Disneyland_Mama
<marquee><font color=peach>His head instantly infl
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2006
Hola, everyone!
Were heading back to Disney World this winter and this time, so is Waldo!! Yup, its been far too long since Waldo wandered the world and since its been a tough 6 months for him, we decided its time! So sit back and enjoy the next 175 days filled with craziness, planning changes and downright tomfoolery!
Lets do a little backstory about me and my wacky family .
My name is Disneyland_Mama and I live with my family in Southern California, just 11 miles from the ORIGINAL Happiest Place on Earth. Ok, so my names not really Disneyland_Mama, it's Tracy, but feel free to call me T. This will be my 7th trip since first being introduced to WDW in 2006. We are DVC owners at Kidani Village and AP holders at Disneyland since 1996.
My happy hubby is Andy. This is also his 7th trip and while he loves Disney, I think hes had enough. Getting him to go to DLR is even becoming more and more difficult. Hes ready for a trip to Aulani.
Here we are freezing out keesters off in Jan. 2010 during a long "no kids" weekend.
Here are our children, Maddie (9) and Evan (6). This is their 6th trip to Disney World. They are completely in love with all things Disney. They love the good rides and they love the resort pools the most. Theyre both finally of age and height to really get their Disney on, and that just makes everything so much easier. Finally, no strollers and no baby swaps ..
Joining us are my parents, Waldo and TE.
Let me tell you a little bit about my parents. Waldo is the infamous wandering wonder. He got his nickname on our first trip back in 2006. Traveling with my Dad anywhere is like a constant game of Wheres Waldo? He often ducks into stores or wanders ahead of the group and becomes lost. It drives us all insane because A) He cant hear, so calling out his name is useless and B) He has no sense of direction. We have to stop our touring, send out the troops to find him or wait until he pops up. Its annoying as heck! But hes funny as hell, has the BEST one liners, keeps us entertained and most of all, I love the bond he has with my kiddos.
My mom, TE, is much easier to travel with. Well, except the time she needed an ECV and ran me over. But I digress Anyway, my Mom is a people person and makes new friends everywhere she goes. Shell talk to anyone, anywhere. It scares me.
This trip is extra special for us and my parents. For the past few years, Waldos been slowing down and we didnt think anything of it, just thought his age was catching up to him. He turned 76 this past June, FYI. Anyway, October 2010, his doc ordered a routine angiogram and it turned into an emergency quadruple bypass. Ack! Anyway, with a refurbed ticker, Waldos ready to hit the world!
Here's Waldo trying on the Halloween costume he didn't get to wear:
And his Proof of Life (NOMeg&Russell) picture I had to show my kids after surgery to prove that he was infact fine and alive after his bypass.
We decided not to battle the heat of the summer, like we usually do and go for Thanksgiving week and a few days before. Then I realized I didnt have enough DVC points and would have to borrow. BUT, since my Use Year isnt until December, it wasnt possible. Now what? Well, we love Disneyland at Christmas and Ive always wanted to see WDW at Christmastime, so how about we borrow the heck out of our points and just go balls to the wall this year and skip WDW entirely next year? Hurray!!!
So, it was decided wed take the kids out of school 3 days before the official Winter Break and leave on 12/14 and return on 12/25. Now with 6 people, we didnt have enough points for a 2 bedroom villa during the holiday rapeyouofpoints season, so I had to do a little fuzzy room point allocations.
Then TE & Waldo (The Waldos) started squawking about not being home for Christmas and that they want to leave on the 21st and Andy started squawking that he wants to stay through Christmas Day. Ugh!
So, I pulled out my handy dandy points calculator and came up with a stellar plan!
12/15-12/18
Animal Kingdom/Kidani Village 2 studio accommodations
12/18-12/21
Animal Kingdom/Kidani Village 2 bedroom accommodation
The Waldos fly home on 12/21
12/21-12/25
Animal Kingdom/Kidani Village 1 bedroom accommodation
Looks good, right?
Oh, just wait .
Up next:
Planes, Calendar screw-ups, Hogsmead and Automobiles ..
Were heading back to Disney World this winter and this time, so is Waldo!! Yup, its been far too long since Waldo wandered the world and since its been a tough 6 months for him, we decided its time! So sit back and enjoy the next 175 days filled with craziness, planning changes and downright tomfoolery!
Lets do a little backstory about me and my wacky family .
My name is Disneyland_Mama and I live with my family in Southern California, just 11 miles from the ORIGINAL Happiest Place on Earth. Ok, so my names not really Disneyland_Mama, it's Tracy, but feel free to call me T. This will be my 7th trip since first being introduced to WDW in 2006. We are DVC owners at Kidani Village and AP holders at Disneyland since 1996.
My happy hubby is Andy. This is also his 7th trip and while he loves Disney, I think hes had enough. Getting him to go to DLR is even becoming more and more difficult. Hes ready for a trip to Aulani.
Here we are freezing out keesters off in Jan. 2010 during a long "no kids" weekend.
Here are our children, Maddie (9) and Evan (6). This is their 6th trip to Disney World. They are completely in love with all things Disney. They love the good rides and they love the resort pools the most. Theyre both finally of age and height to really get their Disney on, and that just makes everything so much easier. Finally, no strollers and no baby swaps ..
Joining us are my parents, Waldo and TE.
Let me tell you a little bit about my parents. Waldo is the infamous wandering wonder. He got his nickname on our first trip back in 2006. Traveling with my Dad anywhere is like a constant game of Wheres Waldo? He often ducks into stores or wanders ahead of the group and becomes lost. It drives us all insane because A) He cant hear, so calling out his name is useless and B) He has no sense of direction. We have to stop our touring, send out the troops to find him or wait until he pops up. Its annoying as heck! But hes funny as hell, has the BEST one liners, keeps us entertained and most of all, I love the bond he has with my kiddos.
My mom, TE, is much easier to travel with. Well, except the time she needed an ECV and ran me over. But I digress Anyway, my Mom is a people person and makes new friends everywhere she goes. Shell talk to anyone, anywhere. It scares me.
This trip is extra special for us and my parents. For the past few years, Waldos been slowing down and we didnt think anything of it, just thought his age was catching up to him. He turned 76 this past June, FYI. Anyway, October 2010, his doc ordered a routine angiogram and it turned into an emergency quadruple bypass. Ack! Anyway, with a refurbed ticker, Waldos ready to hit the world!
Here's Waldo trying on the Halloween costume he didn't get to wear:
And his Proof of Life (NOMeg&Russell) picture I had to show my kids after surgery to prove that he was infact fine and alive after his bypass.
We decided not to battle the heat of the summer, like we usually do and go for Thanksgiving week and a few days before. Then I realized I didnt have enough DVC points and would have to borrow. BUT, since my Use Year isnt until December, it wasnt possible. Now what? Well, we love Disneyland at Christmas and Ive always wanted to see WDW at Christmastime, so how about we borrow the heck out of our points and just go balls to the wall this year and skip WDW entirely next year? Hurray!!!
So, it was decided wed take the kids out of school 3 days before the official Winter Break and leave on 12/14 and return on 12/25. Now with 6 people, we didnt have enough points for a 2 bedroom villa during the holiday rapeyouofpoints season, so I had to do a little fuzzy room point allocations.
Then TE & Waldo (The Waldos) started squawking about not being home for Christmas and that they want to leave on the 21st and Andy started squawking that he wants to stay through Christmas Day. Ugh!
So, I pulled out my handy dandy points calculator and came up with a stellar plan!
12/15-12/18
Animal Kingdom/Kidani Village 2 studio accommodations
12/18-12/21
Animal Kingdom/Kidani Village 2 bedroom accommodation
The Waldos fly home on 12/21
12/21-12/25
Animal Kingdom/Kidani Village 1 bedroom accommodation
Looks good, right?
Oh, just wait .
Up next:
Planes, Calendar screw-ups, Hogsmead and Automobiles ..
Can't wait to hear about all of Waldo's adventures.....oh, and your too
.
I haven't quite managed to bring that up in conversation yet...
Bwahahahahahahaha!! And that's one of my favorite things about TE...I love both her and Waldo and really, really can't wait to see them!!
The call that gives you butterflies in your stomach – come on now, I KNOW that I’m not the only one here…..
What can I say? We’re Potterheads! We couldn’t pass up a day exploring Hogsmead! I have to admit, I’m most excited about our day in Potterville! Anywho, I got a great deal on a package including early entry to Potterland! 
Yeah, that’s a bit of a problem……..
