A spoonful of sugar helps me to keep my mouth shut!

[heartofdisney]

Well,I guess it is about time to write this trip report.We have been back a month now,and I think I have finally recovered!
Before I begin however,let me introduce myself. My name is Lisa,and I absolutely love Disney! I call it my happy place...because usually,when I am there,I am deleriously happy. I say usually in writting this trip report now,because on this last trip,I really had to force myself to be happy.This was not the fault of Disney World,or the cast members,or even the one rude guest I happened to encounter this trip.No, my long awaited ,year in the making ,carefully planned and anxiously counted down day by day trip was marred by one of the people who was part of my own party.
Not that she was actually meant to be part of my originally planned trip,but that is where my story begins.
Last year,my oldest daughter was beginning her senior year in college,and to celebrate her graduation in June of this year,she and her best friend decided they wanted to go to Disney World. Well,it dissapointed me somewhat,as I had already had a family trip planned for all of us.(my dh,me and our two daughters,age,21 and 16)
So anyway,because our oldest dd celebrated her high school graduation with friends in Disney World, now two of them being best friends, really wanted to go back for thier college graduation,and so I gave in. She would go in June,and the rest of the family would go in August,before school started.

Then my dh decides that he doesn't really want to go to Disney World in August,as it is too hot for him. "What? No,we can't wait for January,because then youngest dd ,who will be a senior in high school will miss school,and really,that isn"t a good idea with everything she has going on anyway.She'll miss too much." So then dh,who really isn't a disney fan anyway, says well,why don"t you both just take a mother /daughter trip yourselves? "
I say "you really don't want to go?" And he says,"No,but I am not stopping you from going."

Well...okay then! And so I book our trip.

My oldest dd was going to Disney in the beginning of June on the 4/3 deal,and youngest dd and I planned to go to Disney August 30 thru Sept 6,staying at a preferred room at Pop Century,and hoping to get the free dining deal when it came out. Everything was set!

Until one day my youngest dd,who I will call Princess,comes to me and says
"Mom,do you remember the time we were planning to go to Disney World and were going to take Pirate? (This is what we will call dd's best friend who loves pirates.)

I could already sense what was coming,but I let her bait me anyway."Yesssss" I replied.

"And then we couldn't go because dad got sick and we had to cancel?"

Again,I said"yesss...."

"Well...mom,you did promise her that next time we went to Disney,she could go,and then we went the last time,and didn"t take her because it was a family trip,and Mom,she has never ever been to Disney and she really really wants to go. And even her brother got to go with the band,but now the band isn't going this year again,and she is a senior now,and she probaly will never get to go now...Mom,can Pirate please go with us? You promised,you know?"

Ouch...was that my heart strings being tugged that hurt,or was it my heart breaking over our much anticipated by me mother daughter trip about to be kicked to the curb?"
I tried anyway. "But it is a mother daughter trip,Princess. Just you and me...and we were going to have so much fun....if Pirate goes,it will be uneven...it will be you and her,and then just me.I will be the third wheel."

"Mom, please let her go.It will still be fun. I promise you we won't make you feel like a third wheel.And you always said how you would love to see Disney World thru a newbies eyes....if Pirate goes,you could...and Mom...she really wants to go so bad."

So,I guess I am easily swayed,and because Pirate is my dd's best friend,who I have known since she was 2,and who I used to babysit for,and who calls me Mom,and who we call our third dd,because she practically lives with us,and all that is vice versa with my own dd,I said yes. Yes,Pirate could join us on our trip,but only if her family paid her way,because really,I am not made out of money you know. And so I figured out a budget to add her,and really,it wasn't that much difference,and sent it with her so she could show her mom and get permission to go.

Several weeks later, Princess and Pirate come to me,and tell me yes,Pirate is allowed to go,but Pirates mom really wants to go too! Can she join us?
"And mom,isn"t it a perfect idea? Now you will have someone to hang out with too!"


Oh Joy...what do I say to this? To start with,I really wanted it to be a mother /daughter trip,and I was so excited to be able to make all the plans myself,and be in charge of it all,no dh and his food fussiness when it came to making our ADR's.No dh complaining about me being a trip commando and planning our park days....this was gonna be my dream come true trip,where I could plan it all!

Well....it wasn"t going to be the mother/daughter trip I wanted. I knew that already as I heard all the plans Princess and Pirate were making already,and how happy and excited they were about going together. I had my qualms though. I knew Pirates mother only through our daughters being best friends with each other. The occassional talks here and there,as we picked up our daughters,or made arrangements for rides,ect.We knew each other as moms,and we knew each others daughters very well,but really,we didn't really know each other as friends. But we had 8 months before our trip to plan,and surely we would get to know each other through that. And it would be nice to have someone along to keep me company,because I already knew what would happen if it was just us three anyway. I had taken Pirate on vacations with just us three before....I would be the third wheel again,and really,I wasn"t sure I wanted to be in Disney on my own. And so I agreed,and said ok...she could come.

Princess tried to appease me by saying this."Mom,we can still make it a mother/daughter trip..x 2"

I will continue this in my next post,along with some pictures,as I am at work right now and it is almost time to go home ,after I finish up some paper work first. The rest will be continued soon....thanks for reading so far!

 

[heartofdisney]

So anyway,in my last post,I left off at the place where I decided that since the mother daughter trip I had been visualizing wasn't going to happen,then perhaps it wouldn"t be such a bad idea for Pirate's mom to come along with us,and this way I would have someone to share Disney with too. And really,it would be fun to see Disney through the eyes of people who have never been there before.
And so that is how my mother daughter trip added on two others.

Sometime in February,I invited Pirate and her mother (who I will call Cruella from this point on) over to my house so I could help her book her room at Disney. To be fair,I will give myself a Disney nickname as well,and because I love Pooh,and am a bit pooh sized,that is what I will call myself.

My original plan was to stay at Pop Century,and even if Pirate came along,that is where we were going to stay.However when Cruella decided to join us,it was discussed that she wanted to get her own room at Pop for her and her daughter,Pirate. And I was happy with that plan,even if Pirate and Princess weren't.
Once we began to look at the different resorts though,and Cruella heard the words"value resort" she began to look at the other resorts. Uh oh,I was thinking to myself..I promised dh that this trip wouldn't cost too much. My family never stays deluxe,because we are never in the room long enough to justify it.When we go to Disney or anywhere for that matter,we are always out and about. Not to mention we were paying our older dd's college tuition and still had 4 years of tuition coming up for Princess yet.
Well,thankfully Disney lets you price out how much your trip will be on thier website,and thankfully,Cruella has champagne taste on a beer mans salary,as my mom likes to say.
Cruella realized that we could stay at a moderate for the same price we would pay at Pop Century if we shared,and split the cost. I thought about it,and while I wasn't too keen on sharing a room,I did like the idea of going back to POR,since I fell in love with it when we stayed there our last trip.
Cruella had no idea of what resort to stay at,and leaned towards the Carribean Beach. While I like the themeing there,I also read the DIS Boards and knew what to expect if we stayed there.I told her about the different resorts,and she really liked the idea of a smaller resort,and so we decided to go with a preferred room at POFQ.
A few days later,she emailed me and asked what I thought about leaving a couple days earlier and extending our trip. I planned it for Aug 30,since my dh's birthday is the 29th though. However,my dh said that he would relish spending his birthday by himself at home,something he never has the chance to do.And he really was sincere in saying that! Older dd said she would come up after work that evening and take him out to dinner too. So,next thing I know,I was calling Disney and extending our trip to arrive on Aug 28 thru Spt 6 instead. And for the first time,I began to feel excited for this trip again.I was going with someone who wanted to stay in Disney longer! Well...for sure we were going to get along if she thought like that!

The rest of the year progressed slowly.When the time came,I called first thing in the morning to get the free dining added to our package. From that point on,I had a hard time getting her to give any input into planning. I sent her a link to the DIS Boards site,as well as others,so she could learn about Disney. I emailed her information about the dining plan and places we could eat at,asking her to let me know of any she would want to do.And I never heard anything back from her. Then the day of Princess and Pirates jr prom,I ran into her,and she started talking about our trip. I asked her if she had any restraunts in mind she wanted to try,because our date to call for our ADR's was fast approaching. She told me she heard about a breakfast in Epcot that was suppossed to be good,and she wanted to try it. Pirate said she wanted to see as many characters as she could too. Okay then,I thought,then I will plan some character meals for her,and thought of the Princess Storybook breakfast,as I knew that was the only breakfast in Epcot.
Cruella then gives me the go ahead to just plan everything,because she doesn't know anything about Disney. I couldn't have been happier!

So our ADR date finally arrives,and I drag myself out of bed AT 6:30 am on my day off to book our meals. And I did great! I got everything I wanted!
Then time marched on,and the 45 day mark comes to pay off our trip,which I had been reminding Cruella about for the past 3 months,when it would be due,as she still hadn't paid one cent on her half of our trip. I was freaking out by then.Finally I call her and she tells me she was layed off,and yes,she can still go on the trip,but she needs to wait for her severance check,which would come in a few days. Oh no! Deep breath Pooh! I did understand her dilemma and I felt bad for her,but I wished she would have told me sooner. So I call Disney and explained the situation,and they were so kind and gave us several more days to make our final payment.And thankfully,3 days later,our trip was officially paid off!
Then we began looking for a good deal on airfare. My dh found us a great deal,103 round trip per person! We just had an hour layover each way.Ok,so what...it wasn't like we were travelling with young children,right? So we book it,and due to the complaints I heard,Cruella wasn't too thrilled with my deal, but she also booked it for the sake of our dd's,so they could be together. This trip was fast becomming a best friend trip for them...lol.
Finally...finally...the day before our trip arrives.And I check Princess and I in online for our flights,and call Cruella to remind her to do the same thing.But she wasn't home,as she was out shopping all day,buying things she needed for the trip! Now I found this hilarious,as by this time it was about 6 pm the night before we leave,and she was still out buying things she needed and still hadn't packed yet,according to Pirate.Meanwhile,Princess and I had been packing for the entire last month,little by little. Oh well.

Later that night,around 8,I get a frantic phone call from Cruella. She was yelling,crying,threatening to sue the airline,and everything else you can imagine! The airline had messed up Pirates ticket. They had no record of her even having one! I don't know the entire story, but Cruella had the receipt and confirmation they sent her,and so she was told to come to the airport a little earlier then she planned,and they would work everything out. Of course since my dh was planning to drive us all there,we had to leave earlier too.What really made me roll my eyes though was her telling me how she just didn't have the time to deal with the airline over this,because they hadn't even packed yet, since she had just gone out and bought clothes and new suitcases that day.Of course Princess told me earlier in the day they had gone out to have thier hair and nails done too. Nothing wrong with that,don't get me wrong,but I guess I am just not the type to put everything off until the last minute. Meanwhile,there I was,sitting with my family,trying to watch a movie,because everything of ours was packed except for a few last minute items we would pack in the morning.

I should have seen the warning signs right there and then by how mad Cruella was just over the phone. I understood why ,but since the airline told her they would fix the problem,I just didn't see the sense in her getting quite as worked up over it as she was. But at the time,in my eyes,I just thought how she was just giving herself a bad start to the trip. I felt sad for her,but even sadder for the way she was yelling at poor Pirate,who had nothing to do with the airline problem,except that it was her ticket!

Okay...well...that will bring us up to the day we leave. I uploaded pictures into Photobucket last night before I came to work,but I am at work now and still need to figure out how to get them from there to here yet,but hopefully I will have pictures up tomorrow for you all. The next post will bring us to the day we leave for Disney!!! Thanks again for reading!

 

[heartofdisney]

Since I forgot to post the ADR's I made,and the intinerary I planned for our trip,I will quickly add that here before I begin with day 1.

Friday,Aug 38th - Arrival day,check in,explore resort?
Head to Magic Kingdom, rides until dinner.
Dinner @ Cinderella's Royal Table (@ Princess's request)
More rides after dinner until return to resort.

Sat,Aug 29th - Get up early,breakfast in room,head to Hollywood Studios
Get Toystory fastpasses,head to Tower of Terror,then Rockn Rollercoaster.
After this,roam free in the park,see shows,ride ToyStory @ return time.
Lunch a@ Sci Fi (out of pocket to make up for 2 TS @ CRT)
Return to room for swimming and or rest
Head to Animal Kingdom for pm EMH'S
Dinner @ Flame Tree Barbeque/ Pizzafari (for Pirate and Princess)

Sun,Aug 30th - Up early again,head to Epcot,grab Soarin fast passes on the way to Princess Storybook breakfast.
Explore half of World Showcase. Counter service lunch wherever we choose.
Back to resort for swimming/rest.
Head to Magic Kingdom
Dinner @ The Plaza
PM EMH's

Monday,Aug 31 -Sleep in day, pool.ect.
Head to Wilderness Lodge for dinner @ Whispering Canyon
Head to Hollywood Studios for PM EMH's

Tuesday,Sept 1 - Sleep in again,swim,ect.
CSbreakfast/lunch in resort foodcourt
Head to Animal Kingdom after lunch
Head to Boma for dinner
Downtown Disney in the evening.

Wednesday,Sept 2- Up early for breakfast with Chef Mickey
Spend day at Magic Kingdom
Dinner @ 1900 Park Fair
Wishes

Thursday,Sept 3
Head to Epcot,spend am in Future World.
Lunch @ Le Celcier (moms) ( Pirate & Princess eat San Angel Inn)
Dinner @ Teppan Edo (Pirate & Princess eat @ Planet Hollywood in Downtown Disney)
DD's @ Disney Quest,Moms explore more WS,see Illuminations.

Friday,Sept 4 - Mother & Daughter day
Pooh $ Princess eat early breakfast @ Kona
Do whatever.....no plans
Everyone meet for dinner @ Polynesian, Ohanas's
PM EMH @ Epcot,or MNSSHP

Sat,Sept 5 (last full day)
Breakfast with Pooh and gang @ Chrystal Palace
Free day to do whatever,
Dinner @ Tutto Italia
Downtown Disney shopping

Sun,Sept 6 (departure day)
left open,Flight home leaves at 2:50 pm

So now...that was the intended plan. But as you will soon read,nothing went as it was suppossed to be! LOL! Next up will be our flight down and day one.

 

[queenof3]

oh man! I am dying to find out what happens!!!! I am so nervous for you!

 

[heartofdisney]

oh man! I am dying to find out what happens!!!! I am so nervous for you!

Yeah!!! I got my first response. This is my first trip report really,so I was worried maybe my writting was worse then I thought it would be..lol!
Thanks so much for joining in!

I am about to try and upload some pictures now,and will begin day 1 tonight at work. Hang in there,day one isn't too bad yet,but day two is when the trouble begins!

 

[disneyaddicted]

This is a cliff hanger of epic proportions. I sure hope you come back with an update soon. This will drive me nuts.

 

[heartofdisney]

This is a cliff hanger of epic proportions. I sure hope you come back with an update soon. This will drive me nuts.

Well,I am hoping to get the next part up tonight.Thanks so much for reading! Your trip report title sounds interesting too,I think I will go check it out after I am done Day 1.

 

[diz_kid 777]

I'm also eagerly awaiting the next installment!

 

[disneyaddicted]

nothing yet?! This is like turning on the T.V. to watch your favorite show and finding out that it's not being shown because of golf!!!

 

[heartofdisney]

Okay well...I finally figured out how to get the pictures into my trip report,and actually started writting up day one. However,since I am at work,I had to walk away from my desk to actually do what they pay me for,and it took longer then it should have,and when I came back to my desk,the computer had closed out my internet connection,and everything I had just written was lost. I guess that is what I get trying to do it at work! But anyway,I am going to do away with introducing each character for now,and just begin day one so I can relieve the impatience you poor dear readers have been enduring.
And by the way,let me say thank you to each one of you.I really appreciate having some friends!

Anyway,our first day began at 5:00 in the morning on Friday,August 28th. I think I had just finally fallen asleep around 3 am,because I was just a tad bit wound up with excitement,not to mention the fact that I work nights,and my mind wasn't working with me when I tried to go to sleep.
Anyway,the alarm goes of,and for just a brief second,I forgot why I was waking up already.But that second didn't last,because as soon as I remembered what day it was,I was out of bed and in the shower in no time!
Once I was ready,I finished packing the last few items ,then dh took our luggage out to our van and loaded it up.Unfortunately,it was pouring down hard that morning,so I kissed my oldest daughter goodbye and made a fast dash to the van.We stopped at the local conveinance store so I could withdraw some cash for travelling,and buy a coffee. Then we headed over to Cruella's and Pirates house to pick them up.It was six o clock in the morning,and our flight didn't leave until 8:50 am,but she needed to get her problem with Pirates ticket straightened out. She asked us to come earlier then we originally planned so she could do that, but then we sat outside in the van waiting for her and Pirate to finish getting ready. Finally,twenty minutes or so later, they both come rushing out, Cruella is frantic and Pirate is upset and winded. Apparently they couldn't find one of the lenses for the thousand dollar camera they bought for this trip. Oy vay! Eventually, thier luggage was loaded and everyone,including Cruellas dh who decided to come along to see them off, was finally ready to go. We live only 15 minutes from the airport,so it didn't take long to get there. ABE airport is pretty small,and there was only one other guy in front of me. Before I knew it,dd and I and the two suitcases we were paying for were all checked in. It took less then five minutes!

Meanwhile,Cruella went up to take care of her situation,and it seemed to take awhile.I sat on a bench waiting for her,while the girls were walking around and dh was parking the car. I could hear her getting pretty testy with the woman and man trying to help her,and she was demanding a first class seat for all her trouble,since this was the airlines mistake. Oh boy.....
See, I guess I am more of an easy going person,maybe too much ,as I am always being told I let everyone walk all over me. I think it is just that it takes alot to get me angry,and I especially don't get angry at innocent people. I mean these poor people just worked there,they didn't cause the problem.I also just live by the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Treat others with respect. Well,this was the first clue that I realized Cruella didn't live by that same rule. She seemed to have a sense of entitlement with everyone,as if they were all beneath her or something.
I felt bad for the people behind the counter,so I walked away and joined the girls.
I took this picture of them.The brunetter is Princess and the blonde is Pirate.

[/IMG]



Then I walked over and took a picture of our flight posted on the board. We had a layover in Charlotte,NC,for an hour.
Yeah,I really didn't want to go back to where Cruella was,so I was looking for reasons not to be there.

[/IMG]

Soon after that,dh came back in and joined us all.Cruella finally got everything worked out,and Pirate had a ticket for our flight.
We all went to the gift store so Cruella could buy some magazines,and then since none of us had eated anything yet,we decided to sit at a table and buy some food from the little food shop.We got yogurt,bagels and fruit.When we were done eating,we decided we better say goodbye to our dh's,and make our way to our gate.
My dh took this picture of us all right before we went through security.
In this picture from the left to the right is me,my dd,Princess,Pirate,and Pirates mom,Cruella.

[/IMG]

Well anyway,we make it through security,and Cruella says this to me
" The girls want to sit together,so aren't you lucky that I managed to get first class?"

Okay,well, I really didn't give a damn one way or the other. I just wanted to get to Disney! But I sat there with her,and really,I didn't think it was that big a deal. Nothing seemed any different other then a bit more leg room,and being up front,and boarding first. Big whoop!

Our flight was smooth. I brought out my laptop and we played some game on it that she taught me. It passed the time at least.
We landed in Charlotte,and had an hour to kill before our next flight. Well,it worked out perfectly. My dh called me and we talked for awhile. He knew I landed because he and other dd were tracking our flight. Then we all took rest room break,and started to walk all the way to the other side of the airport for our connecting flight. The girls stopped on the way to get a snack.We weren't at the other gate very long before we were being called to board our next flight. Perfect timing! And again,our flight was smooth,again we played the pc game,and before we knew it,we were landing in Florida!

We went to the rest room again to freshen up a bit,and then made our way to the monorail and Magical Express. We were sent to a line ,where we waited for about ten minutes maybe,but the cast member there saw Princess's jacket for West Chester University,where she hopes to go,and he told us he was from that area. So we got to talking,which passed the time.We were soon sitting on the bus and on our way to POFQ.
I guess Cruella began to get excited,because she started talking about how much she needed this vacation,and the first thing she wanted to do when we checked in was to go get a cocktail. I knew this was her vacation too,but I am not a drinker.I have nothing against it,but I just don"t like alcohol,no matter how many drinks I try,I can still taste it in the drink..yuck!

So I told her there was only one rule on this vacation,and that was that everyone was free to do thier own thing.Meaning that if they didn't want to eat somewhere or do what the rest of the group was doing,they didn't have to.The exceptions were that they had to show up for the two ADR's that I had booked with my credit card so I wouldn't be charged,and that Friday was mother and daughter day where her and Pirate would do what they wanted and Princess and I would do our own thing.

Anyway,we arrived at POFQ,and went inside to check in.I had done online check in ,and so it was as easy as everyone said it is.We were booked into the first building,facing the river. To be honest ,I wasn't too thrilled with that room,since it seemed so far away,but I was told they couldn't change it. Oh well. I arranged for the water I had ordered from Costco to be delivered and then we started to walk to our room. All of a sudden Cruella stops in her tracks and asks where is her hat. Apparently it was an expensive hat,and she had lost it. So we have to go back to see if she dropped it in the lobby,but we didn't find it. She goes up to the check in counters and asks them to call the bus service to see if it was still on the bus.The gave her a number she could try to call them later then.This didn't please her,but what could they do about it. So all the way to our room,she is complaining about her lost hat,and how hot it is,and all she wants to do is have a drink and take a nap.
I said I guess maybe I made a mistake in my planning,because I thought how nice it would be for us all to have our first dinner in Disney World at Cinderellas Castle,and so I had booked it for that night,and we had to go to it because they would charge my credit card. Either way,Princess and I were going,and if my card did get charged for them not being there,well they would have to cover for it then. I really wasn't trying to be mean here,but seriously,I had booked this with good intentions to give them a special start to our vacation,and I had even told her I hoped to book it for our first night. She liked the idea then!
Anyway,Pirate says she wants to go with us,and I guess Cruella didn't want to pay for a meal she didn't eat,so we all catch a bus to Magic Kingdom.


Sorry .. this will have to be finished when I get home....which I promise to do! I get off at 7 and I still have some paperwork to do yet!
Come back soon...and I will finish the rest when I get home.!
I don't even have time to check for spelling errors right now,so if there is any,forgive them,and I will fix it later!

 

[diz_kid 777]

Yay a new chapter!

As another night shifter, I'm right here with ya!

 

[acellison]

I can't wait to read more

 

[meeko_33785]

Enjoying the trip report so far. I love your writing style.

 

[My2Qtz0205]

I'm reading. I groaned for you when you gave the other mom the name "Cruella." That is not a good sign for your trip.

 

[heartofdisney]

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom,and this was what I was waiting to see...when Pirate finally saw the castle. She got a little excited,and began to take some pictures,but it wasn"t the reaction I was hoping for. Pirate is too cool to get excited over seeing Cinderella's castle I guess.
It is the age,I suppose???
Anyway,we took some pictures,and here is Pirate and my Princess in front of the castle.

It wasn't very crowded at the Magic Kingdom,and I was thrilled. We had some time before we went to dinner,so our first attraction was the Monsters Comedy Warehouse.Then we headed over to Philharmagic,which everyone loved,and then to Carousel of Progress. By this time it was time for our ADR,and so we made our way over to the castle. The girls got in line for thier picture with Cinderella.

I wasn't too sure how our dinner was actually going to be,as I have heard good and bad reviews about eating in the castle,but we all enjoyed our dinner here very much. I unfortunatly don't have food porn pictures because Cruella was already thinking I was a bit too much obsessed with Disney. I can't imagine what she would have thought of me asking to take pictures of her food.

For our appetizers,Cruella and Pirate both had the BLT sald,and I had the castle salad. Princess had the castle salad as well,but asked if they could use "regular lettuce" haha. They brought her a castle salad with the iceburg lettuce then. For our entrees,Cruella had the Lavendar chicken,an she loved it. I had the prime rib of beef,and both girls ordered the cheese tortellini. We all got the cream chess Buckle for dessert. We may have all been very hungry ,but we really did enjoy this meal. At this point, we were all having a good time,and I was starting to relax now, thinking maybe it had just been a stressful day,and now the worse part was behind us.
Here are some pictures from our dinner.

After we finished eating our dinner,the girls were anxious to get on some rides. They begged us to let them go already,while we were still waiting to pay our bill. So we agreed,and they took off,with reminderes that if they were planning to leave the park to go anywhere else in Dinsey,they needed to call us and let us know. Both girls are very responsible and I knew Princess was confident with the bus system.So off they went.
Once we settled up our bill,we left the castle,and Cruella decided she needed to have some sort of lanyard with a carrier for her park ticket,so we made our way into the first store she saw. After about a half hour of her looking at everything in the store,and me getting antsy to go on some rides myself,we left the store,but without a lanyard.She didn't find what she wanted. Just as I am getting excited now that we left the store,Cruella sees another store,and off she goes to check that one out. I heave a big inwardly sigh and tell myself that this is her vacation too. After several more minutes,we leave that store,and make our way over to Fantasy Land. I see that there is barely any lines on the rides,and I quickly lead her onto Snow Whites Scary Adventures. When we get off that,Cruella spots a souvenier cart,and wants to see if there are any lanyards and plastic holders there,so she leads me that way. I look longingly towards the rides with 10 minute waits. Cruella has no luck at this gift cart either. We begin to head back over to Peter Pan,stopping several times so she can take pictures.I realize that of course she wants to take pictures. She has never been here before,and she bought a thousand dollar camera to use for this trip. I try to be patient as each time she takes her camera out of the bag,and adjusts lens and so forth. Finally, we get on Peter Pan,and the line was 20 minutes at this point. We start to talk to a young couple with a young boy and they had been there the week before and this was there last night in Disney. I remember thinking how happy I was that it was our first night.
So we ride Peter Pan,and then she sees Tinkerbelles Treasures shop,and wants to go look inside.So off we go. Every time I am in that store,I have flashbacks of when Princess was only 4 years old on our very first trip,and how she begged and begged for a Princess dress. And how I was afraid we would run out of money during the trip, so we didn't get it for her. The memory makes me sad now because I can never relive that and makeit right. It's one of my biggest regrets,and so I really don't like going into that store now.We ended up going home with alot of the money that we had budgeted for the trip left over anyway. All because I was a tight wad.
My advice to all you parents,get the dress!
I know most of you do...but this was back in 1997,and we didn't even have a computer back then so I could research Disney. I was a disney virgin!
And of course while we were in there now, there were two adorable little sisters trying on dresses and thier Mommy taking pictures of them. Why didn't I think of doing that back then with her at least ,I wondered ??? Another heavy sigh.

Eventually,we left Tinkerbelles Treasures. Cruella didn't want to stay in Fantasy Land,as she said all the rides seemed pretty much the same. What? You were only on two of them, I felt like saying,but I didn't. Instead I popped a peice of gum into my mouth to keep it busy with other things.
So I suggested Haunted Mansion,as I love that ride,and I knew it wasn't too far away from us.On the way there though,Cruella spots It's a small world,and really wants to ride it. I groan inwardly,but realize that she needs to do it at least once in her life,and I can bear it at least once each visit anyway.So we walk right onto that. While we are riding it,Cruella must have taken a thousand pictures.I checkled to myself,because I know I did too when I first rode it. Of course I rode it with Princess who was 4 at the time,and who fell in love with this ride,so I didn't realize that I would ride it another eight times that trip.haha.

When we finished the ride,I was feeling really tired and Cruella mentioned she was too. I mentioned that maybe we should start to head out now since soon there would be long lines for the busses.So we headed out of Magic Kingdom while she would stop to take some pictures and watch a bit. I told her,we can stay and watch if you want and then just grab a table and sit for awhile until the crowd clears out if you want? But no,she wanted to go back to our resort.I did too,but I knew it wasn"t going to happen right away at the pace we were going. And it didn't. We stood in a long line to get back to the resort,and we had to stand on the bus. Well,Cruella didn't like that one bit!

She started talking about it out loud,and I was getting embarrassed again. There was a really cute little girl sitting in front of me,so I began to talk to her.She liked the wand that I got at our dinner,so I gave it to her,and her dad was really surprised and happy.He thanked me and I told him it made me happy to see how happy it made his daughter.And it really did. What would I have done with it anyway,I thought.It would have just become one more peice of junk to gather dust to me, but to that little girl,it was magical. It was the Fairy Godmothers wand. At some point during this conversation, Cruella realized what was going on,and so she gave the little girl here First Visit button she had been given at check in. I guess it was a nice gesture on her part,but I don't know why she thought she was so special that Disney would only give her a first visit button and not a little girl one.
Oh well,it got her to stop complaining anyway.

We got back to our resort,and met our dd's who were already there. They had been in the jacuzzi and were getting a drink. Good idea ! So the girls went to buy us our mugs and get us a drink,while we dragged ourselves back to our room. I showered,and settled in bed,and that was the last thing I remember.

And now...I am heading to bed again! Goodnight/day my friends!

I will edit all this sometime....lol

 

[meeko_33785]

Another great update. Can't believe how many shops Cruella dragged you into looking for that lanyard. Sounds like you still got in some fun though.

 

[heartofdisney]

Another great update. Can't believe how many shops Cruella dragged you into looking for that lanyard. Sounds like you still got in some fun though.

Oh,because I was rushing to finish up last night before I had to sign off the pc,I actually forgot to mention that on the way out of the MK we stopped at a cart and did buy some lanyards and plastic holders.She bought two,one for her and Pirate and I decided to buy Princess one as well.Then when we got back to the resort,we walked through the gift store and she found the kind she wanted,so she exchanged it at the store and was happy with her purchase then.You 'd think I would mention that huh?

 

[heartofdisney]

I'm also eagerly awaiting the next installment!

Welcome to my trip report! Thank you for the good vibes!

 

[heartofdisney]

nothing yet?! This is like turning on the T.V. to watch your favorite show and finding out that it's not being shown because of golf!!!

Wow,thanks!!!! LOL

 

[heartofdisney]

Yay a new chapter!

As another night shifter, I'm right here with ya!

Yeah....someone else who is up in the wee hours of the night dissing...lol!
So where do you work? What do you do?

I work in a childrens hospital for emotional and behavioral problems,most of who come from very sad backgrounds.