Good snowy morning, everyone! Today seemed like the PERFECT day to get my new PTR going, since it says "Spring Break"... and I'm looking out the window at snow, wind, ice, and a full driveway that needs to be shoveled!
Look at my over-acheiving neighbor. He has been shoveling since 7am. Silly man!
Yes, it looks inviting, doesn't it? But my robe is fuzzy, my coffee is warm, and the DIS is demanding my attention!
Welcome, everyone, to my official RETURN of the BAND GEEKS Pre Trip Report! If you've been with me before, feel free to check in and say HI, but you probably don't need to read much of this first post, because you already know all of us!
If you're new, HOORAY!!! So glad you found me! If you have nothing else to do (maybe because you're under 24 inches of snow somewhere out east), you can click on the underlined dates in my signature, and they will bring you to my old trip reports! Most of them have convenient links on the very first thread, so you won't have to spend a lot of time scrolling! Cool, eh?
So LET's GET THIS GOING!!!!
Part I: Introductions
Our Family (Band Geeks 1) We live in Avon, IN, which is about 5 miles West of Indianapolis.
GO COLTS!!
me (Susie): I am 36 years old. I am a 4th grade teacher. I used to perform and teach color guard. I am now a community theater addict. Just got cast in Oliver! at a local theater.
Favorite ride: Expedition Everest
Favorite restaurant: 50s PTC
Favorite character: Ariel
Favorite movie: The Little Mermaid/ Toy Story 'trilogy'!
Tonga Toast... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
DH (Matt): He is 37 years old. He is an associate band director at Avon High School (for those of you in the band world, that's pretty sweet!). He is also in charge of the brass line for the Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps (and for those of you in the Drum Corps world, that is also pretty sweet!). The man is more addicted to DisneyWORLD than anyone I know! He convinced me to buy into DVC a few years ago, and it was the best thing our family EVER did! (he also convinced me to get an iPhone.. which was another fabulous idea.. but that's for another post, right?!)
Favorite ride: Soarin'
Favorite restaurant: O'Hana or California Grill
Favorite character: Mickey, the mouse himself!
Favorite movie: Up
He also has the most sarcastic sense of humor EVER. This is the look I get when I try to take pictures of his food for the DIS!
Just so you can see we have normal smiles and we do enjoy each other!
DS (Tyson): Tyson is 9 and is truly a budding addict. We have absolutely brainwashed this kid into thinking the world revolves around the Epcot ball! He is a video game lover (yes... we limit his time... calm down!), he has been taking piano lessons for a year, and is actually getting decent!, he is also a huge Yankee fan (thanks, again, to parental brainwashing) and enjoys following sports. Not playing sports, following them. Let's face it, he is doomed to band geekness like his parents! Oh, he also got cast in Oliver! as one of the orphans and a member of Fagin's gang. We will get to perform together!
Favorite ride: Mission:Space
Favorite restaurant: O'Hana
Favorite character: Mickey
Favorite movie: WallE
This was from summer 08, but Ty wanted the picture of him and WallE since that's his favorite movie, duh!
DD (Shaelyn): Shae will be 4 on this trip (her birthday is Valentine's Day
) She is our little red-headed GIRLY GIRL!! She is ALL about princesses and fairies. In my opinion, she is RIPE for this trip. She LOVES meeting all the characters, and she LOVES sitting through shows, parades, performances of all kinds. She is taking dance class, and, if I'd let her, she'd live in her costumes and makeup!! She is also a FABULOUS singer and I'm hoping she will blossom into a true band/ music geek like the rest of us!
Favorite ride: It's a Small World
Favorite restaurant: Cinderella's Royal Table
Favorite character: Cinderella
Favorite movie: The Little Mermaid
Don't you just want to curtsey and say, "Yes, your majesty"?
One family picture so you can see us all together!
Their Family (Band Geeks 2)
Last year, we took a spring break trip with some band-lovin' friends of ours. They actually live right around the corner from us, and Dean and Matt teach together at Avon. As soon as we got home last year, we knew we had to do it again! I don't have a lot of pictures of them, but here are their introductions:
Dean Orchestra diva extraordinaire! Started the program from scratch at Avon. He also teaches the marching band with Matt and he arranges for, and works with Drum Corps during the summer as well. UBER band geek!! (and I mean that with the utmost respect!!) Dean is HILARIOUS!!! You cannot be in a room with this man for longer than 10 minutes without laughing hysterically. He is completely in love with Disney. Completely. When he found out I made dining reservations online, he was appalled. He couldn't believe I didn't want to call and speak with a magical Cast Member!
Adrianna Dean's wonderful wife! She has to put up with all of his shenanigans! She's super friendly and a big lover of gardening. This will be the 2nd time we are going during flower and garden time at Epcot. Hopefully, she'll be able to get more pictures during this trip than last time!
Last year, as we were pulling away from our homes to make the drive to FL, she handed us two full CDs of Disney music! It was such a nice treat to have a potpourri of tunes to keep us occupied for a few hours!
Abby Abby is 11 or maybe she'll be 12 by the time we go. She, like our children, is the product of band geekiness!! She and Tyson get along SO incredibly well, because they share the same sense of humor. We are very excited that the two of them will have each other again on this trip. It makes for GREAT pool-dates, too!
Our Band Geek friends listening to instructions at their very first O'Hana experience
Tyson and Abby
So, now that you know us so well
, you can check in, subscribe, say howdy, whatever you like. Then, to keep you occupied, click on the 2009BCV link in my signature to read all about our adventures last year! Soon, I'll be back with some details about the trip!
ENJOY!! And thanks for reading!!!
My husband was (and in MY opinion still is), an awesome snare drum player. He is already grooming two more drummers at our house, my son and daughter:
so of course had to read more about you 
) and we absolutely adore VoL, catch every set we can when we go to EPCOT. When I was a little girl, I always said, I want to be one of the VoL 
We do LOVE to watch the JAMMitors at Epcot on our trips! I think he secretly wants to be a member!!
Can't wait to share more with you!
Thanks for speaking out.. and welcome to my next PTR!! How awesome that your son is a budding pianist.. at SEVEN!!
That is GREAT! Tyson has been plunking away for about a year, and is getting better, but I don't think he's got any inherited talents!
