The Family, Friends, Fun, Food, Five pounds (well 7 really) and....*UPDATED 12/31*

[DisneyDaddy-O]

UPDATE: This thread is now a TR, please move on to post # 2 for links to updates for the TR if you would like to skip the PTR stuff, go right ahead, for those who have been following along from the begining it's finally time for the show. Please keep your hands, feet and legs in the car at all times, please sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

....and for my Dis Dads friends out there.......por favor mantengase alejado de las puertas

I have been toying with the idea of writing a TR for our upcoming trip to Disneyworld, and figured that if I was writing a TR it may as well be a PTR as well. Let me start by saying that this is my first attempt at writing a TR so please be kind. When I first found the Dis, I thought it was a cool place to find out "stuff" about Disney, now I have come to discover that there is a entirely different side to this site, aside from Disney, it is place to hang out a chat and interact with a ton of people and have some fun. I discovered a thread call the Dis Dads Club, it is open to all Dads that love all things Disney, a place where people don't look at you like you have three heads when you say you are going to Disneyworld again.... This group of guys have quickly become a group of friends. All are welcome, so maybe we will see you there. To all the Dads on the Dis Dad’s thread, I will try to keep the updates coming, but I can’t guarantee anything with the holidays and such coming up. Notice that I didn’t single any individuals out here at all in respects to updates. just saying……

Let me begin with introductions….. (I will add pictures as I go along with the TR)

Me – Nick (DisneyDaddy-O)
DW – Carrie (DisneyMommy-O)
DS1 – Jonathan (10) great now he’s an adult in Disneys eyes (that means I get to pay more)
DS2 – Matthew (7) will be 8 by the time we travel (Dec 27th for those of you wondering)

I guess with this I should start with a little back info on our family and where the idea of this particular trip came from.

My wife and I both love Disneyworld , this can make for some very dangerous situations when it comes to planning trips. Neither one of us really wants to go anywhere else right now and Disney seems to fit very nicely with our family. Both our kids have become Disney freaks, maybe it has something to do with the Disney nursery, Winnie the pooh border and colours on the wall and mobile over the crib, all the Disney plushes a child could have and the Disney movie collection, just to name a few.
You will looove Disney………

Carrie and I went on our honeymoon to Disney and stayed at the CBR, it was very nice as much as I remember and we had a great time. We were there at the time that Disney decided that it would be cool to dress the castle up like a cake. To me looking back at it, it looked like a giant bottle of Pepto Bismol, not very attractive and somewhat disappointing. (just not very magical) I think we spent most of our time in EPCOT, might have to do something with the margaritas that Carrie insisted I drink.

We came back feeling that we had a fantastic time but I don't remember actually having the Disneyworld travel bug.....yet.

I guess as they say, the rest is history and this brings us to the present time of Disney trips.

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

Here is a list of links for updates.

The PTR Updates

Introductions.
The reason we love Disney!
The When, Where and How.
The Itinerary
The Surprise

TR Updates

The Pre-Show
[URL="http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=35296296&postcount=77"]Day 1 Part I,
Con't
Con't
[/URL]Day 1 Part II
con't
Day 2,
Day 2 Part II
Day 3 Part I
Day 3 Part II

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Weee! Something else to waste time a work on!

I'm along for the ride!

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

Weee! Something else to waste time a work on!

I'm along for the ride!

First to the party, you get a prize.

A Canadian beer!!! Hope you can handle it.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

First to the party, you get a prize.

A Canadian beer!!! Hope you can handle it.

Our sales rep at Insight (computer & IT equipment) used to be based in Montreal. We use to tease him about drinking Molson at work. His quote was "we don't drink that domestic p**s up here. Thats for exporting to you Americans!"

 

[that's nice]

Did someone say they were giving out free Molsons here?

I had my share of Molson Canadian when I went snowboarding at Mt. Tremblant. It was always fun waking up with a wicked hangover then hitting the slopes at 9am. It could of been all the shots though.

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

Our sales rep at Insight (computer & IT equipment) used to be based in Montreal. We use to tease him about drinking Molson at work. His quote was "we don't drink that domestic p**s up here. Thats for exporting to you Americans!"

Did someone say they were giving out free Molsons here?

I had my share of Molson Canadian when I went snowboarding at Mt. Tremblant. It was always fun waking up with a wicked hangover then hitting the slopes at 9am. It could of been all the shots though.

Sorry, only to the first to arrive.

I believe I had the same shots you had, everytime I go to Montreal I end up waking up pretty rough. We had some shots there once and they were blue, they called them Windex.

It sounded like a good idea at the time.

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

The reason we love Disney!

About five years ago now we were planning a trip with some close friends, the trip would have been for three families of 4, we were the only ones with boys the other two families had 2 girls each. It was going to be a blast, then tragedy struck and my best friends’ wife was in a car accident with her youngest daughter and she was rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately she didn’t make it. Her daughter was fine.
This was one of those times in life that everything changed. We decided shortly after this, that we would still go. We went with the other couple that was having problems of there own and they ended up divorcing shortly after our trip that year. Carrie and I talked about all the craziness that was going on around us and decided that we would like to take a trip every year, God willing. All of us are very busy, but we need to set time apart for just us. Up until this point we had been fortunate enough to be able to do this. On that trip we were swept up by the magic, all of us had the best time ever. This was the start of a relationship with Disney that has grown into an obsession.

Our kids are so hooked that they talk about it all the time, school projects come home and Disney is the focus of their stories. I think as a Dad, this is a place that I can take my family and everyone can enjoy themselves and we can spend some time away from everyday life. Just working on spending time with each other.

Now that everyone knows why we are going, let the planning begin!!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

The reasons we love Disney!

About five years ago now we were planning a trip with some close friends, the trip would have been for three families of 4, we were the only ones with boys the other two families had 2 girls each. It was going to be a blast, then tragedy struck and my best friends’ wife was in a car accident with her youngest daughter and she was rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately she didn’t make it. Her daughter was fine.
This was one of those times in life that everything changed. We decided shortly after this, that we would still go. We went with the other couple that was having problems of there own and they ended up divorcing shortly after our trip that year. Carrie and I talked about all the craziness that was going on around us and decided that we would like to take a trip every year, God willing. All of us are very busy, but we need to set time apart for just us. Up until this point we had been fortunate enough to be able to do this. On that trip we were swept up by the magic, all of us had the best time ever. This was the start of a relationship with Disney that has grown into an obsession.

Our kids are so hooked that they talk about it all the time, school projects come home and Disney is the focus of their stories. I think as a Dad, this is a place that I can take my family and everyone can enjoy themselves and we can spend some time away from everyday life. Just working on spending time with each other.

Now that everyone knows why we are going, let the planning begin!!

There's a study that's shown kids' fondest memories of their childhood are always the things they did together as a family--usually trips they took. You may be onto something here...

Anyway, I'm in! What's the third man in get? A game misconduct?

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

There's a study that's shown kids' fondest memories of their childhood are always the things they did together as a family--usually trips they took. You may be onto something here...

This has become a great tradition of family time, we try to do small things during the year as well, but this is the one we all enjoy the most. Time is the greatest gift we can give our kids.

Just last night for game night we had a great round of Texas hold em (chips and all), you gotta teach them the essentials in life. You know...hockey, fishing and poker.

Anyway, I'm in! What's the third man in get? A game misconduct?

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

Okay, so you all know the Who (so far) and the why. So lets get to the When, Where and How.

How: We are going to fly out of Toronto. We like to stay at a hotel the night before, because we are a 1-1/2 drive from the airport. We love to fly out early and get to Orlando before lunch, so this means wake up at 3:00 am. When we stay at an airport hotel, the price also includes the price to park the car for the duration of our trip. The one we stay at has a poola nd waterslide that we enjoy before bed the night before.

When: We have booked our flights for Jan 22-31st. (confirmed) That is a 9 night stay, our longest ever.

Who: I’ve eluded to the fact that we may not be alone on this trip and that is true, my cousin his wife and almost two year girl will be joining us. (a girl, wow, I wonder what that is going to be like) (this is the frist time I used this smillie)

Where: So far our plans are to book a 9 night stay at POR, we have stayed there before and absolutely love this resort. It totally fits our personalities and really feels like home. If you haven’t stayed at POR before, my terrible explanation of what the resort is like will never do it justice. So here is a link to a thread here on the Dis that explains everything that is POR. This is our favorite resort that we have stayed at.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1920531

As you can all tell, we like to do things at the last minute. We have a lot of tentative plans, but usually wait until we are within 2 months of our trip before booking. We travel in Jan, so it hasn’t been an issue as of yet. Somebody knock on wood for me!

As for ADR’s, none made yet. We would like to do Hoop Dee Doo Revue, Whispering Cayon, Chef Mickeys and we really enjoy Mama Melrose over in DHS. We are not going to be on the DP this time. We felt it was too much of a burden the last time. Not to say we did not enjoy it but you had to be thinking about your meals a little too much for my liking. I am a foodie, but this, even for me was a little too much. We like to cruise around and enjoy the parks, even though we find ourselves running around a lot of the time. I have to tell myself to slow down a little more this time.

Oh BTW, this trip is a SURPRISE for our kids. We told them that this year Jan was out of the question. Money was a little tight and we just did a bunch of renos (we put in a new kitchen. that was a fun 2 weeks with no kitchen sink) on our house so maybe in October, is the story we told them. If truth be told I was kind of trying to get us to wait until October so we can experience something a little different (MNSSHP and F&W) but having 4 Disney freaks in one family makes putting off a trip really hard. Carrie thinks that getting AP’s and going back in October and planning a Jan trip in 2011 is the answer. Three trips within one year, someone has to have some sense…….right? Getting 3 trips out of AP’s does make it worth it……forget I said that Carrie. Anyway…we are going to surprise the kids on Christmas morning. I’m still trying to figure out how.

Sorry, I should have warned you all that I can be a little long winded sometimes……

 

[trennr]

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

Welcome, enjoy your popcorn. We will be serving more snacks soon.

Like "poutine"

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Welcome, enjoy your popcorn. We will be serving more snacks soon.

Like "poutine"

I admit it - I had to Google "poutine". My first reaction was probably unprintable in this forum. But then I took a closer look and thought, "yeah, I'd probably eat that."

 

[itJeff]

Sub'd.

Oh... I like cheese fries, but that's just wrong.

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

Sub'd.

Oh... I like cheese fries, but that's just wrong.

If fries with cheese and gravy on them is just wrong, then I don't want to be right.

Welcome aboard!

 

[itJeff]

If fries with cheese and gravy on them is just wrong, then I don't want to be right.

Welcome aboard!

Cheese is good. Curds is a whole 'nother ball game.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Cheese is good. Curds is a whole 'nother ball game.

Curds are like a little bit of sqeaky heaven right in your mouth.
Wisconsin born, Wisconsin raised.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

If fries with cheese and gravy on them is just wrong, then I don't want to be right.

Welcome aboard!

Sounds like it would go well with New Jersey's own Fat Romano sandwich.
(Philly cheesesteak piled with eggs, pork roll, and french fries)

Short of eating a tub of pure lard, that would get the cholesterol spiking.

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

Cheese is good. Curds is a whole 'nother ball game.

Curds are like a little bit of sqeaky heaven right in your mouth.
Wisconsin born, Wisconsin raised.

I'm going to have to agree with the guy from Wisconsin, he would know best. Cheese curds are good.

Sounds like it would go well with New Jersey's own Fat Romano sandwich.
(Philly cheesesteak piled with eggs, pork roll, and french fries)

Short of eating a tub of pure lard, that would get the cholesterol spiking.

I'm okay with the whole thing except the eggs, that kinda throws me a bit.

I can't say I probably woudn't just pick them off.