ABC's of Trip Planning (Oct 10-20), Vol. 2- Z is for: Zippidee Doo Dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pkondz]

Then it's mutual. I absolutely could NOT function on the amount of sleep that you do and feel human. I can work (less optimally) on 6 or 7, but only for about 3 days. Takes all of our collective giftings and talents to make this place work.

I just know.... I know I'm shortening my lifespan.

Because what goes down, must come back up. I could barely drag my sorry carcass up when it was time. And skateboards are heavy.

Call her to come pick you up.

WAIT! Not yet! They still may work out! I wore them around the house all day yesterday, and by the end, they were still feelin' pretty good.

Don't burn the shoes!

Lost keys?

Being a woman, she'd probably not even listen.

Ah. So that's what happens to all my letters.

NO, there were a couple kids in there too. One was severely autistic/ dev. disabled who was vocalizing a lot. Maybe there were fewer kids in there because of that?

Could be. Probably.

Adult ADD or ADHD.

Don't label me!
What were we talking about again?

Seriously, I don't TRY to have this ridiculousness follow me...

Always. I can't wait to see what mayhem follows at Disney. The TR should be rather entertaining.

So, you're saying I don't have shiny teeth and fresh breath all the time?

Uh... er... shiny-er? Fresh-er?

Um.



Have I told you how beautiful you look, today?

 

[Steppesister]

Looks like I have a couple of days to catch up with here.

You're a gluton for punishment.

I think the drop-kick was invented shortly after man encountered the cat. True story.

Why do I believe this?

That's not California perfect. That's perfect anywhere.

Can it be imported to Florida in October?

Me likey! Nice shot.

Thanks. I like the fog bank above it.

Aww...that's a sweet one.

Thank you. It was a great time with my girls. Aren't too many of this type of trips left.

Uh...pink flowers?

How about Naked Ladies. Seems to be a theme on several threads lately. XP

Wait, what?? Crap, I'm doing it wrong.

Well, perhaps if you didn't have a toddler...? I dunno. Maybe you could make it to, say... 7:00AM

Oh, you just squeegee the widget on the doohickey. It's not that hard.

Great. I was doing it all wrong, and ended up without my bare necessities.

Me t--SQUIRREL!

$45 for kale?? That's about $44.79 too much.

The prices those people can and do pay. Holy crap!!! In all seriousness, the smoothie was like $8.00. It's carrot juice for crying out loud!!

Wow! You are incredibly fast on your feet!

It was either that or have to stand up quickly. And you KNOW I wasn't gonna do THAT!

Well, sometimes it's ok to enjoy the view just for yourself.

But then, there'd be no TR.

Nice little reminder there. Just over a month! I can't believe it's almost here!

How did this get here so fast?!

 

[Steppesister]

I just know.... I know I'm shortening my lifespan.

I'm sure multiple studies have been done. No, I'm not going to find them for you. You already know the results.

Call her to come pick you up.

Nope. She actually was working from home that morning until we headed over to the hotel. And we didn't want to inconvenience her anymore. Which reminds me, I need to package up the hostess gifts for them and get them in the mail today.

What were we talking about again?

Lunch. I need some lunch. I can't write an update with hunger pains. Leftover pasta al fresco oughtta work.

Uh... er... shiny-er? Fresh-er?

Um.



Have I told you how beautiful you look, today?

Ironically, I am sitting here in my recliner having not had a shower, washed my hair OR brushed my teeth.

So keep laughing.

I have a larger shovel, should you need it to dig your hole faster.

 

[glennbo123]

Ah, you should've just told that lady that loofah-ing her back was just another service we perform here.

 

[Steppesister]

Ah, you should've just told that lady that loofah-ing her back was just another service we perform here.

The look on her face would have been priceless! I mean even more so than the initial look of shock that I saw.

 

[pkondz]

I'm sure multiple studies have been done. No, I'm not going to find them for you. You already know the results.

I don't actually. Too afraid to look.

Nope. She actually was working from home that morning until we headed over to the hotel. And we didn't want to inconvenience her anymore. Which reminds me, I need to package up the hostess gifts for them and get them in the mail today.

Tell her to get off her butt and hostess right!





okay. Kidding.

Lunch. I need some lunch. I can't write an update with hunger pains. Leftover pasta al fresco oughtta work.

Had lunch.
Seafood chowder!

out of a can....

Ironically, I am sitting here in my recliner having not had a shower, washed my hair OR brushed my teeth.

Hawt.

So keep laughing.

I have a larger shovel, should you need it to dig your hole faster.

Me laugh? Never!

Ah, you should've just told that lady that loofah-ing her back was just another service we perform here.

 

[Steppesister]

We now interrupt this Pre-Trip Report with actual Disney Trip Planning. You may ask yourself just how much more can she possibly plan. Is she just that stupid that she can't figure this crap out in 2 years? Overly obsessive? Overly excited? Does she just like to talk more than Edith Bunker?

If you answered yes to any, or more accurately all, of those questions then you are probably right. Now, let's get moving here, I have a lot of territory to cover in 13 Letters and a month and 4 days.

So... we're up to 'N'. Again. Or is this the 3rd iteration I'm on?

From here on out, since I have my chapters named and planned out with posting dates, they will be short and sweet and rapid fire. I have one scheduled almost every other day. Keep up if you dare, but I promise they will be easy to read, so much so, that you can even keep up on your phone.

And now, without further ado, or doo-doo you might be thinking, let's get on with:

'N' is for, NO, Kids, You Can't Have the Bounty Platter!​

When I got the news that my new floor going into the kitchen, laundry room, hallway, and VERY small bathroom was going to cost me 3 times what I thought it was going to, I had to scale down on other expenses a bit. I had for the first time in 20 years overdrawn our account with some other big ticket purchases like a new mattress, a trip to San Fran, among other things, so I am having to shave off a little from this trip. So I found a way to save us about $150 or so.

If my math serves me correctly, if we spend $25 a day at the Food Court at either resort on breakfast, that's $250, right (10 day trip)? 2 breakfasts for the 3 of us, plus a juice and/or coffee. That can get expensive, but FAR worse was the extra time it would have carved out of our day. Or, even worse yet, our sleep. When you're already burning the candle at both ends, an extra half hour of sleep goes a long way. I will, obviously keep the Boma ADR for our last day, but that's Day 11, so it doesn't count.

Imagine this: In waltzes my knight in shining armor bearing good and delicious gifts (for a price) of food items. Well, alright. I don't know if he is even a he, let alone whether or not he or she waltzes. But I like the thought of a food delivery service wearing armor. After a ton of perseverating and general stewing over this decision, I made the call to go with Garden Grocer for this trip. No, it's not the Bounty Platter. Or the World of Flavors Platter. Or Mickey-shaped waffles. Suck it up. You get to ride Tower of Terror in an hour.

I ended up spending about $100 on the nose for OJ, bagels and cream cheese, ham, yogurts, granola, milk, bananas, and a couple other things. If we can just do this, IF we're hungry even at all for breakfast, we'll come out ahead $150. That's equals a day of food, on one of our more expensive days no less. Add that to the $530 I've earned in Visa Reward dollars, that's actually 6 days now of our food for this trip paid for. Not too shabby. I put in my notes to them that I'd like it all delivered between 12 and 3 if at all possible, not too long after our own arrival. We'll pick it all up from Bell Services after our nap or after the pool and before we head to DTD for our Raglan Rd. dinner.

I've done GG before, but not for REAL food. Last trip we got pop and water and snacky stuff, but this is a whole new thing to actually depend on it for meals. It will be interesting to see how much it adds or detracts from the Disney experience as we know it. I know it's a small thing, but I do think it will affect the groove of the trip at least a little.

 

[glennbo123]

Two words: Pop Tarts

 

[Steppesister]

Two words: Pop Tarts

I'll see your 2 words and raise you 1:

Those are gross.

 

[irene_dsc]

I have to agree, eating breakfast in the room is an incredible timesaver, so I do not blame you one little bit. Saving money at the same time is indeed awesome.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Your day at the spa/club was hilarious. Sounds like a nice relaxing day though apart from the whole going commando part.


Good call on going Garden Grocer. My family usually goes the grocery store route for breakfast as well. It is actually pretty time efficient as you can eat in your room while everybody is getting ready for the day.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

That's how we do our breakfast as well. Saving time and money is a good thing!

 

[addictedtothemouse]

We used GG on pour last trip, I loved having snacks in the room and breakfast items to take on the go.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

I salute your fuzzy math skills.

 

[Chrystmasangel]

Best I can tell, "The Gut" refers to a town's Main Street?

This makes a bit more sense. I am getting it now.

Surely you jest! Start a PTR and we'll all be there to help you out!

I did, and you and showed up! Thank you very much! "If you build it, they will come"

That's strange your thigh would be sore... it's SQ, right? How much longer for the Prednisone? I think I'd be anxious to get off that too. It really messes with blood sugars and weight gain is awful. (Among all kinds of other s/e)

Yes, it is SQ. The doctors assistant is a bit baffled by it as well. She said she has never had those specific complaints from the Methotrexate before. I did google it and found some other complaints of leg pain in the thigh from them, but it is definitely not a common side effect. The Prednisone...Ugh, this stuff is the ugly duckling! I am currently on another taper of them. My taper regimen is 20mg 5 days,15mg 5 days, 10mg 5 days, 5mg 5 days. HOWEVER, being the stubborn person that I am... I was on the 10mg taper part and started feeling a lot better, so of course, I over did things this past weekend (and by overdid, I mean, I mowed the lawn! that's it... just mowed the lawn!)and irritated my hands (push mower with the safety bar, had to hold it up constantly to keep the lawn mower running) and so I woke up Monday and they were all swollen again, so I had to pop back up to 20mg and start the taper over. It is so hard for me to accept that I can't do things! Up until I was diagnosed with this crap 3 (has it been that long!) years ago, I was always on the go. House was spotless (well, as spotless as it can be with kids), Weekends were full of activity, hardly ever missed a day of work. This has really forced me to throw the emergency break on!

"Hey Liesa, is that the only face you guys can make?!"

So how did we spend our last day together? RELAXING!!!!

Yeah for relaxing!

The Claremont Spa Hotel in Oakland

Uh, I'm not sure this is relaxing... I would be afraid constantly that I would break something and have to pay the absorbent price of 200x it's value!

Where's my underwear?!

Sure, just let me get my cred.... "OH NO! I"m so sorry, I don't have my purse with me. Is there a way you can look up my friend's membership and put it on her tab? I could always pay her back for some roasted almonds and marinated olives, right? Yes, I really said that.

Yes, you really did!

I showered up and headed to the hair dryers and couldn't see crap. Oopsies, forgot my glasses, so ran back to the shower to grab them. Popped open the door, and OH MY LORD! Someone had already gotten in and I full-on threw the door open on her thinking it was empty. People, I can't make this stuff up!!!! She was very kind about it and I laughed with her, not at her, but felt badly. After I laughed all the way back to the dressing table.

I was saddened by the fact that we sat on the wrong side of the plane to get the full-view of this:

It's still VERY pretty!

I found it highly amusing that they were even staying at the SAME resort that we would be at in just a little over a month. After my kids got off, I stopped to wish them a magical trip, and told them we were staying at the same resort, and it was a surprise for my kids. She giggled like a schoolgirl with a crush, and off we went, ready to face the wait until our own magical trip.

if it would have been the end of their trip, it would have been more like....

But I am the type of person who gets really bored pretty easily. Seriously, I have the attention span of a 3 year old, and pretty much just need to keep moving- I have a hard time relaxing... at least in one place for very long.

Is there a name for that? Because that's me.

I believe they call it ADHD.

I ended up spending about $100 on the nose for OJ, bagels and cream cheese, ham, yogurts, granola, milk, bananas, and a couple other things. If we can just do this, IF we're hungry even at all for breakfast, we'll come out ahead $150. That's equals a day of food, on one of our more expensive days no less. Add that to the $530 I've earned in Visa Reward dollars, that's actually 6 days now of our food for this trip paid for. Not too shabby. I put in my notes to them that I'd like it all delivered between 12 and 3 if at all possible, not too long after our own arrival. We'll pick it all up from Bell Services after our nap or after the pool and before we head to DTD for our Raglan Rd. dinner.

I've done GG before, but not for REAL food. Last trip we got pop and water and snacky stuff, but this is a whole new thing to actually depend on it for meals. It will be interesting to see how much it adds or detracts from the Disney experience as we know it. I know it's a small thing, but I do think it will affect the groove of the trip at least a little.

Good way to save money! I am actually thinking about doing this on our trip next year. The whole "don't kill the kids" thing has me thinking...if we have breakfast in the room, then maybe I won't be so anxious when it comes to trying to get them out of the room so early because we still have breakfast to eat before we catch the bus. Also thinking it will give us the opportunity to try more counter service in the parks which we NEVER do.

 

[Steppesister]

I have to agree, eating breakfast in the room is an incredible timesaver, so I do not blame you one little bit. Saving money at the same time is indeed awesome.

I agree. I also figured, we are having SO many pretty expensive and nice meals the rest of the day that we really don't need another 10 meals that are Disney priced and only mediocre.

Your day at the spa/club was hilarious. Sounds like a nice relaxing day though apart from the whole going commando part.

It was actually very relaxing. I haven't sat and just read a book in a very long time. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy that.

Good call on going Garden Grocer. My family usually goes the grocery store route for breakfast as well. It is actually pretty time efficient as you can eat in your room while everybody is getting ready for the day.

Plus, we just aren't big breakfast eaters in the first place. None of us really get hungry until a bit later. So, I can see us packing that up and eating as we tour.

That's how we do our breakfast as well. Saving time and money is a good thing!

Fo' sho!!!

We used GG on pour last trip, I loved having snacks in the room and breakfast items to take on the go.

I am just hoping it doesn't take us too far "out of the bubble" and make me feel like I can do that at home.

I salute your fuzzy math skills.

It gets fuzzier everyday. Working the system even as we speak to get a free flight for a solo or ladies' trip next year. (With SW Airlines)

 

[Steppesister]

I did, and you and showed up! Thank you very much! "If you build it, they will come"

EEK! Now I need to go back and make sure I subscribed so I get notifications. I'm terrible at remembering to do that!

Yes, it is SQ. The doctors assistant is a bit baffled by it as well. She said she has never had those specific complaints from the Methotrexate before. I did google it and found some other complaints of leg pain in the thigh from them, but it is definitely not a common side effect. The Prednisone...Ugh, this stuff is the ugly duckling! I am currently on another taper of them. My taper regimen is 20mg 5 days,15mg 5 days, 10mg 5 days, 5mg 5 days. HOWEVER, being the stubborn person that I am... I was on the 10mg taper part and started feeling a lot better, so of course, I over did things this past weekend (and by overdid, I mean, I mowed the lawn! that's it... just mowed the lawn!)and irritated my hands (push mower with the safety bar, had to hold it up constantly to keep the lawn mower running) and so I woke up Monday and they were all swollen again, so I had to pop back up to 20mg and start the taper over. It is so hard for me to accept that I can't do things! Up until I was diagnosed with this crap 3 (has it been that long!) years ago, I was always on the go. House was spotless (well, as spotless as it can be with kids), Weekends were full of activity, hardly ever missed a day of work. This has really forced me to throw the emergency break on!

Ahh, the good ol' taper. I have heard that for asthma flare ups, they aren't doing that anymore. Just high doses, then BOOM, OFF. Very strange, but I guess they are finding it works just as well.

Yeah, that would be a VERY tough adjustment to make for anyone. But for someone who is already active and ready to tackle life, that's extra hard. I"m sure there was a fair amount of grieving over the dx.

Uh, I'm not sure this is relaxing... I would be afraid constantly that I would break something and have to pay the absorbent price of 200x it's value!

Luckily, my kids are old enough to sit still now and all.

if it would have been the end of their trip, it would have been more like....

For sure. I felt sorry for them though just leaving. Definitely the red eye they were on. The same one we'll be on in a month. Only from SeaTac, not PDX.

Good way to save money! I am actually thinking about doing this on our trip next year. The whole "don't kill the kids" thing has me thinking...if we have breakfast in the room, then maybe I won't be so anxious when it comes to trying to get them out of the room so early because we still have breakfast to eat before we catch the bus. Also thinking it will give us the opportunity to try more counter service in the parks which we NEVER do.

I"m sure it'll save us EASY 40 or so minutes. I know the AM lines at the Food Courts can be terrifying!

 

[Chrystmasangel]

Ahh, the good ol' taper. I have heard that for asthma flare ups, they aren't doing that anymore. Just high doses, then BOOM, OFF. Very strange, but I guess they are finding it works just as well.

I have not seen/heard of this. My DD has really bad Asthma. Have ended up in the ER many a times because of it. she has had to do several tapers. They try very hard not to put her on steroids at her age though because of the bone deterioration and other side effects that are more potent on younger females. Come to think of it, it has been I think 2 years since she's had to have one. I thought the taper was more to prevent withdrawal than to actually continue to help with the issues. I couldn't imagine just being ripped off of them like that. I get hot flashes and mood swings bad enough with the taper.

Luckily, my kids are old enough to sit still now and all.

It wouldn't be the kids I would be worried about, but myself. lol

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Well, perhaps if you didn't have a toddler...? I dunno. Maybe you could make it to, say... 7:00AM

7:00 a.m. is how we define "sleeping in" in our house!

'N' is for, NO, Kids, You Can't Have the Bounty Platter!

But can they have the pupu platter?


Yes. I wrote that just so I could say "pupu platter". Because I'm still 8 years old.

Imagine this: In waltzes my knight in shining armor bearing good and delicious gifts (for a price) of food items. Well, alright. I don't know if he is even a he, let alone whether or not he or she waltzes. But I like the thought of a food delivery service wearing armor.

And you guys will have a third-floor room, I bet. The poor guy.

If we can just do this, IF we're hungry even at all for breakfast, we'll come out ahead $150. That's equals a day of food, on one of our more expensive days no less. Add that to the $530 I've earned in Visa Reward dollars, that's actually 6 days now of our food for this trip paid for.

Not too shabby at all! We always do breakfast in the room for economical reasons. In fact, we usually have:

Two words: Pop Tarts

Those!

I'll see your 2 words and raise you 1:

Those are gross.

Very true. But they're fast. Also, they're--no, I guess that's the only benefit.