amazingact21
Upendi
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2010
Well, I had made a promise to myself that I wouldn't begin this until my current TR was completed, but I just couldn't take it any longer. I had to organize my plans somehow and keep my excitement from pouring over within my house.
Let me step back for a second and re-group my thoughts. That last paragraph sounded like a bit much.
*Ahem*
I'm a fan of the straightforward and direct approach, so let's get all the facts out of the way.
This whole PTR is for my trip to WDW in May 2012. (May 4-11, to be exact.) The vacation came about after my DH's and I's visit last May, when we fell in love with our dates.
Unlike last May, though, this trip is going to be something new and different for me. Meaning, I'm going to be dealing with a lot of firsts, leading to new potential problems and/or experiences.
Ahhhh, but once again, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start off by introducing the cast.
First off, there's me:
I'm Alicia, a 21 year old Disney fanatic. I'm the one who plans trips down to the minute and who has learned over the years that even the best laid plans can have their faults. In addition to loving all things Disney, I am a bibliophile and a scrapbooker and loves almost every kind of animal.
And, in addition to all that-I am a newlywed!
(This was taken at my parent's house on Thanksgiving. Notice my fluff-ball of a dog in the background.)
Anyone who has read my past TRs knows that I've only been married about 4 months, but so far it has been a wonderful ride.
Not only is he a great man, but my husband is also a Disney lover.
(The picture is from our honeymoon cruise this past October.)
Alex is 23 and works in the Air Force. I took him to Disney in December 2010 and, not knowing this was even possible, he's become a bigger fan of it than me! One of his favorite things to do at the park is pin and vinylmation trade, so I'm sure this PTR will discuss that at some point.
DH is such a big kid at heart, and he's my partner in crime on Disney trips. Since entering my adult years, I've only ever traveled there with him, so it's become almost "our place."
That's all going to change on this trip, though.
This time around, my mother, Zelda, will be joining us.
My mom is a 40-something year old (I won't put her age in case she doesn't want it known, but I will say she's old enough to have a 25 year old son.
) mom of 3. She's held various jobs throughout her life, librarian, fitness instructor, but above all she's a mom. And I couldn't have asked for a better one.
Her and I are best friends, and each year only brings us closer to one another. Growing up, I was one of those rare teenagers who didn't mind hanging out with my mom. We went and saw movies, shopped for clothes, even hit up the grocery stores together. And now, as an adult, we talk all the time and spend as much time together as our schedules will allow.
(These photos are from our trip to Key West, back in 2009.)
Now that you know who all is going on this trip...it's time to find out about the why.
There's 3 main reasons why this trip is happening.
Number 1: Alex and I love WDW in early May. We felt like we had part of the parks entirely to ourselves, and the weather was just warm enough for us to feel like it was a "summer vacation."
Number 2: Probably the most important of the reasons, and the cause for my title.We're competing in the Expedition Everest 5K Challenge!!! Alex and I participated in this event last year and had such a good time, we wanted to do it again. We signed up as a team this past December and my mother signed up as a single runner, and now we're all in full training mode, readying ourselves to face the yeti again.
And of the 3 of us...Alex is the only competent runner. I'm partaking in the Couch to 5K challenge and am working myself up to hopefully beating my 5K time from last year (36:39). The two of us have become addicted to runDisney, and we're hoping one day to compete in the Coast to Coast Challenge.
Number 3: My mom and I wanted some mother/daughter time. You see, for the past 8+ years, my mom used to go on an annual trip with her two sisters. (It's deemed "Sister Trip.") Over the years, my female cousin, whos about 5 years older than me started going, and in 2009 I joined the club. It's been 5 of us girls on my mother's side just taking a week to breakaway and spend time together, since we all live so far apart.
Well, this past summer, my uncle had a heart attack and I got married, so the trip had to be put on hold. Then, my cousin had her daughter, Laney (who just so happens to be the cutest baby on the planet.)
With a newborn in the mix, we all realized that another Sister trip would be years away. All this was floating around while my mom and I were planning the wedding, and we realized around late July/early August, that we wouldn't be seeing each other as much after I got married.
So, we agreed that the two of us should take a vacation together, making up for the absence of a Sister Trip, and to reward ourselves for putting in so much time and effort into the wedding.
After talking and planning and figuring budgets out, we decided to make my May trip into one big, full-blown, blowout trip.
Here's the rundown of our tentative plan:
May 4th-7th: We all arrive at WDW (albeit in separate ways, more on that later) and spend 3 great days together. On the night of the 7th, Alex will leave and go to his parent's house about 45 minutes away.
Then: May 8th-11th my mom and I will experience Walt Disney World together.
I'm looking forward to sharing all that I know about WDW with my mom. She's just as big a fan of the place as I am, but she's never really gotten to have the full Disney experience.
She took all of us kids back in 1998, but her and my dad were on a strict budget and so we stayed off-site and brought food with us. It was a great time, but I don't remember much about it.
Then from 2002-2006, she took us on a couple day trips to the park (one time we went to DHS as part of a Sister Trip) but those were filled with summer crowds and late night drives home.
Her and I did go once, back in 2004, to Epcot during the holidays and we had such a wonderful time. We listened to the storytellers, rode Test Track, ate at Tutto (spelling?!) Italia, and made some nice memories. So we are very much looking forward to spending more time together at WDW. Plus, my mom has been so busy with her everyday life, I feel like she deserves a vacation where she doesn't have to worry about anything while there. I want her to relax, act like a kid, and forget about all her worries for a week.
Wow...I did not mean for that introduction to be so long. I apologize profusely for the rambling and over-explanations of every detail.
In my next update, I'll talk a little bit more about where we're staying, the dates, and the food we hope to eat while there.
Let me step back for a second and re-group my thoughts. That last paragraph sounded like a bit much.
*Ahem*
I'm a fan of the straightforward and direct approach, so let's get all the facts out of the way.
This whole PTR is for my trip to WDW in May 2012. (May 4-11, to be exact.) The vacation came about after my DH's and I's visit last May, when we fell in love with our dates.
Unlike last May, though, this trip is going to be something new and different for me. Meaning, I'm going to be dealing with a lot of firsts, leading to new potential problems and/or experiences.
Ahhhh, but once again, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start off by introducing the cast.
First off, there's me:
I'm Alicia, a 21 year old Disney fanatic. I'm the one who plans trips down to the minute and who has learned over the years that even the best laid plans can have their faults. In addition to loving all things Disney, I am a bibliophile and a scrapbooker and loves almost every kind of animal.
And, in addition to all that-I am a newlywed!
(This was taken at my parent's house on Thanksgiving. Notice my fluff-ball of a dog in the background.)
Anyone who has read my past TRs knows that I've only been married about 4 months, but so far it has been a wonderful ride.
Not only is he a great man, but my husband is also a Disney lover.
(The picture is from our honeymoon cruise this past October.)
Alex is 23 and works in the Air Force. I took him to Disney in December 2010 and, not knowing this was even possible, he's become a bigger fan of it than me! One of his favorite things to do at the park is pin and vinylmation trade, so I'm sure this PTR will discuss that at some point.
DH is such a big kid at heart, and he's my partner in crime on Disney trips. Since entering my adult years, I've only ever traveled there with him, so it's become almost "our place."
That's all going to change on this trip, though.
This time around, my mother, Zelda, will be joining us.
My mom is a 40-something year old (I won't put her age in case she doesn't want it known, but I will say she's old enough to have a 25 year old son.
) mom of 3. She's held various jobs throughout her life, librarian, fitness instructor, but above all she's a mom. And I couldn't have asked for a better one.Her and I are best friends, and each year only brings us closer to one another. Growing up, I was one of those rare teenagers who didn't mind hanging out with my mom. We went and saw movies, shopped for clothes, even hit up the grocery stores together. And now, as an adult, we talk all the time and spend as much time together as our schedules will allow.
(These photos are from our trip to Key West, back in 2009.)
Now that you know who all is going on this trip...it's time to find out about the why.
There's 3 main reasons why this trip is happening.
Number 1: Alex and I love WDW in early May. We felt like we had part of the parks entirely to ourselves, and the weather was just warm enough for us to feel like it was a "summer vacation."
Number 2: Probably the most important of the reasons, and the cause for my title.We're competing in the Expedition Everest 5K Challenge!!! Alex and I participated in this event last year and had such a good time, we wanted to do it again. We signed up as a team this past December and my mother signed up as a single runner, and now we're all in full training mode, readying ourselves to face the yeti again.
And of the 3 of us...Alex is the only competent runner. I'm partaking in the Couch to 5K challenge and am working myself up to hopefully beating my 5K time from last year (36:39). The two of us have become addicted to runDisney, and we're hoping one day to compete in the Coast to Coast Challenge.
Number 3: My mom and I wanted some mother/daughter time. You see, for the past 8+ years, my mom used to go on an annual trip with her two sisters. (It's deemed "Sister Trip.") Over the years, my female cousin, whos about 5 years older than me started going, and in 2009 I joined the club. It's been 5 of us girls on my mother's side just taking a week to breakaway and spend time together, since we all live so far apart.
Well, this past summer, my uncle had a heart attack and I got married, so the trip had to be put on hold. Then, my cousin had her daughter, Laney (who just so happens to be the cutest baby on the planet.)
With a newborn in the mix, we all realized that another Sister trip would be years away. All this was floating around while my mom and I were planning the wedding, and we realized around late July/early August, that we wouldn't be seeing each other as much after I got married.
So, we agreed that the two of us should take a vacation together, making up for the absence of a Sister Trip, and to reward ourselves for putting in so much time and effort into the wedding.
After talking and planning and figuring budgets out, we decided to make my May trip into one big, full-blown, blowout trip.
Here's the rundown of our tentative plan:
May 4th-7th: We all arrive at WDW (albeit in separate ways, more on that later) and spend 3 great days together. On the night of the 7th, Alex will leave and go to his parent's house about 45 minutes away.
Then: May 8th-11th my mom and I will experience Walt Disney World together.
I'm looking forward to sharing all that I know about WDW with my mom. She's just as big a fan of the place as I am, but she's never really gotten to have the full Disney experience.
She took all of us kids back in 1998, but her and my dad were on a strict budget and so we stayed off-site and brought food with us. It was a great time, but I don't remember much about it.
Then from 2002-2006, she took us on a couple day trips to the park (one time we went to DHS as part of a Sister Trip) but those were filled with summer crowds and late night drives home.
Her and I did go once, back in 2004, to Epcot during the holidays and we had such a wonderful time. We listened to the storytellers, rode Test Track, ate at Tutto (spelling?!) Italia, and made some nice memories. So we are very much looking forward to spending more time together at WDW. Plus, my mom has been so busy with her everyday life, I feel like she deserves a vacation where she doesn't have to worry about anything while there. I want her to relax, act like a kid, and forget about all her worries for a week.
Wow...I did not mean for that introduction to be so long. I apologize profusely for the rambling and over-explanations of every detail.
In my next update, I'll talk a little bit more about where we're staying, the dates, and the food we hope to eat while there.
Last edited:
love
the parking at Sports. We always found a spot in the first row for our car, and our building was right next to the lot. Im taking a wild guess and saying that the military rooms remain the same each year, and that well get, if not the same, a similar building this go around. Call me lazy, but after spending the morning at the parks strolling around, I cherished the short walk from our car to our room upon our return to Sports. 
Everything I click on takes a good solid minute to respond (or several minutes like this post now took 3). I'm not sure what is up with that but when I pop over to another website or my Tour Guide Mike message boards it's all instant so I'm wondreing what's going on there? 
Uhhhh
.the things Disney does to me
. Anywho, on to my update:
With great power comes great responsibility, and I wont lie, a huge weight has been lifted off my back now that this part of the planning is over. 
But I'm sure I'll love it and have a wonderful time. 
