A Surprise fit for a Princess...A Pre-Trip Report

[Dancegrl624]

Episode One: The Cast of Characters

Welcome to my PTR! I said I was going to do one, and here it is! I've been inspired by my fellow Snowbirds (I'll fill you in later) and I'm glad that you could join me. Here's who's going on the trip:

Me-Meghan
I'm 26 years old and I live in Western New York. I've been married to my wonderful DH (we'll get to him in a bit) for 6 and a half years. We just bought our first house in June!! Anyways....I'm a dancing machine. I've been dancing since I was 5 years old and I've never stopped. I'm currently a ballet teacher and a member of a professional dance team. Without dance, I wouldn't have an outlet in which to express myself. Oh yeah! I also work at Old Navy (questions about sales, etc? Just ask!)This will be my 8th trip to Disney World.

DH-Tony
My DH is 25 years old and is an Assistant Branch Manager for a local bank. He loves anything related to sports. This trip will be his 3rd trip to "the world" and it was actually HIS idea! I'll talk about that in a later episode.

DH and I on our wedding day

DD-Madison
Maddie is 6 years old and is the center of our universe. She is the star of this trip. Like my title suggests, this trip is a surprise for her. It will be her 2nd trip to WDW. However, she's only been to MK, so a lot of this trip will be new to her. Madison LOVES princesses and is slightly obsessed with cats (we have two; Mocha and Motown).

Our little princess at the BBB in 2006

Flower girl at my sister's wedding

That's all for now! Next up: How Our Story Began

How Our Story Began
How This Trip Came to Be
My How Things Change
Dis Obsession and The Snowbirds
To ADR, or not to ADR
A Whole New World
Tentative Plans-Part One
Tentative Plans-Part Two
How Do You Surprise A Princess?
CRAZINESS
Disney Mail
Our Plans Revisited
Previous Trips
Pictures Part One
Pictures Part Two
The Surprise Box
Mickey, Here we Come!!

 

[jenjolt]

Episode One: The Cast of Characters

Welcome to my PTR! I said I was going to do one, and here it is! I've been inspired by my fellow Snowbirds (I'll fill you in later) and I'm glad that you could join me. Here's who's going on the trip:

Me-Meghan
I'm 26 years old and I live in Western New York. I've been married to my wonderful DH (we'll get to him in a bit) for 6 and a half years. We just bought our first house in June!! Anyways....I'm a dancing machine. I've been dancing since I was 5 years old and I've never stopped. I'm currently a ballet teacher and a member of a professional dance team. Without dance, I wouldn't have an outlet in which to express myself. Oh yeah! I also work at Old Navy (questions about sales, etc? Just ask!)This will be my 8th trip to Disney World.

DH-Tony
My DH is 25 years old and is an Assistant Branch Manager for a local bank. He loves anything related to sports. This trip will be his 3rd trip to "the world" and it was actually HIS idea! I'll talk about that in a later episode.

DH and I on our wedding day

DD-Madison
Maddie is 6 years old and is the center of our universe. She is the star of this trip. Like my title suggests, this trip is a surprise for her. It will be her 2nd trip to WDW. However, she's only been to MK, so a lot of this trip will be new to her. Madison LOVES princesses and is slightly obsessed with cats (we have two; Mocha and Motown).

Our little princess at the BBB in 2006

Flower girl at my sister's wedding

That's all for now! Next up: How Our Story Began

YEAH for more PTRs to read!! I can't wait to hear more about your story Meghan!!!!

 

[Dancegrl624]

Episode Two: How our Story Began

I thought, since I have the time, I'd give a little background info on my fam. Well, my DH and I met while working at a grocery store in Sept 2000. It was love at first sight! Now, this may freak you out a bit. My parents met at a grocery store, my maternal grandparents met at a grocery store and my aunt and uncle met at a grocery store. My dad was their manager! Creepy, I know. My DD is never allowed to work at a grocery store! Just kidding! Now, back to us.....

We got married on April 27, 2002 (my big sister's birthday!) My mom planned our wedding in two months! You might be wondering why. Well, our beautiful daughter was born on October 15, 2002. She is a precious gift from God and we never have viewed her as anything but that. She's not just an only child, she's also the only granddaughter, niece and great niece (on my mom's side anyways). Needless to say, she gets a lot of stuff from my relatives. I can't wait for my sister to have kids!!!

Family Christmas photo from 2007

We lived in my parents basement from the time we got married until December 2004. Two days after Christmas, we moved into our 1st (and only) apartment. FREEDOM! Don't get me wrong, I love my parents dearly, but we needed our own space. Like I mentioned in Episode One, we bought our first house this past June. We ADORE it!

People are always shocked when they hear how young we were when we got married. When we first told people we were getting married, they thought we were nuts and told us it would never last. We've proved them wrong. We keep God first in our relationship and we work hard on our marriage. It wasn't easy at the beginning, but we're unbreakable now. Our DD is so precious to us and that's why we're taking her on this trip.

Stay tuned! There's more to come!

Episode Three: How This Trip Came to Be

 

[Dancegrl624]

YEAH for more PTRs to read!! I can't wait to hear more about your story Meghan!!!!

Thanks for hopping on over! I need something to do with my time since I'm pretty much done planning.

 

[pamouselover]

Glad you started a PTR.
You daughter is a blessing! Don’t ever think anything different. The next one ...well. Just kidding that one will be too. My DH and I have been together since I was 14 and he was 17. It was 23 years in Nov. We have been married for 15 years. I believe in beating the odds. Looking forward to more.

 

[dundeehunter]

I'm on board! Your family is adorable!

 

[Leleluvsdis]

Can't wait to hear more!!!

 

[Dancegrl624]

Glad you started a PTR.
You daughter is a blessing! Don’t ever think anything different. The next one ...well. Just kidding that one will be too. My DH and I have been together since I was 14 and he was 17. It was 23 years in Nov. We have been married for 15 years. I believe in beating the odds. Looking forward to more.

That's amazing! My parents have been married for 34 years! They're great role models.

I'm on board! Your family is adorable!

Thank you so much! Glad you could join me!

Can't wait to hear more!!!

I'll be posting episode 3 tomorrow! I've had a busy night, but I don't have much to do tomorrow! Thanks for signing on.

 

[Dancegrl624]

Episode Three: How This Trip Came to Be

My DH is not a non-Disney guys or anything, but I was still surprised when he suggested this trip.

We were lounging around one evening while our DD was asleep. Our of the blue, he says, "What do you think about going to Disney next summer?" I was shocked! He brought this up about a month before we bought our house. How could we afford it?! Well, he's the banker, so I know to trust him when it comes to money. I, of course, said it was a great idea! He wanted to go with just the three of us before our DD got much older.

You see, I've never gone to WDW without my parents When we went 2 summers ago, it was a bit of a battle between us and my mom. Maddie ADORES her grandma (nothing wrong with that) and she would constantly choose grandma over me and my DH. This was her first trip to WDW and we wanted to experience everything with her. We didn't mind if my parents took her back on rides we had already done with her while we rode the big rides with my little sis. It wasn't the most enjoyable day, to say the least. I'm sure we'll go to Disney with my parents many more times, we just wanted some alone time with her. Plus, we wanted to surprise her!

Time passed. We moved into our house and my DH surprised me yet again. "Why don't we go to Disney during Madison's February break instead?" At first I said no. Being a dance teacher and a member of a dance team, I didn't want to miss anything. Once we talked it over, he convinced me. So, February it was! Now, we just had to start looking for airfare.

Next up...My How Things Change

 

[Northern Disney Girl]

HEY MEGHAN! Awesome Start to your PTR! Can't wait to read more! You little girl is so adorable! She looks like a wonderful mix of the 2 of you! What a sweetheart!

 

[Dancegrl624]

HEY MEGHAN! Awesome Start to your PTR! Can't wait to read more! You little girl is so adorable! She looks like a wonderful mix of the 2 of you! What a sweetheart!

Thanks so much! My DD looks exactly like me when I was her age, except I had darker hair. She does have my DH's dimples though! Can't complain about that!

 

[Dancegrl624]

Episode Four: My How Things Change

The hunt for airfare was on for February 15-22. My DH prefers JetBlue, so we started there. In August, they didn't have to airfares up yet for February. So, just because I wanted to, I started looking elsewhere. I was shocked at how high the prices were for that week. I knew that it was a vacation week for most of the northern school, but I was still taken back. My DH kept reassuring me that JetBlue would be much lower. So, I believed him. Sometime during August, my DH received an email from JB stating the February airfares would be posted on Sept 5th. Whew! I could stop stalking the website finally!

Sept 5th rolls around and we got up super early to check the fares. WHOA! $250-300 per way! CRAZINESS! My DH was just as floored as I was. He then wanted to cancel the trip. NO! You can't take Disney away from me. You can't toy with my emotions like that! My mom had pulled a lot of strings to get us her timeshare for that week. Anyways...once we cooled off, we started discussing our options. I talked to my mom about switching weeks with the timeshare. We knew that the weeks before our original week had great airfare. She was able to switch weeks, but we had to change properties. No biggie! As long as there was availability, I was fine with that! Once she got us all switched, we bought our airline tickets ($99/way? I'll take it!). So, we're now going to WDW from Jan 24th-31st and staying at an off-property timeshare. Yes, we have to take our DD out of school, but we don't mind. She's in 1st grade and is one smart cookie (if I do say so myself!). I've only gone to WDW in the summer months (ok, I went once in March), so I'm excited to go during a slower (and cooler) time of year!

Stay tuned!

 

[Northern Disney Girl]

Hey Meghan! Another great chapter! We went to Montana's for supper tonight and I thought of you! Can't wait to meet up with you at CP on the 28th! Keep up with the great chapters!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Thanks for livening up these long winter days with your pre-trippie! I'm a rarely-posting snowbird, and it's great to get excited with you!

You're right not to worry about taking dd out of school in 1st Grade. Do it now! My ds is in 5th, and we would not dare miss a week. We took him out when he was younger, and it wasn't an issue at all!

Maria

 

[Dancegrl624]

Hey Meghan! Another great chapter! We went to Montana's for supper tonight and I thought of you! Can't wait to meet up with you at CP on the 28th! Keep up with the great chapters!

Thanks! I can't wait for CP either! I'm so excited to be at the park that early.

Thanks for livening up these long winter days with your pre-trippie! I'm a rarely-posting snowbird, and it's great to get excited with you!

You're right not to worry about taking dd out of school in 1st Grade. Do it now! My ds is in 5th, and we would not dare miss a week. We took him out when he was younger, and it wasn't an issue at all!

Maria

Thanks for joining me! I love being a Snowbird!

I'll be updating later today. I'm not leaving my house today because I have so much to do!

 

[jenjolt]

oooh Another great chapter...I can't wait to hear more!!!! You are so going to love the weather down here...its going to be a huge change for ya...sorry about shoveling snow..I know how that feels LOL

 

[Dancegrl624]

Episode Five: Dis Obsession and The Snowbirds

After we booked our airfare and had our hotel set in stone, it was time to start planning! Like I said, I've never gone to WDW without my parents. I never had to plan before. I immediately went out and bought the Unofficial Guide. I had the 2005 edition, so it was time to update. I read it in about 4 or 5 days. I also started checking out the website that were mentioned in the book. I discovered wdwinfo, but I never checked out the message boards. I actually joined a different board first. GASP! I lurked on the dis boards, but never really posted anything.

I think I started driving my DH crazy with all of my Disney facts I was spewing out at him daily. So, I finally joined the Dis. Wow! Disney fanatics just like me! While browsing one day, I found a thread titled "January 2009...Calling All Snowbirds." So, I checked it out and signed on. From that point on, I've been Dis obsessed. I can't go even one day without checking the boards. I have people to talk to about WDW! Plus, we're all going the same month, and that makes it so much more awesome. Well, the Snowbirds are a talkative bunch, and we're now on Part IV of our thread! I don't know what I'd do without these fabulous ladies. I've learned more about WDW then I could have ever imagined. It's also great hearing about their days, their park plans, ADR's, etc. We bounce ideas off of each other too. Love ya Snowbirds!

I think I should become a professional Disney trip planner. I love it! I don't have any more big planning to do, and I'm pretty bummed. I have little details to go over, but I'm waiting until after Christmas. I need something to get me through January! So, for now, I spend my time on the Dis with my Snowbird buddies. I enjoy reading their PTR's. It's also fun to read about Christmas decorations, shopping, etc. Without the Dis, I'd be driving my DH crazy! He does make fun of me though. Every time I'm on the Dis, he says, "Oh. Are you blogging again?" I have to reming him, it's not a blog. He just likes giving me a hard time. I remind him that I've learned a lot from these boards and it will make our trip much more fun.

Next up: To ADR, or not to ADR

 

[Dancegrl624]

oooh Another great chapter...I can't wait to hear more!!!! You are so going to love the weather down here...its going to be a huge change for ya...sorry about shoveling snow..I know how that feels LOL

Thanks Jen! I can't wait for a little escape from the cold. I'm just hoping that my sinuses aren't going to go nuts. It always seems to happen when I go to Florida!

 

[pamouselover]

Wait till you start calling him DH like I do. MY DH thinks DH stands for dumb husband on the dis. My DS makes fun of me all the time about the DIS.
I think we will have to start a new thread when we all get back, called snowbird friends!

 

[Dancegrl624]

Wait till you start calling him DH like I do. MY DH thinks DH stands for dumb husband on the dis. My DS makes fun of me all the time about the DIS.
I think we will have to start a new thread when we all get back, called snowbird friends!

Definately! I don't know what I'll do without the Dis!