A Very Merry (solo) 40th Birthday trip for me! Update 3/23

[nebo]

Ah, and you were worried about having any readers, some things just work out themselves, don't they?
Great report Stacy, yes, I remeber you. Wait, I remember you also.
And a great start to your report, now I want to know too what happens when you drink soda with caffeine? Do you spontaneously combust? Self immolate? Will there be pictures of this? I hate cliffhangers.
I didn't know you could stay at the airport either, I thought it was a fake building, just a front like Streets of America at the Studios.
So how much does it cost to stay there? That I'd really like to know.

keep it up,, nebo

 

[2_Eagle_Mom]

Hi!

I feel like such a detective. I couldn't get the link to work, but found you using my deductive skills - that and I clicked on your name and followed your posts.

Skinny Island represented! Can't wait to hear the rest of your report.

I agree with a previous poster (sorry didn't check out the name) about your sense of humor. I loved your comment to the anxious baggage waiting man.

I may not post a lot, cause I'm not getting much time on the computer these days, but I'll be following you via my email messages.

Jane

 

[LeeLee'sMom]

Oh staying at the Hyatt may be our option. Our flights went through the roof to arrive at noon time, so we are going the night before arriving 8ish and it is still cheaper for us to stay an extra night at a hotel, most likely Pop..for the extra night and just go to CBR the next day.. Plus we will have an entire full day. Hmmm wondering how does ME work when you get down a day earlier than your hotel is booked. I am thinking as long as you give them your pickup time it should probably be okay

 

[Stacybaeasm]

I never thought of staying at the hotel at the airport...how does that work with Magical Express? Can you take it the next day or do you need to take a cab??

Can't wait for more, as I have a feeling something is amiss.......

You can totally do ME the next day. Don't put the yellow tags on your luggage as you will need to pick it up before you check into the Hyatt. Just give ME an arrival time around the time you want to leave the airport the next day. I usually just haul my luggage down to ME myself, but I'm told you can put the yellow tags on when you check out of the Hyatt and the Hyatt will make sure it gets to the ME luggage place.

Ooooooh, a cliffhanger. LOVE it! And I am so with you on the early vs late flights...ugh.

It's probably the only cliffhanger in the entire report but I thought I'd give it a try. And early flights are probably even harder on you with Gregory around.

We always stay at the Hyatt when we arrive. We travel with Jet Blue and have the same problem, it's either very early in the am or later in the day. I'm not a am person so we always take the late flight and love staying at the Hyatt, it's really a treat. We usually rent a car the next day so I can't help with the ME.

I love the Hyatt too. So nice not to have to take shuttles to get to the hotel, etc. Plus it's easy to get food.

Oh NO!!!!! to the camera dying! Bummer!

I am so curious now - what exactly happens when you drink diet soda?

I totally know what you mean about not being a morning princess!

Up to 4am. That doesn't sound good. I hope you were able to get a decent night's sleep.

See below for the results of consumming caffeine.

Ah, and you were worried about having any readers, some things just work out themselves, don't they?
Great report Stacy, yes, I remeber you. Wait, I remember you also.
And a great start to your report, now I want to know too what happens when you drink soda with caffeine? Do you spontaneously combust? Self immolate? Will there be pictures of this? I hate cliffhangers.
I didn't know you could stay at the airport either, I thought it was a fake building, just a front like Streets of America at the Studios.
So how much does it cost to stay there? That I'd really like to know.

keep it up,, nebo

The great and powerful Nebo stopped in. I am so not worthy. I've read all your reports, although to be honest, I usually am just a lurker. I can't compete with that level of cleverness.

Ok, caffeine. It starts by making my stomach burn like some has put battery acid on top of it. Not just heart burn, or a stomach ache but serious pain. If I only have a little, I can kind of control it with Maalox. The more I drink, the worse it gets. If I have too much, I start, ummm...well...throwing it up, in not so pretty ways. My friends tell me that at the tender age of almost 40, I have already reached my body's limit for caffeine intake and it just can't accept any more. Me, I think its just bad karma.

Hi!

I feel like such a detective. I couldn't get the link to work, but found you using my deductive skills - that and I clicked on your name and followed your posts.

Skinny Island represented! Can't wait to hear the rest of your report.

I agree with a previous poster (sorry didn't check out the name) about your sense of humor. I loved your comment to the anxious baggage waiting man.

I may not post a lot, cause I'm not getting much time on the computer these days, but I'll be following you via my email messages.

Jane

WooHoo Skinny Island in the house! Welcome. Post when you can. I love it.

Oh staying at the Hyatt may be our option. Our flights went through the roof to arrive at noon time, so we are going the night before arriving 8ish and it is still cheaper for us to stay an extra night at a hotel, most likely Pop..for the extra night and just go to CBR the next day.. Plus we will have an entire full day. Hmmm wondering how does ME work when you get down a day earlier than your hotel is booked. I am thinking as long as you give them your pickup time it should probably be okay

See above for how to use ME. It works really well and the Hyatt is a great place to stay.

I should get another update out tomorrow. I have to teach today and I guess I should figure out what I'm going to tell all the eager young minds I'm molding. Yep, it scares me too that someone lets me educate others.

 

[Jennifer48]

I had to laugh at all the impatient people around me, complaining about how long they had to wait for their baggage to come. I finally turned to one and said "Remember how far YOU had to come - walk down from the gate, take the fake monorail over here, then walk some more to get to the luggage carousel? Well, your luggage had to do the same. They don't drop you off at the gate and then pull around to unload." He kind of laughed and said "Oh yeah, I guess." Right then, the luggage came and people were pushing and grabbing.

LOVE IT!

What can possibly go wrong?

I don't like the sound of that

 

[mkandjpsmom]

A solo trip how fun! I can't wait to read more!

 

[stayhomemom77]

I'm here too!

I'm extremely curious to see what folks do when they hit up the World on their own.

It's a secret longing of mine...to go by myself that is. But since I've trained my kids quite well (well that and the fact that they are 6 and 7 so still waaaay into Disney anyway) I'm not going to be doing it any time soon.

Can't wait for more!

 

[thegreggersmom]

It's probably the only cliffhanger in the entire report but I thought I'd give it a try. And early flights are probably even harder on you with Gregory around.

The cliffhanger is a nice touch...and look how many readers you are picking up! I've only done early a.m. flights with Gregory so far, and so far so good. He typically konks out once we're on board. Is there a smiley knocking wood with crossed fingers around here?

 

[Stacybaeasm]

I was having a bad dream which woke me up on Sunday morning. I looked at the clock and it read 7:56am. 4 minutes until I have to get up. Ok, I'll just lay here until I get my wake up call then out of bed and head to Disney. Of course, I fall back to sleep. Then, loud noise from the hall that wakes me up - 8:10??? What happened to my 8am wake up call???? Ok, ok, I calm down and realize I'm on vacation so time doesn't matter that much. I just have to be to OKW by 11 am to meet my aunt and uncle who are visiting for the day. I jump up, quickly get ready (although I do manage to put on a full face of makeup. I wonder how many more times this trip I'll bother with that?) and head down to check out. When the nice desk lady asked about my stay, I did mention that I never got a wake up call and she was very concerned. More concerned than I thought the situation warranted until she asked me "OH my gosh. You aren't going to miss your flight are you?" Right, airport hotel. Nope, I'm just on my way to Disney.

I debated getting something for breakfast but decided that I was in way too much of a hurry to get to Disney and get this vacation really started. I headed over to Magical Express and had a magical experience. I got right on a bus with maybe 10 other people and off we went. Plus, OKW was the FIRST stop. Woo hoo! Check in was pretty painless but of course, at 9:45 am, my room wasn't ready. The person next to me checking in seemed a little upset that their room wasn't ready. Umm...check in time is clearly stated as 4:00pm AND it's princess half marathon day. I didn't care, I could still do lots of things. My next stop was at the conceirge desk to see if I could buy my annual pass there. I wanted to make sure I had it before I hit Downtown Disney with my fam because of the discount and I really didn't want to have to bus to a park and then to a resort and then to Downtown Disney with my uncle along because he would NOT be happy. Anyway, I was able to get my annual pass from the nice lady but, in a twist of fate that would lead to all kinds of mistakes later on in the trip, the annual pass you can get at the desk is printed on the same stock as your KTTW card. How many times do you think I tried to get in my room using my annual pass, use the meal plan with my annual pass, or get in the gate or get a fass past with my KTTW card? Let's just say lots and leave it at that.

Ok, missions 1 and 2 accomplished with ease and speed. Last thing to check off the list before my aunt and uncle arrive - get my free refillable mug. I head over to Goods to go or whatever that place is called at OKW and get my mug and fill it with Rootbeer - no caffeine but not diet either. I can't win. I debate breakfast again. Until I realize that it is after 10:30 and no more breakfast is available. Yep - too early for a burger. I find a bench in the shade and park myself with my rootbeer to watch people and wait for the family to arrive. As I sit, I notice a lot of people running around in tutus with medals on. What the???? Right, right, princess half marathon. They all looked remarkably mobile and cheerful for having just run 13.1 miles. You couldn't PAY me enough to run that far. And then to see them getting ready to head out to the parks??? How are you still moving? Put me in the icu with a constant drip of vicodin or at least put me in bed with a constant drip of vodka. Just somewhere flat where I can lay down with some kind of pain killer - not heading out to walk miles more in the parks. I am so not worthy of the astonishing women walking around at that point.

At that point, I saw my aunt and uncle pull up in their car so I headed over with my luggage to direct them to a parking spot and make some plans for the day. And with that, I will leave you for this update. No cliffhanger this time because nothing else cliffhangable (its a word. It is!) happened to me for the rest of the trip. Thanks for reading along so far. Coming up - Downtown Disney in all its glory, craziness with the room, and I finally make it to a park.

 

[Jennifer48]

I didn't realize that you could get Annual Passes on anything else but the cheap paper like I have. I wonder if that is only if you get it at a concierge desk?

 

[MEK]

I am glad you arrived at OKW so quickly. I can't wait to see pictures of your room (oh - that's right - your camera broke).

Oh well - I hope you had tons of fun with your aunt and uncle at DTD.

Hospitalization after the 1/2 marathon - that might be me too. I ran one once many, many years ago and I couldn't walk for three days!

 

[thegreggersmom]

Stacy?

 

[Stacybaeasm]

I know, I know. Bad trip report writer. Things in my life have been a little crazy but I"m here and an update is coming out TODAY!! So stay tuned.

 

[Stacybaeasm]

Let's see, where did I leave off? Right, my aunt and uncle arrived for a visit. I love Barb and Razz. When I lived in Florida, they were a mere 20 minutes away so we got together for breakfast or dinner about once a week plus they came to see all my shows. It's hard now that I'm gone so we try to get together for a day whenever I am in Florida. The plan was to head to Downtown Disney so they didn't have to buy park tickets. Having lived in Florida for so long, they are kind of over the parks. I don't get it, but I make it work.

We loaded my luggage into their car and then headed for the ferry to DTD. Now, this is a real change from my usual trip style. Everyone knows that I check into the hotel and head to MK to spend the entire first day. Period. It's not Disney until I have seen the castle. So already, this was going to be an excercise in patience because I was being kept away from my precious castle. We were almost to the ferry (which was almost finished boarding and ready to depart) when my aunt decided she needed a cloth shopping bag from the car. Umm...why? Well, I don't like to carry those Disney shopping bags. It's too hard. Again . So Razz headed back to the car and we missed the ferry and had to wait another 20 minutes.

Once at DTD, we had to go into every store and look at everything. Now, I'm all for shopping, but every store? Even the one that sells really expensive glass things that none of us are going to buy? And then there was the shirt Barb spent a good deal of time looking at - a halter top from House of Blues. Ok, she looks great and all, but once a woman is over the age of 40, I don't care WHAT she looks like, she has no business wearing a halter. Which, after we went back to look at it for the 5th time, I told her. Perhaps in a not so kind way. It went something like "You are entirely too old for that shirt. Put it back." When she replied that she already had one like it in leather, I said "Nope. Put that one back and sell the leather one. You are not 21 anymore. Move on." I'm lucky I walked out alive.

We decided on T-Rex for lunch. Can I just say that I their cheesesteak sandwich? This is the second time I've had it and it just plain rocks. As we were leaving, I noticed I had a voicemail so I checked my message, expecting my room number. Well, it was from the hotel but it didn't say my room number just "Please call us." Which I promptly did. It turns out, the room they had assigned me apparently had a ceiling problem, as in, the ceiling is falling in! They had another room for me, but I needed to stop by and get a new room key. Let me see - so far today - no castle, no wakeup call, ceiling falling in - that's 3 right? All done with bad luck.

My family and I continued to finish DTD. At World of Disney, I finally made my purchases: an autograph book, a princess pen, and a princess lanyard. I had spent a lot of time thinking what I was going to do differently for this trip since I was celebrating my birthday and I decided to do autographs. I generally do a lot of pictures, but never had anyone sign. I'll just say right now it was a lot of fun and it is a great keepsake/memory of the trip. I got the book that has a photo page on one side and the autograph place on the other. I spent all my birthday money on photopass pictures to go into the book and now it sits in my office and brightens my day time after time.

We finally made it through all the stores and I was itching to get into the park. We caught a bus back to the hotel so we could change my room key, hopefully get in my room, and then aunt/uncle would head home and I'd take off to check on my castle. Why do things seem to be against me on this trip?

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Hi Stacy!!! I just spotted your TR and am all caught up!
I don't think my family would let me out the door for a solo WDW trip! They'd all want to come along!

at you telling your aunt no halter tops!! I agree with you! I barely will wear a tank top (and yes, I'm slightly over 40).

I sure hope you get to the castle soon!!! No more bad luck!

 

[MEK]

Welcome back.

Good thing they told you the ceiling was falling in BEFORE you got to your room. I hope you were able to get into your new room promptly.

T Rex - Second great review I read today!

 

[stayhomemom77]

about the halter top incident. I couldn't get away with wearing one even when I WAS 21 (heck, I had my first training bra at 10!!) but I think I could tuck these ladies into my waistband without a bra nowadays! Of course, if someone was an A cup...maybe the age factor wouldn't make so much difference...but I'm certainly no authority on that.

I've always wanted to check out OKW...what a bummer that you have to go and get a new room key and everything, but I guess that's better than staying in a room where the ceiling is caving in. (How does THAT happen?)

Going into every store in DTD seems excessive...that is one dedicated shopper!

I too have the same troubles finding non caffeinated DIET sodas...usually at Disney I have to resort to the light lemonade instead. Good thing I like it!

Great TR so far...can't wait to hear about your first park experience of the trip.

 

[thegreggersmom]

Who knew my nudge had such power? I'll do one every day now.

Great update!! Cannot believe you were able to resist the pull of The Castle on your first full day. You must really love that aunt and uncle!

 

[Stacybaeasm]

Hi Stacy!!! I just spotted your TR and am all caught up!
I don't think my family would let me out the door for a solo WDW trip! They'd all want to come along!

at you telling your aunt no halter tops!! I agree with you! I barely will wear a tank top (and yes, I'm slightly over 40).

I sure hope you get to the castle soon!!! No more bad luck!

Glad you stopped by. An update is coming out soon, I promise!! And yes, I am adamant about the halter top thing. I'm all for looking great and in shape but lets all just admit - no one can be "Forever 21." NO ONE!!!! Do you hear me real housewives of Orange County???

Welcome back.

Good thing they told you the ceiling was falling in BEFORE you got to your room. I hope you were able to get into your new room promptly.

T Rex - Second great review I read today!

T-Rex is a lot of fun. It's LOUD though. Be prepared for that. I know people complain about the food and the service a lot but I've been there 3 times and always had good food and good service. Of course, I don't go at peak times either.

about the halter top incident. I couldn't get away with wearing one even when I WAS 21 (heck, I had my first training bra at 10!!) but I think I could tuck these ladies into my waistband without a bra nowadays! Of course, if someone was an A cup...maybe the age factor wouldn't make so much difference...but I'm certainly no authority on that.

I've always wanted to check out OKW...what a bummer that you have to go and get a new room key and everything, but I guess that's better than staying in a room where the ceiling is caving in. (How does THAT happen?)

Going into every store in DTD seems excessive...that is one dedicated shopper!

I too have the same troubles finding non caffeinated DIET sodas...usually at Disney I have to resort to the light lemonade instead. Good thing I like it!

Great TR so far...can't wait to hear about your first park experience of the trip.

Getting to the park soon. I still can't believe it took me until after 4 on the first day to get there.

I'll have to try the light lemonade. I usually don't like fountain lemonade because I feel it is too watery. Thanks for the recommendation though.

Who knew my nudge had such power? I'll do one every day now.

Great update!! Cannot believe you were able to resist the pull of The Castle on your first full day. You must really love that aunt and uncle!

I DO love my aunt and uncle. They took very good care of me when I lived in Florida - providing me with a place to go for all major holidays and huricanes. And now, they bring me my bottled water supply to Disney and still call to check on me when they hear about bad weather in my area.


Ok all, an update tomorrow. I promise!!!

 

[thegreggersmom]

My popcorn's getting cold ...



and this poor guy's not getting any younger