to do is purchasing Memory Maker. I am terrible when it comes to packing, such a procrastinator. That being said I was sleeping most of yesterday after my night shift and I had to go into work this afternoon for the monthly nursing practice council meeting. Maybe I'll sort through my closet tonight but really all I want to do is sleep. I could sleep all day and all night. :laughing:

This morning I attempted to make camping reservations at Lake Ohara for this September but they are nearly impossible to get. There are only 20 campsites and you have to call the Parks Canada office three months to the day of when you want the reservation. It is a single phone line there and it is ALWAYS busy. I started dialling a few minutes before the office officially opened for the day and I redialed for 35 minutes. I hit redial over 200 times trying to get through and no luck. I gave up at that point and will try again tomorrow morning. It is my Dad's wish to hike the Alpine Circuit at Lake O'Hara for his 65th birthday. That might have to be deferred to his 66th birthday next year at this rate. And you all thought getting a Flight of Passage fastpass was difficult! It will be worth the headache if we can get in though as Lake O'Hara is unbelievably beautiful. Parks Canada restricts how many people are allowed in the area in order to preserve its beauty and to protect the wildlife. Dad and I were lucky enough to spend one night there several years ago and we are itching to go back.

















Now for some Disney Plans

Day 9

This will be our last park day. :sad: We will be spending the day at Animal Kingdom.

Fastpasses for the day:

Flight of Passage (our second fastpass for this)

Safari

Everest

We will have already had a day in the park earlier in the trip so we will revisit some attractions or complete whatever we didn't get to on our first day.

I'm thinking we will try the Yak and Yeti counter service for either lunch or dinner.

It should be a fairly relaxed day without any rushing around.

Any suggestions for off the beaten track things to do in AK? Any good snacks or drinks we should try?
 
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YAY!!!!! How exciting that you're officially on vacation! Enjoy every second, I can't wait to hear about it and see your beautiful pictures!

Thanks! I don't know if this being on vacation thing is going to last. I have already been called for two overtime shifts that I have turned down as I already had other commitments but they will probably sucker me in for some OT later this week as I know there are some shifts that will be available. I wish I had the willpower to say no but with the money being spent on vacation I feel guilty and I also feel bad when I say no to a shift and I don't really have anything else going on. :confused3 If I pick up an OT shift I will feel better about dropping money on this

 
Thanks! I don't know if this being on vacation thing is going to last. I have already been called for two overtime shifts that I have turned down as I already had other commitments but they will probably sucker me in for some OT later this week as I know there are some shifts that will be available. I wish I had the willpower to say no but with the money being spent on vacation I feel guilty and I also feel bad when I say no to a shift and I don't really have anything else going on. :confused3 If I pick up an OT shift I will feel better about dropping money on this



I have a solution for you ………………………… Don't ANSWSER the phone!!!!

Time for you to relax and get in vacation mode!
giphy.gif
 
I have a solution for you ………………………… Don't ANSWSER the phone!!!!

Time for you to relax and get in vacation mode!
giphy.gif


:laughing: That always works! I can tell you this, I will be silencing my phone while I sleep so they will be out of luck if they try to call me to work during my beauty sleep. ;)
 

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