Because it just wouldn’t be a party **New 1/17/11 Finally a link to the TR**

[luvfigment]

I am so happy that you guys get to go both trips and still get to stay at the poly for 1 of them.

That is great that you guys will be able to till meet up with Toni and Terri! I know you must be so excited since you were looking forward to that trip so much.

Can't wait to read about more of the plans and seeing the pictures from the Smoky Mtns.

 

[Tinkermom76]

OMG I thyink you are all crazy.... which is why I will be following along again

 

[mrsksomeday]

I am joining in again! 2 trips are always better than one!

Hi Katie, thanks for joining again.

I am so happy that you guys get to go both trips and still get to stay at the poly for 1 of them.

That is great that you guys will be able to till meet up with Toni and Terri! I know you must be so excited since you were looking forward to that trip so much.

Can't wait to read about more of the plans and seeing the pictures from the Smoky Mtns.

Thanks! I was scared the Mickey Police were going to get me today when I called. I told them I wanted to modify my resort reservation and he typed for a bit and said "can you hold on" I was like "Oh no they see all the changes we made and are flagging us" but it worked out.

OMG I thyink you are all crazy.... which is why I will be following along again

I think we are crazy too, but thanks for following.

 

[All7OfUs]

I love the idea of tandem trips!! Fun for all of you!

 

[Baloo]

I love it!!! Halloween

and Christmas

trips......oh and birthday!


AWESOME!!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

You guys are totally crazy!! And I love it!!

I think you are just trying to keep all of us on our toes!

 

[mrsksomeday]

I love the idea of tandem trips!! Fun for all of you!

We can't wait to meet everyone in October and December.

I love it!!! Halloween

and Christmas

trips......oh and birthday!


AWESOME!!!

We are so happy!

You guys are totally crazy!! And I love it!!

I think you are just trying to keep all of us on our toes!

I know we are nuts. I told Bill I can't make any more ADR's after this time, plans have to stay this way or I am done. Too stressfull .

 

[eagillinois]

Congrats on the change! I am sure you will have a great time. I just found your new pre-trip report last weekend. I am glad to see that you and Bill are doing well.

We are from the Cdale area also and are going at the end of September. I had originally booked with a 30% off PIN code at POFQ but when Free Dining was released it was $70 cheaper so I switched. We were able to get our flights for $69 each way from STL, there are SWA deals to be had!

I look forward to hearing more details about your trip!

 

[kayrosek]

Okay just found this new PTR. Looks great so far. Two trips, I am so jealous. Can't wait to read more

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Hi Tracy! Fellow Tracy here, checking in! You guys are awesome and I hope we cross paths on our December trips. Looking forward to gleening ideas from you too.

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Yay for the two trips now! You've got the best of both worlds with October and Disney I think. Only one problem, our dates our Oct 17-21. Seems we always miss eachother by a day! Maybe we'll get up there in December for a weekend too.

Looking forward to reading about all the new plans!

 

[oregonmommyof2]

Quit holding out on us, I know you have some ADR plans made...

 

[mrsksomeday]

Congrats on the change! I am sure you will have a great time. I just found your new pre-trip report last weekend. I am glad to see that you and Bill are doing well.

We are from the Cdale area also and are going at the end of September. I had originally booked with a 30% off PIN code at POFQ but when Free Dining was released it was $70 cheaper so I switched. We were able to get our flights for $69 each way from STL, there are SWA deals to be had!

I look forward to hearing more details about your trip!

Hi and welcome it is great to see another person from Southern Illinois that loves Disney!! Did you get your flights the day they came out or with a Ding?? Great price!!

Okay just found this new PTR. Looks great so far. Two trips, I am so jealous. Can't wait to read more

Thank you so much for joining, I know it is a huge pain trying to keep up with us.

Hi Tracy! Fellow Tracy here, checking in! You guys are awesome and I hope we cross paths on our December trips. Looking forward to gleening ideas from you too.

Hi Tracy!! If you see us in December please say hi, we would love it!

Yay for the two trips now! You've got the best of both worlds with October and Disney I think. Only one problem, our dates our Oct 17-21. Seems we always miss eachother by a day! Maybe we'll get up there in December for a weekend too.

Looking forward to reading about all the new plans!

We always just miss you guys, I am sad again. I will hope for magic and pixiedust and maybe you can make it a weekend in December when we are there.

Quit holding out on us, I know you have some ADR plans made...

Yes, I do. I am going to be posting about the OCTOBER trip first missy. Be patient .

 

[mrsksomeday]

What did I tell ya? There's the whole world at your feet. And who gets to see it but the birds, the stars and the chimney sweeps.

- Bert, Mary Poppins

Time to discuss the October trip, but I have some Smoky Mountain memories first. Back toward the end of June Bill and I took a trip to Bill’s parents’ vacation home located outside Pigeon Forge, TN. They ask us to go all the time and we pick the hottest time to go

. It was over 100 every day, so needless to say we hung out at the house most of the time. I just thought I would post a couple pictures from our trip.

We got into town and the traffic wasn’t too bad:

We saw the New Titanic exhibition on the drive in, we knew we would go and see it for sure:

I wanted to go to the Christmas Place, they have some cute Disney stuff, but we didn’t make it this trip:

His parents live up on Bluff Mountain and it is a winding, steep road that I don’t particularly like driving up, but then you see this view turning to go to their house and it is all worth it (that’s their house):

I am amazed every time I look out the huge windows toward the mountains, the one with 3 humps is Mt. LeConte:

Bill brought work with him and was showing his Mom the website he is building:

This is Henry, he is my Ace substitute when we go see his parents:

Does this dog have the life or what?:

He doesn’t like it when we leave him alone to go do stuff, Bill’s Mom learned the hard way not to keep the nightstands by the window, he jumped up on one a while back to be able to look through the window and scratched one up, so now they move the nightstands when they go somewhere. So Henry does this waiting for them:

He hates storms as much at Ace and was shaking like crazy when Bill and I came back one day before his parents. Henry curled up right next to me so scared, poor little guy. He is my buddy.

It was a quick rainstorm and afterwards I saw turkeys in the front yard, they were taking off by the time I got my camera, but I did get this:

Bill and I did end up going to Titanic the day before we left:

Here are some pictures of the replica of the center anchor. Poor Bill the sun was in his eyes but he still let me take a picture of him:

They do not allow any cameras in the exhibit.

You have to buy boarding passes to tour the exhibit. For Bill and I it was $46.00. I suggest you buy your tickets online and pick your “boarding time”. If not you will get there and buy them and have to come back because they only let so many people in at one time. When it is your time to “board” they will give everyone in your party a “boarding pass”. This has the name of a real person that was on the ship. When you go through the exhibit look to see if you have any artifacts displayed. When Bill’s parents went with their friends Bill’s Mom found a bracelet that belonged to the boarding pass she had. At the end of the exhibit there is a wall of the survivors names and the people that died.

Well, we were walking through the exhibit and I noticed a lady behind me with a girl that was about 11/12 yrs old. Oh goodness, the woman had on a Mickey head necklace, then I looked at her again, Mickey head earrings, a Disney lanyard, and a Disney store tote bag. You know I was going to say something to her. I complimented her on her necklace, she thanked me and said she loves Disney. She works here:

The DISNEY STORE in town. What are the odds of me running into someone that loves Disney like we do? We chit chatted, they have been to WDW a couple of times and are going to be there mid December to celebrate the daughters birthday. She was so happy to be going back. It was a great little conversation.

We learned so many things on our walk through self guided tour. I never thought about it but there were kennels on board so animals drowned too. They have a replica of the staircase, it was beautiful. You start in the lower class area and make your way up to 1st class. I won’t tell you everything, it was a great tour. There is an “iceberg” wall you can touch to feel how cold it was and there is water you can put your hands in to feel how freezing the water was. I can’t imagine having my entire body in that, those poor people.

On the boarding passes you get there are a couple of paragraphs telling you about the person. I was Mary Fortune, 1st Class passenger 60 years old and had been on the ship with my husband and our 3 daughters and 1 son. She survived got off the ship on lifeboat 10 with her 3 daughters. Her husband and 19 year old son died.

Bill was John “Jack” Phillips. A Senior Wireless Operator (crew member), 25, if you have ever seen the movie Titanic, he is the operator that the Captain gives the order to about asking ships for help. He stayed there with another operator tapping out Morse Code until water started rising in the wireless room and the Captain released them saying “it’s every man for himself now”. John died on the ship, the other operator lived.

Bill says he died calling ships to save me, my hero!

We had a good trip, it was more of a visit with family then a trip to do things in the Smoky’s and that is just fine with us. I really enjoy both of Bill’s parents and it was great getting to spend time with them. This concludes the Smoky Mountain portion of the post.

Back to the PTR………………… How much stuff can we fit in on a 4 day trip??

October is going to be a very short trip, 3 nights. We decided against the Polynesian. If we are going to go there, we want to enjoy it. We are hardly going to be at the resort so we thought it was frivolous to spend that kind of money and not be there. So we are staying at the lovely Pop Century. We truly love this resort and I will be happy to be back there.

Here is the tentative schedule for Oct. 22nd – Oct. 25th:

Oct. 22nd – Arrive at MCO about 11am, take ME to Pop, if the room is ready, go to the room and unpack. If not eat at the Pop Food Court and explore Pop Century. I can’t wait to go back. If there is time we will rest a little bit since we have MNSSHP that night. We will head over to Magic Kingdom between 4 – 5pm and get a counter service before the party starts. I am hoping to meet up with some Ip Dippers at the party. We will do nothing but party things, pictures with characters, the parade, the shows, and of course the fireworks. If there is time maybe trick or treat, we got some great pictures from the treat trail between Toontown and Tomorrowland a couple of years ago. Then go back to the room and pass out.

Oct. 23rd - Ahhh, Epcot day. I absolutely love this park, it is beautiful to me. We are going to do Soarin, Living with the Land, Nemo, Crush, Figment, maybe Captain EO (how long is it supposed to be there?) and Universe of Energy. We do all these because Bill can!! I am sure there will be a couple of snack credits used at the Food and Wine Festival. At some point we will take a friendship boat over to the Boardwalk and have lunch at ESPN to make Bill happy, he has wanted to go there forever. Then we will go back and explore the glorious World Showcase. We are hoping to see Voices of Liberty again. They give me the chills, they are amazing. We want to see what other pavilion entertainment we can see this trip, we never take the time to just see stuff like that. We figure we can since we will be back in December.

This is the night of the 3rd Annual Ip Dip Dinner, for those of you that don’t know what the heck I am talking about, I will explain. There is a small Disney board that has many great people on it and 3 years ago we all decided to invade Disney when a member of the board and his family were going to be there. Buzz did invite us after all. This is his definition of an Ip Dip:

“When I lost the car last year at Downtown Disney, Loud Girl called me an “Ip-Dip”.

I know it is kind of odd to want to be an Ip Dip, but it is who we are and we embrace it!!

I have no clue where dinner is or what time, it has changed multiple times. Bill and I will just show up. MK has evening magic hours that night so if we were near there, we might have some of us hit MK together. If we are at ‘Ohana we could watch Wishes from the beach, if at the Boardwalk area we could try Jellyrolls. I just don’t know.

(Do you know how much it is killing me to not have a definite plan for that evening?? If you don’t, you don’t know me at all, get to reading the reports in my signature line stat!!)

Oct. 24th - Disney Hollywood Studios day. Bill’s favorite day, he absolutely loves his park because he can do many things here. Fantasmic is at 6:30pm not sure if we will do this now or in December. If some Ip Dips want to hang out or have dinner together I will drop F! easily. I will have to see what everyone is doing that day.

We need to get to talking about our plans Ip Dippers, please don't make me go insane.

Oct. 25th – ME will pick us up about 12:30 so I am not sure what we will end up doing. Depends on how much fun we have had the last 3 nights . It is a very short trip but so worth it to get to see these people face to face. I adore them, they are great folks, and love Disney that is a fantastic combination.

Next installment… Did I make a binder? Have I bought anything for the trip? Do we have anything else planned before the Disney trips? Find out soon…..

 

[GeminiAngel]

I just love their cabin!!! Wow. All your plans look great. Henry is so dang cute!

 

[cherrybellecupcake]

Oh goodness! I read through all 3 of your PTRs. No, it was great fun really. If I ever were to start one, I'd go the same way. I'm soooo indecisive.

Looks like a great time at the cabin! And yay for Titanic. I'm semi obsessed with anything Titanic related. Love the movie of course and have been to at least 3 Titanic exhibits. I was excited because there was a Titanic exhibit at the Minnesota Science Museum last year. And they even took your picture for you at the staircase! Sweet.

Anyways, can't wait to actually read your TR! It'll be here before ya know it!

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Looks like a great trip to Pigeon Forge. How much time do Bill's parents spend there? Henry is a great Ace replacement while you are there, so cute!

Loved hearing about the Titanic exhibit. That is something I would enjoy.

Great plans for October! Short trips are a great way to get your Disney fix. I'm glad you'll get to see so many of your friends.

 

[mrsksomeday]

I just love their cabin!!! Wow. All your plans look great. Henry is so dang cute!

It was so peaceful there and gorgeous. Henry is something , I swear he doesn't think he is a dog, he snubs all other dogs and refuses to play with them, even though Ace desperately tries every time he sees him.

Oh goodness! I read through all 3 of your PTRs. No, it was great fun really. If I ever were to start one, I'd go the same way. I'm soooo indecisive.

Looks like a great time at the cabin! And yay for Titanic. I'm semi obsessed with anything Titanic related. Love the movie of course and have been to at least 3 Titanic exhibits. I was excited because there was a Titanic exhibit at the Minnesota Science Museum last year. And they even took your picture for you at the staircase! Sweet.

Anyways, can't wait to actually read your TR! It'll be here before ya know it!

Thank you so much for sticking with us, I know I have been a trainwreck this time with all the changes and I am sure it has to frustrate people, heck it frustrates me .

The Titanic fascinates me in an odd way. I have been reading up on some of the passengers since we got home.

Looks like a great trip to Pigeon Forge. How much time do Bill's parents spend there? Henry is a great Ace replacement while you are there, so cute!

Loved hearing about the Titanic exhibit. That is something I would enjoy.

Great plans for October! Short trips are a great way to get your Disney fix. I'm glad you'll get to see so many of your friends.

Bill's parents try to go every 4 to 6 weeks and spend at least 3 nights. They truly love it there, have made friends with all the neighbors around there and have a great time. We met their newest neighbors this trip and I absolutely adored them. Fantastic people.

I am hoping the plans are not too much in October and I am praying it isn't too hot. I didn't go to Ip Dip last year and it was 103 that day I think, I was so glad we hadn't gone. I love WDW, I don't want to be miserable there because of the heat.

 

[mrsksomeday]

I found more pictures on my phone from the trip to the Smoky Mountains.

The first time we went was in Sept. 2008. Bill's Mom was concerned about a tree they had planted and had named it her "Charlie Brown Tree":

Kind of pathetic looking wasn't it? They hadn't done much landscaping at that point. Here is the same tree from June this year:

Charlie looks much more healthy now .

As for the side of the house it didn't have landscaping in 2008 either:

Look now:

Bill's parents do a fantastic job at making the place look so pretty.

One last picture of the front, this picture just doesn't do it justice:

 

[MRYPPNS]

I think your right about switching back to POP if you are going to be that busy.

I can't believe there isn't concrete plans for IP-Dipper stuff yet. Too many chiefs?? It's hard organizing stuff for that many people because you will never please everyone. You poor thing, you must be going crazy! I can tell you what we'll be doing in March every night already