MEK
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 8, 2005
[/B]
Now each of the ladies promised me they would do an introduction. I, however, have been nominated as the primary narrator. So let me take a moment to introduce myself:
My name is Mary Ellen and I was actually the oldest member of the group. So old in fact that our youngest member could be my daughter. But that's OK. Age is just a number, right? RIGHT???????
That's me on the right - with the sunglasses - and all the bags. That picture earned me quite a reputation as a sherpa. I tried to downsize this trip. But by our last night I had earned sherpa status yet again.
This trip was actually my 14th trip to Disney World. Hard to believe for a gal who took her kids for the first time in 1st and 3rd grade and swore it was "one and done". Now that I am a DVC member (into my fourth year) I insist on visiting the world at least twice a year. If I had my way I would be visiting three times a year. I am fortunate enough to live in Delaware so in a quick 2 hours I can arrive at the World!
I have two boys - Brian and Nicholas. Nicholas is finishing his sophomore year and Brian is graduating this year. I am a nurse practitioner and I am a church musician and a marching band geek. I also love taking pictures. I filled up a whole 8 gb memory card this trip and was forced to buy a new one.
So how did this trip come to be????
As I recall, I had originally planned to visit in May with two or three of my soccer mom friends. When it came time to book the stay, they dropped....like flies. One mom was very worried that she would miss the State Track & Field Championship. When she dropped out, a second mom did. And the third mom - I don't think she ever committed at all.
So one night I was commiserating on this DIS. I mentioned that even though my friends dropped out, I was still going to visit the world. As luck would have it, Christine said she was also mulling around a May trip. In about 48 hours our group had grown to 5 when Tracy, Melissa, and Cynthia also said that they would love to join the party. With a little finagling, Jen was able to work around her school testing schedule and escape for a long weekend.
A trip was born.
I won't go into the tedious pre trip details. I will just say that our dates were April 28th - May 6th. Well, not all of us where there on all those dates, but that was the general time frame.
Melissa (mickeysmyboy) 4/28 - 5/4
Mary Ellen (mek) 4/29 - 5/5
Jen (jenjolt) 4/29 - 5/3
Cynthia (eandesmom) 4/30 - 5/5
Tracy (manntra) 4/30 - 5/6
Christine (2xcited2sleep) 4/30 - 5/6
In the weeks that led up to this trip we were all getting quite excited. We had ADRs planned for months and a special tour planned. We were down to our final countdown when one intrepid member got sick - Yeah - that would be me! I started a hard core diet and exercise regimen about a month before the trip. That, combined with the fact that I don't sleep enough at night, helped me come down with strep throat and a cold to boot! There were several days where I thought I might have to cancel, or at the very least, change my flight by a few days. But even though I wasn't perfect, I still managed to leave as planned. Crisis averted. Phew!
I woke up bright and early on D-Day (which was also the Royal Wedding Day) and finished all my last minute packing. I had originally planned to work half a day, but because I had been so sick, I just took the whole day off.
Here's a picture of my Max baby that I took right before leaving for the airport:
Oh yeah - and here's my first drink picture of the trip. A berry smoothy from Costco!
I really didn't take too many travel pictures, but I took this one at the Philly airport because I liked the hot air balloon in the distance,
My chariot awaits
I had an uneventful flight. I sat next to the nicest college student who told me all about Haverford College. She was traveling home to Orlando for the weekend to attend her cousin's wedding. To my right was another nice lady who I think was traveling for business. I couldn't help telling them all about my upcoming girl's trip.
I did take a few pics with my iphone. These are familiar sites to all of you.
LOL! I don't really have the whole iphone picture thing down yet!
It's funny how comfortable I feel at MCO. It's like coming home to me. As soon as I get there I think, "Wow. I feel like I was just here." It's deja vu to me.
So What Resort Was I Heading to?????? Well, I was actually going to two of the four resorts on that DME sign. I had two nights booked at POR and 4 nights at the Beach Club Villas (my dream resort). I would have loved to spend all 6 nights at BCV, but I didn't quite have enough points to pay the Easter week point tab. So I decided POR would be nice. I think the landscaping there is fabulous. And, as luck would have it, POR was the first DME stop! My flight landed about 5pm and I arrived at POR shortly after 6pm. It doesn't get any better than that!
I tried to take the infamous Welcome to Disney World Picture with my phone, but as you can see the Love Bugs obscured my view. Yuck!
Oh Yeah......
Do you think the driver was out of wiper fluid or did he just give up?
Arriving at POR I did the regular check-in. I waited 5 minutes. I was quick to request a room in the mansion section. My conversation went something like this....
"My room mate is coming in on the red eye. She will be REALLY disappointed if we don't have a mansion room. Any chance?"
Well, I did get a mansion room and it looked a bit like this.....
So I am gonna tell the other ladies to get on over here for introductions. Hope you will join us for the fun!!!!!!!
Here's the Story
Of Six Lovely Ladies
Who met right here on the DIS boards.
Each of Them had a Vision
That Could not be Ignored
So they Planned
and they Schemed
and they Knew that it was Much More than a Hunch
that this Group Would Somehow Come Together
The East Meets West Bunch
East Meets West
Down South We Go
To the Land of Mickey We All Know
Yes, East Meets West
Down South We Go
There's a Trip Report starting.....Here We Go!
First Came Melissa,
then Mary Ellen
then Jen Who Arrived Quite Late at Night,
Cynthia caught the Red Eye,
A Really Hard Core Flight
Last But Not Least,
Christine and Tracy
Arrived to Head Right to the Slushy Stand
This Group Had Finally Come Together
The East Meets West Clan
East Meets West
Down South We Go
To the Land of Mickey We All Know
East Meets West
Down South We Go
There's a Trip Report starting.....Here We Go!
Insert these words to the Brady Bunch Tune!
Welcome to Our Trip Report. A Trip We Started Planning last September. Funny how these things come together on the Dis Boards. Some of us had met prior to this trip and some of us hadn't. But we felt like we all knew each other. Our dates came together relatively easy. An impromptu girls trip blossomed almost over night.Of Six Lovely Ladies
Who met right here on the DIS boards.
Each of Them had a Vision
That Could not be Ignored
So they Planned
and they Schemed
and they Knew that it was Much More than a Hunch
that this Group Would Somehow Come Together
The East Meets West Bunch
East Meets West
Down South We Go
To the Land of Mickey We All Know
Yes, East Meets West
Down South We Go
There's a Trip Report starting.....Here We Go!
First Came Melissa,
then Mary Ellen
then Jen Who Arrived Quite Late at Night,
Cynthia caught the Red Eye,
A Really Hard Core Flight
Last But Not Least,
Christine and Tracy
Arrived to Head Right to the Slushy Stand
This Group Had Finally Come Together
The East Meets West Clan
East Meets West
Down South We Go
To the Land of Mickey We All Know
East Meets West
Down South We Go
There's a Trip Report starting.....Here We Go!
Insert these words to the Brady Bunch Tune!
Now each of the ladies promised me they would do an introduction. I, however, have been nominated as the primary narrator. So let me take a moment to introduce myself:
My name is Mary Ellen and I was actually the oldest member of the group. So old in fact that our youngest member could be my daughter. But that's OK. Age is just a number, right? RIGHT???????
That's me on the right - with the sunglasses - and all the bags. That picture earned me quite a reputation as a sherpa. I tried to downsize this trip. But by our last night I had earned sherpa status yet again.
This trip was actually my 14th trip to Disney World. Hard to believe for a gal who took her kids for the first time in 1st and 3rd grade and swore it was "one and done". Now that I am a DVC member (into my fourth year) I insist on visiting the world at least twice a year. If I had my way I would be visiting three times a year. I am fortunate enough to live in Delaware so in a quick 2 hours I can arrive at the World!
I have two boys - Brian and Nicholas. Nicholas is finishing his sophomore year and Brian is graduating this year. I am a nurse practitioner and I am a church musician and a marching band geek. I also love taking pictures. I filled up a whole 8 gb memory card this trip and was forced to buy a new one.
So how did this trip come to be????
As I recall, I had originally planned to visit in May with two or three of my soccer mom friends. When it came time to book the stay, they dropped....like flies. One mom was very worried that she would miss the State Track & Field Championship. When she dropped out, a second mom did. And the third mom - I don't think she ever committed at all.
So one night I was commiserating on this DIS. I mentioned that even though my friends dropped out, I was still going to visit the world. As luck would have it, Christine said she was also mulling around a May trip. In about 48 hours our group had grown to 5 when Tracy, Melissa, and Cynthia also said that they would love to join the party. With a little finagling, Jen was able to work around her school testing schedule and escape for a long weekend.
A trip was born.I won't go into the tedious pre trip details. I will just say that our dates were April 28th - May 6th. Well, not all of us where there on all those dates, but that was the general time frame.
Melissa (mickeysmyboy) 4/28 - 5/4
Mary Ellen (mek) 4/29 - 5/5
Jen (jenjolt) 4/29 - 5/3
Cynthia (eandesmom) 4/30 - 5/5
Tracy (manntra) 4/30 - 5/6
Christine (2xcited2sleep) 4/30 - 5/6
In the weeks that led up to this trip we were all getting quite excited. We had ADRs planned for months and a special tour planned. We were down to our final countdown when one intrepid member got sick - Yeah - that would be me! I started a hard core diet and exercise regimen about a month before the trip. That, combined with the fact that I don't sleep enough at night, helped me come down with strep throat and a cold to boot! There were several days where I thought I might have to cancel, or at the very least, change my flight by a few days. But even though I wasn't perfect, I still managed to leave as planned. Crisis averted. Phew!
I woke up bright and early on D-Day (which was also the Royal Wedding Day) and finished all my last minute packing. I had originally planned to work half a day, but because I had been so sick, I just took the whole day off.
Here's a picture of my Max baby that I took right before leaving for the airport:
Oh yeah - and here's my first drink picture of the trip. A berry smoothy from Costco!
I really didn't take too many travel pictures, but I took this one at the Philly airport because I liked the hot air balloon in the distance,
My chariot awaits
I had an uneventful flight. I sat next to the nicest college student who told me all about Haverford College. She was traveling home to Orlando for the weekend to attend her cousin's wedding. To my right was another nice lady who I think was traveling for business. I couldn't help telling them all about my upcoming girl's trip.
I did take a few pics with my iphone. These are familiar sites to all of you.
LOL! I don't really have the whole iphone picture thing down yet!
It's funny how comfortable I feel at MCO. It's like coming home to me. As soon as I get there I think, "Wow. I feel like I was just here." It's deja vu to me.
So What Resort Was I Heading to?????? Well, I was actually going to two of the four resorts on that DME sign. I had two nights booked at POR and 4 nights at the Beach Club Villas (my dream resort).
I would have loved to spend all 6 nights at BCV, but I didn't quite have enough points to pay the Easter week point tab. So I decided POR would be nice. I think the landscaping there is fabulous. And, as luck would have it, POR was the first DME stop! My flight landed about 5pm and I arrived at POR shortly after 6pm. It doesn't get any better than that!I tried to take the infamous Welcome to Disney World Picture with my phone, but as you can see the Love Bugs obscured my view. Yuck!
Oh Yeah......
Do you think the driver was out of wiper fluid or did he just give up?
Arriving at POR I did the regular check-in. I waited 5 minutes. I was quick to request a room in the mansion section. My conversation went something like this....
"My room mate is coming in on the red eye. She will be REALLY disappointed if we don't have a mansion room. Any chance?"
Well, I did get a mansion room and it looked a bit like this.....
So I am gonna tell the other ladies to get on over here for introductions. Hope you will join us for the fun!!!!!!!
)
I am not a big thrill ride lover, in fact I'm a wimp. 
I'm definitely not a commando park tourer. I tend to take things as they come. That's not to say I don't do any research/planning before I go, because I do... quite a bit (mostly around ADRs). But when I get there I tend to go with the flow. Or at least try to.....
Especially the story behind this TR title. We had quite a few one-liner contenders for the title... I suspect you'll hear them all as our tale unfolds. 
And hi Christine, nice to "meet" you! 
Can't wait to read more!
It's a dream of mine to coordinate a girls trip with my friends in the future. We are new DVC members so hopefully the dream will become reality sooner than later 
And you are FIRST! Strong work! Glad you will be able to follow from the start, although I expect this TR is going to be a little chaotic!
