UPDATE 11/18! - WDW w/an Obsessive Planner,an Ex-Soldier,a Marine, & a Drama Queen

[Simba22]

Pre-Trip Report
Part 2 - Added 8/12 ◘ Part 3 - Added 8/12 ◘ Part 4 - Added 8/13 ◘ Part 5 - Added 8/14 ◘ Part 6 - Added 8/15 ◘ Part 7 - Added 8/19 ◘ Part 8 - Added 8/24 ◘ Part 9 - Added 9/2 ◘Part 9.5 - Added 9/2: Memory Lane ◘ Part 10 - Added 9/20 ◘ Part 11 - Added 9/26 ◘ Part 11.5 - Added 9/30 "Not an Official Update but I had to tell you about my day" ◘ Part 12 - Added 10/5


The actual Trip Report:
Chapter 1: The Arrival
Chapter 2; Part 1: No more bagels, Erika's first ToT & RnRC ride, and Mike gets a freebie
Chapter 2; Part 2: No Beauty & the Beast, No Dinner, and the Mess at the Pepper Market
Chapter 3; Part 1: Stitch's Bodily Functions, Attack Ducks, and Mike Gets Another Freebie
Chapter 3; Part 2: RWI's, Dinner at Tony's, and Injury # 1
Chapter 4: Speed Safari-ing, lunch at Rainforest Cafe, and MNSSHP!
Chapter 5: Review of CSR, & (Most of) The Videos I Promised You
Chapter 6: Erika & Mike try Beverly, Dinner at San Angel, and a Broken Necklace
Chapter 7: The Worst Morning Ever, Ride Buddies, and My (One & Only) Screw Up
Chapter 8: A Fun Day at AK, The Cirque du Soleil Episode, More Freebies, and Injury # 2
Chapter 9: Another Late Start, A Late Lunch, and a Great Dinner
Chapter 10: Waiting for Ariel, Dinner at LTT, Injuries # 3 & 4, and the Extra CS Credits Fiasco
Chapter 11: Going Home

Welcome to my Pre-Trip Report everyone! I started writing this a few weeks ago, but I wasn't sure if I would have enough to talk about before we left. I am now finding that I have MORE than enough to blabber on about so here we go!

Wednesday 07/18/07
Pre-Trip Part 1

The first thing I want to do is introduce the cast. Anyone who read my last TR will remember me and my boyfriend but for this trip we have two new guests along for the ride….and what a ride it will be….

Me: Ali - The Obsessive Planner, age 24.
DBF: Lumar - the Ex-Army Soldier, age 23. (For those that did not read my December TR, his parents’ names were Luis and Maria so they just combined the two names. It is pronounced LOU-mar)
DB: Mike – The Marine, age 20
DSIL: Erika – The Drama Queen, age 20

Here is a little background info on all of us:
Hello, my name is Ali, and I am an Obsessive WDW Planner. I never used to be this way, at least not this badly but the DIS has done something to me that I cannot explain. It’s strange because I am the kind of person that never plans anything….I get up and go to work everyday and besides that, I have no idea what else I’m doing. I decide at the last minute on everything but most of the time, I can't make decisions for myself. But when it comes to WDW, I just can’t stop thinking about planning. I decided when we came back from our December trip that I wanted to go again but we weren’t sure at the time if we could afford it. Then Mike found out that he was being deployed and he decided for us that we were going to WDW when he came back. It was ON from there. He left the day after Christmas and within a week I had already picked out the week we would go, & the resort we would stay at. The week after that, I made out our temporary schedule for what parks we would go to on what day, and then I started making a list of all of the extra stuff we wanted to do: DTD, Cirque du Soleil, MNSSHP, etc. I kept checking the website looking for ride closures, schedule changes, and sale dates for Cirque and MNSSHP tickets. As soon as those dates were confirmed I bought our tickets, therefore setting most of our schedule in stone. As soon as we were 180 days out, I called and made ADR’s and then a few ago, we decided to add the DDP on to our package. I’m also a “worrier.” Before every WDW trip, my mind starts picking up on every possible thing that could wrong (besides issues with the airplane which we do not discuss in order to prevent me from packing everyone into my two-door coupe and driving us 1168 miles to WDW). But for example, I always worry that we’ll run out of money, or that I’ll forget something VERY important, or that our favorite rides will all be closed….stuff like that.

Lumar is Lumar….there is no other way to describe him. We often refer to him as “The Lumar” like he is a pet or something. For example, when we went to WDW back in 2004, my family kept checking to make sure I “had my Lumar.” And if he got lost somewhere we would stop to wait for The Lumar. He likes to know his schedule in advance. Not that he will actually remember it, but he likes to know anyway. Here’s another example for you. He writes down his work schedule on the calendar at home so he knows what time he has to work for the rest of week. But then asks me “what time do I work tomorrow?” Or, for another example, we made plan two weeks ago to go to the local aquarium this past Sunday. On Saturday night, I picked him up from the movies where he was with some friends from work, and I could hear him making plans with them for Sunday. I was like “Um hello? Does that mean you don’t want to go to the aquarium with me?” Of course we went, but it’s stuff like that that bugs me. He gets upset that I make plans off the top of my head but he doesn’t remember anyway if I tell him in advance. I think that his need for a schedule comes from the fact that he was in the Army a few years ago…he did his two years so they would help him pay for school and then left so he could work full time (although they still stalk him....they call him all the time and even showed up at his mom's house to try and re-recruit him).
This is me and him on our December trip waiting for the train to RPW:

Mike is my baby brother and the Marine. He was going through a rough time in his life (teen angst and all) when he got to his senior year of high school, and he decided that rather than make a decision about what he wanted to be when he grew up and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars going to college only to decide that he didn’t like that job anymore, that he would “make life easy” and join the Marines. Don’t ask, I’m only related. I have no idea how this decision makes life easy. But anyway, Mike is the one who really cemented this trip for us. He was deployed to Africa back in January and, of course, after I made the decision to stay at CSR, which is a moderate, instead of a value, he starts complaining via email about how broke he is. Meanwhile, we get a package every other day that contains items he bought online because he was bored. Now in his defense, it’s so hot out where he is that his sunglasses and digital camera melted. And I do mean MELTED, like into a bubbling heap of blah. And when it’s that hot there isn’t much you can do in your spare time that won’t cause heat stroke. So he sits in his air-conditioned tent and buys stuff online then has it sent home….to collect dust until he comes back. Speaking of Mike coming home, this brings me to my first “WDW Worry”: Mike is, at this point in time, scheduled to arrive stateside on 09/26/07. That’s a Wednesday and exactly 9 days before we leave. He is supposed to go for “debriefing" and that can take 3 or 4 days. After that he has to fly to his home base for “relocalization” which is supposed to take 2 weeks but he has cleared it with his CO to leave early for our trip. However, as it stands this poor kid is going fly 18 hours to the US from Africa, get on a plane 3 days later to fly from his debriefing unit to his home unit, and drive home 2 hours to CT the day before we leave for Florida…where we will be flying to. I never really thought it was possible to spend more time in the air then on the ground but it sounds like he may accomplish it during this week. Mike is extremely passive, has no thoughts one way or another on anything we do, ever. And it takes A LOT to make him angry. So when I asked him things like “where do you want to stay, where do you want to eat,” etc, and he kept saying “it doesn’t matter to me” I took that and ran with it….but then he complained that the resort was so expensive….

Erika is my future sister-in-law and she is one of the greatest people I know. She and my brother were together in high school, then they broke up, then they got back together…and you can repeat this process about 4 more times. Erika is going to a private college in NYC for acting and singing (and boy, can she sing), and she is currently working on an independent film with her best friend who directed it, which has been chosen for an independent film festival in NY (it’s not as big as Tribeca but it’s like the next best thing). My brother says he is going to propose to her next summer…he wants to buy tickets to opening day for the NY Mets (I don’t like baseball but my entire family is Mets fans) and propose on the giant TV screen. She’s not really a “Drama Queen” in the sense that we all know it, but since she is an aspiring actress, it seems fitting.

This is Mike & Erika:

I know, so cute you want to vomit

I'll post part 2 tomorrow! Thanks for joining me!

 

[disneylovinfamily]

great start, can't wait for more---I hear ya on the DIS turning you into crazy planner---it happened to me to me too, maybe the computer is sending obsessive planning frequencies.

 

[Simba22]

Wednesday July 18, 2007

I have a scrapbook to commemorate every trip to WDW I have been on, since my first trip in 2002 to my most recent trip in December 2006. The one from December is known, to everyone who has seen it, as The Holy Grail. This thing is enormous, and if you read my TR from December, you will know all about my adventure in obtaining the book I used. So anyway, Erika came over the other night to hang out with me and Lumar for a few hours and she looked through the book, making comments on every page about how she can’t wait to do this, and can’t wait to see that. Erika went to WDW once, when she was 4. She said that she and her family only went to Epcot and the Magic Kingdom and she doesn’t remember hardly anything except being hot and cranky. Plus, if she was four, that would have been around late 1991or early 1992. It’s been 15 years and even if she did remember her first trip it’s definitely time for another visit! While flipping through the book, she comes across the ride photo from RnRC and exclaims “I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!! MIKE TALKS ABOUT IT ALL THE TIME!!” Imagine the feeling in the pit of my stomach (and my heart!) when I start reading rumors on the DIS a week later about RnRC possibly being shut down for refurb from Labor Day until “the beginning of October!” Our trip is scheduled for October 5 – 14so I immediately go into worry-mode. 1) This happens to be the favorite ride of me, the Lumar, and Mike. 2) It is the ride that Erika is most looking forward to riding. 3) “The beginning of October” could mean anything and I already have the schedule made and switching around ADR’s will be nearly impossble! The good news, at this point in time, is as follows:
1) RnRC was just down for a major refurb in January…why the heck would they need another refurb 9 months later?
2) wdwinfo.com and allears.net are extremely reliable when it comes to this type of news and neither of those websites have RnRC listed in their closings schedule. So I am being very hopeful right now and praying that this is all just a rumor and will not turn out to be true. After all, we are only 1 month away from September at this point. Other rehabs and refurbs are listed at least 2 months in advance.
3) Spaceship Earth and Big Thunder Mountain are going to be closed during our trip. Disney wouldn’t close down 3 major attractions at once…..would they?? PLUS Coronado Springs, where we are staying, will also be undergoing construction while we are there!! MUST….STOP…..WORRYING!!!

Moving on, it just occurred to me that I still have not called to add the DDP to Mike and Erika’s reservation…I should do that tomorrow. We already have ADR’s in place for our whole trip and right now are pretty happy with our choices. Hopefully we will continue to be happy with those choices while actually on the trip. Our schedule right now looks like this:
Fly out of Bradley Airport (in Hartford, CT) on Friday 10/5 @ 3:15pm and arrive at MCO at 6:07pm. It was originally scheduled to leave at 4:15pm so I am glad they bumped it up an hour. If they could bump it up another hour, that would be spectacular only because I’m worried about how much time we will have, since we have an ADR for 9:00pm at Planet Hollywood. I know, most people hate this place but we love it! We will have our $15 meal vouchers so we will not need to use the DDP for this meal.

Saturday 10/6: Disney MGM Studios
We plan to eat breakfast at the resort in the morning, paying out of pocket (or OOP) and then we have an ADR for dinner @ 6:40pm for Mama Melrose’s. Again, some people on the DIS have said it’s not that great but every time we try to walk in without an ADR it’s packed full with no room for walk-in’s so it can’t be that bad. Besides, everyone has their own opinion and we will try anything at least once to form our own opinions.

Sunday 10/7: Magic Kingdom
I made an ADR for breakfast at 9:20am for ‘Ohana. This was my favorite meal on our last trip and I am very excited to do it again! We also have an ADR for dinner at 6:55pm for Tony’s Town Square. I was told to make sure I ask for outdoor seating so that we can watch the parade from our table, should we still be eating at parade time.

Monday 10/8: Animal Kingdom
We have no ADR’s for this day, but plan to be up and running by the time the park opens. We will be leaving right at 5pm when the park closes, and heading back to CSR (hopefully to change into costumes) for MNSSHP at 7pm. Lumar and I did MVMCP for the first time in December and had so much fun we knew we had to go back for Halloween. We are very excited about this as it will be our first MNSSHP. We are just having problems right now deciding on costumes. We all want to dress up but we can’t agree on anything. We all know we want to do a theme, but Lumar keeps picking things like Power Rangers or Super Hero’s…stuff that requires tight spandex-type clothing and masks…clearly, not happening. Mike of course, doesn’t care either way, and Erika is about 50 pounds soaking wet and holding the hose so she can wear anything and make it look good. I, on the other hand, have to be careful about what I wear. On top of the fact that we need to have costumes that are light-weight so we don’t roast, and comfortable enough to wear around the park. I suggested 50’s attire, with Erika and I wearing poodle skirts with white tennis shoes, and cat-eye glasses, and the guys could just wear jeans with Converse sneakers (which they both own a pair), and a t-shirt (white or black). Lumar said that’s boring and it will look like he and Mike are not in costume. I keep trying to tell him that people will get it, and it’s not something that looks so outrageous that people will be staring at them… But he’s just impossible so I’ve given up for now. I told him he can go as Elvis instead and that didn’t seem to work for him either. So right now, I have no idea what to do as far as costumes are concerned

Tuesday 10/9: Epcot
I had originally made an ADR for dinner at Le Cellier but the consensus after everyone read the menu’s was San Angel Inn so I switched us over to there for 7:15…which is perfect because we can hopefully get a good seat outside for Illuminations

Wednesday 10/10: Disney MGM Studios, Day 2
We have an ADR for dinner at 6:30pm for the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater. We normally eat here on every trip but The Lumar and I didn’t get to it in December. So we are really looking forward to eating here again.

Thursday 10/11: Animal Kingdom, Day 2
I went out on a limb here and made an ADR for breakfast at 9:00am for Boma. I have been dying to visit the AKL, since I will never be able to afford to actually stay there, and people on the DIS were raving about the breakfast and zebra domes so I finally get to try them both! Once again, we will be leaving AK right at 5pm, but this time heading to DTD for Cirque du Soleil. I purchased our seats in advance through ticketmania.com and even though the show starts at 9, we have to be there by 8pm to pick up our tickets. Lumar and I purchased our tickets the same way for the last trip and the seats were fantastic. We looked at the seating chart for this year and our seats may be even better, from what I can see!

Friday 10/12: Epcot , Day 2
We have an ADR for lunch @ 1:00pm for Nine Dragons (although we have always been able to walk in) and we also have a dinner reservation @ 6:30pm for Coral Reef although I am considering trying to get this changed to 7pm just to give us a little more time between meals. We have never eaten at Coral Reef and I am really looking forward to it!

Saturday 10/13: Magic Kingdom Day 2…our last day
We have a dinner reservation at 5:05pm for Liberty Tree Tavern and are planning to watch Wishes before we leave. I like to have the fireworks be the last thing we do before we head home…it really makes a great memory.

 

[Avivasmom]

Sounds great so far!!!! Looks like you have it planned well.

Hope your brother gets home in time and is not so tired.

And you both make very cute couples!

 

[Simba22]

great start, can't wait for more---I hear ya on the DIS turning you into crazy planner---it happened to me to me too, maybe the computer is sending obsessive planning frequencies.

I swear that Erika thinks I am totally insane! Since she is new to the whole WDW experience, jumping right in with someone like me has got to be brutal! I even ordered her a 2007 Planning DVD and I am having it sent to her apartment in NYC. I hope that doesn't freak her out too much!

PS your kids are adorable!!

Sounds great so far!!!! Looks like you have it planned well.

Hope your brother gets home in time and is not so tired.

And you both make very cute couples!

Thanks for the well wishes! I hope Mike gets home on time too! He is pretty certain that it won't be an issue but as an Obsessive Planner and Worrier, I'm always thinking "what if???"

And thank you for the compliment! Your daughter is so cute! She is so adorable in the pic in your siggy!

 

[Simba22]

OK so I had another chance to come online again today so all of you lucky readers get another installment! It's a short update but it's an update! I'll have part 4 (and maybe 5) up tomorrow!

Pre-Trip Report Part 3
Thursday July 26, 2007

Ok so I have a few Good News items and one Possibly Terribly Horrible item. We’ll start with that one first.

I checked wdwinfo.com again today, and also checked one of the 400 threads on the DIS to see what the current status is on RnRC. It’s still not listed on the website however I read this:

“I work at RNR. The refurb is going on in September, and will be on electrical and launch base control systems, and is 100% needed and planned for at least a year. The Jan refurb was the addition of the single rider line and replacement of magnets along the LSM.”

What LSM is, I have no idea but it’s not relevant anyway…. Since it’s not listed on wdwinfo.com, I am still remaining hopeful but if this person truly is a CM and knows something that the mods of the website don’t, I am going to be VERY upset. But I’m getting depressed now and I have to remain positive so let’s move on to the good news.

I called WDW last night and (finally) added the DDP to Mike & Erika’s reservation (which he gave me the money for over a month ago…oops. Good thing they don’t run out of those!) I also called on the 18th and changed our ADR for Coral Reef from 6:30 to 8:00 so "you’re welcome" to whoever got that time slot and thank you to whoever cancelled their 8pm ressie.

Now for the best part: I got an email from Mike on the 23rd and he had this to say:
“Okay, keep this on the down low. Between you and me, we received word that we will be home, as in at our parent units between September 18-22. So I am confident that we have a green light for vacation”

I just want to take this moment to say WA-HOO!!! Even if he gets back to his unit on the 22nd, that’s a full week ahead of schedule because originally he wasn’t supposed to even arrive stateside until the 26th and then he was supposed to go for "debriefing" (I hate that word...it always makes me think they are going to steal his underwear!) and THEN to his parent unit. So this information essentially means that they will be arriving for debriefing almost a full 2 weeks earlier than originally planned. Now, if we can just keep RnRC open for our trip then I will feel truly invincible! Ok, well at least when it comes to planning WDW vacations!

This is a picture that Mike sent me from his base. There is an orphanage in the next town over (which means MILES away) and this is him and "his baby." He said he has no idea how to pronounce her name so he just calls her "Shorty." She is about a year and half old and I want to adopt her! Those cheeks and eyes are just to die for, aren't they??

 

[ILMICKEY]

Hey, I made it!!

Great Plans-I'm excited for you!

I do have a question, can you really eat outside at the San Angel Inn? I thought that was just the CS restaurant. I think I would switch one of my ADR's for that.

Yes, adopt her~~she is adorable! I even want her.

 

[Simba22]

Hey, I made it!!

Great Plans-I'm excited for you!

I do have a question, can you really eat outside at the San Angel Inn? I thought that was just the CS restaurant. I think I would switch one of my ADR's for that.

Yes, adopt her~~she is adorable! I even want her.

Hey good to see you again!!

No the San Angel Inn is in inside the pyramid...the Cantina is across the street with the outdoor seating. I am just hoping that since we will be in Mexico for dinner, we will be able to run right out there and grab seats for the fireworks... although in December we sat along the railing right next to Canada and had a perfect view....maybe I was better off with Le Cellier??? AHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Now I'm worrying again!!!!!

 

[the4princesses]

The Cantina de san Angel is a CS that sits right on the lagoon, the food is Mexican, and very good. you can sit and eat and watch the fireworks there . When we went in 2005 we sat and watched the fireworks.
It is very nice!!
Kathy

 

[Simba22]

The Cantina de san Angel is a CS that sits right on the lagoon, the food is Mexican, and very good. you can sit and eat and watch the fireworks there . When we went in 2005 we sat and watched the fireworks.
It is very nice!!
Kathy

Hi Kathy!! thanks for joining me on my PTR!

We have eaten at the Cantina several times, and you are right, it is very nice, especially as the sun is setting... It's beautiful out there and if you can get a good table, it's perfect for watching Illuminations. But we never ate inside at the Inn before so we decided on dinner for that for now. Hopefully it will be a good meal and worth possibly losing out on good Illuminations seats!!

 

[Simba22]

Pre Trip Report Part 4
Friday 08/03/07

I wanted to post some pics of "The Holy Grail" for you guys to see exactly what I'm talking about. The book is so thick that it doesn't close all the way in the front. I put a ruler up against it so you can see the width.

So the official announcement was made today: RnRC will be closed for refurb….Thank all that is Holy & Powerful that it will be reopening the day before we arrive! The refurb is scheduled for 9/4 – 10/4 and we are arriving on 10/5! I am soo happy right now I could cry. Of course, I truly feel bad for anyone who will be there while it is closed…it sucks to be there when attractions are closed…I know, we will already be missing out on SE and BTMRR, last May PotC was closed, and the year before that the HM was closed.

Anyway now that I can breathe a little easier, I wanted to share my thoughts… Since this is going to be Mike’s “Welcome Home” trip and Erika’s first “real” trip, I decided to look into getting WDW gift baskets for them. I asked around on the DIS about some ideas for baskets for adults, since I had only really seen baskets for kids, and got some pretty good ideas and links to websites. I am looking to try and save as much money as possible, and since I still have a little over 2 months, I am trying to see if I can possibly make the baskets myself. I have searched at the Disney Store a little bit but I didn’t really get a chance to look so I will be doing some more of that this weekend…and Lumar and I are going to go to NYC next Saturday to check out the World of Disney store in Manhattan and see what we can find there. I’ve also been looking online at Disneyshopping.com but haven’t really found anything I was looking for…and Ebay has been surprisingly unhelpful. Here are some of the items I want to put in Erika’s basket:
A pair of Disney Flip-Flops
A tank top
Those pink sparkly Princess mouse ears with the green, pink, and purple things coming down the back
A Disney picture frame, dated 2007
A keychain (hopefully from CSR, where we will be staying)
A beach towel
Some Disney snacks

In Mike’s basket I want to include:
A WDW baseball hat
A WDW T-shirt
A dated 2007 picture frame
A beach towel
A CSR keychain
Some Disney snacks

So we'll see how this goes, but I'm really excited. I feel kind of bad for Lumar because I'm not doing one for him but this isn't a special trip for him!

In other news, our Disney Visa is almost paid off – only another $1900 to go… then that will be used on the trip to buy our souvenirs and stuff. Thank goodness for the DDP…knowing that all of our meals (except breakfast most days) are paid for in advance is so comforting… I don’t have to worry about factoring in money to pay for food on the trip!

So all in all, everything seems to be going really well so far. With 63 days to go, I hope things stay this way, unless of course they want to open SE and BTMRR early! But I won’t push it…right now I’m just happy to have RnRC!

 

[Simba22]

Part 5
Saturday 8/11/07

Ok so I have a few things to update you all on:
1) I bought 2 pairs of crocs…a pair of Capri style and a pair of the Disney Beach style. I was really debating between the Disney ones and the Cayman style ones but Lumar talked me into the Disney ones since they were only $5 more than the Caymans. These will be my first pairs of Crocs and I am actually pretty excited about them! I know that a lot people think that the Cayman, Beach, and Mary Jane style ones are ugly, but I never really thought they were THAT bad…I mean, I’ve seen way worse. There are some ugly shoes out there people, just go to shoes.com and look around the women’s section. There are things on there that would make you cry. But anyway, I was really thinking about how bad my feet hurt on our last trip (to the point where my toes on my left foot felt numb and tingly for about a month after we came back!) and I decided I really don’t want to go through that again. I have not heard one person say they regretted their investment after buying a pair so I have high hopes!
Here are the ones I bought:

2) I ordered 2 surprise gift baskets from Peggy! I am SO glad she is back in business! I emailed her all of the stuff I was looking for and not only did she say “no problem” but she also went out and took pictures of various items for me, then emailed me the pictures so I could see what I was purchasing before committing to it! I am going to purchase some items from Target and Ebay…and I am shipping them to Peggy to include in the baskets! It is going to be a bit expensive as the basic charge is $25 per basket, plus the cost of the items, PLUS 20% of the cost, or $10 whichever is more, for the items she had to go and purchase for me. To be honest, I probably could have found a cheaper rate if I really looked around, but so many people recommended her that I figured, “what the heck?” There is that old saying “you get what you pay for” and everyone I talked to who used her services before told me that they were extremely happy and would go back to her again…and most of the people I talked to have used her for more than one occasion so this is shaping up to be a pretty good thing! I opted to NOT make a basket for Lumar only because he already has everything that I would put in a basket for him… several pairs of ears, keychains, plushes, hats, towels, etc. So I will just pick him up some small stuff and surprise him with a small basket I made myself, on the morning we leave. I ordered a Jack Skellington beach towel for Mike off of Ebay for $3.99, brand new with tags, and I found an Ariel one for Erika, also brand new with tags. I put in a bid on it without searching more first (why am I so hasty???) and found another one that was $4 cheaper, but I like the design on the first one better because it includes Flounder and Sebastian, and I’ve never seen it before. But that one was $12.99. I am going to go to out tomorrow and see if I can find Disney character squoosh pillows (they are like $20 if you get them from WDW, and plus Peggy would charge me $10 each so they would become $30) and Peggy is picking up picture frames (dated 2007), shot glasses, a hat for Mike, and the Princess Ears for Erika.

3) I went to the Pay It Forward board and found someone to be a Fairy God-Mailer for me (thanks again Dee47!!) She is going to WDW the last week of August and is going to mail 3 cards for me…one each to Mike, Lumar, and Erika. Mike’s card will get here before he does, but it will be waiting in his pile of mail for him when he gets home…right on top of the pile, of course!!

You know what’s funny? Everyday I go online to the DIS and without fail there is a thread someone started titled something to the effect of “done planning…now what??” I can never answer to those posts because I feel like everyone has their own idea of what “done planning” really means and I think that everyone’s idea of “done planning” changes with each trip. For example: the very first time Lumar and I went to WDW without the rest of the family was May 2005. We were “done planning” after we paid for the trip in full. On our second trip in May 2006, we were “done planning” after I decided that maybe this time, I should make a packing list and decide in advance, which days to do which parks. For December 2006, we were “done planning” after I made 2 ADR’s (one at Ohana and one at CP, both for breakfast), and bought MVMCP and Cirque du Soleil tickets. For this coming trip, I have confirmed two reservations, including rooms, park tickets, MNSSHP tickets, Cirque du Soleil tickets, made ADR’s for everyday of our trip except two, put all 4 of us on the DDP, started working on gift baskets, ordered postcards from the Fairy God-Mailer, and we are still planning by deciding what costumes to wear for the Halloween party. It seems to me that you choose to be “done planning” it doesn’t end on its own…. But I digress…as usual.

OK so remember how in my last update, I said that the Disney Visa was almost paid off? Well I have been working overtime at work just to earn some extra cash to put towards the balance on the card so it could (hopefully) be paid off before our trip. This morning, I got up at 7:30am and brought my car in for an oil change, transmission fluid change, and tire rotation. 5 hours later, I was standing in the shop, my car up the lift, giving the OK for a $150 job to become a $300 job, as the mechanic showed me how dangerously worn out my brakes were. He was nice enough to “cut me a deal” and gave me about $70 off so I only ended up spending $230…but that is still $80 more than I was planning on. So much for the 10 hours of overtime I put in…. On top of the fact that my next paycheck will ALSO include 10 hours of overtime, but I have to bring my car back to the shop for rear brakes and new drums, to the tune of another $224. Plus I need to get the emissions test done (before 8/29) so that I can pay $85 for my registration. It never fails. It seems that any extra money I earn always goes into my car…. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t buy the $230 worth of pins I wanted from disneyshopping.com!

Well, enough depressing stuff! As of today there are only

days left until we leave! Can’t wait for our DME stuff to come!!

 

[disneylovinfamily]

Loving all the plans so far and the gift baskets sound great. What a great sis you are!

 

[ILMICKEY]

That's a bummer about your car. It always seems the whole world knows when you have a little extra cash, and they want it!!

Don't worry though, you still have time!

The gift baskets are a really nice idea. How thoughtful you are!!!

 

[Simba22]

Pre-Trip Report Part 6
Wednesday 8/15


I was so excited when I logged onto the Disboards yesterday morning because they had a link to wdwinfo.com that had a Discount Code for Disney Visa Card holders who are traveling between September and December 2007. I started a thread asking if I could still get the discount even though my trip was already booked and someone responded and said yes. I was totally psyched to save some money on this trip, since I still have Mike breathing down my neck about the cost, and now Erika is feeling the strain as well because she needs to buy her costume for MNSSHP. So I figured even if we save $50 per reservation (both of which are in my name) that will give Erika $25 towards her costume, Mike $25 to buy some random junk online that he won’t even see or use until after we come back from Florida, and I can use the discount off of my & Lumar’s room to apply towards the balance on the card. So needless to say, I called CRO and spoke to Fladiana (I think I spelled her name right, she rambled it off so fast you’d think it was as common as John or something) and she told me that the discount was “not available” for CSR! She said “do you want me to try another resort?” Sadly, I told her no, we were really looking forward to CSR. So she offered to try another room, which was fine since I don’t know what section/rooms were are going to be in anyway, but that didn’t work either. So I went back to my thread to post my bad news and a bunch of people responded thanking me for posting the discount because they called and saved HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS! One DISer saved about $700 and most of the others were about $400 on average. I am still really bummed about it but Lumar keeps telling me that it’s Karma…I posted the discount and helped out a bunch of people, and I’ll get my reward for that in time. I know that he is right, but it still doesn’t take away from the suckyness. Right now I am really considering calling CRO back tonight when I get home from work and checking to see what resorts have availability. One DISer told me that the discount allowed her to switch from CBR to AKL for her entire trip and AKL cost the same with the discount as CBR did without it. So to me that would be worth it if we could get a deal like that...although I'm really looking forward to CSR.... I guess I will just call tonight and see what they can offer me and choose from there.

In better news, we have all decided on costumes for MNSSHP! Mike emailed me and said he wanted to go with the 50’s theme I suggested so I was really excited about that, and then of course I mentioned it to The Lumar and he complained about it some more. My mom happened to be walking by the room as we were talking about it and she told him how when she and my dad were younger they used to go to 50’s themed parties all the time and she had pictures to show him. It worked and he is totally for it now that he has seen what it will look like when we are all together! He wants to go dressed as the “nerd” with the white button down shirt, khaki pants, bow tie, suspenders, and thick glasses with tape on the bridge. If he and my brother wore the same prescription he could borrow the military issued glasses that Mike got when he went to basic. The “BCGs” as they are called (aka Birth Control Glasses) are ENORMOUS and the lenses honestly and truly look like the bottoms of Coke bottles. But I would rather he got “prop” glasses anyway so he can still wear his contacts under them.

I ordered my costume last night and I am so totally excited for it! This is picture from the website (and if you are going MNSSHP on 10/8, please don’t copy me!). Everything in the picture, except for the shoes, is included but I ordered an extra pair of glasses in black and I also ordered a pair of cats eye sunglasses too in case it’s still sunny when we get to the party. I told Erika that she can use the pink ones that come with the set.

So now that we have the issue of what to wear out of the way, I just have to work on making sure that everyone actually GETS their stuff. Everything will be easy to get, and we aren’t spending a lot of money on the guy’s costumes…just a cheap pair of khaki’s for Lumar from Walmart, same with the shirt and suspenders. I just have to try and find glasses somewhere…although I’m sure that the Halloween Store will carry them. I just have to wait for one to pop up in the mall. I also have to make sure I stay on Erika to order hers so that we can make sure it gets here on time for her to exchange it in case it doesn’t fit. I’m trying to convince her to get this one:

In Pirates News, I got an email from FYE today that I didn’t actually open, but the subject line said “Pre-Order Pirates 3!” So I deleted the email and called Lumar and told him to go upstairs to the Disney store (he works in the mall, by the way) and pre-order it there. He called me back a little while later and said that the girl there told him they weren’t taking pre-orders yet and she didn’t know when they would start. His next sentence was “she’s new.” Yes, we know, on a personal basis, the manager and assistant manager of the Disney Store. So again, I was a little bummed but I figured that they will probably start taking reserves in October (they started taking reserves for Jungle Book in August and its release date is October 2. So using that formula ….) and in which case we may be able to pre-order it in WDW and get a cool pre-order gift. Lumar pre-ordered Aladdin when we went in 2004 and he got a LE lanyard and two LE Aladdin pins….

That’s it for now…more tomorrow! Thanks again for joining me on my pre-trippie!

 

[Simba22]

Loving all the plans so far and the gift baskets sound great. What a great sis you are!

Thanks! I try! I just hope it doesn't go unappreciated...my brother can be weird about stuff like this sometimes.

That's a bummer about your car. It always seems the whole world knows when you have a little extra cash, and they want it! Don't worry though, you still have time! The gift baskets are a really nice idea. How thoughtful you are!!!

I know, it sucks but I need to drive and my car (knock on wood) hasn't let me down yet and I've had it for 6 full years....It's got 114k miles on it and it's still going so a few hundred bucks here and there to keep her running is more than worth it!

And regarding the gift baskets, both of the Beach Towels I ordered came today so this weekend I am going to search one more time to see if I can find those pillows I was looking for and then send everything off to Peggy!

 

[Simba22]

Pre-Trip Report Part 7
Sunday 8/19

Hello everyone!

Not much to report on here, today but a couple of things came up...

1) I've given up on trying to get the MYW Package Discount. First they released the codes for the Disney Visa card holders and I had no luck with that, then they released the codes to the general public this past Thursday and even with that I couldn't get anything for CSR. They just kept telling me they only had SSR available and we don't want to change resorts, especially since it would end up costing us more money to switch.

2) I went out today to search one last time for those squoosh pillows for Mike & Erika's baskets but had no luck. It's funny because every single time I went to Walmart, or Target, or the Disney Store, I came across these pillows and never had a reason to get them. And now that I actually NEED them, I can't find them anywhere. They had a few in the Disney Store in the mall but they were much too big...not the ones I was looking for. Peggy has not emailed me to let me know if she found CSR shot glasses or not...so for now, I have a hat for Mike, the Princess Ears headband for Erika, and a towel and a picture frame for each. Assuming Peggy can find shot glasses, we can add in one of those to both baskets, but if not then I am stuck with getting them keychains.... I still want to add one more thing but I can't think of anything to add! I don't want to do clothes like flip flops or t-shirts because if they don't fit or something then they're useless. My brother is not into pin trading and I'm not sure if Erika will be either, so I don't want to spend the money on the pins and lanyards if they aren't going to be used.... This whole thing has gone from making me really excited to making me really have a headache.... I had wanted to have some WDW snacks included but Peggy can't put food in the baskets due to some FL state regulation or something.... I'm just lost! (Although the towels are VERY nice!)

3) I posted a thread on the photography board to see if I can get any info about camcorders. Lumar and I were both thinking about getting one but neither wanted to bring it up to the other, and last night we were out and saw a display and I mentioned it under my breath and he got really excited about it. So today we were out at Walmart and we were browsing through the camcorders they had there, but nothing really seemed to match what we want. We don't want something that records to a tape, and I don't REALLY want Mini DVD's or DVD's either... I wanted something completely digital, that I can just hook up to my computer and upload the video there, and just hook up to the TV with A/V cables and be able to watch it there, as well. But it seems that the only camcorders with that capability only have like 5x optical zoom and I want something with more than that! I would even take 8x! But it just seems that even the ones with 8x zoom use tape or DVD's.

4) I do have TWO good things to report, one is that we got an email from Mike's CO, and it says that the guys will be back between the 15th and 20th, which is even earlier than Mike had thought a few weeks ago! And I got "The Essential Disney Idea Book" which is LOADED with scrapbooking (and other crafting) ideas. I'm very excited to work on my scrapbook when we come back! I think I am going to put one together for Mike and Erika too...maybe if I can get it done in time, I can give it to them for Christmas....

Stay tuned for more...I'm still searching for more ideas for the gift baskets!

 

[Simba22]

Happy Friday everyone! I'm so glad it's the weekend!

When Lumar gets home from work tonight we are going to be ordering our new camcorder! I'm so excited! I just hope we actually use it when we get to WDW! After talking to some nice folks on the Photography Board, I think we are going with the JVC MiniDV Camcorder (GR-D750):

Can anyone else NOT wait for PotC AWE to come out! December 4th seems SOOO far away! I want to watch it now!! sorry, ADD....

So I don't remember if I told you or not, but I decided to do a surprise gift basket for Lumar too...I'm not going through Peggy for this one though, I'm just going to make it myself. Well, I've found a PotC pillow for him (for the plane ride), a PotC beach towel, a couple pins, and I'm also thinking about adding in the PotC Trilogy Edition Monopoly set. He collects Monopoly games, and PotC stuff (as I'm sure you noticed) so I figure that is a pretty good bet. I also found the pillows I was looking for, for Mike and Erika. Mike's came in yesterday (along with 24 pins I bought on Ebay for trading! ) and Erika's will be here Monday so on Tuesday or Wednesday I should be able to send everything to Peggy and then that's done! After I take care of the baskets, the only thing left to do is start shopping! Can you believe there are exactly 6 weeks to go until we leave? That means that in like 3 weeks I'll be getting our DME stuff! That's exactly 42 days from today!!

BTW, my costume for MNSSHP came in the other day! I tried it on and it looks fantastic! I'm so excited, this party is going to be so much fun!

 

[Hedy]

Yay for new toys!

 

[ILMICKEY]

I can't wait for it to come out because I didn't go see it at the movies. It always seemed something was going on. That will be the same for the Bourne Ultimatum! Want to see that too.

Did you get the camcorder?? Remember NO HOME MOVIES!! If you know what I mean.

Are you going to wait and surprise us with a picture from the MNSSHP or can you show us your costume now????