Like what I did there @Tuvalu 
- even got in a reference to another 80's ad
Hello again everyone. Trust you are all well.
So, it’s that magical time of year again…our next Disney trip (or is it trips? – more on that in a minute).
Without further adeu, I present….the pre-trip report
So whose going this time?
Let me see…should we just go with the original crew as the past trips, or mix it up a bit? Nah, we hate change. Same group it is.
So there’s (from left to right), our "newly able to drive” DW Stephanie (Steph), me (Graham), my DW Tammy, and our “can’t wait to be able to drive” DS Liam). BTW, I do wear glasses now (that’s a reference to a previous PTR I did).
When are we going?
Like the past few years, we’re booked for the end of August. Specifically, August 19th to the 28th. We got fairly good prices for direct flights out of Buffalo.
Where are we staying?
This year we are doing a split stay. The kids have both asked to stay at Boardwalk for a few years now (we went to Ample Hills a few times on our last trip, and the kids really liked the Boardwalk area), so we decided to give it a shot. We’ll be there for the first 5 days of the trip, staying in a pool/garden view room. The last 4 days of the trip will be spent at the Poly in a lake view room. We all loved the Poly last time we stayed there and can’t wait to stay there again.
Any other plans?
We’re still working out what we want to do with regards to restaurants. Originally we had a restaurant booked every night, but then something came up (more on that in a minute) that has us considering changing our plans a bit. Right now we’re thinking of getting the quick-service dining plan for the first 5 days of the trip, and then pay-as-you-go for the last 4 days. Having said that, we have currently booked the following:
August 22nd – Boathouse – August 22nd is our anniversary so the kids told us to book somewhere for just Tammy and I. It’s nice having older kids who don’t need us around all the time(not that we mind having them around all the time, but it’s nice none the less. And TBH, is not so much that the don’t need us around all the time as much as they don’t want us around all the time).
August 24th – ‘Ohana – We’ll be keeping this one no matter what. This is a family favorite.
August 25th – Rose and Crown – Liam picked this one
August 26th – Whispering Canyon – Steph picked this one
August 27th – Trail’s End – the kids love Fort Wilderness, so this gives us an excuse to go there one last time
Anything else
Let’s see…. Can’t really think of much. I’m in the process of trying to drop some weight. I’m down 30 pounds so far, but I’m going to try for another 10-20 before we get there. The challenge will be to not gain too much once we get there
So what’s this “Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun” all about?
Glad you asked….
As I mentioned, something came up that may have us changing our plans quite a bit. What is that thing you ask? You’ll have to pardon my “Dad bragging” for a second here….
If you’ve read my previous trip reports, I’ve made mention that Steph and Liam were both in karate (Liam is a red belt (which is the belt below black) and Steph is a brown belt (which is the belt below red)). Up until this year, they were happy to just be “in” karate, learning the moves, etc. However, at the start of the year they decided they wanted to try competing. Their first tournament was bit of an eye opener for them, and they realized that if they wanted to do well at this then they’d need to really commit to training. I was skeptical they would, but they really surprised Tammy and I. They started hard core training, usually around 15-20 hours a week.
Long story short, they went through a few tournaments and eventually qualified to try-out for the Canadian National Team. This past weekend (May 19-21), they went to the Canadian National Championships in Ottawa…and made it on to Team Canada.
One more kind of cool picture taken in front of the Canadian parliament building (this would be like the US capitol building. The kid on the far left is from the same dojo, and he also made the team).
So what does this have to do with Disney? The World Championships are being held in Orlando this year from November 4th to the 10th.
So are we going?
Right now the plan is to go. There are a few things I need to work out, as the timing isn’t ideal from a work point of view (it’s a quarter end for us, and we’re rolling out an ERP system at the end of November), but I’m sure I can work it out
Where are we staying
I’m afraid this one is out of my hands. One of the requirements of being on the National Team is that the whole team has to stay at the same hotel, so we won’t be staying on site. We’re booked at the Wyndham Orlando Resort on International Drive.
So the real question is, will we be going to Disney
That is a tough one. We should have some time (We arrive early Saturday morning, but the opening ceremonies aren’t until Monday. The only thing we need to do is weigh-in and register on Sunday (unless their coach has some training planned). After that, the kids will be competing at least on Tuesday, if not longer (the tournament is a one and done kind of deal (i.e. if you win you go on to the next round, if you lose you’re done)). This makes planning a bit hard because if they do well they could be competing every day from Tuesday to Friday. They could also be done early Tuesday).
We are considering a few ideas:
1) Don’t go to WDW at all. The hotel is a few minutes away from Universal, and the kids have always wanted to go so this would be the perfect chance to do it.
2) Do the MVMCP – We’ve never done this before, so it would be fun
3) Take advantage of the ticket deal the tournament organizers got with Disney (not that great a deal TBH)
4) Get annual passes since we’ll probably be back in August 2018
5) None of the above. Just do some other non-park things around Orlando
All of these options are on the table, but will be dependant on how the finances work out (I used to say I was happy the kids aren’t in hockey because of the equipment costs, but I’m realizing that karate really isn’t any better).
I think that’s everything
FYI I was in Orlando in March for a course, staying at the Hilton right across from Disney Springs. While I didn’t officially go to the parks, I did spend quite a bit of time on property. If anyone is interested I could do a mini report on what I did those 3 days.
That’s it for now.
- even got in a reference to another 80's adHello again everyone. Trust you are all well.
So, it’s that magical time of year again…our next Disney trip (or is it trips? – more on that in a minute).
Without further adeu, I present….the pre-trip report
So whose going this time?
Let me see…should we just go with the original crew as the past trips, or mix it up a bit? Nah, we hate change. Same group it is.
So there’s (from left to right), our "newly able to drive” DW Stephanie (Steph), me (Graham), my DW Tammy, and our “can’t wait to be able to drive” DS Liam). BTW, I do wear glasses now (that’s a reference to a previous PTR I did).
When are we going?
Like the past few years, we’re booked for the end of August. Specifically, August 19th to the 28th. We got fairly good prices for direct flights out of Buffalo.
Where are we staying?
This year we are doing a split stay. The kids have both asked to stay at Boardwalk for a few years now (we went to Ample Hills a few times on our last trip, and the kids really liked the Boardwalk area), so we decided to give it a shot. We’ll be there for the first 5 days of the trip, staying in a pool/garden view room. The last 4 days of the trip will be spent at the Poly in a lake view room. We all loved the Poly last time we stayed there and can’t wait to stay there again.
Any other plans?
We’re still working out what we want to do with regards to restaurants. Originally we had a restaurant booked every night, but then something came up (more on that in a minute) that has us considering changing our plans a bit. Right now we’re thinking of getting the quick-service dining plan for the first 5 days of the trip, and then pay-as-you-go for the last 4 days. Having said that, we have currently booked the following:
August 22nd – Boathouse – August 22nd is our anniversary so the kids told us to book somewhere for just Tammy and I. It’s nice having older kids who don’t need us around all the time(not that we mind having them around all the time, but it’s nice none the less. And TBH, is not so much that the don’t need us around all the time as much as they don’t want us around all the time).
August 24th – ‘Ohana – We’ll be keeping this one no matter what. This is a family favorite.
August 25th – Rose and Crown – Liam picked this one
August 26th – Whispering Canyon – Steph picked this one
August 27th – Trail’s End – the kids love Fort Wilderness, so this gives us an excuse to go there one last time
Anything else
Let’s see…. Can’t really think of much. I’m in the process of trying to drop some weight. I’m down 30 pounds so far, but I’m going to try for another 10-20 before we get there. The challenge will be to not gain too much once we get there
So what’s this “Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun” all about?
Glad you asked….
As I mentioned, something came up that may have us changing our plans quite a bit. What is that thing you ask? You’ll have to pardon my “Dad bragging” for a second here….
If you’ve read my previous trip reports, I’ve made mention that Steph and Liam were both in karate (Liam is a red belt (which is the belt below black) and Steph is a brown belt (which is the belt below red)). Up until this year, they were happy to just be “in” karate, learning the moves, etc. However, at the start of the year they decided they wanted to try competing. Their first tournament was bit of an eye opener for them, and they realized that if they wanted to do well at this then they’d need to really commit to training. I was skeptical they would, but they really surprised Tammy and I. They started hard core training, usually around 15-20 hours a week.
Long story short, they went through a few tournaments and eventually qualified to try-out for the Canadian National Team. This past weekend (May 19-21), they went to the Canadian National Championships in Ottawa…and made it on to Team Canada.
One more kind of cool picture taken in front of the Canadian parliament building (this would be like the US capitol building. The kid on the far left is from the same dojo, and he also made the team).
So what does this have to do with Disney? The World Championships are being held in Orlando this year from November 4th to the 10th.
So are we going?
Right now the plan is to go. There are a few things I need to work out, as the timing isn’t ideal from a work point of view (it’s a quarter end for us, and we’re rolling out an ERP system at the end of November), but I’m sure I can work it out
Where are we staying
I’m afraid this one is out of my hands. One of the requirements of being on the National Team is that the whole team has to stay at the same hotel, so we won’t be staying on site. We’re booked at the Wyndham Orlando Resort on International Drive.
So the real question is, will we be going to Disney
That is a tough one. We should have some time (We arrive early Saturday morning, but the opening ceremonies aren’t until Monday. The only thing we need to do is weigh-in and register on Sunday (unless their coach has some training planned). After that, the kids will be competing at least on Tuesday, if not longer (the tournament is a one and done kind of deal (i.e. if you win you go on to the next round, if you lose you’re done)). This makes planning a bit hard because if they do well they could be competing every day from Tuesday to Friday. They could also be done early Tuesday).
We are considering a few ideas:
1) Don’t go to WDW at all. The hotel is a few minutes away from Universal, and the kids have always wanted to go so this would be the perfect chance to do it.
2) Do the MVMCP – We’ve never done this before, so it would be fun
3) Take advantage of the ticket deal the tournament organizers got with Disney (not that great a deal TBH)
4) Get annual passes since we’ll probably be back in August 2018
5) None of the above. Just do some other non-park things around Orlando
All of these options are on the table, but will be dependant on how the finances work out (I used to say I was happy the kids aren’t in hockey because of the equipment costs, but I’m realizing that karate really isn’t any better).
I think that’s everything
FYI I was in Orlando in March for a course, staying at the Hilton right across from Disney Springs. While I didn’t officially go to the parks, I did spend quite a bit of time on property. If anyone is interested I could do a mini report on what I did those 3 days.
That’s it for now.
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And, great results on your weight loss--I knew as soon as I saw your photo that something was different (from your previous TR). Although you never looked overweight to me, I realize that sometimes people lose weight for other health/medical reasons. Good job--it's not easy to lose weight. Keep up the good work!
