Stop Making Me Laugh Or I'll Pee My Pants! Go Back! I Lost My Shoe! Trip Report!

[KatMark]

Have you got your bags packed yet? I bet you're about to bust!

I'm about half packed. I have all the stuff for the "Disney" part of the trip packed; still haven't decided what to take to Marco Island. Went shopping today and got my hair spray (humidity and my hair do not like one another) and ponytail holders, new toothbrush. Today I changed one of our ADR's (again). Yes, I'm about ready to bust.

 

[Mommy2BnB]

Coming out of lurkdom to say I'm loving your trip reports! I read the 2008 report already and have been enjoying this one, too. Can't wait to hear what happens next!

 

[pasofan]

OH! I so know exactly what you are talking about! If I were you I would already have prices for all three families at all the resorts I was interested in Our trip in 2001 was with friends, although it was fun it was also stressful! Might even be fun to stay at three different resorts so you can see what each is like and it gives you a break from one another! In 2001 my parents came with us, also. The stayed at the Hilton on Disney grounds and met us at the gate each morning! mom said it was a nice break! we did EVERYTHING with our friends. By the time we came home; we didn't speak for two weeks, not that we were mad or had a problem just needed SPACE!

But, back to how I would be three days out from the discussion (just to let you know you are not alone) I would have three folders w/all the options listed and ready for each family ! Really, I'm that bad! I would have had it done the night of the discussion (I need help!) We were suppose to go back in 2003 with the same family and another; a tragedy in one of the families stopped that trip But, we were going to rent a house w/a private pool. I had a list of 10 houses, the price of tickets, gasoline, food, and value resort prices ready by the end of two days -- told you I need help!!

Have fun planning! I always love a good plan...to change over & over & over and to tweak !!
We, too, are returning in 2010! but, we don't know when yet! But, I already have the prices of the POP and several mods for all four weeks we are interested in! (room only of course!)

Well, I'll fess up. We just talked to them 3 days ago, but DH & I discussed inviting them the day before. The next day, while at work, I modified my resort comparison spreadsheet to run the numbers for the three seasons we might stay during--only a 2 1/2 month period during the summer, but that's Disney's seasons for you. Since I wasn't sure where they might like to stay, I just covered the gamut--several deluxes, CBR and even renting DVC points! I had the prices ready in case they asked, but I didn't want to overwhelm them before they decide if they can even go.

DH also said he still wanted to do the DP cause he's able to relax a bit more with it paid for up front. He stays more in vacation mode if he's not continually being reminded how much money every thing is. That got me started on our dining list. I do love to plan Disney vacations.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Glad to see I didn't get too far behind this weekend.

Jen, I'll check out your DDs picture in a bit.

It sounds like you had a nice afternoon, Lisa. Looking forward to you next installment when you can get to it. I can't figure out how you keep filling up photobucket. I have every picture I ever posted and it says I'm at 6% or something. I guess it's when I get back that I'll suddenly exceed my space. Oh, it's bandwidth. I just got it. It's because you're so popular! The price of fame.

Hey girl!

I haven't been able to do much on my trip report. I've attempted to catch up on reading the trip reports I have subscribed to but I haven't done too well on that either.

There must be a whole lotta folks looking at my pictures. I think maybe a lot of it has to do with those I posted of the CBR on the CBR info thread and the CBR picture thread. Famous?

You should be packing about right now huh?

Coming out of lurkdom to say I'm loving your trip reports! I read the 2008 report already and have been enjoying this one, too. Can't wait to hear what happens next!

Hip Hooray! I lvoe it when I have a new poster. Everybody.........let's welcome Mommy2BnB! Glad to have you here!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Well, I'll fess up. We just talked to them 3 days ago, but DH & I discussed inviting them the day before. The next day, while at work, I modified my resort comparison spreadsheet to run the numbers for the three seasons we might stay during--only a 2 1/2 month period during the summer, but that's Disney's seasons for you. Since I wasn't sure where they might like to stay, I just covered the gamut--several deluxes, CBR and even renting DVC points! I had the prices ready in case they asked, but I didn't want to overwhelm them before they decide if they can even go.

DH also said he still wanted to do the DP cause he's able to relax a bit more with it paid for up front. He stays more in vacation mode if he's not continually being reminded how much money every thing is. That got me started on our dining list. I do love to plan Disney vacations.

It seems like I am ALWAYS running numbers.....even after I have already booked our vacation. And, even after I have ADRs booked, I am continually watching for menus changes which might necessitate a need to change the ADRs.

We're sick sick sick people.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'm about half packed. I have all the stuff for the "Disney" part of the trip packed; still haven't decided what to take to Marco Island. Went shopping today and got my hair spray (humidity and my hair do not like one another) and ponytail holders, new toothbrush. Today I changed one of our ADR's (again). Yes, I'm about ready to bust.

Well, at least you're half way done with the packing. As you can see in my pictures, being outside in the Florida weather always does a number on my hair. It does all kinds of swirly curly things.

I don't blame you for being about to bust. I would be too if I were going to Disney in just a few days.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Good morning all!

I have uploaded more pictures to a third photobucket account so, maybe, I can get another installment posted. I'll have to do a quick one because today is "church day" (that's what my kids used to call it) and I've got a wedding shower to go to . I don't know about ya'll but I don't like wedding showers. You have to try and balance your little punch cup on your hand while you eat little tiny sandwiches and pretend you are having fun. Yuck!

Now, the ones that wedding showers that I used to give were fun! We had either pounding showers......where you bring your favorite recipe and include all of the dry items used to make it....and you tell a story about you came to love the recipe. Or, I give the kind of shower where men and women come because you give a gift to the soon-to-be bride and one to the soon-to-be groom. The woman gets all the stuff to do in the inside work and the guy gets the stuff to do the outside work. (I did have to do a reverse one once.) I give those laid back....come in your jeans and t-shirt kind of showers. That's not the kind I am going to today.

Oh, and I started buying for our 2010 Disney vacation even though it's over 8 months away. Sam's had a lot of their clothes on sale. I bought John a button up shirt for just $4.81. It's looks like it will be nice and cool. They also had a lot of really cute shorts for just $4.81 but the smallest size they had was a 6 and I can't wear that. I needed either a 2 or a 4.

Okay, let me get to work on the installment. I don't have much time.

Lisa

 

[mickeystoontown]

When I left off, our vacation had been interrupted by another telephone call. One of John's customers had returned his call. You'll remember he also got a phone call earlier in the day from the guy who had installed the cabinets which led to a phone call to the customer.

The kids and I had stood around for a while and had also gone exploring in the little trading post thing. There were some really cool "green" shirts in the trading post that Lacey wanted but she couldn't make up her mind which one she wanted. She decided to wait and see which one her Dad liked before buying one.

We walked back over to John who was still on the phone. I know that I took a picture of him squatted down in World Showcase with a gorgeous backdrop and.....he was on the phone. That's one of the bad things about being self-employed and leaving someone else to do your job. John really needed to make sure that the lady was kept happy because this job was an almost $7,000.00 job.

Again, I took another picture since he was still on the phone. You could tell they were ready to move on:

Finally, John gets off the phone. The customer was perfectly happy. Let me see if I can explain this.....The guy who referred John to the lady was also doing work on the lady's house. The guy and the lady had had a mini falling out because of some work that he had subbed out. We didn't know this part until John talked to the lady. John had paid the guy and one of his crew to install the cabinets. Somehow, between the time John built the cabinets and the present time, one of the kitchen walls had been shifted around and the cabinets didn't quite fit right. (this is a remodel job) The guy was kinda-sorta blaming John for the cabinets not fitting right and acted like it was a really big deal.

Anyway, after John talked to the lady, he found out that the wall had shifted because the guy and his crew had knocked the wall out and rebuilt it but didn't put it back in the same spot. Therefore, the cabinets didn't fit. NOT John's fault and NOT a big deal. The lady was upset with the guy and his crew....not John. John told the lady that he could cut the last section of the cabinets down and that it was no big deal. Problem was, we were in Disney World and wouldn't be back for 9 days. She said that was no big deal because they had decided they were frustrated with the other guy and his crew and they were packing it up and going to their camp for a week.

To say John and I were pissed off was an understatement. But, we also knew that we needed to handle this situation delicately especially since we were over 800 miles away and we hadn't collected all of the money. John placed a call to the guy who wasn't in so he just left a very calm message saying he had talked to the customer and everything was going to be fine.

And, finally, we moved on! We went back to the trading post where John helped Lacey decide which shirt to buy. $25.00 poorer than she started out, Lacey was extremely happy that her Daddy also liked the one she liked.

We continued our walk around World Showcase and when we got to the bridge, I could hear music in China. A couple of years ago, we saw the acrobats in China so I thought maybe that's what the music was. We walked quickly over and were happy to see the acrobats in mid-show. Luckily, we were able to find a spot to watch them. We were a little behind them but we could still see.

Here are a few pictures:

Lacey had never seen the acrobats and was simply amazed at the things that they were able to do. She kept saying "that's awesome" or "that's so cool". When they were done, we waited a few minutes for the crowds to move on out.

Every year, Hunter has to buy a sword from China. We always look in China, Japan and the United Kingdom for swords but we always end up buying one in China because they are sooooo much cheaper than the other countries.

Before walking in, I took this picture:

It didnt' take Hunter long at all to find a sword he wanted. John had a lady come over and take it out of the case and Hunter immediately fell in love with it. It was shorter than the ones he already has. It had etchings on the silver sheath and a tassle on the handle. Best of all, it was only $52.00! When you guy a sword at Disney, you don't get to take it home with you right away. They have to ship it to you. The shipping for the sword was just $10.00.

While I was filling out the paperwork, Lacey and Hunter walked around and John stayed with me. He was looking at the small daggers on display and found one that was just $16.00. It was really cool. It was a bronze colored metal and curved at the tip. It had a dragon head on the handle. We asked how much it would cost to ship it and it was only an additional $2.00 so we got it too. We finished checking out and found Lacey and Hunter.

Before going to Norway, we stopped to take a few more pictures. I don't think my kids know how to take a serious picture. They are always making silly faces:

****I think I'll stop here. Sorry it's a short installment but I need to start getting ready. I'll probably be back later.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Ooh, those acrobats look amazing! Great pictures.

That stinks about the work issue but sounds like you got it all sorted out.

 

[jenseib]

It seems like I am ALWAYS running numbers.....even after I have already booked our vacation. And, even after I have ADRs booked, I am continually watching for menus changes which might necessitate a need to change the ADRs.

We're sick sick sick people.

Great update. I love the Chinese acrobats too. I think we only saw it once, but it was amazing.
What does Hunter do with his swords?

 

[jenseib]

Oh, and i do the pricing thing to alot. I haven;t for awhile and did some yesterday. I was shocked how much the price is going up for next year. I think the dining plan went up quite a bit. I thought it was like 40-42 this past March and now the site says for under $47. WOW. and the whole trip was just insanely expensive. I know we got a deal last year, but if there is no great deals this year, I know for sure we won't be going. Each year it has gone up, but each year we have added a day, but even last year 2 of our days were free. The trip alone this year would cost what last years cost along with the airfare last year. So I don't think things look good for us. I may look at cruises. Norgwegian is usually the cheapest, and if I can get DH talked into a 4 day one, we could go and stil lbe much cheaper than Disny. I would rather disney, but it may actually be nothing at this point. With his surgery and milk prices are down, I'm hearing alot of grumbling about money. We aren't in the poor house, but I sure don't want to put us there with a vacation either. LOL! OR have him at like we are because of it.

 

[mickeystoontown]

When I get home from the wedding shower, I'll respond to the posts.

In the meantime, did anybody notice the hidden Mickey in the "waiting on the pearl jewelry to be ready" installment?

 

[longing2Batdisney]

Good morning all!

I have uploaded more pictures to a third photobucket account so, maybe, I can get another installment posted. I'll have to do a quick one because today is "church day" (that's what my kids used to call it) and I've got a wedding shower to go to . I don't know about ya'll but I don't like wedding showers. You have to try and balance your little punch cup on your hand while you eat little tiny sandwiches and pretend you are having fun. Yuck!

Now, the ones that wedding showers that I used to give were fun! We had either pounding showers......where you bring your favorite recipe and include all of the dry items used to make it....and you tell a story about you came to love the recipe. Or, I give the kind of shower where men and women come because you give a gift to the soon-to-be bride and one to the soon-to-be groom. The woman gets all the stuff to do in the inside work and the guy gets the stuff to do the outside work. (I did have to do a reverse one once.) I give those laid back....come in your jeans and t-shirt kind of showers. That's not the kind I am going to today.

Oh, and I started buying for our 2010 Disney vacation even though it's over 8 months away. Sam's had a lot of their clothes on sale. I bought John a button up shirt for just $4.81. It's looks like it will be nice and cool. They also had a lot of really cute shorts for just $4.81 but the smallest size they had was a 6 and I can't wear that. I needed either a 2 or a 4.

Okay, let me get to work on the installment. I don't have much time.

Lisa

We've called those a shower and a storm!
I was going to do that for Gwendolyn & Joe if they ever get married! but, at the rate they are going they are going to have everything before it ever comes (which is a good thing) last Christmas we bought them a bunch of kitchen stuff!
I've only been to one but it was alot of fun...

 

[longing2Batdisney]

I'm so glad John was able to settle the situation with the lady customer. (When my mom and dad had the flower shop; evertime they went out of town something broke--I was always left with trying to fix something...the delivery van, the cooler, the A/C, etc.)
I love the two pics w/the lion; both poses were great!

 

[racefanof88]

Great update. I like China too. We really enjoyed it in May while doing the Kim Possible adventure.

 

[MK2010]

And my DH says I think about WDW too much

1. Is it possible to think about Disney too much?
2. You are not thinking about Disney. You are carefully planning.




Also, my son wants to know if you can post some pictures of Hunter's swords that he bought at Disney.

 

[hhockman]

I'm glad John was able to work everything out with your customer. It's so hard to have to deal with something that is someone else's fault. I'm glad you were able to take care of it and get on with your vacation.

I love the acrobats in China too, and I KNOW Will is going to love them. That just seems like something that will be one of his "things". Christian will probably like them too, actually, so I'm sure we'll be watching.

My brother used to collect swords. He bought them in Disney every year too, although I think he always got them at DTD at the shop where they have all the crystal. He might have gotten one or two in Japan. I wonder if he ever figured out China was cheaper? I don't even know where they are now, but he had a bunch. I think it's cool that Hunter collects them too.

Glad you got Photobucket figured out. I love your pictures. What did Lacey's shirt look like?

Looking forward to the next installment...and no, I still haven't started packing. Not really. I mean I've had everything we don't use in every day life together for a while now, but there's nothing in suitcases. Maybe tomorrow...hopefully.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Good morning Lisa!

I'm glad the whole issue with John's customer worked out. I hope you didn't spend too much time dwelling on it and were able to just put it behind you and enjoy your day. I hate it when work interferes with family time!

Cool acrobat pics! When we saw them in April, they were performing inside and my pictures didn't turn out so great. They really are amazing!

That's a fun tradition Hunter has with the swords. Very cool! Isaiah and Hunter would be best of friends I'm sure!

Love the silly face pics!

Hope you have a great Monday!

 

[MK2010]

Okay, quick question. How do I upload pictures to my PTR from photobucket?

 

[Angies1274]

Hi Lisa!!

Great update!! I'm glad everything worked out with John's customer. Just what you want to deal with while you're on vacation...huh??

Love the acrobat pictures in China--so cool!!! I know I keep saying it..but next time I hope to spend much more time in the WS exploring. The weather didn't cooperate last trip.

Great pictures of Hunter and Lacey!!