Two Sisters finally get to go to WDW together! - TR has started!

[John's Mom]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Berlin Wall. I found it very interesting.


Kathy

 

[tiggrbaby]

Floss,
That was a beautiful explanation and a moving video clip; thanks for sharing!

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

I remember all of the excitement on the news when that happened...

That was poignantly and honestly written...Thanks for sharing from a more personal perspective...

 

[DWGal210]

Hi there, I am back! Didn't want you to think I forgot about you!

First, I love your flashback pictures - so much fun!

Also, that picture of the real castle is GORGEOUS...when can I move in?!

Your post on the Berlin Wall brought tears to my eyes; very touching and moving, thank you for posting that.

 

[Flossbolna]

I have lots of replies to do... I think I need to work less, to have more time for this PTR...

I somehow got behind even before we left on our trip!

Congrats on your ADR's! They look great!!

I definitely think the towel animals are swans! But I can definitely see why one would think the one in the sink is a snake

I don't think your accounts of DL are too negative! I think there very interesting and I'm very glad you wheren't put off by all the strange experiences!

We are really excited about our ADRs! Good to hear that my snake is at least understandable!!

I thought the first picture was a swan and the second one reminded me of a snake!

Another one who can see the snake!!

Thank you for the flashbacks to Disneyland! I'm so going to make it there someday and maybe even to DLP of course I'm going to have to get over that pesky aversion to flying LOL!!!

Happy 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall!!!! What a great day it must be for all Germans!!!! Enjoy!!!

You could take a nice long raod trip to DL!! It would be worth the long drive, I promise!!

Thanks for your post on the Berlin Wall. Very interesting to hear your perspective. Thanks for sharing with us.

I am glad you enjoyed it!

Aww...so nice to hear your thoughts on the Wall and your experiences! I was living in Germany during this time and I remember I was at a concert and everyone was buzzing around and talking about it. I'll never forget it and luckily when I was younger while living in Germany, we took a trip to Berlin and so I was able to experience it before it really came down. So amazing and glad I got to live through it first hand albeit it was quite different for me being an American. There is so much history in Germany and this was ONLY 20 years ago! Oh how ich liebe Deutschland!

Thanks for sharing!

Heather

Hi Heather, how interesting that you experienced that day in Germany as a foreigner while I was in a foreign country as a German! The first years after the wall came down it was such a fast changing world, even in the West. I am a bit sad that I never really saw the Wall before it came down, but I rather prefer living in Berlin now without a wall through it. I actually cross it every day on the way to work.

Thank you for sharing your story... It's very interesting to hear first hand your experiences. And also thank you for sharing the video. My DS6 woke up this morning and found me watching it. He snuggled up next to me on the couch and was asking me lots of questions and was very intrigued. We had a great conversation on what the Wall was and what this video is celebrating.

It sounds like you had a really interesting history lesson with your DS!

I found it extremely educational and eye-opening, Magdalene... thanks!!

Thanks for the nice comment, I am really happy that so many people enjoyed what I wrote!

Floss - thank you so much for posting your experience re: the Berlin Wall coming down. I can't believe it's been 20 years - which makes me feel old, actually, since I've now been alive longer with it down than I was when it was in place. Although not by much.

I was in college when it came down and remember watching the footage of the wall coming down and the reactions of the crowds. It still makes me cry to watch it.

I have to cry every time I see pictures of those events, we were really witnessing world history happening then!

Love the post. I remember that from I guess it had to be my first year or so of college.

Good to heat that you enjoyed it!

Wow...love hearing your firsthand experience on the Berlin Wall coming down. I very much remember when it happened, my Mom was in the kitchen and we were watching it on TV, she was cheering and dancing. I didn't quite fully understand the reason she was celebrating at the time, but I do now!!

The memorial to it with the blocks, and the one block that doesn't move representing Korea brings tears to my eyes.

And on the PTR note - well, kinda, I think they look like swans! The one in the sink does look a tad like a snake though...but I'm sure it was meant to be a swan....!

Still loving the old DL memories. I don't think you are negative at all! It's neat to read a first reaction of someone's trip, and how things change over time!

You wrote once that your parents used to live in Germany? I guess they must have been part of the American Army in Germany? I can imagine that if you actually were involved in protecting the western world against the east in the cold war, seeing the iron curtain coming down must have been such great moment! In the speeches during the event the mayor of Berlin as well as the German chancellor both mentioned their gratitude to the allied powers. And Mrs Clinton and the video message from President Obama also got the most cheers from the audience, the USA are still very popular here in Berlin, thanks to the air-lift during the Berlin blockade in 1949.

I guess we can agree on a snake-like-looking swan!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Berlin Wall. I found it very interesting.

Kathy

I really appreciate all your positive comments on my post, thanks!

Floss,
That was a beautiful explanation and a moving video clip; thanks for sharing!

Thanks for reading it!

I remember all of the excitement on the news when that happened...

That was poignantly and honestly written...Thanks for sharing from a more personal perspective...

I am glad you liked the personal input, it was such a strange year for me to be abroad and being so disconnected from what was happening at home on the political level. I also appreciated much more the fears our European neighbors had with regard to a strong unified Germany. Germany now for example has 17 times more inhabitants than Denmark! And it is by far the largest country and economy within the European Union.

Hi there, I am back! Didn't want you to think I forgot about you!

First, I love your flashback pictures - so much fun!

Also, that picture of the real castle is GORGEOUS...when can I move in?!

Your post on the Berlin Wall brought tears to my eyes; very touching and moving, thank you for posting that.

Great to have you back!! Neuschwanstein looks beautiful, doesn't it? I am a bit ashamed to admit that even though it really is only a daytrip from Munich where I used to live for quite some time: I have never been there in person...

 

[Flossbolna]

I will try to post replies within your text...

Hey Floss...I saw this on Thursday but since I didn't have time to probably reply (I'm not know for the brevity of my writing -I thought I'd respond to this when I had the time...

I absolutely understand what you mean!!

(sorry for Katharina getting in trouble for not smiling in her photos...I can empathize with that-I did't always smile in all my photos either...still don't...

I didn't know that was a big German thing too...my friend who grow up in France/Morocco told me that in France if you walk down the street smiling at people you don't know-like in the US-people might think you're insane...Americans tend to be chummy-it's cultural...but some cultures might see it as fake/superficial...)

It is actually intersting that things are changing here. The story about Katharina not smiling in pictures is from our trip to the USA in 1992. I would say that Germany used to be more similar to what your friend from France/Morocco told you. Still, there is a cetain level of friendliness. It might vary from region to region, in southern Germany and in western Germany people are more sociable than in some northern region. Especially Berlin is known for being extremely unfriendly. But I think the strong influence of American popular culture has increased the importance of smiles, especially in pictures.

I am generally optimistic although I can be cynical and slightly sarcastic at times...I think that it's good to understand the world/history so you can be conscious of what is going on in the world without going around wearing a hair shirt...

What is a hair shirt???

I will check out the work of Caspar David Friedrich-...I am very interested in art...I used to love the PreRaphaelites when I was younger... then more artists like Delacroix and Goya ...I hadn't heard of Lucas Cranach but Albrecht Dürer was brillant , Kandinsky clever and Max Ernst a little disturbing...

...we were just at the Museum of Modern Art in New York this weekend...I have found as I get older I enjoy modern art more than I used to...I think it is more accessible to children as well...David thinks that cubism is really interesting...that you can take apart a face and but it back together the way you want to...(no set rules...)so he loves Picasso...he also thinks that Pop Art is a hoot and this week learned a little about Bauhaus-they were doing an exhibit on it...and has decided that is much "cooler" than fussy "older" Victorian stuff...which I guess was the whole point...

Wow, you managed to do an Ü!! I love art, but really prefer modern art. I always had trouble to really enjoy the old masters. I never thought that it would be more accessible to children, but I guess it might be. I personally started when I was a teenager with loving the Impressionists, moving on to Van Gogh, now my favourite artist by far is Mark Rothko. Katharina used to be a huge fan of Miro. So I guess in a way we both started with the more modern art. I am impressed that David learned about the Bauhaus! When I travel by car to Nuremberg (most of the time I take the train), I pass by Dessau where the Bauhaus was located and I am ashamed that I never managed to stop there yet. I think you are right, David just got the whole point of it! Personally I love modern architecture, one of the reasons why I enjoyed NYC so much and spent so much time, just walking through the streets in Manhattan!

I remember going to Versailles and the French Revolution made sense to me in a very visual way...looking at all of that richness and realizing what your average person's life must have been like at that time...versus the lifestyle of the court......

Yes, I can never see those castles and wonder how many people got exploited to build them. Actually that makes the Disney castles much more magical: the people you built them got a decent wage!

That makes a lot of sense about the musicians and the patronage system...I have very eclectic musical tastes and like classical, jazz and rock...I think Americans don't always get as much music education as we should...Jazz is really America's musical contribution to the world and yet a lot of people today see it as kind of "elite" and it was never meant to be anything like that...

Don't think that we Germans get a lot of music education!! I was once on a program with young lawyers from all over Europe. We were in Belfast in Northern Ireland at a dinner and the Irish hosts started to sing and then requested that the guests from every country that was represented should sing a song as well. We were two Germans and really could not find any song to sing. I was very ashamed.

I have heard of Goethe and Schiller... and Kant as well...I do remember hearing something about there being quite a few German philosophers......

Good to know!! Actually, I won't recommend reading Goethe and Schiller, I find them rather boring. I just did not want to assume that big household names in Germany were universally known, if I was asked about Italian or Spanish writers I wouldn't be able to name any...

I agree that a nation can be creative and produce art when its prosperous... ...the Renaissance would have been impossible without the Medici money...when there is little or no money-all you can do is think about surviving...

Yes WWI was terrible on so many levels...I think that it is difficult for many Americans to understand how hundreds of years of European history and being so close next door to other counties played into that...we have so much space and two big oceans on either side...

European history really is a rather complex thing... It is also very fascinating. One of the best books on that topic I read is Mark Mazower, Dark Continent: Europe's Twentieth Century. It gives an excellent overview of modern European history and really lets you understand how everything is connected. I found it to be very well written and great to read.

ON an entirely different level the Silly Symphony Cartoons had lovely soft animation and made a lot of music very accessible...cute...

Ok, I need to try to see some of those then!!

I can't wait to read an update on the Wall Anniversary...

 

[brookelizabeth]

You wrote once that your parents used to live in Germany? I guess they must have been part of the American Army in Germany? I can imagine that if you actually were involved in protecting the western world against the east in the cold war, seeing the iron curtain coming down must have been such great moment! In the speeches during the event the mayor of Berlin as well as the German chancellor both mentioned their gratitude to the allied powers. And Mrs Clinton and the video message from President Obama also got the most cheers from the audience, the USA are still very popular here in Berlin, thanks to the air-lift during the Berlin blockade in 1949.

Yep, they did - shortly after they were married my Dad was off to Germany. My Mom flew over a few months later and joined him. They lived there for a few years I believe. My Dad was stationed there during Vietnam, unfortunately, he doesn't ever talk about it-so I don't know exactly what he was doing there....I should ask my Mom and pry details from her!

 

[Flossbolna]

Yep, they did - shortly after they were married my Dad was off to Germany. My Mom flew over a few months later and joined him. They lived there for a few years I believe. My Dad was stationed there during Vietnam, unfortunately, he doesn't ever talk about it-so I don't know exactly what he was doing there....I should ask my Mom and pry details from her!

How interesting! If you get more information, I would be really interested to hear about their life here.

 

[Flossbolna]

So, it is time that I post a bit more about how our planning is coming along.

I just sat down and put our To Do list together in our wiki. I tried to give it a time frame, it is only 74 days until we leave!! And I just counted that I will only be working on 42 of those!!!

So this is what we still need to do before our trip:

to do before Christmas:

• travel health insurance (only nodnol)
• pick up passport (only nodnol)
• ESTA (electronic preregistration for traveling to the US)
• get in touch with WDW Special Diet (for nodnol's food intolerances)
• get some Disney-T-shirts (most likely order over internet from this shop: http://www.logoshirt-shop.com/index.php?s=2&cat_id=424_Disney&PageNum=3 )
• pre-order Photopass CD (this actually has a bit of a story: I did a photopass share last January and really loved having those pictures with the borders. But now the shares are gone, so I was really torn wether we really want to spent 99 $ on the CD. And then I found out that they have taken away the pre-order possibility and only people who booked directly with Disney and have given them their email-adress get a personalized code for pre-ordering. So I decided, that it was not worth 149 $! That would be a very nice dinner for the two of us!! But now I found out that you can still get the code if you booked through a TA to stay online, it seems that they are actually working on getting codes out to all people staying onsite. But at the moment you have to call them to get the code. So this is what I need to do.)

to do until two weeks before departure:

• finalize packing list

until Sunday before departure (we leave on a Wednesday, I will be off from work on Monday and Tuesday, but nodnol will be working):

• discuss touring plans
• shopping: coffee, books, possibly additional memory stick, cloths?
• get more US-Dollars (I have 25 at the moment and that should get us through the first moments. Once we are in the US, we will get cash from ATMs, we both have bank cards which don't charge any fees for getting cash abroad. So they are even better than credit cards which will charge 1.5% per foreign currency transaction we will be paying cash and charge to the room, which will then be paid off by cash. But would it be worth to be a bit on the safer side and have a few dollars more in cash with us?)

just before departure:

• discuss how to get to the airport (will be underground train and bus, but when and where to meet, and just for the fun of it, two pictures showing the Berlin underground and a Berlin bus in their best light!)

• pack
• print out all documents

Sounds like a neat plan, doesn't it? Does anyone miss something which is essential to preparing for a Disney trip – and we don't plan on making autograph books or matching t-shirts!

We have also decided that we will only bring my camera on the trip, but will share photography duty. I have a Sony Cybershot DSC-T10:

It is only a point and shoot, but it is really very small and actually makes pretty good pictures. I love it because it is so small, that you can actually put it in your pocket and it has this sturdy flap which moves over the lens. nodnol's camera is much older and larger. So we thought it makes sense that we just share the one camera and alternate who is the photographer of the moment. We intend to take lots of pics, also to help us to keep track of what we did for any future TR. But I guess food porn will still be my duty. I think I have actually finally mastered the art of taking usable food pictures. The true secret is to use the macro setting!!

 

[RachelTori]

You're so organized!

Only 74 days? Wow - that'll be here in no time!

I'm leaving tomorrow for a quick trip to WDW. Packed my summer clothes since it's in the high 70's/low 80's in Orlando. (it's almost that warm here in Georgia today! )

See ya real soon!!

 

[If U Had Wings]

Looks like your plans are coming along great. I'm debating myself over the photopass. I never received the e-mail and $149 is just way too much. Even $99 is quite a bit for me. Last time I went with my BFF we split our CD with my parents who traveled to Disney 2 weeks later. Since I'm hopelessly behind on my scrapbooking, I'm thinking of just using the photopass pics to make one of their scrapbooks. I know they are pricey, but I think the price should still be less than what I would spend on the disk and then all the scrapbooking supplies. Plus all the photopass photographers will take a picture using your camera as well. The borders and stuff are nice, but you can still get all the same shots using just your camera.

 

[Flossbolna]

You're so organized!

Only 74 days? Wow - that'll be here in no time!

I'm leaving tomorrow for a quick trip to WDW. Packed my summer clothes since it's in the high 70's/low 80's in Orlando. (it's almost that warm here in Georgia today! )

See ya real soon!!

I hope you have a wonderful trip - sounds like beautiful weather!

Looks like your plans are coming along great. I'm debating myself over the photopass. I never received the e-mail and $149 is just way too much. Even $99 is quite a bit for me. Last time I went with my BFF we split our CD with my parents who traveled to Disney 2 weeks later. Since I'm hopelessly behind on my scrapbooking, I'm thinking of just using the photopass pics to make one of their scrapbooks. I know they are pricey, but I think the price should still be less than what I would spend on the disk and then all the scrapbooking supplies. Plus all the photopass photographers will take a picture using your camera as well. The borders and stuff are nice, but you can still get all the same shots using just your camera.

That's a shame that you did not get the email. It is supposedly titled something like: "Magical Musts for your Disney Vacation" and the link is hidden somewhere in the end. Also, you can only use this link once it appears, so don't check it out and then close it.

I agree that 99 $ is still a high price. And for just a normal trip, I would not see the point in paying it. But this trip is going to be a bit of a "once in a lifetime" thing and I really would love to have the pictures as a memory for Katharina's and my trip. If I were going solo or just with a friend, I would not spend that much money on the CD! I think your idea with the scrapbook is a good one!

 

[jenjolt]

YAY for to-do lists!!! I bet these next 70 days or so are going to fly by before you know it!!

I always enjoy your pictures of your country...so beautiful I would love to come visit some day!!!!

Nice camera...you will definitely have some great pictures to show all of us on your return!!!

 

[Flossbolna]

YAY for to-do lists!!! I bet these next 70 days or so are going to fly by before you know it!!

I always enjoy your pictures of your country...so beautiful I would love to come visit some day!!!!

Nice camera...you will definitely have some great pictures to show all of us on your return!!!

Oh yes, the next weeks will be over before we know what happened! It always seems that December doesn't exist because Christmas is here so fast and then after the holidays it's just three or so weeks until we go to WDW! So we really need to start to focus on our to-do-list!

 

[mickeysmyboy]

Wow! Your account of the Berlin Wall was great! It was so interesting to hear from someone who is actually German. My dad was station in German for quite awhile in his army days. I wonder what his accounts are of the wall and the division. I'll have to ask him!!

You list looks great! Your very organized!

One thing, I read that you can no longer pre-order the photopass CD. Not sure if this is true. I was able to for our trip a few weeks ago with no problem. But apparently they stopped within days of my order. I have to try to find out because I was planning on ordering one for Jan as well.

 

[Flossbolna]

Wow! Your account of the Berlin Wall was great! It was so interesting to hear from someone who is actually German. My dad was station in German for quite awhile in his army days. I wonder what his accounts are of the wall and the division. I'll have to ask him!!

You list looks great! Your very organized!

One thing, I read that you can no longer pre-order the photopass CD. Not sure if this is true. I was able to for our trip a few weeks ago with no problem. But apparently they stopped within days of my order. I have to try to find out because I was planning on ordering one for Jan as well.

Thanks for the nice comment on the Berlin Wall update. I think you should definitely ask your dad. I think our parents lived through times which are history by now and it is great to get a personal account of that.

on the photopass CD they have changed the process. I would recommend checking out their facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Disneys-PhotoPass-Service/148371108324 ), also because they offer great codes on there as well.

They have explained it there like that:

"We haven't taken the pre-arrival CD away, but we did make a change to ensure that guests are truly buying it before their trip. To do so an email is sent about 45 days prior to your vacation. However, since we just made the change, some guests who are arriving fairly soon will get their email closer to their actual arrival date.

The link to the pre-arrival offer is included in a newsletter-style email, note that the link to the offer is just one of many links in the message. The email is called "Magical Musts for your Disney Vacation" and is sent out by our partners in Walt Disney World Marketing. We are currently working closely with our partners to find a way to get this email and/or a link to the offer to all eligible guests including those who book through Travel Agents and to Disney Vacation Club members. If you fall into one of those two groups AND you have an upcoming trip (within 45 days or so) please contact our Guest Support team using the Contact Us information on the site and they will assist you.

We thank all of our guests and fans for their patience and understanding as we work through this new way of providing the pre-arrival offer.

Disney's PhotoPass team"

 

[mickeysmyboy]

Thanks for the nice comment on the Berlin Wall update. I think you should definitely ask your dad. I think our parents lived through times which are history by now and it is great to get a personal account of that.

on the photopass CD they have changed the process. I would recommend checking out their facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Disneys-PhotoPass-Service/148371108324 ), also because they offer great codes on there as well.

They have explained it there like that:

"We haven't taken the pre-arrival CD away, but we did make a change to ensure that guests are truly buying it before their trip. To do so an email is sent about 45 days prior to your vacation. However, since we just made the change, some guests who are arriving fairly soon will get their email closer to their actual arrival date.

The link to the pre-arrival offer is included in a newsletter-style email, note that the link to the offer is just one of many links in the message. The email is called "Magical Musts for your Disney Vacation" and is sent out by our partners in Walt Disney World Marketing. We are currently working closely with our partners to find a way to get this email and/or a link to the offer to all eligible guests including those who book through Travel Agents and to Disney Vacation Club members. If you fall into one of those two groups AND you have an upcoming trip (within 45 days or so) please contact our Guest Support team using the Contact Us information on the site and they will assist you.

We thank all of our guests and fans for their patience and understanding as we work through this new way of providing the pre-arrival offer.

Disney's PhotoPass team"

Thanks sooooo much for the info floss!! I really appreicate it!!!

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

I really like your to do list...in fact I'm going to copy some of it and just change it from Berlin to Orlando to New York to Paris...

You also have me thinking about cameras...I think I need to upgrade and keep our old one for Eric or Emily to use...(David is getting a Lego camera during the holidays...


(btw...I loved reading your cultural reply back to me...love talking about those things......and a hair shirt...hmmm...I think there might be a more "sophisticated" word for it but it was something worn by monks during the middle ages during Lent when they were doing penance...very uncomfortable undergarment...scratchy, unpleasant...

so what I meant by being conscious but not wearing a hair shirt is that while I think we should always be aware and empathetic about what goes on in the world we shouldn't "wear a hair shirt"-we shouldn't beat ourseives up every day-we should enjoy and appreciate what we have in our lives...

 

[Flossbolna]

Hi everyone, sorry for being so silent here. I guess everyone knows how it is when life interferes with DIS time...

And for nodnol it is really unpleasant life events that interfere Her DH started to feel bad at work last Thursday and while it was first suspected that he had the swine flu, it was then deemed to only be an infect. BUT he still hasn't got rid of the fever he started to have a week ago!! nodnol and I were supposed to travel to Nuremberg together today to visit our parents and then also our aunt and our two cousins who also are our god-daughters (they are much younger and we each are god-mother to one of them) for our annual visit to make a special type of Christmas cookies. Last year we had to postpone due to horrible winter weather, so we were really looking forward to this. Now nodnol will stay in Berlin today, she may come to Nuremberg tomorrow, but this depends on how her DH will feel. So she really has a lot of negative things around: nervous about her DH's health, having to miss out on this weekend she was looking forward to and finally being afraid of finally getting that infect herself as well...

 

[tiggrbaby]

Prayers for better health for nodol and DH! I hope you are able to enjoy the weekend anyway!