NOLAdisneymom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2010
Hey! Joining in!
An Extreme Couponer's Surprise Trip to Tatooine-12/4 Bringing the Magic Back
- Thread starter bizeemom4
- Start date
AprilRenee
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2010
Sounds wonderful! I'm looking forward to doing some relaxing on our upcoming trip...not too much mind you! But just taking it a little slower than in the past! 
Abby's Dad
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 1, 2007
Great meet! DD27 will be SO jealous if she sees this! And from what I've seen here, she just has to go for a SWW. And if she is ever able to be there at a time when you are, she would have a riot with you.
Fred
Abby's Dad
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 1, 2007
Here's a picture of Alex's burger -
Too slow. I should have used the sports mode.
Just too funny!
And you have a lot of really good pictures, I'm enjoying all of them (and the pic of the dragonfly was really good - I'm glad you stopped for that).
Fred
Abby's Dad
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 1, 2007
I also snapped a picture of this lovely lady. We wondered why on Earth she would wear that to a theme park. She was certainly getting a LOT of attention from passers-by.
Can I order an 8 x 10?
Abby's Dad
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 1, 2007
YOU are SOOOO funny - and a good planner , Mom, and photographer too! How did you get so lucky - and great kids too!?
Really enjoying your TR, and I hope that I can find a FOOD setting on my camera too!
Now, do you want to plan my birthday celebration for our March trip? (The December trip from the planning group is only for our 30th Anniversary - and I've pretty much got the planning down for that one).
I'm holding my breath waiting to find out about the babysitting .....
Really enjoying your TR, and I hope that I can find a FOOD setting on my camera too!
Now, do you want to plan my birthday celebration for our March trip? (The December trip from the planning group is only for our 30th Anniversary - and I've pretty much got the planning down for that one).
I'm holding my breath waiting to find out about the babysitting .....
bizeemom4
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2004
Can I order an 8 x 10?
Oh my gosh. That made me laugh. I'm glad that you are enjoying the report. I'll be posting about the babysitting tonight. Promise!
bizeemom4
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2004
Thanks! Glad that you found me.
bizeemom4
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2004
Hi! Welcome to my trip (report)!
bizeemom4
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2004
Sounds wonderful! I'm looking forward to doing some relaxing on our upcoming trip...not too much mind you! But just taking it a little slower than in the past!
I really wish I was there right now, listening to the waterfall and having a nice frozen drink.
MomofMy2Princesses
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2011
I'm still enjoying your trip report!! But I have a question: what is Tatooine? Is it something to do with Star Wars?
bizeemom4
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2004
Yes. I think it's a planet or a moon - apparently a destination of choice because the boys talked about it quite a bit. Alex would be better able to describe it for me but he's on vacation with the in-laws.
Abby's Dad
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 1, 2007
I got the update and shutdown thing earlier this morning - I need to remember to check the task bar for those things, so that they happen on my time, not theirs.
Anyway - will look forward to the update when you are able. For now, I'm still enjoying the view from your room at the Dolphin - that was pretty spectacular. Now THAT'S a birthday present!
Anyway - will look forward to the update when you are able. For now, I'm still enjoying the view from your room at the Dolphin - that was pretty spectacular. Now THAT'S a birthday present!
bizeemom4
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2004
What is Tatooine -
I looked this up in Wookieepedia.
Tatooine was the "home of Anakin Skywalker. It was here that Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn recognized Anakin's potential to become a Jedi and where he introduced him to Obi-Wan Kenobi, his future master and mentor. Tatooine was also the home of Anakin's son, Luke, where he lived until his early adulthood. The planet built up a very bad reputation, often being viewed as the cesspool of the galaxy due to the high-level of criminals who could be found onworld."
So there we go.
I looked this up in Wookieepedia.
Tatooine was the "home of Anakin Skywalker. It was here that Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn recognized Anakin's potential to become a Jedi and where he introduced him to Obi-Wan Kenobi, his future master and mentor. Tatooine was also the home of Anakin's son, Luke, where he lived until his early adulthood. The planet built up a very bad reputation, often being viewed as the cesspool of the galaxy due to the high-level of criminals who could be found onworld."
So there we go.
MomofMy2Princesses
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2011
OK! Thanks for letting me know!! I first became interested in your tr due to the fact that the title was Extreme couponer.... Anyway, I love coupons/ couponing as well.
bizeemom4
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2004
Today was a blast! We are reluctant to pull ourselves away from the Grotto but we have a commitment. I also have reached a decision about the rest of the trip and have some business to attend to online.
We are scheduled on a 9 a.m. flight out Sunday morning which means that we have to leave the Dolphin by taxi around 7 a.m. We planned to do another hard core day at Star Wars Weekend tomorrow and a Magic Kingdom morning park hopping directly to Epcot for the evening on Saturday. That means no down time to come back here and enjoy the beautiful hotel. I have the W word on Monday with 2 meetings scheduled that I have to attend. Checking Southwest, I can change our flights to a 6:30 a.m. flight out Monday morning. That would put us in Baltimore by 8:45! With luck, I can make my 10:30! We can do that.
Do I extend the Dolphin for another night? No. If we change back to a value, we can use Disney’s Magical Express and I won’t have to worry about the luggage or pay for a taxi! And a value resort is $80 cheaper than our rate at the Dolphin so it’s like saving that $80 plus the cost of the taxi, which would have been another $65! So it’s practically free to stay another night! Not really when you consider the small rate increase on the plane tickets that I paid to switch to Monday’s flight but we’ll not mix that into the math.
Phew. The pressure of only having 2 days left in the world vanishes and we head over to Yacht Club via water taxi.
The grown ups have reservations tonight at Victoria and Albert’s followed by a Wishes cruise (a surprise gift from DSis to DBil) to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. Before the trip commenced, DSis mentioned that she thought maybe we should join her for the cruise after their dinner. That would have been fine if she had still been at Contemporary and I could have walked the kids onto the monorail. But transporting 5 kids from Yacht Club to the marina at the GF or Polynesian at bedtime just didn’t seem like a grand idea so I assured her that we would be content to stay back at the hotel while she and her DH enjoyed a kid-free evening.
I grabbed her kids and all the room keys and we headed down to the pool. We presented room keys to the wrist band CMs and took the kids in to swim for awhile. Nick and Matthew partnered together as Nick dug an enormous hole in the sand bar and Matthew tried to fill it with water. Corey entertained himself by collecting as many abandoned little green buckets as he could find and amassed a nice collection. Little Zoe was Alex’s partner. She’s all of 2 feet tall so when she stands in the deepest part of the shallow sandy pool, the water is too deep and she panics. Alex crawled along on his belly staying by her side the whole time. When it got too deep he would just say “Too deep” and she would head in a different direction. He has never spent time babysitting anyone other than Nick but he was absolutely fantastic! It was endearing to see my 15 year old son acting so gentle with her and it made me love him a little bit more. I made a mental note to pay him for his services when we got home.
Matthew and Corey started to tussle a little bit over the buckets so I called it Time to Go Eat Dinner! Back in the room, I changed Zoe out of her swimsuit and into a cute little purple shirt and leggings. OK. Technically they were her pajamas. But when we came back to the room, all the outfits that my DSis had placed out on the bed for me to dress her three kids in somehow ended up being tossed around the room. By the time that I got the wet swimsuit off and the dry diaper on, only pajamas are left. I have no idea where the little darlings have hidden all the outfits that their mommy wanted them to wear. Corey needs shorts and undies. No one knew which suitcase or dresser drawer belonged to Corey so I rooted thru everything and went with stuff that looked close enough to fitting and we went out for dinner.
We walked over to the Boardwalk for pizza but halfway there, the sky was gray and it started to sprits just a little bit. I thought it would be safer to get the kids into Epcot in case we needed to seek shelter.
W stopped for Fish in the UK because it’s right inside the gate. I charged a counter service meal credit on DSis’s room charge but then no one wanted the fish. They wanted Pizza. We head to Via Napoli for pizza. I was thinking for some reason that we could get a pizza to go here. Nope. The hostess tells Alex that they sell it for kids at the American restaurant. In America, we find that there is NO pizza on the menu and they refer me back to Italy. Geez. I need to feed these kids.
Still carrying the fish, we stop in Morocco. DSis had purchased a meal here the other day so I’m thinking her kids might eat that. I burned another counter service and we sit down to eat. Zoe is sound asleep in her stroller and I’m thinking BAD BABYSITTER! She went to bed without dinner! Oh NO. Corey and Matthew don’t want any of the Moroccan foods either. I end up splitting the two entrees with my boys because I’m not throwing it out. Zoe woke up while we were eating and she ate the shortbread cookies and she and Matthew split the lemonade that came with the fish.
The kiddos seemed interested in watching MoRockin so we stopped for that then as it seems it isn’t going to storm after all, we get out of the park to get some p.i.z.z.a. Here's a minute at MoRockin
Another shout out to Alex’s sitter skills. He took his brother and the two little boys to the bathroom at the back exit of Epcot all by myself. He managed to get them in and out PLUS making sure everyone washed their hands while Zoe and I stood guard outside to make sure no one was abducted or escaped Alex’s supervision.
We stop to pick up pizza at the Boardwalk where we started over an hour ago. I put in the order for a large cheese pizza with 5 little ice waters. Everyone sat drinking water and patiently waiting for the pizza. Or maybe they are exhausted and dehydrated from Aunt Lala dragging them halfway around the world (showcase)?
Having finally succeeded in acquiring a pizza, we head to the room. Matthew is asking me how many pieces of pizza can he eat? His Dad lets him eat three. How many can he eat? But how much can he eat. His Dad lets him eat as much as he wants. And on we went until…..Oh look a juggler! Go sit down in the front row with Nick so you can see! We stop and watch for a little while until Zoe starts to get antsy. I call the boys back out of the front row and the juggler actually starts yelling after me “Next time come for the whooooole show. Loooook at that lady leaving before my show is over….” I just waved and smiled at the crowd which is now staring at me but what I wanted to do is give him a special non-Disney wave and die of embarrassment. Have a magical day. I hope you drop your balls.
Next up: Pizza Party Picnic
We are scheduled on a 9 a.m. flight out Sunday morning which means that we have to leave the Dolphin by taxi around 7 a.m. We planned to do another hard core day at Star Wars Weekend tomorrow and a Magic Kingdom morning park hopping directly to Epcot for the evening on Saturday. That means no down time to come back here and enjoy the beautiful hotel. I have the W word on Monday with 2 meetings scheduled that I have to attend. Checking Southwest, I can change our flights to a 6:30 a.m. flight out Monday morning. That would put us in Baltimore by 8:45! With luck, I can make my 10:30! We can do that.
Do I extend the Dolphin for another night? No. If we change back to a value, we can use Disney’s Magical Express and I won’t have to worry about the luggage or pay for a taxi! And a value resort is $80 cheaper than our rate at the Dolphin so it’s like saving that $80 plus the cost of the taxi, which would have been another $65! So it’s practically free to stay another night! Not really when you consider the small rate increase on the plane tickets that I paid to switch to Monday’s flight but we’ll not mix that into the math.
Phew. The pressure of only having 2 days left in the world vanishes and we head over to Yacht Club via water taxi.
The grown ups have reservations tonight at Victoria and Albert’s followed by a Wishes cruise (a surprise gift from DSis to DBil) to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. Before the trip commenced, DSis mentioned that she thought maybe we should join her for the cruise after their dinner. That would have been fine if she had still been at Contemporary and I could have walked the kids onto the monorail. But transporting 5 kids from Yacht Club to the marina at the GF or Polynesian at bedtime just didn’t seem like a grand idea so I assured her that we would be content to stay back at the hotel while she and her DH enjoyed a kid-free evening.
I grabbed her kids and all the room keys and we headed down to the pool. We presented room keys to the wrist band CMs and took the kids in to swim for awhile. Nick and Matthew partnered together as Nick dug an enormous hole in the sand bar and Matthew tried to fill it with water. Corey entertained himself by collecting as many abandoned little green buckets as he could find and amassed a nice collection. Little Zoe was Alex’s partner. She’s all of 2 feet tall so when she stands in the deepest part of the shallow sandy pool, the water is too deep and she panics. Alex crawled along on his belly staying by her side the whole time. When it got too deep he would just say “Too deep” and she would head in a different direction. He has never spent time babysitting anyone other than Nick but he was absolutely fantastic! It was endearing to see my 15 year old son acting so gentle with her and it made me love him a little bit more. I made a mental note to pay him for his services when we got home.
Matthew and Corey started to tussle a little bit over the buckets so I called it Time to Go Eat Dinner! Back in the room, I changed Zoe out of her swimsuit and into a cute little purple shirt and leggings. OK. Technically they were her pajamas. But when we came back to the room, all the outfits that my DSis had placed out on the bed for me to dress her three kids in somehow ended up being tossed around the room. By the time that I got the wet swimsuit off and the dry diaper on, only pajamas are left. I have no idea where the little darlings have hidden all the outfits that their mommy wanted them to wear. Corey needs shorts and undies. No one knew which suitcase or dresser drawer belonged to Corey so I rooted thru everything and went with stuff that looked close enough to fitting and we went out for dinner.
We walked over to the Boardwalk for pizza but halfway there, the sky was gray and it started to sprits just a little bit. I thought it would be safer to get the kids into Epcot in case we needed to seek shelter.
W stopped for Fish in the UK because it’s right inside the gate. I charged a counter service meal credit on DSis’s room charge but then no one wanted the fish. They wanted Pizza. We head to Via Napoli for pizza. I was thinking for some reason that we could get a pizza to go here. Nope. The hostess tells Alex that they sell it for kids at the American restaurant. In America, we find that there is NO pizza on the menu and they refer me back to Italy. Geez. I need to feed these kids.
Still carrying the fish, we stop in Morocco. DSis had purchased a meal here the other day so I’m thinking her kids might eat that. I burned another counter service and we sit down to eat. Zoe is sound asleep in her stroller and I’m thinking BAD BABYSITTER! She went to bed without dinner! Oh NO. Corey and Matthew don’t want any of the Moroccan foods either. I end up splitting the two entrees with my boys because I’m not throwing it out. Zoe woke up while we were eating and she ate the shortbread cookies and she and Matthew split the lemonade that came with the fish.
The kiddos seemed interested in watching MoRockin so we stopped for that then as it seems it isn’t going to storm after all, we get out of the park to get some p.i.z.z.a. Here's a minute at MoRockin
Another shout out to Alex’s sitter skills. He took his brother and the two little boys to the bathroom at the back exit of Epcot all by myself. He managed to get them in and out PLUS making sure everyone washed their hands while Zoe and I stood guard outside to make sure no one was abducted or escaped Alex’s supervision.
We stop to pick up pizza at the Boardwalk where we started over an hour ago. I put in the order for a large cheese pizza with 5 little ice waters. Everyone sat drinking water and patiently waiting for the pizza. Or maybe they are exhausted and dehydrated from Aunt Lala dragging them halfway around the world (showcase)?
Having finally succeeded in acquiring a pizza, we head to the room. Matthew is asking me how many pieces of pizza can he eat? His Dad lets him eat three. How many can he eat? But how much can he eat. His Dad lets him eat as much as he wants. And on we went until…..Oh look a juggler! Go sit down in the front row with Nick so you can see! We stop and watch for a little while until Zoe starts to get antsy. I call the boys back out of the front row and the juggler actually starts yelling after me “Next time come for the whooooole show. Loooook at that lady leaving before my show is over….” I just waved and smiled at the crowd which is now staring at me but what I wanted to do is give him a special non-Disney wave and die of embarrassment. Have a magical day. I hope you drop your balls.
Next up: Pizza Party Picnic
Abby's Dad
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 1, 2007
Never a dull moment! And I am so impressed by your Alex, but your boys have seemed like pretty nice young men all along.
And your rearranging of your departure - you certainly do identify what you want to do and go about making it happen. Picture me sitting here applauding!
And your rearranging of your departure - you certainly do identify what you want to do and go about making it happen. Picture me sitting here applauding!
Really enjoying your trip report! You are doing a fantastic job with it. I enjoy hearing all about the family scenarios and you know just the right time to insert photos, all of which are very good. Would you share with me the camera you are using?
I will try to post as my time allows, which once classes start back up on 8/22, I may be more of a 'lurker'.
I will try to post as my time allows, which once classes start back up on 8/22, I may be more of a 'lurker'.
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