Childfree (by choice) Disney Lovers!

[maddhatir]

Originally Posted by Alesia

We had a lot of turbulence on that flight. I really wanted to turn around and tell that little girl that the turbulence was God's punishment for her whining

O-M-G Alesia that would have been HILARIOUS!!!! I love it!

Originally Posted by zima-cheryl

So totally unrelated to anything on the last 10 pages -- who plans to see "Alice in Wonderland" opening weekend?

And is anyone else already disapointed that it is PG? I'm just afraid it will be like "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory" so much potential but a big let down in the end.

Cheryl- I am hoping to see Alice, but DH is freaky about the 3D! I might have to see it alone.

You know, if they just removed all of the stupid, long drawn out Oompa Loompa crap from Charlie- it would be kind of funny. I love how JD handles the kids

[calypso726]

Originally Posted by HockeyKat

I am going to add in a vote against V&A. I thought it was very good, don't get me wrong, but just a little above my price range for what you get.

Hi Calypso!!


T-2 days until Disney!

HockeyKat!

I won't disagree on the pricey-ness of it. I'd say the cost is more for the experience. Definitely not something we can do every time, but nice for super special occassions. First time we went was on a romantic getaway type weekend so it fit well with the theme of the trip Second time was when DH planned a surprise trip for my 40th B-day and he did all the planning himself

[goodfaerie]

Originally Posted by maddhatir

...I am more of an "earth based" religion girl. Don't believe in god, the devil or the bible.

Honestly- I feel more like a free spirit and consider myself very lucky to think the way I do- I don't drink the Kool-Aid. Just DH and I going along our merry way, making our own choices and not worrying what other people want us to do.

If anyone has anything to say about- ah, well, that is just funny-- if you know me, don't even try it. If you don't know me- all I have to say is, bring it on, AND let me add, good luck

Amen to that! Seriously, what is up with people not wanting to allow others the freedom to live their own lives? To be honest, I love kids, and therefore, I am extremely offended when asked about my being childless by choice, as if there is something intrinsically wrong with me. Being child free was something that I took very seriously and I thought very carefully before choosing to avoid all those years of rage and vomit--and that was just from my ex!!!

[maddhatir]

Calypso- I did want to mention how incredibly beautiful your dog is in your siggy!!!

[calypso726]

Originally Posted by maddhatir

Calypso- I did want to mention how incredibly beautiful your dog is in your siggy!!!

Awww...thank you His name is actually Disney so I figured I'd inlcude him in my siggie on the DIS

[Tinker_]

Originally Posted by Alesia

Speaking of kids on airplanes, We had a bad experience on the way from Orlando last year.

We were in our seats for less than 5 minutes when the little girl behind us start in with the most ear-splitting whine I have ever heard. "I waaaaant to sit next to mommmmmmy. Why does Ethan get to sit next to mommy? I Don't want to sit next to daddy. I want to sit next to mommmmmyyyyyy!" She goes on and on like this for another 5 minutes until she is about to hit full-on tantrum mode.

Keep in mind this was not a small child. She was at least 7 or 8 years old. Apparently this is pretty common behavior for her, because her younger sister turns to her and says, "Will you please stop whining??" Her answer was, "I'm not whininnnng."

Anyway - Mom and dad decide to change seats (mind you, they were on opposite sides of the plane) so dad has to jerk my seat back in order to get out of his seat. Then he has to shove it forward to get past his daughter in the seat next to him. Then mommy has to push and pull on my seat a few times while she gets settled in. Finally everyone is settled in and the little princess decides to start kicking my seat. Over and over and over. Finally I turn around and give her a good glare and she stops.

We had a lot of turbulence on that flight. I really wanted to turn around and tell that little girl that the turbulence was God's punishment for her whining

Alesia, I am pretty sure you are one of the funniest people I know.. between that and the Gabba Gabba comment today, PRICELESS

Originally Posted by zima-cheryl

So totally unrelated to anything on the last 10 pages -- who plans to see "Alice in Wonderland" opening weekend?

And is anyone else already disapointed that it is PG? I'm just afraid it will be like "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory" so much potential but a big let down in the end.

I am really hoping to catch it this weekend! Not to worried about crowds, cause, yanno- I live in Arkansas. hahahahaa.

Originally Posted by calypso726

Awww...thank you His name is actually Disney so I figured I'd inlcude him in my siggie on the DIS

gorgeous doggie!! I know how much work that takes, many many kudos!

[Tinker_]

Originally Posted by maddhatir

Calypso- I did want to mention how incredibly beautiful your dog is in your siggy!!!

nice to see you baaaaaaack

[PearlySwan]

Originally Posted by PammieJ

I'm not saying that kids with handicaps or special needs should be prohibited from flying (or participating in any other activity, for that matter). But I think it's only fair for parents of any child, handicapped or not, to take responsibility for their child's behavior no matter where they take them.

^^^ I totally agree 100%. It makes the rest of us with kids look bad when people don't do this with their little darlings. I guess DH and I are somewhat more conscientious about our children's behavior in public because we waited a looooooooong time to have them. In fact, we didn't even know if we would ever have any. Our first 'kids' were two Labrador Retrievers.

Originally Posted by PammieJ

I hope you don't mind if I rant....I too am not child-free, but this has always been a real hot topic for me. What kind of person would torture a plane full of people with her child's ear-splitting tantrum? What kind of parent views that kind of behavior as cute or entertaining? Surely, the kid isn't having the time of his life?? My point is that if people are going to take on the awesome and difficult challenge of raising children, they need to be prepared to step up when things get ugly.

^^^ Again, I totally agree with you. In the particular instance I described earlier, my relative said it was so bad that if she had a way to drop off the parents and the child in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, she would have done it in an instant! She's not child free either but her only child is now 34 so it's been a while for her hearing tantrums. I can completely understand her point of view as I too would have been extremely annoyed on that flight. As I said earlier, I would have given the kid that bread to hopefully get her to be quiet. Who knows? May be the child's parents felt the wheat in the bread would bring on worse behavior? That would be the only reason I can think of for the parents lack of response. But then again, they should have had a plan B, C, D, E, F......, in order to avoid the situation to begin with. There's really no reason why they felt it was okay to subject all the passengers on that plane to a prolonged and excruciating tantrum.

Originally Posted by PammieJ

Many kids with autism can't handle excessive stimulation, so imagine what they must go through when they arrive at Magic Kingdom? Is it fair, as a parent, to over-stimulate your kid to the point that he's frantic and out of control? Whose vacation is it, anyway?? Perhaps it's not an appropriate vacation trip at this particular time. And those are the hard choices that parents have to make, don't you think?

^^^ Here's the thing. Most kids on the autism spectrum have sensory integration dysfunction of some sort. The dichotomy is this. While the sensations of an airplane's change in altitude might bring on unwanted behavior from a kid with autism, you might find the same kid does just fine on the Tea Cups ride. In fact, that might be their favorite ride because of the spinning (some kids with autism love spinning). Similarly, the kid could be completely overly stimulated with the sound of an airplane engine, and yet not bat an eye with the loud sound effects on a ride like Toy Story Mania or Star Tours. Many children on the autism spectrum are mesmerized with visual overstimulation. Essentially visual overstimulation will overtake the auditory and sensory defensiveness. WDW is definitely a great place for everyone, including children who suffer from autism, especially if they have a Mickey obsession (like so many of us do around here ).

[PearlySwan]

Back to the primary topic of this thread...

[zima-cheryl]

Originally Posted by calypso726

We love V & A!!! We have been twice now and am planning to take my parents there at some point down the line. I thought is was fabulous. At first we thought we'd be leaving hungry because each course is very small. However, we were both stuffed at the end. I did enjoy the overall experience and the food was fantastic. I also added the wine pairings and they were perfect. I definitely think it is worth the splurge at least once and cross it off the "bucket list" so to speak. We've only been to Marrakesh once. Haven't tried Raglan Road or Paradiso 37 yet. What do you like about each one?

Ragalan Road -- 2 words... Bread Pudding!
Seriously, the food there is delicious, and I like the atmosphere of the place. Have them tell you about the building & the bar. And if you get lucky & time it right you may catch a band or dancers (think Lord of the Dance type dancing). DH & I also like Irish food, so finding something on the menu isn't hard for us, deciding on just one thing is! Any place you can get a good Guiness Stew is a treat.

Paradiso 37 we tried for the first time on our last trip. If you like it they have more tequilla tha you could sample in a week. The menu is South American and very interesting. Not tooo spicy but very flavorful. I had an amazing chardonnay w/my meal (no I don't remember the name). The food was fantastic. Again, if you are lucky you'll catch live music. And we had seats on the deck - beautiful sunset & watching the balloon during supper just added to the atmosphere.

Marrakesh is an easy one for me - we like Middle Eastern food. We are lucky to have a very good Lebanese (sp?) and an Indian restaurant near us. Last time DH had lamb & I had salmon. I wanted to lick the plate it was so good. And I love the desserts - they use orange blossom water w/the ice cream. Wicked good. Not like anything you ever get to try in a normal American restaurant. Plus I love to watch the belly dancer. I take lessons (for the exercise...I'll never be good enough to perform outside of a student recital). So I really enjoy seeing a professional who knows what they are doing. And the girls are very friendly and willing to chat about dance w/me if I can catch them after the show.

Mmmm... now I'm hungery & thinking that bowl of cereal isn't going to cut it this morning.

Originally Posted by calypso726

DH planned a surprise trip for my 40th B-day and he did all the planning himself

Don't you love it when they do that?!?

Hey Kat--- Good luck w/the marathon this weekend!!

Everyone have a great Tuesday.

[zima-cheryl]

Originally Posted by maddhatir

Cheryl- I am hoping to see Alice, but DH is freaky about the 3D! I might have to see it alone.

You know, if they just removed all of the stupid, long drawn out Oompa Loompa crap from Charlie- it would be kind of funny. I love how JD handles the kids

He is bothered by 3-D? I feel for him... the Imax movies can actually make me feel motion sick sometimes. That stinks!

I was disapointed in Charlie... I guess I was hoping they would go a little closer to the actual book. And maybe it is me, but I see JD as being more than a little crazy and just wonder how good it could have been if they had really just cut him loose? THAT would have been good.
Sweeny Todd is up next in our Netflix Queue so I'm hoping for a good dose of quality insanity there.
Unfortunately my parents are visiting this weekend, so we won't be watching that until after they head home.

[Shyvioletisme]

Originally Posted by zima-cheryl

He is bothered by 3-D? I feel for him... the Imax movies can actually make me feel motion sick sometimes. That stinks!

I was disapointed in Charlie... I guess I was hoping they would go a little closer to the actual book. And maybe it is me, but I see JD as being more than a little crazy and just wonder how good it could have been if they had really just cut him loose? THAT would have been good.
Sweeny Todd is up next in our Netflix Queue so I'm hoping for a good dose of quality insanity there.
Unfortunately my parents are visiting this weekend, so we won't be watching that until after they head home.

I really like Sweeney Todd(and I"m a fan of the musical), but then again I also liked Tim's Charlie...I thought it was really fun and just weird enough. I can't wait for Alice!!! So many other fun people in it as well (Matt Lucas -- British comedian we love is playing Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum!) As far as the 3-D, we'll see...I really think things are overdoing it lately...It was completely wasted in UP and I would much rather have paid less at theaters and seen the non 3-D version.

[maddhatir]

Originally Posted by zima-cheryl

Marrakesh is an easy one for me - we like Middle Eastern food. We are lucky to have a very good Lebanese (sp?) and an Indian restaurant near us. Last time DH had lamb & I had salmon. I wanted to lick the plate it was so good. And I love the desserts - they use orange blossom water w/the ice cream. Wicked good. Not like anything you ever get to try in a normal American restaurant. Plus I love to watch the belly dancer. I take lessons (for the exercise...I'll never be good enough to perform outside of a student recital). So I really enjoy seeing a professional who knows what they are doing. And the girls are very friendly and willing to chat about dance w/me if I can catch them after the show.

Cheryl- We love Middle Eastern food too! I think we might try Kouzzina one night b/c we will have one extra TS credit.

DH got lamb during our Mexico trip and he LOVED it- you would not really expect it to be that great there- but we went back a 2nd night b/c he had to have more chops! He also said the Carpaccio was incredible- I think he had that 3x. The food at this place was incredible! We had a dessert one day and I swear they copied off of the Coral Reef "The Chocolate Wave" dessert! It had the skid mark and everything! But then again- I compare EVERYTHING to Disney- DH says all of my "culture" comes from the World Showcase.

We like to watch Mo'Rockin! That chick is awesome! Does she do the belly dancing inside the restaurant too??

Mmmm... now I'm hungery & thinking that bowl of cereal isn't going to cut it this morning.

Is Chris slacking!!!!? No french toast? No yummy breakfast?!!

Hey Kat--- Good luck w/the marathon this weekend!!

Everyone have a great Tuesday.

GOOD LUCK KAT!!!!!

Originally Posted by zima-cheryl

He is bothered by 3-D? I feel for him... the Imax movies can actually make me feel motion sick sometimes. That stinks!

OMG- he is SO bad with the motion sickness- he gets dizzy getting off an exit ramp- I SWEAR TO GOD

I was disapointed in Charlie... I guess I was hoping they would go a little closer to the actual book. And maybe it is me, but I see JD as being more than a little crazy and just wonder how good it could have been if they had really just cut him loose? THAT would have been good.
Sweeny Todd is up next in our Netflix Queue so I'm hoping for a good dose of quality insanity there.
Unfortunately my parents are visiting this weekend, so we won't be watching that until after they head home.

I can't say Charlie was a great movie, just JD's expressions and comments were amusing.

Ugh- I think you all know how I felt about Sweeney Todd!!! Never again!

Morning peeps!!

[blue65829]

Just wanted to say hello all, dh and I are childfree by choice and have been married for 5 years. I am way more of a Disney fanatic than he is, but he is more than willing to get dragged along by my planning binges If I had my way we'd be at Disney at least once a year!

[maddhatir]

Originally Posted by blue65829

Just wanted to say hello all, dh and I are childfree by choice and have been married for 5 years. I am way more of a Disney fanatic than he is, but he is more than willing to get dragged along by my planning binges If I had my way we'd be at Disney at least once a year!

Welcome!!!! I think we are married to the same man!!!

DH got tired of Disney BECAUSE we were going at LEAST once a year. I had to give him a break!