Resorts, Relatives & Restaurants - and a 3 day cruise!

[Mndisneygirl]

Originally Posted by trixiequilts

Like this?

Yes, exactly like that!

Originally Posted by ladybugmom

Hi Sheree!! I just came across your TR and I'm sooo excited to read it! We are planning to go next year before Christmas and I'm researching as much as I can--can't wait to read more tips/experiences from you! Did you like the week that you went? And if so, why? How were the crowds? The weather? I can't wait to hear all about your trip!!

I will tell you whatever you want to know! I would say I liked our week, but there are a few reasons I would have preferred the week before ours. Crowds were okay - more than I thought, but there was a reason for that (Pop Warner, Christmas parade tapings) however, they didn't seem to really impact the lines for rides. We had pretty good weather overall.
Stay tuned for more details. I promise I'll get to arriving at WDW in the next couple installments!

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Originally Posted by Mndisneygirl

Oh, if it isn't Mamma Snowbird!! Glad to have you - you are one of my many TR inspirations!! I have to get writing because all this stuff about the trip is swirling in my head and keeping me up at night! My DH and kids are helping me to remember all the details (my journaling was lacking, but that's a story for the TR!).

Stay tuned...

Mamma Snowbird!! Now there's something I haven't heard in awhile!

Glad you be your inspiration!

That's good that you have your kids and DH to help you with the details. I am totally on my own here!! The boys aren't too good on details. Good thing I took a million pictures to help me keep everything straight!

[Northern Disney Girl]

Originally Posted by Mndisneygirl

YAY!! Kim is here!! I know how busy it can get during school breaks. Unfortunately, I still have to work most of it, so we don't get to go visiting anyone during the week. I should have a slow day tomorrow and hopefully can post the next installment tomorrow at work. (shh) I'm looking forward to reading more of your plans too. I so wish I was going again soon (meaning during a bad cold snap here!)
You know, I love my Passat. Her name is Pearl. (she's white) We had a silver Jetta wagon before, (named Greta) which I also loved, but it was pretty cramped. Especially with a car seat in the back. Now that we only need a booster, and have more room, the Passat is awesome! Plus it's a super fun car to drive!! And, I know you'll appreciate this, we got one with heated front seats!! I am so loving that these days! (we need a Brrrr smilie!)

Pearl the Passat with seat warmers! I love going for rides in my InLaws car cause they have heated seats too! We are currently driving a red Pontiac Montana minivan! A huge upgrade from our Chev Malibu! We never thought we would be van people, but we our van!

Can't wait to hear more! I will get around to updating our PTR this afternoon after the kids are out of the house! Right now I doing about a bazillion loads of

[Monny2AE]

Yeah! Sheree started a TR!!!! I'm on board! Can't wait to hear all about the cruise!

Originally Posted by Momto2PrncChrmgs

I'm here! I'm here!
Haven't had time to read all the way thru~just when I found you, I hear my DH fighting with my kids about brushing their teeth! Is it strange that we have to physically restrain my 3yo on the ground to get his teeth brushed??
I'll catch up in the A.M.!!!

This cracked me up! You are SO not alone!

[Remmy]

Hello. I hope you don't mind me showing up fashionably late to your trip report as I saw your link from the Snowbirds 2010 thread. I am loving it so far. It sounds like an excellent trip and I cannot wait to read your next installment. I will be here waiting.
Remmy

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

Great TR so far! Love the Passat-I was lucky enough to have a (used) Silver Passat with a sun roof (ahhh...sky!! ) and butt warmers . We traded it last Dec to get my boring (used again) Chevy Equinox so we'd have something roomy to drive to the world! We had to have room for the booster, car seat and XXL double jogging stroller! We were still cramped! And, Oh, how I miss those butt warmers...
Patiently waiting for more TR...

[Mndisneygirl]

Originally Posted by Momof2Disneyboys

Mamma Snowbird!! Now there's something I haven't heard in awhile!

Glad you be your inspiration!

That's good that you have your kids and DH to help you with the details. I am totally on my own here!! The boys aren't too good on details. Good thing I took a million pictures to help me keep everything straight!

Yes, the pictures sure help me remember too!

Originally Posted by Northern Disney Girl

Pearl the Passat with seat warmers! I love going for rides in my InLaws car cause they have heated seats too! We are currently driving a red Pontiac Montana minivan! A huge upgrade from our Chev Malibu! We never thought we would be van people, but we our van!

Can't wait to hear more! I will get around to updating our PTR this afternoon after the kids are out of the house! Right now I doing about a bazillion loads of

Put away the , do your update and come read more!!

Originally Posted by Monny2AE

Yeah! Sheree started a TR!!!! I'm on board! Can't wait to hear all about the cruise!



This cracked me up! You are SO not alone!

Originally Posted by Remmy

Hello. I hope you don't mind me showing up fashionably late to your trip report as I saw your link from the Snowbirds 2010 thread. I am loving it so far. It sounds like an excellent trip and I cannot wait to read your next installment. I will be here waiting.
Remmy

Well, someone had to be the diva! LOL! Glad you could join me! It was quite a fun adventure! I'll have an update up soon.

Originally Posted by Momto2PrncChrmgs

Great TR so far! Love the Passat-I was lucky enough to have a (used) Silver Passat with a sun roof (ahhh...sky!! ) and butt warmers . We traded it last Dec to get my boring (used again) Chevy Equinox so we'd have something roomy to drive to the world! We had to have room for the booster, car seat and XXL double jogging stroller! We were still cramped! And, Oh, how I miss those butt warmers...
Patiently waiting for more TR...

It's coming! Thanks for being patient! You know I just started this yesterday, right?

[Mndisneygirl]

So, when I left off, we had decided Pearl would be our "carraige". Next we had to figure out who from the family was going when and how and with whom.
SIL Sharon - lives in MN. Problem: No room in our car.
SIL Donna and Family live in VA right next door to MIL. Could they all fit together??
SIL Debbie - easy. They live in southern FL and would drive up in their camper.

As I looked at the dates, I knew the cruise would end on a Sunday. I really didn't want the kids to miss more school and I more or less needed to be back to work on Monday. So we decided the girls and I would fly home on Sunday. Then Sharon could drive back with DH. So Sharon then booked a flight from MN to Ft. Myers to fly to Debbie's and ride up to WDW with them. Problem solved.

SIL Donna said, no problem, we can all go in our SUV. Talk about crowded. Did I mention the nephews are teenagers? Good thing they have a third row SUV!

All the in-laws were planning on arriving on Sunday 12/6. We were planning on arriving 12/5. Should we add another night on our BLT stay? Hmmm...
Well, since we only had 4 days to spend at the parks and we really wanted to see as much Christmas stuff as possible, we had decided that we probably would skip Animal Kingdom this trip. We aren't big EE fans, and we had just been in January to see the animals and the Nemo show.
As I was perusing the DIS one day at work (shh), (I think it was in August) I came across a banner ad. It said, take 30% off deluxe resorts. Yes, my curiosity was piqued. I clicked on it. It included our dates. You could do room only. No minimum stay. Do you see where I'm going with this?



Yup, I called. I booked a one night stay at ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE with a savanna view and bunk beds!!! Then I called my DH and told him! hee hee
I figured this way we could still see the animals and get the feeling we were there at AK. Plus it was a DELUXE!! I would love to stay at all of them someday! We had stayed at the Contemporary garden wing once when Shades of Green was under construction (this was where BLT is now), but never any other deluxes. I decided not to tell the kids so I could have a little surprise for them. There is no way I can keep a big secret like a whole trip (I know so many of you have, but not me!). This will be our first night, just the four of us and we would explore the resort and see the animals! From Charleston Princess' report from last summer, I knew it was an amazing place!

When I booked this trip, it was still during the time you only could make ADRs 90 days out. So in August, I set about trying to figure out where we'd eat. We were doing DDP. Well 10 of us were. Debbie and Steve had APs, so they weren't on a package. Did we all want to eat together? Oh boy, this would be a challenge.
I called and set us up as a Grand Gathering. They told me that there was a special number to call for parties of 10 or more for ADRs, warned me that with a large group, we may not all be seated together, and wished me a magical day.

Next up: My favorite thing - reading menus! Where should we eat??? Did I ask anyone else's opinions?? How would I schedule our days? Thank goodness we have park hoppers! By the way, when will I book our flight home? Watching for good fares is a PITA (Pain in the A**)

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I didn't realize that you were going to AKL for one night. That is awesome!

If I had to skip one park, it would be AK too. I know lots of people LOVE it, but it's just not my thing I guess.

You are so right, getting airfare is a huge PITA!!! I am dreading it already for the next trip.

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Hi! I just came over from my report. I've got to go back and read your report though. Can't wait. I'd love to take a cruise someday!

[Lady Lallie]

Oooh, a night at AKL! That is so awesome.

[Mndisneygirl]

You know, it dawned on me that I should tell you a little about my family. Usually this is done at the beginning of a TR, but I thought it might scare you off! JK! No, really I feel like many of you already know me!

Me - Sheree - I'm just a tad over 40 (gulp) and was not lucky enough to go to WDW until after I was married. At 30 years old, my DH introduced me to what would become an obsession!! He took me to WDW with a bunch of his family in June 1999. I love Mickey, particularly when he is the sorcerer's apprentice! By day, I'm an attorney four days a week and I work as a judicial law clerk for a judge. I do legal research and writing and spend lots of time in court with her. (sometimes I'm at a computer and can DIS!) I enjoy scrapbooking, reading, hockey and baseball (watching) and in a former life was a figure skater. I grew up in Minnesota, went to college in Massachusetts and have been to Disneyland twice as a kid. I now have 7 trips to WDW under my belt.

DH - my enabler! Dave is 5 years older than me (I like to remind him!) He is my hard worker - ever since I've known him he's had two jobs. His day job is as a letter carrier ("mailman" to most of us). He also works evenings and weekends selling merchandise, t-shirts and jerseys at Minnesota Vikings games and at the Xcel arena for concerts. He has a love of football, cars, things you can buy at Best Buy, his iPhone and of course, Disney!!
He grew up mostly in VA and FL, but did move quite a bit over the years. He is the BEST husband and daddy!!

DD8 - Sarah - my smarty pants 3rd grader!! She's 8 going on 14!! Sometimes I call her my mini-me. She looks exactly like I did as a child. Smart as a whip, loves American Girl stuff, Tinkerbell, animals and books. I have trained her well in loving Disney! She is a gymnast and dancer too. Sometimes I think she's a little too sassy, but she's really a sweet, sensitive girl. She has her drama queen moments and is quite the extremist!

DD6 - Paige - in 1st grade and losing teeth all the time! She had the typical first grade school picture missing her two top teeth! She has been known to be shy, but is really quite feisty! No one will push her around - she'll punch and kick her way out of anything! When she's a lot older, I'm sure that will be a good thing! She has just developed a love of reading this year - it's so exciting. Her favorite princess has always been Belle (how appropriate). We sometimes call her Lu or Lulu belle (her middle name is Lucine and we've called her Paigey-Lu). She is in dance (which she loves since she was three) and gymnastics too.

Both of my girls have developed a talent for finding hidden Mickeys - guess we've trained them well! This trip was their 5th trip to WDW!! Are they lucky/spoiled or what???

Last June they were flower girls in our nephew's wedding. They got their hair done up and wore "princess" gowns. I'm pretty sure they thought they became princesses that day.


The remaining member of our family is Cody. He is a three year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. We surprised the girls with him just before Christmas 2006. I'll have to scrounge up a good picture of him when I get home. When we go to WDW, he goes to the Grandma and Papa hotel! He generally thinks he owns the house, sleeps on all the couches and beds whenever he pleases. Because he's so cute, he's gotten away with a few things. It might have saved his hide one or two times!

Well, that's us.

[Northern Disney Girl]

Originally Posted by Mndisneygirl

Next up: My favorite thing - reading menus! Where should we eat??? Did I ask anyone else's opinions?? How would I schedule our days? Thank goodness we have park hoppers! By the way, when will I book our flight home? Watching for good fares is a PITA (Pain in the A**)

*P.I.T.A.* - Yes, it is, but isn't it addictive? I know that I am NOT going anywhere too soon after this trip BUT, I just can't help myself, gotta watch those flights!

Originally Posted by Mndisneygirl

DD8 - Sarah - She has her drama queen moments and is quite the extremist!

DD6 - Paige - No one will push her around - she'll punch and kick her way out of anything! When she's a lot older, I'm sure that will be a good thing! She has just developed a love of reading this year - it's so exciting.

Both of my girls have developed a talent for finding hidden Mickeys - guess we've trained them well! This trip was their 5th trip to WDW!! Are they lucky/spoiled or what???


Well, that's us.

Your girls sound SO MUCH like mine! Same ages, same grades, same stages of life, same personalities! Em and Nat are ALSO very good at finding hidden Mickey's!

Very nice to *meet* you all!

[ladybugmom]

Originally Posted by Mndisneygirl

I will tell you whatever you want to know! I would say I liked our week, but there are a few reasons I would have preferred the week before ours. Crowds were okay - more than I thought, but there was a reason for that (Pop Warner, Christmas parade tapings) however, they didn't seem to really impact the lines for rides. We had pretty good weather overall.
Stay tuned for more details. I promise I'll get to arriving at WDW in the next couple installments!

Thank you so much!! I'm sure I will have a lot of questions as your TR progresses!! Thanks for the info on the crowds/dates!!

Love your updates!! I have 2 girls as well (5 & 2). My 5 year old (Ally) is really into American Girl and Tinkerbell, too!!

Can't wait to read more!

[wigdoutdismom]

Loved meeting you all! Your girls sound so darn cute! I'll tell you that husband of yours is a keeper too!
You can't beat a guy that loves Disney!