*12/13 Some News* 39 and Going Back at Christmas! A Dec. PTR

[shannn]

95 Days! That's what TGM told me this morning when I logged in. I can't believe we're finally in double digits. I've been planning this trip forever. But before I go on a little trip back in time, let me introduce the players: (I could never remember cute little names so you’ll have to handle our real ones. I’m not too nervous about privacy. The fat one with the big smile down there? yea, that’s me. Come on over if you’d like to meet me in person.)

Shann, that’s me: 38, gonna turn 39 in Disneyworld in October! I’m a 5th grade teacher, wife for almost 17 years (in August), mom to 2 adorable, sometimes, obnoxious kids; voracious reader and trip planner extraordinaire. I love Mickey & Minnie and my favorite thing at WDW is Philharmagic.

Sam, that’s DH: 41. He’s an engineer (mechanical, works in the automotive industry making air bags for cars. He tells everyone he meets that he “designs pipe bombs.” That’s engineer humor.) He loves motorcycles…no, wait, he LOVES motorcycles. Not Harleys, but street bikes. He also loves Ebay and drives me crazy looking for bargains when I want him to just buy the darn thing already. His favorite thing at WDW is Tom Sawyer Island.

I corrected the red eye on that one, so their eyes look a little strange.

Morgan 7 will be 8 in September. He’s about to start 2nd grade. He could be going into 3rd, but we held him back and started him a year late– did him a world of good. He is starting to be a pretty good reader now. He’s way into Star Wars (I’ll have to post pictures of his SW room when we finish it), and anything on the Disney Channel- Hannah Montana, Zach & Cody, Drake & Josh, Phineas & Ferb…. He’s also a complete drama king and possibly a bit maniac. His emotions are very up and down. He’s completely charming when he wants to be, but watch out if he gets upset. His favorite thing at WDW was Buzz Lightyear and wants to be Goofy for Halloween.

(He has those teeth now, so he looks a little different, but I do love this picture.)

This summer at Karate College

Lily: 5. She’ll be in Kindergarten this year. She is a complete girly girl but so not prissy. She’s likely to be wiping the mud off the skirt she demanded to wear! She’s totally into ponies, princesses, fairies, and American Girl dolls. I’m trying to convince her that “Alice” doesn’t need to come to the parks with us. She’s usually pretty easy to get along with unless she gets into her head that someone is not listening to her opinion and then man! she can be an absolute pain. Sam has asked me more than once if she has PMS. Her favorite thing at WDW was meeting the princesses (and she can’t wait to meet the fairies)

Here's another one that I LOVE:

And here they are together:

Grammie: my mom. She is a retired teacher who has been fighting cancer for 6 years. It started out as inflammatory breast cancer and has moved to her bones, lungs, and liver. She has lived with us since Lily was a baby, and I can’t imagine not having her here. She cooks our dinners, washes our clothes, and sweeps our floors. And when she’s having treatments, I hold her hand, make her soup, and tuck her in. She can also be pretty moody and she’s bald and doesn’t care who sees it. (Which I say—go for it!) Her favorite Disney movie is Monsters Inc. Her favorite thing at WDW last time was lunch in the castle.

This is with my brother. Our dad died in 1997 (the same day as Princess Di.) And, yes, that's a wig. I'm sure I'll have another pic of her bald.


Granmouse: Sam’s mom. She’s a retired preschool teacher and she is all that that implies. She incredible with my kids, wonderful to me, and an absolute jewel in every way. (Se makes up for my FIL, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.) She loves the Jungle Cruise at WDW and giggles at every corny joke. Too cute!!

Another one with some red-eye but still cute.

Okay, I’m only through with the introductions and this is turning into a book. Next, some history!

 

[wigdoutdismom]

I'm here! I'm here! (now going back to read)

 

[pooh'smate]

I'm joining in.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Here's another one that I LOVE:

And here they are together:

What beautiful little girl you have, I wonder if there might be a fairy or two hiding behind that rose bush? Her personality really shines through in her photographs! I love her name.....I'll have to put jot that down if we are ever looking for another grand baby name.
Morgan looks adorable and full of mischief! Gotta love those boys.....

Grammie: my mom. She is a retired teacher who has been fighting cancer for 6 years. It started out as inflammatory breast cancer and has moved to her bones, lungs, and liver. She has lived with us since Lily was a baby, and I can’t imagine not having her here. She cooks our dinners, washes our clothes, and sweeps our floors. And when she’s having treatments, I hold her hand, make her soup, and tuck her in. She can also be pretty moody and she’s bald and doesn’t care who sees it. (Which I say—go for it!) Her favorite Disney movie is Monsters Inc. Her favorite thing at WDW last time was lunch in the castle.

OK, this is tearing me up, I'm so glad you are there for each other.

Granmouse: Sam’s mom. She’s a retired preschool teacher and she is all that that implies. She incredible with my kids, wonderful to me, and an absolute jewel in every way. (Se makes up for my FIL, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.) She loves the Jungle Cruise at WDW and giggles at every corny joke. Too cute!!

You are blessed to have such a wonderful MIL and what can I say, sorry about FIL......


You are off to a great start, why did you think you couldn't do this?!?

 

[disdancer]

I'm in, can't wait to hear more!

 

[shannn]

O.M.G.! I have readers.
(You have to imagine that right - it's a favorite saying of mine and one of my good friends. Imagine saying the letters OMG, not the words they stand for, with a definite Valley Girl accent. Think ironic -- )

I'm joining in.

Thanks for reading. I'd hate to think that I'm talking to myself!

What beautiful little girl you have, I wonder if there might be a fairy or two hiding behind that rose bush? Her personality really shines through in her photographs! I love her name.....I'll have to put jot that down if we are ever looking for another grand baby name.
Morgan looks adorable and full of mischief! Gotta love those boys.....

Thanks. I do think she's beautiful - although there's definitely mischief there as well! Her name was my grandmother's name, although she spelled it Lillie, and we spell it like the flower, Lily. Morgan is always fun - he loves to make people laugh. Although usually he likes to make his sister scream.

You are off to a great start, why did you think you couldn't do this?!?

You're too sweet. I'm excited to have somebody reading!

I'm in, can't wait to hear more!

Thanks for reading.

Coming up next: A history

 

[shannn]

So, when I was growing up, I had relatives who lived outside of Orlando. We would go down and visit them each summer and my grandparents (Grammie’s parents) would take me to WDW. (Which was born when I was 1 year old.) These were day trips so no big family vacations, but I still remember them vividly. My favorite ride was IASW and my grandfather had me completely convinced that it was his favorite too! When I think how many times that poor man rode those boats over and over and over again, but he never let on that he was anything but thrilled.

Sam & I met in the band at Clemson University. So, we went to the Citrus Bowl 2 years at New Year’s and those were the only times he’d been to WDW. That’s what he thought of – New Year’s Day lines!! when he thought of Disney.

How cute were we??

A few years ago I started bugging him about taking the kids. I mentioned that Lily was only 2 and we should take her while she was free (man, he didn’t know me at all if he thought I was going to save him money!) And then I played the cancer guilt card about maybe Mom would never get the chance to go again. So, he reluctantly agreed and it was on!!

I got a bunch of books but I realized quickly that my favorite one was definitely the Unofficial Guide. I researched hotels forever until I finally decided that Stormalong Bay looked amazing. Our school district had just decided that we should have a week long fall break and that’s how we ended up with 5 nights at the Beach Club in October 2006.

Here’s some pictures of that trip:

This time we have a much better camera, so hopefully the pictures will be better.

Next time: I really will talk about *this* trip!

 

[manntra]

Awwwww! What a beautiful family---and very photogenic!!
The story about your mother is very endearing. You are both so blessed to have each other. I have always been a natural caregiver and I think I have fallen more into that roll as my parents get older....I am the youngest and the only girl....I see my parents every day as it is because they are my doggy day care for my little man!!
We do have a bit in common though ---I will be 39 (omg when did that happen!????) in September and I my next trip is for October also....but I believe I will just miss you as I am there from the fourth until the ninth.
Looking forward to hearing more about your trip!

 

[pooh'smate]

Shannn, you have a beautiful family. It was nice to "meet" them all.

 

[shannn]

Awwwww! What a beautiful family---and very photogenic!!

Thanks. You'll notice I'm not in too many of those photos!

The story about your mother is very endearing.

Thanks again. Most of the time it's great, although sometimes being an almost 40 year old who's being told to clean up her room by her mother is a bit annoying.


We do have a bit in common though ---I will be 39 (omg when did that happen!????) in September and I my next trip is for October also....but I believe I will just miss you as I am there from the fourth until the ninth.
Looking forward to hearing more about your trip!

Happy Birthday to you too. Yes, we'll be there from October 12-18 (and that's a story unto itself...)

Shannn, you have a beautiful family. It was nice to "meet" them all.

Thank you!

 

[shannn]

So, that trip was truly magical. I knew it would be, but honestly, I had no idea what it would be like to see my children fall in love with the magic of Disney. We followed stayed at the Beach Club concierge which was wonderful. The lounge there is very small and we weren't on the concierge floor, but I loved the feeling of being taken care of that concierge brings. We were on the DDP (which included the appetizer at the time) and ate at Ohana, Hollywood & Vine, Beaches & Cream, Liberty Tree Tavern & CRT. We were supposed to go to 4 days of parks, but we ended up adding a day (very cheap to do that when it's going from 4 days to 5) and spending just a morning at Epcot.

As we drove away, Sam asked me, "Where are we staying next time? I really liked the Polynesian."
After looking at him in shock, I was like !!
I tried to convince him that we should go every year, but he was not going for that (especially with the way I like to plan trips...) So he suggested every 5 years....we compromised with every 3 years.

Which brings us (finally, y'all are thinking......) to this year. We knew we wanted to stay at the Polynesian. First, we had loved the atmosphere when we went to Ohana for dinner. Secondly, we were so excited about a monorail resort. Our school district has had the 3rd week in October as a fall break since 2006 so I contacted our travel agent (at Small World ... I love her!!) and that was that. We were going to Disney in October!

And then we got a new superintendent....
And then he starting talking about a new calendar...

So were we??

 

[wsushocker]

I am subbing and now I will go back and read!

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Stop it with that calendar nonsense! You can't leave us hanging like that!

 

[wsushocker]

Our school district has had the 3rd week in October as a fall break since 2006 so I contacted our travel agent (at Small World ... I love her!!) and that was that. We were going to Disney in October!

And then we got a new superintendent....
And then he starting talking about a new calendar...

So were we??

When will those superintendents realize that unless there is a crisis then why not sit back and watch how things run for a year?

Change is not always good unless it is a diaper!

 

[shannn]

Y'all are too funny!
Didn't mean to leave you two hanging quite so long (okay, it did give me a thrill to know that someone was reading). I had to do the karate run and the cheerleading run and the dinner thing! So, where were we?

Oh yea, the new superintendent. He didn't like the week long fall break. He wanted a longer summer (don't get me started on why anyone would want more summer in the 100 degree heat when they could have a vacation in the lovely fall weather...) So, he added a week on to summer and changed our fall break to a 2 day Thursday/Friday break.

A long time ago when I was but a wee babe of a teacher I was completely offended by people who took their kids out of school for vacations. Didn't they know that school was important?? They could go on vacation in the summer. Oh how we learn! I have 2 personal days and I quickly decided that I could take them on Tuesday/Wednesday and still have a good vacation. We can drive there after school on Monday and drive home Saturday. Made the call. Changed the plan. There. That was settled.

And then....

(Nah, I won't do it again.) We drove to Myrtle Beach at the beginning of the summer. Now, Grammie had been in back of the van with the kids before, but this was 3 years later. And lots of treatments later. And, like I said, she can get grumpy. About halfway back to TN, she looked and me and said, If you can find a good price on a flight, I'll treat y'all to plane tickets to Disney."

I can definitely go for that. I start looking and I find a $129 non-stop flight to Disney on AirTran. Leave at 1:30 and in Orlando at 3:00. Compare that to an 11 hour+ drive and I'm in!! But, there's only one problem. They only fly out at 1:30 and there's no way I'm losing all of Tuesday. And their weekend flight is at 10:45AM - no way I'm losing Saturday. Oh well. You only live once. Book it on Monday & Sunday!!

So, that, my friends is how I ended up with Disney plans that include taking my 2 personal days and 1 extra day-without-pay on the week of fall break (which happens to be the end of a grading period.) Hello, new principal sir, let me tell you a story about Disney!! (How do you think he's going to react?)

 

[wigdoutdismom]

So, that, my friends is how I ended up with Disney plans that include taking my 2 personal days and 1 extra day-without-pay on the week of fall break (which happens to be the end of a grading period.) Hello, new principal sir, let me tell you a story about Disney!! (How do you think he's going to react?)

Did you say new principal?!? You are very, very brave.......

 

[shannn]

Did you say new principal?!? You are very, very brave.......

Well, I do have to admit that he was our asst principal in 2006 and 2007 (just not last year) so he does know me. I don't think I would have been this brave otherwise.

And I have a very interesting resort story to tell, but it will have to wait until tomorrow because we are reading Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire and my 7 year old just appeared at my elbow holding the book. Think that's a hint?

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Well, I do have to admit that he was our asst principal in 2006 and 2007 (just not last year) so he does know me. I don't think I would have been this brave otherwise.

And I have a very interesting resort story to tell, but it will have to wait until tomorrow because we are reading Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire and my 7 year old just appeared at my elbow holding the book. Think that's a hint?

I sooo wish for a fall trip to Disney, but we decided Christmas this year...

I do think that was a hint, what a sweet bedtime story!

 

[shannn]

We've been working our way through the Harry Potter books since Christmas, a chapter a night. He loves them, and after we read each book we watch the movie. It's been a lot of fun, and it's really helped his vocabulary!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, the resort story:
Like I told y'all, Sam had suggested the Poly. We were all excited and to stay there so that was easy. I called the travel agent (way long time ago) and booked the Poly Concierge Level, 2 rooms, DxDP for Tuesday - Friday nights with 5 day tickets. I figured on Tuesday & Saturday being half park days/ half travel days. We always do breakfast in the Lounge and no other meals since we're not big breakfast eaters. So that's 10 meals with 12 credits - throw in a couple of signature meals and it's no problem!

Well, when the whole flying thing happened, we were suddenly going to be in FL on Monday afternoon at 3:00 until Sunday morning. I called the TA about adding 2 nights to our Poly stay, but it would be approximately $1000/night because it would add on to our dining plan too. And it would add 6 more credits. That's 18 credits for 12 meals!! Aaack! So, that wouldn't fit our budget or make sense! What to do? We could have gone off-site for those nights, but one of the ways I sold flying to my husband was Magical Express so we didn't have to rent a car. I couldn't quite do that if we weren't staying on-site.

I knew my TA couldn't reserve anything that wasn't 3 nights or more, so I jumped on the Disney website. For $250 a night (so 1/4 of what it would have cost to add on the 2 nights at the Poly!) I booked 2 reservations for ASMu Family Suites for Monday and Saturday nights. I talked to the concierge at the Poly and they assured me that the transfer between resorts would be painless. We'll spend Monday at ASMu and transfer to the Poly Tuesday morning. They promise me that they can get us all checked in and off to the MK by rope drop. Then the bell services will transfer our luggage. We'll do the same thing on Saturday to transfer back to ASMu.

So, we'll be doing Value Room Only/Deluxe Package/Value Room Only!

Whew!! I thought this trip was completely done when I booked it last year!

Coming up next: Food!

 

[manntra]

Yay FOOD!!!