Happy Birthday Bill – The 3 Day B'day Extravaganza *New 7/8 Now it's time to say bye*

[mrsksomeday]

Introduction and first installment - This post

# 2 Nashville Airport, where the heck is it? Part 1
# 2 Nashville Airport, where the heck is it? Part 2
# 3 So happy to be in Epicot Part 1
# 3 So happy to be in Epicot Part 2
# 4 Walking around the World Showcase
# 5 To get up or not? Part 1
# 5 To get up or not? Part 2
# 6 Bill's a Cast Member?
# 7 Tracy asks to do something
# 8 Another change
# 9 Do we stay or do we go?
#10 Fantasyland time!
#11 Now it’s time to say goodbye…

This was a birthday trip for my wonderful man Bill and he wore his birthday button for 3 days, because we went to 3 of the 4 parks. “OMG, oh no, you did what? That is awful”- if you think any of these things quit reading now. We did it, I wouldn’t change a thing and we had a wonderful time.

For those of you that don’t know us here is the cast list:

First up ME, Tracy : I am a long winded TR writer who loves WDW, the DIS, my son, our dog, and a wonderful man named Bill not in that order mind you. Well maybe WDW first just kidding…or am I? This was my 4th time to WDW!!

Next is Bill: He has Cerebral Palsy and is in a power wheelchair. He is a rebel, a daredevil, and most loving man on the earth. He is my best friend, my inspiration, my Prince Charming, and is utterly amazing. He loves Star Wars and especially Yoda. This was his 9th time to WDW.

Us at WDW in 2007:

Lastly is Ace: He is our 3 ½ yr old Jack Russell/Rat Terrier that gets totally aggravated when the suitcases come out. He literally moans, sighs loudly, and pouts.

We had many changes leading up to this trip and that continued throughout our time in Disney. I picked up Bill from work around 12:30pm. I wanted to be on the road so that we would get to Nashville by 5pm, well that didn’t happen . Someone (Bill) was still working on the new website he is building for his job. He just couldn’t leave it alone.

Bill has a locking mechanism in the floor of his van, he rolls into the right place and it locks his wheelchair in place. That is such a great thing to have, don’t you think? It is wonderful when you push a button and it releases him. It was really wonderful when it WAS working. It has went haywire lately. There is a lever I can push to release him manually. I just have to reach under his chair in between a set of wheels to get to it. Fat hand – tiny spot to get into doesn’t equal fun. I decided to take the van to the car wash right before we left to vacuum all around that area hoping that was the issue.

I put the quarters in, turn around and see this:

I was laughing to hard, I put down the hose and took the pictures.

We didn’t get to Nashville until 7:30pm. I was going to take a picture of the “Welcome to Tennessee” sign, but I barely got the side of it and you can see Acey nose prints on the windshield, I didn’t want to have people seeing how bad a person I am for not having the windshield spotless for picture taking . We stayed at LaQuintas again. Here is a pic of the room:

Does it look familiar ? It should I am recycling the pic from our trip the week before when we were in Nashville, we got the same exact room. We went over to Opry Mills and walked the mall a little bit. We went into the Disney store and they had their t-shirts for $4.99. Bill wanted to wait to spend his money, I got a Grumpy shirt.

We decided to go eat. We saw about a thousand of these:

Now I had researched some locations and saw what I wanted. I am trying to watch my caloric intake. Bill saw the KFC right next to the hotel and wanted to go there. I was not happy at all. Greasy and not nutritional. The Tracy in early January would have been fine with this dinner choice. The Tracy in June that has lost about 50 pounds (between 40 and 50, I was allergic to a scale for the first 6 weeks of my life style change) since early January did not like it at all. It really upset me, I was already worried about the food choices in Disney and here we are at grease central. I got a twister with no dressing, but was still upset about it. I finally calmed myself down and thought don’t let this ruin your vacation it will be ok, then I let it go.

We went back to the room and to bed. I still love that bed, we slept very well. There was none of the “it is the day before Disney, I can’t sleep” issues I usually have. The wake up call came at 4am, we were out the door by 4:45am.

Next installment… Did I find the airport, how did check in go?

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Hi Tracy! I'm so excited to read another report from you!

First off, contratulations on losing the 50 POUNDS!!! That is awesome - great job!

It sounds like Bill had an awesome birthday trip - can't wait to read all about it!

 

[team weasel]

Woot Woot! Can't wait to read more!

PS...why no pic of your adorable Ace?

 

[Piper]

Wow! I actually got in early on this one!

 

[luvfigment]

YAY can't wait to hear all about the trip!!!

 

[ddstratton]

I found my way here! And before the thread was many pages long! Love the car wash pictures, by the way.

 

[GeminiAngel]

Woo Hoo!!! 50 pounds!!! good for you!!! I know how tough it is, I'm down 35 since Feb. I'm now a size 8!!! Haven't been that since my mid 20's.

Great first installment. Bill going thru the car wash!
He's crazy.

 

[jkCT]

I'm here! I can't wait to hear all about your adventures!

 

[Hedy]

Did the vacuum fix the lever?

 

[SaratogaShan]

Tracy,

I was just a lurkyloo on your last trip report, but I enjoyed it tremendously and have been looking periodically for your next report.......

And here it is!!!!!!

You are a gifted writer. Thanks for letting us come along for the ride.

And, congrats on your wonderful weight loss acomplishment!

Shan

 

[DisneyJo]

Congrats on the weightloss Tracy and it sounds like a great start to your trip

 

[mrsksomeday]

Hi Tracy! I'm so excited to read another report from you!

First off, contratulations on losing the 50 POUNDS!!! That is awesome - great job!

It sounds like Bill had an awesome birthday trip - can't wait to read all about it!

Hi Michelle! Thanks for joining us. Thanks for the congrats. Bill had a great birthday, I can't wait to share it with all of you.

Woot Woot! Can't wait to read more!

PS...why no pic of your adorable Ace?

Hi TW, Glad you joined us. I added a pic of Ace, I thought I had it on there. Thanks for telling me about it. I love showing pics of our furbaby.

Wow! I actually got in early on this one!

Hi Piper. Thank you for posting. I hope you enjoy our report.

YAY can't wait to hear all about the trip!!!

Hi luvfigment! So nice to see you, thanks for posting.

I found my way here! And before the thread was many pages long! Love the car wash pictures, by the way.

Hi ddstratton! I thought people would enjoy the car wash pics .

Woo Hoo!!! 50 pounds!!! good for you!!! I know how tough it is, I'm down 35 since Feb. I'm now a size 8!!! Haven't been that since my mid 20's.

Great first installment. Bill going thru the car wash!
He's crazy.

Hi GeminiAngel!! Congrats on the 35 that is awesome!! Bill is crazy and I love it .

I'm here! I can't wait to hear all about your adventures!

Hi jkCT!! Thanks for being here.

Did the vacuum fix the lever?

Hi Hedy, no the vacuum didn't fix the lever . Bill's dad is supposed to look at it the next time they are here.

Tracy,

I was just a lurkyloo on your last trip report, but I enjoyed it tremendously and have been looking periodically for your next report.......

And here it is!!!!!!

You are a gifted writer. Thanks for letting us come along for the ride.

And, congrats on your wonderful weight loss acomplishment!

Shan

Hi Shan, thanks for finding us and joining in. Thank you for the sweet words.

Congrats on the weightloss Tracy and it sounds like a great start to your trip

Hi Jo, thanks. It was a great start, I can't wait to share more.

 

[Goofyluver]

I am signing on!

 

[carrieannie]

Subbing Tracy!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Hi Tracy! I'm along for another great ride too! Off to a good start - can't wait for more!! Amy

 

[mrsksomeday]

I am signing on!

Hi Goofyluver, thanks for joining us!!

Subbing Tracy!

Hi Carrieannie!! Long time no see, I am soooo glad you found me .

Hi Tracy! I'm along for another great ride too! Off to a good start - can't wait for more!! Amy

Hi Amy, Thanks for posting. I hope you enjoy!

 

[mrsksomeday]

The hotel did not have a wheelchair accessible shuttle. All the flight park places around Nashville didn’t have a wheelchair accessible shuttle either, I called them. Only one said they would have us drive to their location, have one of their employees drive us in our van to the airport then take the van back to their location, then we would call them to pick us up. That didn’t sit well with me. We needed the van to get home, what if one of their employees did something to it? I had that scene from Ferris Bueller running through my head where the parking attendant guy took off in the car . I decided to brave finding the airport and parking myself.

It was ridiculously easy. The airport was 1.03 miles from the hotel. Parking was easy and it was only a short walk, we didn’t need the airport’s shuttle. TSA again treated Bill like he was up to something, he got felt up and I think he liked it . We boarded first as usual. I always watch for the wheelchair to be loaded. It just puts my mind at ease to physically see it put in the plane. Here are the pics I took as they were loading it.

I thought it was a great idea for them to use that piece of equipment instead of trying to lift the chair . We landed 9:25am Florida time, had the wheelchair by 9:40am and were on our way to the monorail imposter.

Pretty fountain at the airport:

Look something to let us know that Disney World is near:

I checked in at the Magical Express counter. I felt bad for the lady, she was saying her spiel, I know she has to tell us the procedures, but I found myself saying “I know, I know”. Then she asked how many times we had been there, once I told her she said “you could probably tell me what I am supposed to say next”. I smiled and said “yes, I think I could”, we both laughed. She told us to be seated at the benches in front of the lines for ME and we saw this:

NO PEOPLE!!

It was fantastic!! That is the difference from going on Friday instead of Saturday. It took about 30 minutes to get an accessible bus.

We got to Pop and both of us couldn’t stop smiling.

The line was long, but moved fairly quickly. I talked to a first timer that was leaving that day while we were waiting. She was asking me about the weather later in the year, I told her about the lovely times we had in November. She was really nice.

It was our turn and our room wasn’t ready, but we did have a package. It was one of the pins that Bill had purchased from Ebay. He had asked the guy to drop it off there:

We were starving so we went to the Everything Pop food court. See the craziness behind Bill:

Bill got the Parmesan Crusted Chicken Penne Alfredo w/Breadstick and I got the Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Mixed Greens.

The station with the Caesar salad was closed for some reason at the time we were there that day . Bill got tie dye cheesecake and I got a fruit cup. I knew Bill would want to eat outside so we went to a table. Then it started. I had trouble with birds on our last trip and it started early this time:

I said that’s it, we are going inside, besides I wanted to be in the air conditioning for as long as I could because I knew I wouldn’t be around it much for the next three days. We ate. I don’t know what they had on the mixed greens, but I wasn’t taking my chances. I peeled the parmesan crust off my chicken, people probably thought I was nuts and while I was eating it, I tried the fruit cup. It was fantastic, everything was so fresh and flavorful. I really enjoyed it. Bill was eating, I was done and decided to call the room at 12:40pm.

The room was ready!! 50’s building first floor as requested - room 3103.

Continued in next post...

 

[mrsksomeday]

We had Pop mojo, I kept thinking about Jordan while I was at Pop and the word “mojo”. I bet I drove Bill crazy with that word, but I couldn’t help it. We had the mojo going on and it continued when I opened the door to the room:

Our luggage was already there, I was thrilled. I put things up and was very happy. The only other request I had was a shower bench, yes there is a pull down bench in the roll in shower rooms, but Bill needs more support and something to hold on to, so we always get a shower bench brought to the room. It didn’t come so I called and they said they would send one right out. This is the pull down bench:

The guy came and put it in the bathroom. Bill was talking to me so I didn’t pay much attention, until I went to the bathroom, I started laughing and couldn’t quit. I saw this:

Now I don’t know if you can tell or not, but that is very short, little enough for a child. Too small for Bill, so I got back on the phone (after I took a picture of it) and told them the mix up, they came right back with an adult size bench and all was well.

Bill and I were both eyeing the “future visit promotion” we had in the room. He asked me to get a price, but we were on hold for a long time. I didn’t want to spend my first day waiting, so I hung up.

Our original plan was to go to DHS to check out Star Wars Weekend, go to Fantasmic that night, and go back in the morning. Bill suggested we try to move the 50’s Prime Time Café ressie until the next day and just go to Epcot that night. I called, got the ressie moved and we decided to wing it for dinner.

We left the room after I put the window clings up and took a picture, I didn't notice until yesterday that you can see my reflection:

We went to the bus stop. I had to take more pictures:

I noticed how much better I felt health wise with the weight I had already lost. I found myself many times on this trip having to wait for Bill to catch up with me. I was on a mission, I had places to go, and I didn’t want to get there slowly :lol:

Next installment…how long do we have to wait for this bus?

 

[MRYPPNS]

Sounds like you should fly out of Nashville from now on.....you seemed so less stressed this time!

 

[mrsksomeday]

Sounds like you should fly out of Nashville from now on.....you seemed so less stressed this time!

You are so right, I wasn't stressed. Bill still likes going out of St. Louis, we are home in about 90 minutes instead of 3 hours, so we will see. It is usually cheaper to go out of Nashville and I love that mall down there.

I am thinking about trying a cheaper hotel in St. Louis and just driving to the airport like I did in Nashville. I was looking at the St. Louis airport website last night and even if we park at one of the cheaper lots farther away from the airport, the shuttles are wheelchair accessible .