An Anniversary, birthdays, and first timers...OH MY! Pre-Trip for Apr/May 2009

[Tiger.Lily]

Well, I'm giving in. I was going to try to wait until a month ahead of time to start this PTR, but I can't do it anymore. Not after I dreamed that I was in the Magic Kingdom last night!!

Here are the basic details:
Where: All Star Music
When: April 26 to May 3

So here we go! First things first, lets start with an explanation of why we are taking this trip. (like any of us here need a reason other than "It's DISNEY and we're GOING!)

Last May was my 30th birthday and several months before the actual day my Mom decided she was going to take me somewhere special...my choice. I'm sure it goes without saying that I chose Disney World. We went last April and I'll be telling that story in a later installment here, but the one thing you need to know now is that as soon as our plane left Orlando I wanted to go back!

Skip ahead now to last January. My fiance and I were out looking at a potential wedding location and my phone rang. I picked it up (knowing it was my mother) and she says "I know you have a lot on your plates this year...but it's our 25th anniversary and we want you to celebrate it with us! We'll buy dinner!". I, of course, go "sure Mom, whatever you want, I'll just fly out to the west coast for dinner that night." She then says "Well guess where we want to celebrate?" and I immediately know where she's going with this. I say "Disney World!" and she says "DISNEY WORLD!".

My heart sunk because I knew we couldn't afford to go with a wedding on the horizon and the fact that neither one of us were real great about saving money. As soon as I got off the phone I told my DF. And deep in my heart...I knew I was going to try and make this trip happen.

And wouldn't you know, that very next day, I found out that I could do it! I found out that I would be receiving a large chunk back from taxes and when I talked to Mom about it she told me they were going to get this "4/3 deal". So the research began and within about a week we were booked!

Now, I've been to both the World and the Land a bunch of times. I grew up on the west coast and some of my earliest memories are from Disneyland. And my Mom lived in Missouri so frequent trips to Disney World were made in the summers. But my DF has never been. I think my excitement for this trip is compounded greatly because of this.

How would you like to meet a few of the ragtag crew?

First, meet the initial reason behind this trip. This is my Mother and Stepfather. We'll call them Tink and Peter. They've taught me you can be an adult without ever "growing up".

I've also failed to mention that it's Peter's birthday the second day we are there. So the count so far is:

Anniversaries - 1
Birthdays - 1
First timers - 1

Here is a fun photo of Tink and my cousin. You can see what I mean about never growing up.

Also joining us will be my brother. We'll call him Stitch. It's more appropriate than you could possibly know...

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of his lovely girlfriend. So you'll just have to wait until I come back and write the TR to see a pic of her. She is also a newbie.

Current score:

Anniversaries - 1
Birthdays - 1
First timers - 2

Moving on, there are three others going that I don't have pictures of. One is my grandmother. She's a bit of a worrier...maybe we should call her Rabbit. It's her birthday the first day we are all there. The other two that are going with us are a couple of Mom's friends. It's their first times.

Current score:

Anniversaries - 1
Birthdays - 2
First timers - 4

Up Next...meet the last two in the group...my DF and I!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Hi!! I just skipped right over from my PTR! (and I'm first to comment on yours!! woo-hoo!) I can't wait to hear more about your trip!

 

[DisneymoonJess07]

Following along!

 

[shordiebecka]

I'm following along!! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Tiger.Lily]

Hi!! I just skipped right over from my PTR! (and I'm first to comment on yours!! woo-hoo!) I can't wait to hear more about your trip!

Yay! Glad to see you hopped on over here!

Following along!

I'm following along!! Can't wait to hear more!

Welcome everyone! Stay tuned...I'll have the next installment up in just a few...

 

[Tiger.Lily]

So you've met most of the group...except for my DF and I.

My fiance is my knight in shining armor. No seriously! Take a look.

I met Prince Charming several years back while he was jousting at a Renaissance Faire. We're both pretty involved with the local one.

Charming has never been to Disney before. This concerns me slightly for the simple fact that he just doesn't know what to expect. And when he's got it in his head that something should be one way and it isn't....well things can get ugly.

As a kid his fondest memories are of the Texas State Faire and he told me the other day that as long as he can get a corndog at WDW he'll be happy. He really has no idea.

Here is a more "normal" picture of us.

Mom has tried so hard over the years to convince me of a Disney Wedding. And after reading about a few on the boards here...I certainly wish I could! Too bad it's WAY out of our budget.

Maybe...hopefully...I can convince DF that we need to do a Disneymoon.

Up next (hopefully later today) - The next step. Deciding where to go on what days!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Awwww...what a cute couple!

I put up such a fuss about going to Disney on our honeymoon. What a brat!! We had the BEST time and that's when the Disney bug bit me!

 

[ChefMickey123]

You have a great family. I am sure you will have a great time. I linked to your pre-trip report through Mommytothreeboys trip report.


It looks like you are less than 6 months away from your trip-did you celebrate that??

 

[seasideteacher]

How exciting! What fun crew! I like the nicknames! lol
You and your DF are so cute. I like his hair and your freckles! (I always wanted freckles, who knows why?) Keep going with the updates!

 

[Tiger.Lily]

Awwww...what a cute couple!

Aww thanks! (where is the blushing smiley? seriously!)

You have a great family. I am sure you will have a great time. I linked to your pre-trip report through Mommytothreeboys trip report.


It looks like you are less than 6 months away from your trip-did you celebrate that??

Thanks for stopping by! Well, since we didn't book until the end of January I guess my "less than 6 months celebration" was the day we booked. I definitely did a lot of and and ! I also celebrated the two month mark. DF just shakes his head. He doesn't understand the excitement...yet.

How exciting! What fun crew! I like the nicknames! lol
You and your DF are so cute. I like his hair and your freckles! (I always wanted freckles, who knows why?) Keep going with the updates!

Aww! See?! I really need that blushing smiley! You guys are sweet! I'm a huge fan of his hair too and refused to "let" him cut it these last couple of years. All of a sudden I realized how long it's getting! Maybe I'll "let" him do a little more than trim it this time around.

Oh and I'm glad you like the nicknames! I was wondering if I was being a little silly...I don't really care about having first names out there on the net but I thought it would be fun to have nicknames.

And seasideteacher...I'm originally from Oregon! I'm always excited to "meet" a fellow Oregonian! We're few and far between in the Midwest.

 

[DisneymoonJess07]

Such a cute couple! I always think it is so great when couples meet doing things that they both love...it seems to draw people together in an amazing way!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

<< Do you mean this little guy??

If you click the "more" button at the bottom of the smileys it pulls up a pop-up box with a ton more smileys!

 

[Tiger.Lily]

Such a cute couple! I always think it is so great when couples meet doing things that they both love...it seems to draw people together in an amazing way!

I TOTALLY agree!!

<< Do you mean this little guy??

If you click the "more" button at the bottom of the smileys it pulls up a pop-up box with a ton more smileys!

Thanks! I clicked more but must have missed him. He was exactly what I was looking for!

 

[shordiebecka]

Wow! Renaissance fairs are always so fun, it's so great that you can really call him your knight in shining armor! Your trip is getting close..have you made a planning binder or anything? what types of things are you doing to plan?

 

[Tiger.Lily]

Wow! Renaissance fairs are always so fun, it's so great that you can really call him your knight in shining armor! Your trip is getting close..have you made a planning binder or anything? what types of things are you doing to plan?

Is it total sacrilege to admit around here that I don't have a planning binder?

Seriously though, I don't use a binder but have several Excel spreadsheets that help me keep things in order. This trip is a little bit of a strange one when it comes to planning...more details on that REALLY soon!

 

[Tiger.Lily]

Let's talk about planning for the parks!

This trip is very different from any I've been on before. Let us count the ways:

1. The biggest difference is that I'm paying for this trip. Mom and Dad have always paid before...but I guess they decided that it's time for me to grow up. Ehem. Anyway, I know they would always love to pay for all of us kids but with the economy the way it's been they really have to watch their cash flow too.

2. I've never brought anyone along with me before...let alone a newbie! It's always been "just the family" on our trips before. I've always been able to wander where and when I want with complete freedom. I don't think Charming would appreciate me stranding him...even if it IS the happiest place on earth.

3. I've never had to plan anything. Ever.

Let me repeat that.

I've never had to plan ANYTHING.

Now let me clarify, this little fact hasn't stopped me at all. I still consider myself pretty comfortable with Disney and how everything works, even though I've never done the actual planning. And once I found the DIS, I knew I was going to be ok.

So here is our current plan.

Charming and I will be flying to Orlando on April 26th with current arrival time set for 11:55 a.m. They've already changed it once, from 11:20, and I'm hoping that they aren't going to keep bumping it back. Once we arrive, we'll be taking ME to ASMu.

We'll be sharing a room with Stitch and his girlfriend. We actually thought long and hard about this, as I wanted Charming's experience to be fun and relaxing, but ultimately decided that the money the four of us would save was worth being a little cramped. There was only one minor issue that came up that I'll discuss in a later installment. Part of that issue came from the fact that we are arriving the day before everyone else.

I'm really glad this ended up the way it did because, selfishly, I want Charming's first experience with Disney to be ALL MINE! Heh. No really, he's not into big groups (that's different than having a problem with crowds by the way) and I really think this first day is going to be crucial in his total enjoyment.

Anyway, my hope is that we will be to the hotel, checked-in, and settled by about 2 p.m....but I really haven't done any research on whether or not this is really feasible. The first time I took ME was last April and things seemed to move pretty quickly.

After that, it's on to MK! I won't get into dining plans just yet (it's a WHOLE other story) but here are our current plans for the parks.

April 26th - Magic Kingdom for EMH
April 27th - EMH at Animal Kingdom and then we'll meet up with the others at Hollywood Studios. They'll be arriving sometime in the afternoon. We'll be staying for EMH.
April 28th - EMH at Epcot. We'll likely stay all day.
April 29th - Animal Kingdom. We'll stay for evening EMH.
April 30th - EMH at Magic Kingdom and then we'll hop over to Epcot at some point.
May 1st - We'll likely take it easy this morning, head to Epcot, and stay for EMH.
May 2nd - EMH at Hollywood Studios and we'll stay all day.
May 3rd - This morning is currently up in the air. I can't remember if we got a park ticket for this day (I think we did) and if so we'll go SOMEWHERE. Most likely Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios. Then we'll have to hop back on ME about 3:30 p.m. to go home.

Some of you might be thinking at this point "What?! No DTD??".

Let me assure you, at this time of year with the parks usually closing earlier in the evenings, we'll have plenty of time at DTD. For instance. Except for MK on the first night and HS on the second night, the parks close at 9 p.m. 9:00!? What's this night owl to do? Sadly there is no Pleasure Island to hang out at anymore...so we'll go shopping! The stores stay open late so we'll just shop in small doses.

You might also notice that we'll be taking complete advantage of the EMH's. I know there is a lot of controversy about these...but we've always found them to be useful. We're all about getting AS MUCH time in the parks as possible.

Also, these plans are JUST for Charming and I. I don't have any idea what everyone else is doing (except for a few meals we'll be eating together) and we're all ok with that. I know we'll be overlapping some of our plans because we'll be celebrating the birthdays and the anniversary, but other than that things are pretty fluid when it comes to who we'll be hanging out with on a day to day basis. We've always been pretty flexible as a family if someone wants to go off and do something the group doesn't want to do. We figure we'll meet up for a reservation or back at the hotel that night.

And there you have it! Those are our very basic park plans.

Up Next!...ADRs and To DDP or Not To DDP, THAT is the question.

 

[seasideteacher]

Yeah for being from Oregon! Okay, so i have only lived here like 6 years, and was actually born in Maine and then grew up in Washington before the college years (sounds complicated, I know!) But I guess that means you actually know how to pronounce Oregon, lol. I got in so much trouble when I didn't!

We are also going to use the EMH, but i think it will work well for us since we will go back in the afternoons for naps and swimming (my DS and DH both need them! ) so will be gone during the busiest hrs. Plus here's hoping early May isn't toooo crowded!

Also I can never find the smiley I am looking for.. Like one for hoping? lol
That's why I like my friend the Banana... he can mean just about anything! lol

 

[tiggersam00]

I found your PTR from a comment you left in mine, and I just have to say wow! You guys will have a blast! So many celebrations while you are there, it will be awesome! And you are planning it right for sure, not spending every minute together will make you all much more relaxed and everyone will have some space (which at least I know, I need on vacations lol)

I took my DF for the 1st time in 2007 and he thought he would not really like it at all... well on the plane coming home he looked at me and said "I think we should try and go back next year with everyone (meaning his family)" I was in shock! I converted him to a Disney Fan! So I have faith that you can turn your DF into a fan as well!

Now I also have to tell you that I went to my 1st Ren Faire this year, I thought I was not going to like it at all... well when I realized I could have a glass of cranberry Mead with Champagne at 9am I was thinking "Ok I can do this for a little while"
Then when I had Hot Kettle Corn at 10 I though "Huh, maybe this won't be so bad"
By the time I saw the joust at 11am I was convinced that this place was pretty darn cool! I already told DF we need to go back again this fall and I am wearing the flower crown I bought there lol!

Cannot wait to hear mom of your plans! (You DM looks like a hoot!)

 

[tiggersam00]

he told me the other day that as long as he can get a corndog at WDW he'll be happy.

Casey's in the MK has Corn Dog Nuggets which are my DF's fave! Super yummy!

 

[Tiger.Lily]

Yeah for being from Oregon! Okay, so i have only lived here like 6 years, and was actually born in Maine and then grew up in Washington before the college years (sounds complicated, I know!) But I guess that means you actually know how to pronounce Oregon, lol. I got in so much trouble when I didn't!
Heh, I have no idea why we are so touchy about the way our state is pronounced, but I'll be the first to admit that I'll immediately correct anyone that says it wrong. And living so close to Illinois I've learned to correct the people that actually say the "s" that's on the end. I might be slightly annoying to be around...

We are also going to use the EMH, but i think it will work well for us since we will go back in the afternoons for naps and swimming (my DS and DH both need them! ) so will be gone during the busiest hrs. Plus here's hoping early May isn't toooo crowded!
My mom swears the crowds have never been bad when they've been there in early May. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

Also I can never find the smiley I am looking for.. Like one for hoping? lol
That's why I like my friend the Banana... he can mean just about anything! lol

Love that banana...

I found your PTR from a comment you left in mine, and I just have to say wow! You guys will have a blast! So many celebrations while you are there, it will be awesome! And you are planning it right for sure, not spending every minute together will make you all much more relaxed and everyone will have some space (which at least I know, I need on vacations lol)
I agree! I think having a little space makes it so much more enjoyable for everyone. Tempers aren't nearly as short.

I took my DF for the 1st time in 2007 and he thought he would not really like it at all... well on the plane coming home he looked at me and said "I think we should try and go back next year with everyone (meaning his family)" I was in shock! I converted him to a Disney Fan! So I have faith that you can turn your DF into a fan as well!
Fingers crossed!!

Now I also have to tell you that I went to my 1st Ren Faire this year, I thought I was not going to like it at all... well when I realized I could have a glass of cranberry Mead with Champagne at 9am I was thinking "Ok I can do this for a little while"
Then when I had Hot Kettle Corn at 10 I though "Huh, maybe this won't be so bad"
By the time I saw the joust at 11am I was convinced that this place was pretty darn cool! I already told DF we need to go back again this fall and I am wearing the flower crown I bought there lol!
That's FANTASTIC! I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed your first Renaissance Faire experience. Careful, they're addictive! Oh and I SO wish we had Cranberry Mead and Champagne at ours!!

Cannot wait to hear mom of your plans! (You DM looks like a hoot!)

Casey's in the MK has Corn Dog Nuggets which are my DF's fave! Super yummy!

Hee hee, yeah I've heard of these but never tried them. I'm not a fan of Corn Dogs but I told him we would stop by Casey's whenever he was feeling the need for a Corn Dog.

Oh and WELCOME! Thanks for stopping by to read.

I'll have more up soon!