Pre-Trip J,K, and L's annual Week After Thanksgiving Trip!

Hello humans!

We are getting ready for our annual pilgrimage to WDW in just over three weeks, so I thought it would be a good time to go ahead and start our pre-trip report!

Who: Me (Katie), my husband of 10 years Jason, and our 2-year-old son, Lincoln

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When: Sunday, November 26th-Saturday, December 2nd

Where: Animal Kingdom Lodge, Kidani Village

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If you've been on the forums for a while, you may know that we travel to Disney (either coast) the week after Thanksgiving just about every year. We feel that it's the perfect week to go - you get an extra-long Thanksgiving break from work, Disney has all of the holiday decorations/trees up, and all of the holiday festivities are in full swing, without all of the insane Christmas Break crowds. I'm not ready to acknowledge that we'll have a kindergartener in three years, and our days of doing Disney while kids are in school are numbered. 😬

Since this will be our last WDW trip before we have to start buying tickets for L, we decided to splurge on the hotel for this trip. We rented DVC points through David's Vacation Rentals, and will be staying in a Savanna-view studio at Kidani Village. AKL was actually not our first choice - we wanted Wilderness Lodge (preferably the Copper Creek villas), but unsurprisingly, both Copper Creek and Boulder Ridge were already booked up when we booked in May. We are looking forward to staying at Kidani Village though, and we know Lincoln will love being able to see animals from our room!

We have four-day base tickets, and plan to take a "rest" (haha) day in the middle of the trip. We are excited to be going back after a year away, and I hope you all enjoy following along!
 
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donaldtoo

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
k8einwdw said:
Before we get on with our plans for the trip, I thought I'd share a few family updates.

I'll start with the hard part. On March 31st, we lost our beloved Max at only eight years old to a neuromuscular disease called Myasthenia Gravis. Jason and I were with him when he crossed over the rainbow bridge, petting him, telling him how much we loved him, and thanking him for being the best dog we could have ever asked for. His loss is felt in our home every day, but we are so thankful for the eight years that we had with him.

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We have not brought ourselves to adopt another pet, both because Max was such a special dog and we know it will never be the same, but also because we have a two-year-old that is still learning boundaries when it comes to animals. Jason's parents have a pitty that is a big baby and an absolute nanny dog and lets Lincoln climb all over her, and he thinks he can do that with all animals. 😬

Now that I've ripped that band-aid off, I'll lighten the mood. When we decided last year to drop down to one WDW trip per year after several years of being APs, I was afraid that I'd be feeling major FOMO for the 51 weeks of the year that we'd be away. While there has definitely been FOMO (especially during Flower and Garden), we have found plenty of other ways to fill our time. For Christmas last year, my parents gifted us a family membership to Zoo Atlanta, and we also got ourselves GA Resident passes to the Georgia Aquarium.

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In May, we went to the beach with Jason's parents...

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And last month, J and I took a trip up to New England for our 10-year anniversary.

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Also last month, my younger sister (some of you may remember her from my February 2020 Cruise TR or Lincoln’s First Birthday TR) got engaged! They are planning a wedding for next June.

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Lincoln turned two in June, and is 10000% two-year-old boy. Lots of fun, lots of laughs, lots of sweetness, and yes, some toddler tantrums here and there. Right now, he is into anything that goes - cars, trucks, trains, planes, construction vehicles, etc. He does not have a favorite movie yet - he does not have the attention span to watch a movie for longer than 15-20 minutes. 😂 But, he does know and enjoy many Disney/Pixar characters, including of course the Sensational Six, the Winnie the Pooh gang, Woody and Buzz, Lightning McQueen and Mater, as well as Ariel.

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We took him in for his most recent post-op appointments with both his neurosurgeon and plastic surgeon over the summer, and his skull is still looking good. We will continue to take him in once a year for follow-ups and CT scans until he is five years old.

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I think that about covers it! I'll start going through our daily plans in my next post!
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So very sorry about Max. My deepest condolences.
We’re on dogs number 9 and 10, in our home of almost 35 years, which we just sold Friday, to move closer to Emmy and Audrey…!!!!! :hilarious:
Congrats on y’all’s 10-year anniversary…!!! :)
We’ll be married 35 years on Dec. 10th…!!!!! :inlove::happy:
Lincoln is awesome, and it’s so fun to see kiddos grow, like Emmy and Audrey have, but, don’t blink…!!!!! 😅
Also, if you don’t mind, the pic of your sis and future BIL looks like a very familiar place. There’s a place here in Central Texas called Sweet Berry Farm. When they’re not growing berries they’re growing flowers to pick. Is this similar someplace else…?! :)
 
k8einwdw

k8einwdw

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Swissmiss said:
I‘m pretty sure he is at the age when they insist they are a "big" kid 😉
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Oh yes, he reminds me frequently that he’s a big boy 😂
donaldtoo said:
So very sorry about Max. My deepest condolences.
We’re on dogs number 9 and 10, in our home of almost 35 years, which we just sold Friday, to move closer to Emmy and Audrey…!!!!! :hilarious:
Congrats on y’all’s 10-year anniversary…!!! :)
We’ll be married 35 years on Dec. 10th…!!!!! :inlove::happy:
Lincoln is awesome, and it’s so fun to see kiddos grow, like Emmy and Audrey have, but, don’t blink…!!!!! 😅
Also, if you don’t mind, the pic of your sis and future BIL looks like a very familiar place. There’s a place here in Central Texas called Sweet Berry Farm. When they’re not growing berries they’re growing flowers to pick. Is this similar someplace else…?! :)
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Congratulations on your upcoming anniversary and your upcoming move! My sister is a senior at UGA, I believe that picture was taken at a you-pick flower farm near there.
 
Swissmiss

Swissmiss

Premium Member
mpaulam said:
Too late for you now, but after reading this, I know I'm putting command hooks on my list for any travels, anywhere (without the camper). I use them a lot. Easy to put up, easy to take down with no sign that they were ever there!
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Oh what are those? The issue is not limited to WDW (though I can happily say the last hotel I was in had several hooks just inside the door and at least 2 in the bathroom 😊).

k8einwdw said:
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Such a cute picture

k8einwdw said:
Both boys are currently fast asleep - any other moms out there always the first one up and the last one in bed? 🙋🏻‍♀️
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You are not alone sister.
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
mpaulam said:
Too late for you now, but after reading this, I know I'm putting command hooks on my list for any travels, anywhere (without the camper). I use them a lot. Easy to put up, easy to take down with no sign that they were ever there!
Click to expand...

Swissmiss said:
Oh what are those? The issue is not limited to WDW (though I can happily say the last hotel I was in had several hooks just inside the door and at least 2 in the bathroom 😊).
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Not sure if these are sold overseas but they are fantastic!

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Back!Elbow!Shoulders!

Back!Elbow!Shoulders!

Omnia mutantur, nihil interit
Premium Member
donaldtoo

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
k8einwdw said:
Congratulations on your upcoming anniversary and your upcoming move! My sister is a senior at UGA, I believe that picture was taken at a you-pick flower farm near there.
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Thank you very much…!!! :)
The reason I asked is because the place reminds me a lot of a place here in the farther reaches of the Central Texas Hill Country called Sweet Berry Farm. When they’re not growing berries, they grow flowers for the picking, too…!!! :geek:
 

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