mousecatcher
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2006
- Messages
- 71
PRETRIP Chapter 1 Mousecatcher History
Well folks, here goes an attempt to emulate what Ive read and appreciated on the DIS for a couple of months now
. Its finally my turn to make a contribution. Be kind Im no UtahMama or Zzub thanks to you both for free entertainment!! (UMA Heres yet ANOTHER CAMEO!!) I must admit that 8 of UMAs top 10 reasons you are addicted
apply to me, myself and I. Not just 1, but all 3 of us
.
Potentially Boring Historical Background (Skip if you become drowsy )
My first trip to the World was on my honeymoon in 1985. As some of you will remember, those were times when straight-legged jeans (hold the rips and holes, please, and keep the waistline AT the waist, will ya?) was the beginning of every outfit. My soon-to-be in-laws surprised their son (and me) with a honeymoon trip to WDW. Now I must be honest here, I was not immediately thrilled. In fact I was disappointed because I had become brainwashed by the multitude of advertisements in the bride magazines with romantic honeymoons in Hawaii or the Poconos. Beautiful pictures of the most gorgeous scenery and those Jacuzzis shaped like a champagne glass!! How could I settle for something as juvenile as WDW? Is this what my in-laws think of me? That Im just a child??!!?? Mind you, I had never set foot in Orlando, but ASSumed that this was like a gigantic sized Carowinds, which was my only frame of reference. Ive been wrong in my life, but this occasion takes the cake, my friends ..
My fiancé had made many trips to the World in his life because his family has close friends who live just outside of Orlando. I saw that he was thrilled and decided it would be best if I just kept the whole disappointment thing to myself. I was so thrilled to marry him and busy with wedding preparation that I didnt dwell on it anyway. Plus, I was only in my second year of college, had a part time job, and I figured beggars cant be choosers (do any of todays children understand that phrase at all?).
So, the big day arrives, we say I do, the rice is thrown, and were off to the airport.
We flew Eastern airlines from Greensboro to Orlando in no time. Yeah, Eastern the airline that is gone, just like the 80s <sigh>. It was late when we arrived, but we grabbed our rental car and headed for the Hilton. I realized as we drove up that this could be more romantic than I had given it credit, but still was not ready for what lay ahead
The next day were up early and ready to drive to MK by park opening. Im totally amazed that trams are needed to get people from the parking lot to the TTC. Just how many people go here anyway? (still so clueless) . But NOTHING could have prepared me for that first walk onto Main Street USA .It was December, just after Christmas, so everything was still decorated for the holidays. It was totally breath-taking!! My other obsession is collecting Christmas stuff, specifically Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments, but thats a whole novel by itself. Needless to say, I was completely blown away.
At that moment on Main Street, I was totally covered in pixie dust. After that experience, it must be that every time my doctor draws blood, he finds the platelets gathering to form
. Apparently he is not concerned as hes never mentioned it to me. I can only imagine that its because he has seen it so often in lots of other patients.
As we shopped and ate and experienced the attractions, I was mesmerized by all of those Mickey-shaped things - waffles, lollipops, wash cloths, trivets, earrings, you name it. It was like I had never SEEN Mickey before not like this. Once my eyes were opened, there was no looking back.
And after 5 years of Spanish, I'm oddly entertained by the phrase "Por favor, mantengase alejado de las puertas"....so it becomes something I repeat (to this day) on random occassions.
Well folks, here goes an attempt to emulate what Ive read and appreciated on the DIS for a couple of months now
. Its finally my turn to make a contribution. Be kind Im no UtahMama or Zzub thanks to you both for free entertainment!! (UMA Heres yet ANOTHER CAMEO!!) I must admit that 8 of UMAs top 10 reasons you are addicted
apply to me, myself and I. Not just 1, but all 3 of us
. Potentially Boring Historical Background (Skip if you become drowsy )
My first trip to the World was on my honeymoon in 1985. As some of you will remember, those were times when straight-legged jeans (hold the rips and holes, please, and keep the waistline AT the waist, will ya?) was the beginning of every outfit. My soon-to-be in-laws surprised their son (and me) with a honeymoon trip to WDW. Now I must be honest here, I was not immediately thrilled. In fact I was disappointed because I had become brainwashed by the multitude of advertisements in the bride magazines with romantic honeymoons in Hawaii or the Poconos. Beautiful pictures of the most gorgeous scenery and those Jacuzzis shaped like a champagne glass!! How could I settle for something as juvenile as WDW? Is this what my in-laws think of me? That Im just a child??!!?? Mind you, I had never set foot in Orlando, but ASSumed that this was like a gigantic sized Carowinds, which was my only frame of reference. Ive been wrong in my life, but this occasion takes the cake, my friends ..
My fiancé had made many trips to the World in his life because his family has close friends who live just outside of Orlando. I saw that he was thrilled and decided it would be best if I just kept the whole disappointment thing to myself. I was so thrilled to marry him and busy with wedding preparation that I didnt dwell on it anyway. Plus, I was only in my second year of college, had a part time job, and I figured beggars cant be choosers (do any of todays children understand that phrase at all?).
So, the big day arrives, we say I do, the rice is thrown, and were off to the airport.
We flew Eastern airlines from Greensboro to Orlando in no time. Yeah, Eastern the airline that is gone, just like the 80s <sigh>. It was late when we arrived, but we grabbed our rental car and headed for the Hilton. I realized as we drove up that this could be more romantic than I had given it credit, but still was not ready for what lay ahead
The next day were up early and ready to drive to MK by park opening. Im totally amazed that trams are needed to get people from the parking lot to the TTC. Just how many people go here anyway? (still so clueless) . But NOTHING could have prepared me for that first walk onto Main Street USA .It was December, just after Christmas, so everything was still decorated for the holidays. It was totally breath-taking!! My other obsession is collecting Christmas stuff, specifically Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments, but thats a whole novel by itself. Needless to say, I was completely blown away.
At that moment on Main Street, I was totally covered in pixie dust. After that experience, it must be that every time my doctor draws blood, he finds the platelets gathering to form
. Apparently he is not concerned as hes never mentioned it to me. I can only imagine that its because he has seen it so often in lots of other patients. As we shopped and ate and experienced the attractions, I was mesmerized by all of those Mickey-shaped things - waffles, lollipops, wash cloths, trivets, earrings, you name it. It was like I had never SEEN Mickey before not like this. Once my eyes were opened, there was no looking back.
And after 5 years of Spanish, I'm oddly entertained by the phrase "Por favor, mantengase alejado de las puertas"....so it becomes something I repeat (to this day) on random occassions.
. I was able to find out which building was available for what we wanted (non-smoking, close to food court) and request it - building 15. Initially I had requested 14, 27 (18 is smoking 
), but 15 doesn't look bad on the map.
GGD has purchased a new camera and so I may be able to hijack some of his photos to post here with the trip report. 
shaped doodles on my desk when I returned to work this week 
). I felt my throat getting scratchy, so I reached for the Zicam. In case you don't know about this stuff (no - I don't work for them or know anyone who does) it really works. I used it for 4 days straight and DID NOT come down with a full blown cold. It kept nagging at me at times, but it was completely manageable and I never felt bad. 
still needed to be done for the boys before I could pack. I knew about some changes to baggage weight restrictions and didn't want to have to pay for excess baggage, so I planned to bring more smaller luggage. We ended up with 2 large suitcases and three smaller ones, plus 2 carry-on back-packs. I put the magical express yellow tags on the bags as well as the new luggage tags that came in our package from AAA. 
Poor DH, who owns his own business, was up all night doing paperwork and coordinating coverage for everything. The kids were asleep by 10pm which was great. 
, ME tags on luggage, print out of schedule/plan handy in back-pack, everyone set with slip on shoes for easy removal at airport, mousekeeper envelopes printed and packed, cell phones charging, and ipod/psp entertainment charged and ready for boys. Oh great, now it's 1:30am!!!! Stop thinking and GO TO SLEEP for crying out loud, will ya??!!?? 
