A year without Disney? Who am I kidding?!(a PTR) LINK TO TR!

[DisneyCrafter]

We leave...TOMORROW!

I'm currently sitting here constantly trying to check-in with SW for our flight tomorrow. It's no big secret for me that I don't particularly enjoy flying. I want an A so I can sit next to my husband and towards the front of the plane. However, they haven't opened it yet. (It's still a bit early.) I may go upstairs and shower real quick as I have to be at work at 11am. Anyway...

After checking the weather EVERY day (which I probably shouldn't have done) I still feel okay about it. I'm not terribly concerned about the weather in Orlando but they are calling for upper 60's. Our plan on Sunday is to spend the day in DTD and see a movie, maybe hit the Disney outlet store, and head over to the Contemporary for dinner that evening. The Bears didn't make it to the Superbowl and the Packers did, so I will NOT be watching it. For our days in the Bahamas, they are predicting low to mid 70's and sunny/partly sunny. I wish it would be a little warmer but compared to the negative temperatures we've been feeling and will continue to feel next week in Chicago, I'm happy!

I may check back in later, but if not I'll definitely check in when we get back and I promise you guys pictures!!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

I hope you got A boarding passes!!!

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I hope the cruise is absolutely wonderful! I can't wait to hear about it (and see pictures) when you get back!

 

[DisMomAmy]

I hope you are having a wonderful time on your cruise!!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

I hope you got A boarding passes!!!

Have a wonderful trip!

We got A 49&50 (We ended up in Row 7) to Birmingham and A 29&30 (We ended up in Row 4) to Orlando. On the way home I did EB Check-In so we had A 19&20 (We were in Row 2).

I hope the cruise is absolutely wonderful! I can't wait to hear about it (and see pictures) when you get back!

We got home Friday evening but left Saturday AM for my cousin's gymnastics competition and got home this morning. After doing some laundry (still more to do), opening all of the mail, and making some brunch, I am currently relaxing on the couch and it feels awesome to unwind before going back to work tomorrow!

I hope you are having a wonderful time on your cruise!!

Actually as you wrote that, we were sleeping at a Hampton Inn in Orlando! Our cruise left Monday. I won't tell you what we did on Sunday, I'm saving that for the my TR!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

I hope the cruise was fun!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

I hope the cruise was fun!

Thanks, we had a great time!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Awesome!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Welcome Home!! I hope you had a great time!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Awesome!

I will be doing a TR within this PTR and it does include a day in Orlando, perhaps some Disney magic thrown in there as well!

Welcome Home!! I hope you had a great time!

We had a very good time! I don't want to give too many details, however, because I want to do a TR within this PTR. I will say this, it definitely helped us decide on where we like to vacation BEST!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Departure Day: Day 1, February 5th

Usually the night before we leave for vacation we stay over at my DMIL & DFIL’s home. However, we decided to stay home so we didn’t have to rush to get out the door after work on Friday. (This was originally planned in anticipation of me working 11 hour days Wednesday and Thursday but because of the snowstorm Chicago got on Tuesday & Wednesday, I had a very slow work week.) We woke up around 530a.m., showered, put our kitties into their carrier, packed up the car and were on our way. Once we got to DH’s parents house we had a cup of coffee and visited with them a bit. Eventually, we were on our way to the airport for our 10a.m. flight.

Once we got to the airport, the wait wasn’t long to check our bags. (BTW-I think it’s awesome that with SW bags fly free.) The line for security wasn’t bad either. We walked at a leisurely pace to the gate and as soon as we picked out 2 seats, I headed over to grab us each a cinnamon raisin bagel and an orange juice to share. I read a little of my book to help pass the time more quickly but as slow as the boarding time approached the faster the boarding time passed us by. Being the people watcher that I am, I deduced that one of the flight attendants was late. Tsk! Tsk! As soon as she made it onto the plane the A group was being called to line up. This was my first time flying with SW and DH had flew with them a handful of times with his family. We had A 49 & 50 I was a little worried about being able to sit next to my DH and still be near the front of the plane. I shouldn’t have worried, however. We sat in Row 7. Phew! I’m actually quite impressed with just how quickly SW can board a plane b/c we took off only about 10 minutes after our scheduled departure time. I passed the time on the first flight by playing Angry Birds (Yes, I’m addicted and I swore I wouldn’t catch the craze.) and Bejeweled on my Ipod. It was a short 1 hour and 25 minute flight to Birmingham. We departed the plane, I pretty much RAN to the bathroom. (Did I mention that I always NEED to go to the bathroom on the plane-no matter if I went just before. I think it’s the fact that I can’t stop thinking about how I wish I could fly without needing to go so then subconsciously I make myself HAVE to go! I digress…)

DH and I found a little deli near the SW gate area and each had a roast beef sandwich for lunch. DH spent the majority of it complaining about the fact that my sandwich was bigger than his. (The guy who made mine put more meat on my sandwich.) I told him not to feel bad because the ends of my sandwich were so stale that all I had to do was barely touch them and they crumbled. (It was worse than the “dreaded” buns in WDW.) After that I was feeling very sleepy. (I was too excited to fall asleep remotely early the night before and that mixed with some Dramamine will make a girl tired!) We found two seats at our gate and I laid my head on DH’s shoulder but I couldn’t get comfortable enough to fall asleep. I people watched for a bit and deduced that another family who flew with us from Chicago to Birmingham and would be heading on to Orlando with us was meeting their family in Disney World. Lucky!

At some point, I took out a Rachael Ray Magazine and opened up to the crossword puzzle. I normally am not a fan of them but for some reason this one wasn’t completely intimidating and I was enjoying myself. DH would occasionally look over my shoulder to offer his assistance as he was playing his Nintendo DS. Of course, our plane did not arrive on time so we were delayed by about 20 minutes. Once we did board, (BTW-We scored Row 4 for this last leg of the trip.) it again was a short 1 hour and 25 minute flight to Orlando. We managed to land just a few minutes late and we quickly disembarked the plane and were on our way, through the MASSES (I’ve NEVER seen MCO so packed before!), to baggage claim. We waited about 20 minutes for our luggage (which was the longest we’ve waited at MCO) but that wasn’t as bad as how many other people we were waiting with. I counted not 1, not 2, not 3, not even 4 but 17 flights listed at our baggage claim area. Realistically, there may have been 4 flights of people waiting with us, but I still believe that’s insanity. As soon as we grabbed our luggage we headed for the escalator down to the rental car desks. This would be our first trip where we rented a car and I was praying that it would be simple and non-stressful as DH isn’t a fan of driving in unfamiliar areas. (I’m 24 so I wasn’t about to drive as the cost would have been more per day, DH is 27.) We waited about 5 minutes at the Budget desk before we were helped and within about 10 minutes we were on our way to the parking garage, found our Hyundai Accent, and were plugging in our GPS to head over to our hotel.

Next: Arriving at the hotel and dinner!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

No replies yet??? Oh well...

I do have some great news to share with everyone. DH received a job offer for a company in the city (we live in a southern suburb of Chicago) and he is going to take it! It's ironic that it happened just yesterday b/c on Tuesday the family that I sit for let me know that they were going to be cutting back my hours. I now have no hesitation when I say that we WILL be going to Disney World this year. We won't be going until at least September, however, as DH needs to be at work for 6 months without taking a significant amount of time off. (That's usually the rule of thumb isn't it?)

 

[DisMomAmy]

No replies yet??? Oh well...

I do have some great news to share with everyone. DH received a job offer for a company in the city (we live in a southern suburb of Chicago) and he is going to take it! It's ironic that it happened just yesterday b/c on Tuesday the family that I sit for let me know that they were going to be cutting back my hours. I now have no hesitation when I say that we WILL be going to Disney World this year. We won't be going until at least September, however, as DH needs to be at work for 6 months without taking a significant amount of time off. (That's usually the rule of thumb isn't it?)

That's great news Rachael!! Congratulations to Greg!!

And yes - I did read your update yesterday but I was doing ten things at once... You guys were off to a great start.

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Congrats to your DH on the new job! That's awesome!

I did read last night, but I had a horrible migraine, so I didn't get around to posting much. I'm glad you guys got out safely and on time!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

That's great news Rachael!! Congratulations to Greg!!

And yes - I did read your update yesterday but I was doing ten things at once... You guys were off to a great start.

Congrats to your DH on the new job! That's awesome!

I did read last night, but I had a horrible migraine, so I didn't get around to posting much. I'm glad you guys got out safely and on time!

Thanks for making me feel like posting on this PTR is actually worth it, ladies!

Greg and I are going out to eat in the city tomorrow night to celebrate. It works out fabulously that Chicago's Restaurant Week begins tomorrow so we snagged reservations at a fondue hot spot. I'm soooo excited!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I so wish SW flew out of Atlanta. It seems like such a great airline - cheap flights, free bags, no change fees! Maybe one day! I'm glad you all were off to a good start!

Congrats to your DH! That is wonderful! I think the policy is typically 90 days for vacations, or at least it is in my area.

 

[DisneyCrafter]

I so wish SW flew out of Atlanta. It seems like such a great airline - cheap flights, free bags, no change fees! Maybe one day! I'm glad you all were off to a good start!

Congrats to your DH! That is wonderful! I think the policy is typically 90 days for vacations, or at least it is in my area.

It seems SW is adding new destinations on a farely frequent basis and with the buy out of Air Tran, maybe sometime in the near future there will be! Not to rub it in even more but I will say that SW has been my favorite airline to fly with so far.

I'm sure his "probationary" period won't be longer than 90-120 days but I still feel guilty having him request off for a week within the first 6 months. Either way, summer time is a busy time at the library and with so many of my coworkers having children and most likely wanting to take time off theirselves, I don't plan on doing a lengthy trip this summer. I realllly want to go during the Food & Wine Festival. Yum!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

PTR Update: Even as I write this, I find myself deleting what I have typed. How do I explain my dilemma without being boring OR providing too much useless information? It is a dilemma-no matter that it’s a “good” dilemma to have. Where do we go? When do we go? For how long do we go? I could really use your advice on this one DISers! I suppose you may need just a BIT more information to give your opinion, huh?

Where do we go? Disneyland or Disney World? (Side note: My OCD tendencies are reallllly causing me the urge to make Disneyland two words!) Both are enticing and I’m just not sure which one is the best choice for our next trip. We definitely plan on making it an early fall trip (mid-late September or early October).

If we choose Disneyland, we’ll spend the first half of the trip in Anaheim, taking a day trip to L.A. and spending the rest of the time in Disneyland. After, we’d head over to Las Vegas for the second half of the trip and take a LONG day trip to the Grand Canyon. (I found a tour company on Trip Advisor that picks you up from you resort and drops you back at the end of the day.) I’ve never been to California or the Grand Canyon. (DH and I went to Vegas last summer.) When I was initially planning/pricing the trip to Disneyland I thought it was the GREATEST idea ever because we were going to Disney AND Vegas, seeing L.A. and the Grand Canyon on top of it! (Even now that I write that, the excitement is starting to build again.)

HOWEVER, that being said, when we were in Orlando for a short 2 nights before our cruise earlier this month, we had a moment where no words needed to be said to each other but we knew we both were feeling the same thing: “Forget the cruise, let’s just do WDW!” We know that we have a good time at WDW, there are still so many things we haven’t done and so many places we haven’t eaten at! If we do end up choosing WDW, we’d go in October for the F&W Fest. (We fell in love with it last year.) We’d also visit Typhoon Lagoon and HOPEFULLY Universal.

As much as I’d like to do Disneyland and Disney World both this year-that’s NOT going to happen. Money aside, my DH will be starting a new job soon, summer is a really busy time for both of my jobs (summer reading program at the library and the kids I sit for obviously won’t be in school) and neither of us feel comfortable taking more than a day or two off this summer. We also have some bills we’d like to take care of and we’d like to end this year with money saved in the bank account!


So…What Would You Do?

 

[DisMomAmy]

You know I LOVE Disney World, but if I were younger & didn't have kids yet, I'd jump all over the California trip! It'll be a long while before we can take off on an adventure like that.

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Hmmmm, that's a tough one! Although like you mentioned, it's definitely not a bad problem to have, because both trips sound amazing!

To be honest, if I were presented with the same two choices right now, I'd go with Disney World. But, that could just be because I'm gearing up for a trip and it's really on my mind!

As much as I'd like to visit Disneyland, it just doesn't seem the same to me. LA, Vegas and the Grand Canyon are all on my list though, so...
Being the planner that I am, I would really want to take some time to sort out the California trip. Since I'm not familiar with any of those places, and I would want to make sure I was picking the best hotels in each spot, knew of restaurants to go to, what kind of tours I wanted to take, etc. For me, the six or so months to plan wouldn't be enough. I would need more like a year to really feel prepared for that trip.

In short, I'd pick the World, but you really can't go wrong with either trip.