SOOZE Return of the Band Geeks! What's Next Update! p.25 10/10

[Sooze]

Your last day at Epcot was a great ending to your trip. Thanksgiving is not to far away.

It was SUCH a great ending! And, yes... Thanksgiving is quickly approaching. I'll give you guys the fun details soon!

Joe has finally met a few people, and actually started reading my Trip Reports, so he's starting to understand it a bit and now points out stuff too!

Good for him!! Matt doesn't read my trip reports at all... he still doesn't get it at all!

What a very fun time in Innoventions! We haven't been into the side by Test Track in a long stinkin' time - no reason why, we just always end up the "fire truck" one. Henry would LOVE that garbage truck exhibit. And I want to try Sum of All Thrills! How brave of your little man to go it alone!!! And how many emotions rush through a Mom...happy, excited, sad, scared...!

The Fire Truck Innoventions was our only stop for a long time, too! Tyson would spend an hour on that thing!! The garbage truck exhibit was fun for me as well as the kids! I highly recommend it!!

We did the Piggy Bank Adventure, I agree - the tube ROCKED! And how cute is that little pig???

Um, pretty stinkin' adorable!!

 

[PrincessV]

Ok.. seriously.. we have ressies at Tutto for Thanksgiving lunch. Coincidence? I think no!!

Oh my gosh, how funny! Mine is dinner, though I have no recollection what time - I'll find out and definitely let you know if we decide to go!

 

[Sooze]

Oh my gosh, how funny! Mine is dinner, though I have no recollection what time - I'll find out and definitely let you know if we decide to go!

Please do! Do you still have my cell #?

 

[Sooze]

So... here are all of my excuses for taking FOR. EVER on this TR! Sorry again!

The biggest time consumer the past few months, has been my involvement with a production of Annie. I was cast as Lily St. Regis in a pretty prominent community theatre in the area. Here are a few fun pictures from the production:

Dancing to "Easy Street:

Dancing with Rooster and Miss Hannigan:

In our "Mr. and Mrs. Mudge" gear:

Me telling Annie how glad I was to be able to hold her in my arms again! (Such theatrics, I tell ya!)

Other things keeping me busy included Matt's 38th birthday! Here's the cake I made for him (on the day he got to take Tyson to the Colts vs. Giants game!)

Great seats for the 'Manning Bowl':

Last night, we had a family date night to see Mary Poppins:

What an AMAZING show!! Have any of you seen it?! It is Broadway Disney at its finest... NOT to be missed!

I'll post again later with some closing thoughts and upcoming, fast-approaching plans!

 

[micandminforever]

The Annie pictures were great. It looked like a fun production. I look forward to reading about your future plans.

 

[PrincessV]

Please do! Do you still have my cell #?

I do!

The biggest time consumer the past few months, has been my involvement with a production of Annie. I was cast as Lily St. Regis in a pretty prominent community theatre in the area.

You looked great!

Other things keeping me busy included Matt's 38th birthday!

Happy Bday Matt!

I'll post again later with some closing thoughts and upcoming, fast-approaching plans!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Such great pictures from Annie - looks like it was a fantastic show! Makes me miss doing theater...

And YES, Mary Poppins is INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Loved, loved, loved that show! When my Mom was out here visiting me this summer she wanted to do a Broadway show, so we went to see this - our seats were nosebleed, but man, incredible. They truly translated that Disney magic to the stage.

 

[JenSop]

Great show pics, Sooze!!

And I promise to get back to my TR asap!

 

[ashleighbass06]

Last night, we had a family date night to see Mary Poppins:

What an AMAZING show!! Have any of you seen it?! It is Broadway Disney at its finest... NOT to be missed!

Ooo! I might be seeing that next month when it comes to Michigan! Now you've got me excited!

 

[Sooze]

The Annie pictures were great. It looked like a fun production. I look forward to reading about your future plans.

Thanks... it was a total blast!! Future plans coming up this weekend...

I do!

Excellent, please feel free to call whenever!

You looked great!

Thanks, V! Makeup can do wonders!

Happy Bday Matt!

I told him V said happy birthday. You can just imagine his expression...

Huh? Who?

Such great pictures from Annie - looks like it was a fantastic show! Makes me miss doing theater...

Thanks! If you miss doing theatre, that just means you need to get back into it! Do you have any community theatres near you?

And YES, Mary Poppins is INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Loved, loved, loved that show! When my Mom was out here visiting me this summer she wanted to do a Broadway show, so we went to see this - our seats were nosebleed, but man, incredible. They truly translated that Disney magic to the stage.

Agreed!! Our seats were close to the stage, but we were far stage left.... so not the best seats.. but it didn't matter. We were all blown away. We immediately got home and downloaded the soundtrack. Now we all have supercalifragilisticexpiadilocious memorized. Up next... learning the dance moves!!

Great show pics, Sooze!!

And I promise to get back to my TR asap!

No rush, girl! I'm sure you're trying to get back to normal after your most recent adventure! Thanks for checking in again!

Ooo! I might be seeing that next month when it comes to Michigan! Now you've got me excited!

Oh my gosh!! It is FANTASTIC!!!!! You need to go!!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Thanks! If you miss doing theatre, that just means you need to get back into it! Do you have any community theatres near you?


Agreed!! Our seats were close to the stage, but we were far stage left.... so not the best seats.. but it didn't matter. We were all blown away. We immediately got home and downloaded the soundtrack. Now we all have supercalifragilisticexpiadilocious memorized. Up next... learning the dance moves!!

I would love to get back into it! Just gotta wait until the little one is a bit older, right now I just wouldn't have the time and no one to really watch him either. Maybe when he is older and doesn't care about being around his old Mom!

And ya, just a couple community theaters around here....I live in New York City. Just a few! It really is an EXCELLENT place to get involved in it again - there are always places looking for people! Of course they are unpaid, but I'm cool with that.

I couldn't believe how much they were selling the soundtrack for at the theatre - it was $30! Of course, they love to jack up the prices on EVERYTHING that has tourists involved! How much was the download?

Just thinking about the Supercalifragilisticexpiadilocious number gives me goosebumps, it was simply outstanding!

 

[Sooze]

I would love to get back into it! Just gotta wait until the little one is a bit older, right now I just wouldn't have the time and no one to really watch him either. Maybe when he is older and doesn't care about being around his old Mom!

I am VERY lucky to have a HUGE support system around me. Lots of people who love my kids and are willing to take them on. Plus, my kids are super understanding!! I try to do two shows a year, so it's not ALL the time... just enough to keep me happy!

And ya, just a couple community theaters around here....I live in New York City. Just a few! It really is an EXCELLENT place to get involved in it again - there are always places looking for people! Of course they are unpaid, but I'm cool with that.

NYC!? Yeah... I'm sure you could find somewhere... All of the shows I have done are volunteer. I don't have time to do a full-time paid gig. Not sure if I have the talent to get paid, anyway! The joy performing and working with such fun folks is enough payment for me, for sure!

I couldn't believe how much they were selling the soundtrack for at the theatre - it was $30! Of course, they love to jack up the prices on EVERYTHING that has tourists involved! How much was the download?

We only downloaded our favorite songs, about 5 of them. Each one was 99 cents! Not too bad... plus, we didn't have a CD full of songs that we wouldn't listen to (ie Brimstone and Treacle... cool number, not my favorite song!)

Just thinking about the Supercalifragilisticexpiadilocious number gives me goosebumps, it was simply outstanding!

me too! I watch it on You Tube all the time. Someday, I'll get the movements down for the spelling part!

 

[Sooze]

And now... the moment we've all been waiting for....

WHAT'S NEXT FOR SOOZE and her family?!?!


I know you've all been waiting patiently, checking the boards every day, just wondering WHEN Sooze would be returning to WDW. You have... admit it!

Honestly, I was wondering the same thing. The WHOLE summer, I had to try to accept the fact that it would be OVER A YEAR before we were able to return. More on that later.

Then one evening....


Me: Honey?
Matt: ((male grunting noise, meaning "Yes, my love?"))
Me: Don't we have some AirTran vouchers laying around? Remember last year when we were bumped from our flight? Shouldn't we be using those? Aren't they going to expire soon?
Matt: ((obviously overwhelmed from the large number of questions I just asked)) Uh...
Me: Why can't we use them for a quickie get away? Just a weekend in November?

I will not bore you with the drama of what happened next... but after a whirlwind of finding said vouchers, calling Airtran to confirm that we can use them, attempting to find a weekend that worked, figuring out accommodations for Disney (since our DVC points are all accounted for at this moment), dissecting our bank accounts to make sure we could pay for this without using credit cards (our new mission in life), finding out we actually had FOUR vouchers (two a piece) which meant we could bring the kids, discovering the ONLY weekend we had available was Thanksgiving, being slapped in the face with reality about AirTran voucher BLACKOUT dates, securing an AP rate at POFQ just in case we could weasel our way around blackout dates, scrambling for a Thanksgiving Day ADR, deciding to keep this a secret from the kids, and then (weeks later), FINALLY securing the flights....

WE ARE TAKING A QUICKIE THANKSGIVING TRIP!!! Better yet, we are going to wake the kids up the morning we leave by saying "LET'S GO TO DISNEY WORLD!!" Then getting in the car and driving to the airport for a 7am flight!!!


I'm beside myself with joy. I really was dreading having to wait until June to get back there. Now we have just a few weeks to wait. And surprising the kids is one of my favoritest things in the world to do!

So, basics (for those of you that skipped the ginormous paragraph above)
Leaving IND: Tuesday, November 23 arriving in WDW by 10am
Staying: at POFQ (our very 1st time here)
Thanksgiving meal: at Tutto Italia for lunch
Departing ORD: Friday, November 26 after hopefully seeing the Christmas transformation!

We only have one ADR for the few days we are there. We are going to try and eat light and not break the bank on food. We are just going to be so happy just to be there! We DID decide to rent a car. The past several trips have had us driving there, or renting a car. We have become UBER spoiled with this. Hopping in a car to go wherever we want (parking at BWV or CR to access parks) whenever we want is a luxury we just didn't want to give up, especially since this is such a short trip and we will be cramming it all in!

So there you have it! Just FYI, the two trips that follow are:

June 26-July1, 2011: We are traveling to WDW with Matt's parents, his brother and his family (wife and daughter). We are all staying in a 2BR villa at BWV and exposing the rest of our family to the wonders of Disney! When we bought into DVC, this was something we ALWAYS wanted to do.. this summer, it will become a reality! CAN'T WAIT! PTR coming on that in the new year.... stay tuned...

December 20, 2011: We set sail on our very first Disney Cruise Line trip, aboard the Dream! Not only is this trip going to be amazing because it's our very first, but we will be at sea on New Year's Eve, AND we are traveling with 3 other band geek families!! (Dean, Adrianna, and Abby, along with Beast, Belle, and Chip-a family mentioned in some of my other TRs, and another family, who has two grown children and who share the love of band and drum corps with us) It will be a cruise made in Band Geek heaven! THAT will be a fun TR, for sure!


Well, anyone who has hung in there with me.. thanks so much for being here! I WILL be doing a TR for our Thanksgiving trip, but it will basically be pictures of the adventures... I'll post a link on here as soon as I can!

Take care y'all!!

 

[micandminforever]

Disney heaven is planning three trips and one being only a month away. I am so jealous, but glad to read there are three trip reports to look forward to reading.

 

[brookelizabeth]

LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited for you! I love, love, LOVE that you are just waking the kids up that morning and saying "Let's go to Disney World!" It's going to be so much fun for you and a memory they will NEVER forget! I cannot wait to read all about it!

 

[PrincessV]

Yay, yay, and YAY!!! Have I mentioned that it looks like Kate will be there that week, too? You guys are killing me with the Thanksgiving plans... after I canceled my trip! Still hoping to see you on Thanksgiving day, though... I may or may not have been checking rates at the Hilton Bonnet Creek for a night... and they may or may not have been to my liking.

 

[Sooze]

Just in case y'all are still around...

Disney heaven is planning three trips and one being only a month away. I am so jealous, but glad to read there are three trip reports to look forward to reading.

I'm so excited about all 3 of these TRs, too!! Starting to pack as we speak... (or type, I should say!)

LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited for you! I love, love, LOVE that you are just waking the kids up that morning and saying "Let's go to Disney World!" It's going to be so much fun for you and a memory they will NEVER forget! I cannot wait to read all about it!

We finally decided how we are going to surprise them. We are going to tell them we have to go to the airport to pick up some of daddy's drum corps friends. (Something not-so-uncommon in our household!) Then we will park at the airport and start unloading suitcases. When it seems that Ty has finally put it all together, we will say, "We think you might need these"... then put on Ty's lanyard/pins and Shae's Minnie/Princess ears. Hopefully there will be a large realization and much jubilation! I'll be videoing it all and hopefully posting it on the TR!

Yay, yay, and YAY!!! Have I mentioned that it looks like Kate will be there that week, too? You guys are killing me with the Thanksgiving plans... after I canceled my trip! Still hoping to see you on Thanksgiving day, though... I may or may not have been checking rates at the Hilton Bonnet Creek for a night... and they may or may not have been to my liking.

So sad we will miss each other again.. but I KNOW it WILL work out SOMEday!!

 

[Sooze]

If any of you are still around, here is the link to our Thanksgiving trip report!

THANKFUL FOR DISNEY! Sooze's next trip report