A DIS stalker's first pre-trippie...It's D-Day (Disney Day)!!

[Disneyolic]

Loving your TR inside a pre TR, so fun to see all the old photos, can't wait for more!

Thank you for reading . I wish I had a scanner so these old photos would look better but, oh well... When I finally get to my 2003 trip installment, the pictures will be MUCH better!

Well, God Bless ya all for having fun in the rain anyways! It looked positively miserable out and there you all are smiling and having fun!
I love all the old pics!

Really enjoying all of the updates and memories!

We had a great time in the rain. We just all had fun with it. I had wanted to post a picture of my whole family with King Kong. It looked like we were all being held by King Kong and we all had the goofiest faces! I asked my dad for the picture and, of course, he has no idea where it is nor does he want to look for it now. Bummer...

 

[Disneyolic]

Rob & I had our day alone at Epcot. From what I actually remember, it was a really nice day. I have just a few pictures to share of that day so here goes...

Stopping along the Canadian pavillion. Hey Rob, pose for me please honey.

What's this? It looks like Le Cellier in the background. Did we go to eat here? Nope. But we will be this coming June and both Rob and I can't wait!

I like this picture with the 25th birthday sign...

Strolling along the World Showcase we walked over the bridge from International Gateway. This is where the Illuminations Cruise pontoon boats park under. Not always a great advantage spot...

We had lunch at the Garden Grill and Minnie & I were like two peas in a pod...

Of course, Dale had to come along and give me some "loving"...

So in the France pavillion Rob had to get this picture taken. He posed for it so sweetly...Remember this photo as it will come into play in my next trip in 1998!

And so ends our trip in 1997...Will we go back again soon? Well, you all know that we go back again in 1998...no surprise there, but how long was our Disney World visit?

Stay tuned for the next installment....Uncle Vick is letting us stay in his condo!

 

[twob4him]

Hi Dawn Maree

Yikes! What is that thing Rob is next to??
I love all the flowers in the pics. I am really getting excited to go! I cant wait for the next installment? Whats this I hear....a free condo????

 

[Disneyolic]

Hi Dawn Maree

Yikes! What is that thing Rob is next to??
I love all the flowers in the pics. I am really getting excited to go! I cant wait for the next installment? Whats this I hear....a free condo????

Yikes is right. That is some sort of gargoyle like thing in the France pavillion as we were waiting to go into the show.

Next installment coming up soon....

 

[Disneyolic]

My Uncle Vick & Aunt Irma (I just call them by their first names tho) own a 2 bedroom condo on the Gulf in Redington Shores. If you don't know where that is, it is near Clearwater, St. Petersburg. Rob & I were living in Niagara Falls in April 1998 as he had gotten a new job there. We had rented a nice home on the "mighty" Niagara River. It was so nice being there - at least for the summer. I had the great idea to ask Vick if we could stay in his condo for our upcoming vacation in September. He said sure but it'll cost you $100 for cleaning, a/c, etc. It was still a bargain so I made the arrangements to leave from Buffalo on NorthWest Airlines, through Detroit, then down to Tampa.

Then Rob got transferred in August back to Syracuse. I stayed on in Niagara Falls and got things packed up and we moved back to Baldwinsville on Labor Day weekend. I then had to change our air as there was no way we were going to drive 3 hours to get a flight. Cost us, I think, $50 total to change. Our vacation was nearing when a hurricane was heading right for the Tampa area for the time we were going. Oh no! We kept watching and it looked worse and worse, so Rob changed his week at work for the following week and I went to the airport to personally change our air AGAIN. This time they didn't charge us because of the hurricane.

We finally get down to Tampa and we rented a cute little Mitsubishi Spyder. Loved that car! The condo was really nice. Looking out onto the Gulf was beautiful. Time to pose for a picture...

Oh, and if you are looking at my face thinking I am one of those women who don't know how to put on face makeup...you are wrong. I have no idea why my face looks that way. It has to be the way the light is shining cause look at my arm...it's the same way.

Anyhoooo, we decide to take a couple of nights away from the condo and drive across state to Kenney Space Center. We got up early and drove across state and did KSC. We like it well enough. This was during the time that John Glenn was going to take his historic flight back into space. There was this wall at KSC that people were signing all over the place. Well, ditzo that I am didn't read the sign and was saying how disgusting people really were that they had to go and put graffiti all over the wall! Rob laughed at me and said they were supposed to do that to give John Glenn well wishes. Another DOH! moment.

When we were done with KSC we drove back to Orlando and stayed at the Radisson Resort Parkway (which they now renamed to Celebration). The next day we went to that "other park" called Universal Studios. It was a beautiful hot day and we had a blast on all the rides. I did have to raise my voice at a little girl and her mother on the Jaws ride because when we were getting in the boat the girl wouldn't move all the way over because there was some water on the seat. Rob couldn't even get in the boat so I, at first, politely asked her to move and she wouldn't. Her mom was oblivious at first. I then asked her to move and proceeded to say that others were waiting to board the boat. Her mother looked at her and told her to move over but the girl still said she didn't want to get wet. I said, this is a ride you may get wet on, either move over or let me sit there. She moved over. Ha ha. She got wet when Jaws came up and scared the crap out of her. I'm so mean but I was a bit ticked. If you were there, you would know how frustrated I was with this girl because it took about 3 minutes for her to move over (that's a long time when people are waiting to go on a ride).

So here I am walking down Beverly Hills. Notice how I fit in so well in this upscale town...

...and Rob fits in so well with this dragon!

The next day we did a whirlwind of Disney but I don't have too many pics. We were too busy running around that day. We started off at Epcot. This was the year that I said, "Hey, let's pose at every building!" Great idea, DM! Here's the first one...

...and the 2nd one at the Living Seas...

...well that was a great idea, huh?

Onto the World Showcase. Rob stopped to appreciate the true beauty of World Showcase lagoon.

Actually I had to go to the bathroom and came back and captured this pic before he saw me.

Here's my artistic talents at photography again...

A really nice girl in Norway saw us standing there and asked us if we wanted her to take our picture. Of course, we said yes...

And now, remember that picture of Rob last time in the France pavillion with the gargoyle? Well, he made me do the same thing this time around. I think I'm much cuter.

Looking at those pictures I think, if the gargoyle is still there, I will have to get a picture of each of our kids doing the same thing. Won't that be too cute?

We decided to head on over to MGM to ride Tower of Terror. We did that and I don't even remember what else when I had the great idea to go to the Magic Kingdom! So, we jumped back in our Spyder and headed on over for the MK. We park, get on the monorail. We were not really paying attention at first but then we overheard on the speakers of the monorail, "The Magic Kingdom closes tonight at 6 pm." What??? It was 5:40 pm. So, we just stayed on the monorail and went back to the car. WhatEVER!

Then we drove back to the condo and had a great rest of the week. This would be the last time we visited Disney World until after we had our two sons....


Coming up next....Along comes Evan...and Alec...

 

[DisneyJo]

Wow you have such a good memory, it's made me really want to look at our old Disney photo's I went when I was 9, 14, 15, 17 and 2 years ago, I can just about manage to remember the last trip

 

[twob4him]

Well, DM, I loved the pics and memories of this trip! I am assuming the huricane didnt do any damage to your Aunt and Uncle's house! Good thing!!

I hope the Gargoyle thing is there too...we all need some pics by it !! Then we can post our scary gargoyle pics

Looking forward to more!

 

[CourtneyandRyan]

Yay DM!!!! Loving the new installment!

I must admit though, I can't wait to see the "higher quality" pictures! I guess beggers can't be choosers b/c I'd rather see these than none at all!

 

[Disneyolic]

After 2 years of trying to get pregnant, Rob & I finally went to a fertility specialist. Basically (trying not to get too graphic here) I started taking some fertility pills and on the perfect day Rob had to “enjoy” himself. We then transported his “little swimmers” in a sterile cup on a fine Sunday morning to the doctor’s office where the doctor proceeded to “wash” them and then insert them into me. He told us that it that the percentage rate of getting pregnant was maybe 60% and many couples have to have multiple attempts.

Much to our surprise, it worked on the first try!!! The pregnancy went great until my 30th week when I started having horrible upper abdominal pains. The midwife told me I just had to sit up and breathe right. Yeah, right. After one horrendous night of pain, I went into the office whereby the doctor looked at me and told me that this baby was coming sooner than scheduled and I needed to go directly to the hospital, do not stop home, do not pass go. I was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia and then HELLP syndrome (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelets). This is a rare condition and can be deadly to both the mother and baby. Evan was born via emergency c-section at 31 weeks gestation and he weighed in at a whopping 2 pounds 8 ounces. They let me see him for about 5 seconds and wisked him away to the NICU. It would be over 24 hours before I saw him for real....

Here’s a picture of Evan a few days old. That’s my hand (with betadine solution all over it) by him so you can have an idea of how tiny he really was....

I had to stay at bedrest for another 4 days after the c-section because they were afraid that if I bumped into anything or fell that I would bleed out because my platelets were way too low. They had to give me a platelets transfusion. The whole experience was extremely scary but we are all very healthy now, thank God.

I just wanted to update you all to let you know what we were busy doing in our “nonDisney World” trip years. However, right after Evan was born I decided that we were taking him to Disney World in 2002 before he turned 3 years old. But that didn’t happen because I got pregnant again, and this time without the help of a fertility doctor. Along came Alec in 2001 so our plans for Disney World were bumped to 2003.

Oh, and in case you were wondering...Alec came into this world very healthy. He weighed 8 pounds 15 ounces!!!! And, to make things fair, here's his picture...

So, coming up, better quality pictures and...Our Family Trip to Disney World...The Trip Down

 

[Disneyolic]

So finally I get to plan our family trip to Disney World. It would be me, Rob, Evan & Alec, my parents (who I will call Mom & Dad, original I know), and Rob's parents (who I will call Marla & Bob). I was a member of the Disney Club, which sadly is now defunct, and as soon as I possibly could, I called and made ressies for the 8 of us to stay at Port Orleans French Quarter in November 2003. The Disney Club gave us a discount of, I believe, 20%. Whooboy, I was psyched.

Then the word on the DISboards was the POFQ was closing down due to renovations in the spring time. There was no word on how long the renovations would take place. I was closely following many threads as quite a few people had said that Disney may give upgrades to the current ressie holders. Well, that held true. I got to decide from these choices: (1) we get moved laterally to another moderate resort at no charge, (2) we could upgrade to the Wilderness Lodge for $10 more a night, or (3) we could upgrade to the Polynesian, BoardWalk, Yacht Club, or Beach Club for $30 more a night.

Since the Yacht Club had always been my dream resort, this truly was a no-brainer for me. It would cost us $210 more total to upgrade to the Yacht Club. My parents were totally in for it. Bob & Marla were hesitant at first but I told them they had their choice. They could do what they wanted but I was not changing my mind!!! I told them this would be a once in a lifetime chance for us to stay there. So everything was switched.

Our flight left pretty early in the morning. Rob had to work during that day so he had another flight scheduled for later in the afternoon. He would just meet up with us at the Yacht Club. Can you tell I was too excited to get to Disney World that I would not even wait up a couple of hours for Rob?? It was still dark when we arrived at the airport. I left all of our jackets in the car and we all went into the terminal. The boys were cold but I told them they would warm up. However, my parents went ahead and bundled them up...

We went up to the gate and waited for our flight to start boarding...that's me on my knees and Dad holding Alec. Alec, by the way, has a New Orleans Saints shirt on. (Are you paying attention Courtney?)

We flew Delta down to Atlanta and then onto Orlando. Evan was so excited going to Disney World...

...but Alec fell asleep.

FL Tours was waiting for us in the baggage claim center and whisked us away to Publix to pick up some groceries. We finally got to the Yacht Club at about 1 pm but we had to wait for our rooms because they weren't ready. So, we got some change of clothes out and stored our luggage. We got the boys suited up for the pool and we all went over to hang out at Stormalong Bay. We grabbed some food at Hurricane Hanna's and ate while the boys swam in the kiddie pool. I bought them some food but they just didn't want anything. All they wanted to do was swim.

The boys made their way over to the sand bottom section of Stormalong Bay. I went over to get a picture of them when Alec ran over to Evan and gave him a big hug...

Ahhh...that was just so special.

Next installment...Could it get any better than this? Absolutely!

 

[DisneyJo]

Awww your boys are so cute especially the last photo of them cuddling

 

[Disneyolic]

Awww your boys are so cute especially the last photo of them cuddling

Thank you! I remember much more from this trip than the others. There are a lot more pictures to go....

BTW - I love your 2nd new tag!!! What does that one mean now??? And boy are you lucky.

 

[DisneyJo]

the TGJ one stands for Tour Guide Jo, I was saying that the tag Fairy never visits the UK CB and another poster said I could act as her tour guide so I replied I could be TGJ like TGM then I said thankyou really nicely and it started moving, you can't believe how excited it made me

 

[CourtneyandRyan]

GEAUX SAINTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Way to represent NO from NY!!!!

Love it!

Now, I need to find a way to get you to LOVE LSU!

 

[twob4him]

After 2 years of trying to get pregnant, Rob & I finally went to a fertility specialist. Basically (trying not to get too graphic here) I started taking some fertility pills and on the perfect day Rob had to “enjoy” himself. We then transported his “little swimmers” in a sterile cup on a fine Sunday morning to the doctor’s office where the doctor proceeded to “wash” them and then insert them into me. He told us that it that the percentage rate of getting pregnant was maybe 60% and many couples have to have multiple attempts.

Much to our surprise, it worked on the first try!!! The pregnancy went great until my 30th week when I started having horrible upper abdominal pains. The midwife told me I just had to sit up and breathe right. Yeah, right. After one horrendous night of pain, I went into the office whereby the doctor looked at me and told me that this baby was coming sooner than scheduled and I needed to go directly to the hospital, do not stop home, do not pass go. I was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia and then HELLP syndrome (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelets). This is a rare condition and can be deadly to both the mother and baby. Evan was born via emergency c-section at 31 weeks gestation and he weighed in at a whopping 2 pounds 8 ounces. They let me see him for about 5 seconds and wisked him away to the NICU. It would be over 24 hours before I saw him for real....

Here’s a picture of Evan a few days old. That’s my hand (with betadine solution all over it) by him so you can have an idea of how tiny he really was....

I had to stay at bedrest for another 4 days after the c-section because they were afraid that if I bumped into anything or fell that I would bleed out because my platelets were way too low. They had to give me a platelets transfusion. The whole experience was extremely scary but we are all very healthy now, thank God.

I just wanted to update you all to let you know what we were busy doing in our “nonDisney World” trip years. However, right after Evan was born I decided that we were taking him to Disney World in 2002 before he turned 3 years old. But that didn’t happen because I got pregnant again, and this time without the help of a fertility doctor. Along came Alec in 2001 so our plans for Disney World were bumped to 2003.

Oh, and in case you were wondering...Alec came into this world very healthy. He weighed 8 pounds 15 ounces!!!! And, to make things fair, here's his picture...

So, coming up, better quality pictures and...Our Family Trip to Disney World...The Trip Down

OK OK...I am crying....awwwww....look how cute your two sons are.....

 

[twob4him]

Awww its over? My girls are checkin out Evan and Alec. I was trying to explain to DD3 that we may meet your boys when we are in Disney because they were staying at our hotel...and she says with big wide eyes, "Are they stayin in our room???" Kids are funny, arent they?
OK I will check back later...lovin the report!

 

[Crazy Kanga]

Hey DM! Finally had time to come over and get caught up. Great pre trippie.

 

[Disneyolic]

I have to wait until Monday to get to my next segment. Oh...there are lots and lots of more pictures from that trip!!! Just wait... I haven't said anything to my boys yet about meeting up with anyone down there because they don't even get it when they see a picture on here and I say it is my friend.

Okay. I lied. I thought I would have to wait until Monday to do the next update and then I just bit the bullett and did it...

 

[Disneyolic]

I went back up to the front desk to see if our rooms were ready yet and the CM said yes they were. She showed me a map of where they were located and, as I was looking where she was circling, I was thinking to myself, "Those are waterview rooms. I wonder if there is a mistake. I better not say anything so I don't screw it up." Well that is a just a big duh. Of course the CM knew we were getting upgraded for free to waterview rooms. We had a total of 3 rooms booked and all of our rooms were adjoining and waterview. Wow! I really was a bit in shock.

We get all of our luggage delivered to the room and I snapped some pictures, of course. That's Alec watching tv with a balloon from Publix.

Here is a picture I took from the lagoon looking toward our room. If you look closely on the 1st floor there are 2 men talking out on the patio. Those men are my Dad and Bob (FIL). That room was my in-laws, the room next to it coming closer was my parents, and the next room even closer was ours!

And here is a shot of our patio. I then proceeded to sit down and relax while the boys romped around in the grassy area...

This was the view straight out. As I sat here I nearly cried thinking how much of a dream it really was to be staying here, remembering Rob & my honeymoon when we walked past here and said that someday we would stay here. And HERE WE WERE! Well, Rob wasn't there yet...

If you looked to the left you could see the wedding gazebo...

...which later that day they were setting up for a wedding. I watched the wedding later. While I was watching the wedding I was thinking that I really wouldn't want to get married like that. It just didn't seem so personal and there were people hanging over the balconies. Just wasn't my cup of tea but it was fun to watch.

If you looked right from our patio you could see the lagoon. On a bunch of different nights we would just walk out of our patio and stroll down to the lagoon and watch Illuminations. It was really nice not having to lock up and just stroll on back. We loved being on the first floor.

And here is the ham herself posing for a picture on Crescent Lake (which I call the lagoon). Oh yea, and those "other" people in my picture are Bob, Marla & Alec.

We ordered room service for dinner that night and waited for Rob to finally get in from his flight, which turned out to be late. He finally got to the resort at around 8:30 pm. We took a stroll down to the pool to look around and then went to bed.

Next installment...It's EMH at the Magic Kingdom and we have to get there by 8 am!!!

 

[Disneyolic]

Hey...where did all my fans go? Are any of you out there???