2 Weeks in the World (and still not enough!) ~~UPDATED 9/17! Work calls & a kink~~

[Villainess]

April 23 – May 8, 2008 WDW Trip Report

Prologue

Hello and welcome! I started a PTR and sadly I never followed through with it but I promise to make this TR much better, filled with tales of stroller folding (insert imaginary stroller smilie here!), battling pirates , adoring princesses , overheard comments , and awe struck children! Oh and there WILL be pictures, after all I only took 5,000+! LOL! (Yes, and you will hear the jokes about that, too!)

Grab a dole whip, some , or a . Audience participation and are encouraged. FP's are not available at this time and for the safety of the cast, no flash photography!

I invite you, if you dare, to step aboard my trip report; it travels directly to ...




































Walt Disney World!








(Begin humming 'When You Wish Upon A Star' or visit here and choose your own WDW sounds for added effect)

 

[heaven2dc]

lol this should be interesting!! Subbing

 

[Villainess]

... and we can be a bunch of characters!

Me, Danielle, 28: Co-planner of the group, mommy to 2 wonderful children, photographer of the bunch (although learning and have to say a great big thank you to the Dis photographers!).My 29th visit to WDW. I love the Villains (hence, my screenname), especially, Maleficent , Big Bad Wolf, Evil Queen, and Jafar. My favorite attractions include POTC, HM , WS, and Cinderella’s Golden Carousel. MK is my favorite park followed closely by Epcot, then AK and DHS.

DD, 19 mos on the trip: My perfect princess and oh does she love it! She loves the princesses and everything about them, from dressing up to blowing kisses, waving and of course, the attention! I cannot say for sure who her favorite is, but currently Cinderella, Belle and Ariel seem to be in contention. She also loves , and Dopey. This was her 2nd trip to WDW. Her favorites included Dumbo, Cinderella’s Golden Carousel, POTC, the ride in Mexico (don’t remember the new name for it, but she loved spotting Donald!) and Mad Tea Party – to name *only* a few!

DS, turned 6 mos on the trip. He’s my “little man” and . Such a boy-boy! He’s the first boy for our family so both my dad and my grandfather love watching baseball, golf and home improvement shows with him. My dad and DS also frequent Lowe’s and Home Depot together! This was his 1st visit. Prior to the trip I would say his favorites were , , , and as he watches Playhouse Disney with his sister. Now, his favorites are clearly , , and Handy Manny. Buzz Lightyear, POTC, and the Tiki Birds mesmerized him.

My mom. Nonna, 54: the overpacker of the group, former TDS ***’t mgr. She’s been to the world 30-something times. Her hands-down favorites are and Cinderella. Favorite attractions include POTC, Philharmagic, and HM.

My dad, Pop Pop, 56: Co-planner, golfer in the group. This was also his 30-something visit. His favorites are and and enjoys POTC, Buzz Lightyear, and HM. His absolute least favorite attraction is Living with the Land (so much so that he won’t go on it and waits for us!)

My sister, Melissa, 25: Newlywed, other photographer in the bunch, loves all things and shares a special bond with DD over this. This is her 20-something visit to WDW. Her favorite attractions are Buzz Lightyear, RNR, and TT. Donald Duck is her favorite; she isn’t into the princess thing, never was.

My BIL, Seth, 32: Other half of the newlywed couple, not too into the character meet n greets but will pose for a few. I cannot say for sure if he has a favorite character but he does sport Donald t-shirts. He prefers the thrill rides and opts to skip parades to take advantage of the shorter queue lines.

Supporting Cast

Although they are not officially on the trip with us, they are with us in spirit (and on the phone – A LOT!) LOL! Due to my great-grandmother’s health when the trip was planned (I will report that she is doing fantastic according to her heart doctor and is ready to celebrate her 98th birthday in a couple of days - although she insists she is only 21 and I'm old! LOL!), they opted not to go on this trip but have promised they are coming on the next one; I hope so because I have so many fond memories of our WDW vacations with them – and lots of hysterical stories too!

My grandmother, Mom Mom – you will hear her mentioned often, mostly for calling to find out where we are about 10 times a day and to talk to my mom. She would also call after each phone pic we sent to her cell phone.
**Remind me to tell you the story about Mom Mom on El Rio del Tiempo after a margarita!**

My grandfather, Dee Dad: he doesn’t call as much unless he would get a pic on his phone where he couldn’t make out where we were, etc. We would talk to him during one of Mom Mom’s many, daily calls. He is itching to go back to WDW, so our next trip cannot come faster for him (our next trip is yet TBD but probably same time next year).

 

[Villainess]

lol this should be interesting!! Subbing

Welcome!!!!

 

[Mickeefan]

I've got my and and I'm ready! Bring it on.

 

[Villainess]

I've got my and and I'm ready! Bring it on.

Welcome!!!!!

 

[Villainess]

The official vacation begins April 23 through May 8 (April 23 – April 29 for BIL and my sister), but isn’t the last few days prior full of excitement and utter chaos just as fun?! LOL!

I made a countdown calendar for the 101 days leading up to our vacation. DD loved pulling a Mickey ear off the ribbons everyday and waved it around showing everyone and anyone around! As vacation time got closer, DS was able to pull off some too!

A week before we left I shipped 3 boxes via Fed Ex down to OKW. Completely worth it – if anyone is contemplating doing this. It was $31 and change and arrived the Friday before we arrived. I shipped down diapers, wipes, formula, baby food, toiletries, bibs – all the stuff that wouldn’t be coming home with us. I will definitely do this again, especially with the ever increasing airline baggage restrictions. In addition I placed an order with Garden Grocer for milk, juice, bottled water, cereal, snacks and laundry detergent. We aren’t huge breakfast eaters (and I’m sure you will laugh at this as the story progresses and you read about how many breakfasts out we had!). In general though, we will have a “large” breakfast (eggs and potatoes or pancakes) maybe once a week and we certainly don’t cook it! That’s what the local diner is for!

Fast forward to the Monday, April 21st. My intention was to pack DD, DS, and my clothes over the weekend; however that didn’t happen, so I started working on it Monday. In addition to that, I was washing and packing away our winter clothes too (silly me to think that we would have spring weather when we got back!).

Mom Mom came over to spend some time with DD and DS so I could get everything done and she was a tremendous help!

I had DD and DS’s summer clothes separated into categories (sleepwear, bathing suits, shoes, sundresses, shorts, t-shirts, etc) all over the living room. Guess what I discovered? They have soooo many clothes and I’m jealous! LOL! After about 2 hours of contemplating and coordinating outfits, I had separated the what to pack and what to put in the closet piles. I bought the travel Space Saver bags to pack their clothes; since they were both lap travelers I had to use my 2nd suitcase privilege to pack both their clothes for the 15 days in it. I’ll admit that I didn’t think they were going to work so in packing I was figuring out how I could optimize DS’s shorts with different shirts to maximize outfits and conserve space. DD wears sundresses – she’s not too fond of shorts (remember, I told you ‘princess’). Much to my surprise (and delight) the bags worked very well. I fit all of DS’s clothes into 1 large bag and 1 small bag. DD’s clothes took 2 large bags and a medium bag that was only half packed and as a result that bag didn’t really work too well. I considered running out and buying some more for my clothes but opted to pack first and see if I needed the room.

As you can imagine, the last days before we left was full of excitement in this house. We kept talking about seeing Mickey and DD would gasp and smile and DS would laugh. Yeah, I know he had no idea what I was talking about but I knew from DD’s first visit that he would have a ball! Playhouse Disney was playing constantly in addition to some Disney movies that DD and DS had never seen before so they would at least be familiar w/the characters if we happened to see them.

Once my parents got home from work, we ran out to the diner and grabbed dinner. Then it was back home to pack my suitcase. DD was very excited as I began packing my clothes although she thought it was a game: I fold and place clothes neatly in suitcase; she took said article out, shook it open and tried to put it on. Since it was bedtime for DD and DS – I stopped packing and put them to bed.

Once they were asleep I helped my mom pack. She has a tendency to overpack. And I don't mean 2 extra shorts, a few tshirts and pairs of socks. I mean grossly overpack! I started by coordinating multiple shirts to a pair of skorts, etc. She still brought more than she needed and I think her folding also makes her suitcase fill up quicker but she was under the 50lb weight limit by 17lbs so my dad and I were impressed.

In the meantime, my dad packed his suitcase and went to bed. It was now 11pm, the kids were asleep, my parents asleep, and myself standing in my bedroom staring at my bed with an empty suitcase and clothes all over (remember – DD was “helping” me pack). I had to pack my tripod in my suitcase since it was too long to place in my carryon suitcase with the rest of my camera stuff. I was a bit nervous and thought, “I know that my luggage is going to get lost bc I am packing this brand new tripod in here.” Then I yelled at myself bc I would have put money on it that I had just jinxed myself. I didn’t get to bed until 3am after I made a ‘To Do’ list for Tuesday.


Coming Up ... Getting Ready to Go (cont'd), our stay in the airport hotel, and our recreation of the 'Home Alone' running through the airport scene!

 

[wdwgirl03]

You're off to a great start! Looking forward to more. The countdown calendar is too cute!

Oh yes, and thanks for posting the link to the "sound effects"...now I'm going to be listening to those all night!

 

[Villainess]

You're off to a great start! Looking forward to more. The countdown calendar is too cute!

Oh yes, and thanks for posting the link to the "sound effects"...now I'm going to be listening to those all night!

Thank you and welcome!

The countdown calendar up and it is depressing to see it empty. I'll have to take it down soon and pack it away until next time!

Your quite welcome. I hope you enjoyed the music!


Next installment coming up!

 

[tink1957]

I'm in, it sounds like its going to be a great trip.

Love the countdown calendar, by the way. Can't wait to read more.

 

[J&J'sMOM]

Can't wait to hear about OKW- we'll be there in 2 months!

 

[TigerKat]

I'm jumping on board!

 

[Villainess]

I'm in, it sounds like its going to be a great trip.

Love the countdown calendar, by the way. Can't wait to read more.

Finishing up the next installment now!

Can't wait to hear about OKW- we'll be there in 2 months!

We really like OKW - it is my parents' "home" resort (as well as SSR) and we stay here 9 times outof 10!

I'm jumping on board!

Welcome!

 

[Villainess]

Tuesday, April 22nd.

DD was spending the day with my exDH, and much to my anger he chose not to take DS with him, not bc I wanted the house to myself but bc I have a problem with excluding one child and favoring a child (long, long story that has nothing to do with WDW), but I digress …

DS amused himself with toys while Playhouse Disney was on and later napped in his swing so I could wash bottles, run the dishwasher and empty out the fridge. In the days leading up to vacation, leftovers seem to get eaten more readily in the house than any other time. Odd.

I also finished making the hair bows for DD to wear that matched her outfits for the trip (which reminds me that I need to finish making her bows for the rest of her summer wardrobe!) I made a cute Minnie Mouse bow to match her Minnie dress for the 1st day; it was the 2nd time I had made it and I was even more pleased with this one’s outcome.

Here is the first one I made her. The 2nd one is pink to match the dress she was wearing and I'll post a pic of that one a bit later!

My parents were working today and boy were they counting down the hours! My sister was at work as well but she was already in ‘vacation mode’; I think she stopped taking calls at 10:30am and she 'worked' until 5! BIL was training a full-time employee some of the opening and closing operations of the store he manages since his ***’t manager was fired the week prior and he wasn’t sure if his district manager would be able to get additional coverage from other stores in the area. (Any wagers that this tidbit will surface again later? - insert a smilie wearing a poker visor, but for now this one will do )

We were taking 2 different flights down. My parents, children, and I were flying on the first flight out of Newark at 6:30am and my sister and BIL leaving at 8:30am. Because we would have to leave our house Wed morning by 3:00am in order to drop off our car at the park and fly and arrive at the airport 2 hours ahead, we decided to get a room at a hotel by the airport. We would still have to get up early but not quite as early.

Once DD came home, we ordered pizza for dinner and gave the kids quick baths so I wouldn’t have to worry about that once we got to the hotel. I put them in their pj’s since it was already 8:30pm. I had plans of taking a shower prior to leaving but given the time, I decided to take one at the hotel since I don’t sleep much the night before leaving on a trip – way too much excitement and I also want to be sure we get up early enough (read on and you will see why!) My dad packed the car while the kids took their baths - which was an exercise in strategic maneuvering. Let's see we had 4 newly purchased lightweight 27" suitcases, 2 19" suitcases, 2 carry-on bags, a laptop bag, and the humvee of double strollers:

I asked a really stupid question, "Hey, Dad, you bringing your golf clubs?" To which I received the glare of death and quickly went in the house to grab the kiddos. OK, no golf for Pop Pop this trip.

We checked to make sure we had everything (hotel confirm, flight info, ID’s, annual passes, DVC card, Magical Express stuff, keys, ADR confirms – all the important stuff). By 9:15pm we were on our way! The kids fell asleep almost instantly as it was way past DD’s bedtime and close to DS’s.

The car trip was uneventful until we got off the Turnpike and began looking for the hotel. Apparently my dad had the address for the hotel and the hotel confirm but it was in his suitcase in the bottom of the pile of suitcases in the back of the SUV. He shared this information as we drove through past the “EZ Pass paid” message of the toll plaza. Things like this happen all the time to us – doesn’t faze my mom or I. Given that we were able to leave the house without forgetting something or having to backtrack meant we were due for a snaffou! In fact, it wouldn’t be a trip without these little hiccups!

We knew the name of the hotel and that it was 0.4 miles from the airport so we drove up around looking for the hotel. While we did this, we drove past the exit for the park and fly that we would be using in the morning so we wouldn’t have to search for that then. About 10 minutes later we found the sign for the hotel. Apparently, it wasn’t on the main road so you couldn’t see the hotel itself.

We check-in and bring ALL the luggage into the hotel room – we weren’t comfortable with the thought of leaving it in the car overnight. The kids woke up from all the activity and DD was a bit confused. After all, we’ve been talking about seeing Mickey for the longest time and now we’re standing in a very large but rather empty hotel room at 10:30pm. As I mentioned the room was unusually large so the 2 beds, nightstand and dresser seemed dwarfed in comparison – lots of carpet area for DD to run around had it been earlier. She was too tired to try to sort it out and went back to sleep rather quickly. DS also fell asleep for the night too.

My dad set his alarm for 4:30am and went to bed. Yup, you read that right – 4:30am and the flight leaves at 6:30am. My mom was still up and we decided that 4:30am was cutting it way too close to load the car back up, get to the park and fly, check in and grab breakfast before boarding. Our last trip, we were able to eat breakfast since we opted not to pre-board with an infant. I felt rushed and did not want a repeat of that. My dad, on the other hand, does not like to sit around and wait, preferring to get through security and walk on the plane.

My moms hits the sack, I set my cell phone alarm for 3am, and take my shower. I’m now wide awake and watch some TV – nothing on but Seinfeld so I watch that for a bit, trying to ignore the harder-than-a-rock mattress and flat pillow underneath me; I drifted off around 1:15 am only to wake up a few minutes later by a thud. DD (who was sleeping next to me) rolled over the pile of pillows I placed next to her and fell off the bed. She was scared, obviously, but thankfully wasn’t hurt – I moved the suitcases next to the bed and slept with my arm over her and one eye open. (She hasn’t slept in a crib for awhile since she figured out how to climb out but I guess it was an unfamiliar bed and pure exhaustion). I’m awake at 2:57am, waiting for the alarm on my cell phone to go off.


Coming Up ... Our Airport Scene, Up, Up, and Away, the Official start to our vacation

 

[babytrees]

great start!!!

 

[Villainess]

great start!!!

THank you and

 

[Villainess]

New installation coming in the next 1-2 days! My great grandmother isn't doing well (she is now in hospice care), but I haven't forgotten about my readers!

 

[jjk]

an excellent start,cant wait to read more

sorry to hear about your Great Grandmother

 

[tink1957]

So sorry to hear about your Great Grandmother

Just take your time about posting, family is the most important thing & we will be here when you have the time.

 

[Villainess]

Hi everyone! Seems like I feel off the face of the Earth, huh?

I apologize for the delay. My family and I spent a lot of time with my great grandmother the past 2 months. She became an angel on Sunday, August 17 with her daughters by her side, at home. She is out of pain and with her husband, mother and sister. She had a beautiful life - all 98 years and we are blessed that she was with us for so long. Grandma was able to see her great great grandchildren (my DD and DS). We actually were with her the day before she passed; DD playing ball with her and DS playing peek-a-boo.

I would like to continue my trip report and remember our fabulous vacation, hoping I will have a TBD date for a return trip and a pre trippie to begin as well!

Next installment is coming up!