oldschoolfigmentluvr
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 20, 2004
- Messages
- 249
I never thought I’d say that I have become overwhelmed by going to Disney before, but I guess there is a first time for everything. I’m a seasoned Disney go-er. I’ve been going since I was in the womb...literally. It was my favorite place as a kid, and now as an adult, it’s still my favorite place. Nobody I know really gets it. They all ask me why I wouldn’t want to explore other places, like Europe. But I say, why should I when I know I’d be much happier going to Disney World instead. You can imagine how happy I was when I found this board. It’s the only place I know where there are people exactly like myself, who just don’t want to go anywhere else. It makes sense to you all, and for that I am thankful.
Anyway, getting back to the original story... I am offically overwhelmed. This year, I was fortunate enough to become reunited with an old childhood friend. We’d hit a rough patch in our youth which caused us to separate and lose touch over the years. I was really happy to be able to reconnect with her though. We are both only children to parents of small families. I think out of all the friends I grew up with, she’s understood me the most, because she comes from the same type of environment (I guess for all of you single children out there, you kind of get what I’m saying.) The funniest part of our reunion I guess, was when we started to talk about our love of Disney World. I of course, have been more times than I can count. She’s only been once, but it was a memorable trip for her. Their family had won the trip from a raffle at their local church when she was sixteen You know, the seven day all expenses paid sort of deal. So I’m happy to say that her first trip to Disney was a more memorable experience than most of us have had, especially because her family was poor, and never would have been able to go otherwise.
I guess before I go any further I should introduce our overwhelming group. I’m Courtney, about to turn 26 a few days before we leave for Florida. Still single ( I won’t get into my love life drama here, lol), I still live with my parents, and I work in retail. In other words, I’m usually cranky, tired, and anxious to just get away from it all. Fortunately for me, I’ve been able to go to Disney three times in the past four years...staying in really really nice hotels like The Swan, The Contemporary, Port Orleans...this is one of the reasons I am overwhelmed right now, but I’ll get into that later.
Rebecca is my long lost companion. She’s married now with 3 young children (you probably get where I’m going with the overwhelmed part now). Her husband is Brian. He works long hours at an engineering job and that is probably the most I know about him at the moment. He’s a nice guy though. And I really commend him for providing for his family at all costs so Rebecca can stay home and take care of the kids. Every time I see him he looks so tired, so I hope this this trip will let him take a break and relax even if just for a little while.
Our three little er...angels, I guess you can call them, are aged 8, 5, and 3. (May I just remind you I have never been to Disney world with small children?) I love them, and they seem to really like me a lot, despite the fact that I’ve only spent a total of about 8 hours with all of them combined. Rebecca doesn’t know I’m writing this, so I feel weird about giving out their names on here. For this purpose I guess I will call the 8 year old Pokey, since he’s crazy about Pokemon, The 5 year old I will call Princess because she is completely obsessed with them, and the three year old I will call Peanut, because he is my little peanut. I have no pictures of them yet, but I will post them as time goes on.
So as I was saying about the whole hotel deal, I have been very spoiled in the past. Mostly thanks to my father, who chipped in and paid for my hotel expenses the last few times I’ve gone. I should feel lucky I know. But this time around I’m basically footing the bill for myself, since my parents are getting a house this year and cutting back on vacation money. I wasn’t going to be able to go to Disney at all this year, or so I thought. The evening Rebecca and I were discussing Disney world, she informed me that this year she and her husband would be taking the kids this year for their first trip to the world.
“Oh yeah?” I’d said with a smile. “That’s going to be a great experience. Where are you staying?”
“Well we can’t afford much,” she’d frowned. “But we got a great deal at a hotel right outside of the main gate.”
“Oh...”
Okay so the deal about this year was I wasn’t supposed to be taking any expensive vacations because of the *ahem* credit card bills I’d wracked up the previous year. Bu t of course the words Disney immediately had the wheels in my head turning, so I couldn’t help but ask “How much is it a night?”
“Only 50 dollars a night! Can you believe it!” She’d said excitedly.
“Oh...” I’d laughed nervously. That was cheap....but...no...must not...give in.... “Well that will save you on airfare anyway.”
“Oh we’re driving down. I hate airplanes.”
Yep. I lost myself after that.
I knew it was idiotic of me to even consider going anywhere after my um...misguided spending the previous year had lead me astray, but heck, it was Disney World, there was no airfare to pay for and the room was only going to cost 50 dollars a night. That would mean for five days I’d only be shelling out 300 dollars plus park pass cost and whatever else I might have wanted to spend on food. Still, I told myself...it wasn’t something I could just decide then and there.
“My stepdaughter was supposed to come,” she told me. “But she can’t go now so we have an extra room right next to ours already booked.”
Okay so at this point I figured it was meant to be. Everything was just magically falling into place. I could already hear the Wishes music playing in the background, and the cool breeze from the upwards decent into Spaceship Earth blowing in my face. I couldn’t resist. I was a slave to the powers of magic, and wonder. My dad would probably kill me too but at the same time, I knew he always had sort of a soft spot for my love of Disney anyway. It would work. It had to.
So I said. “I need to come with you.”
And she said “I so want you to!!”
Sunshine and daisies ensued. I went out that weekend and got my Unoffical guide and started reading up on the kids section, started planning out the itinerary for us, which by the way, Rebecca and Brian are oh so thankful for because as they said “we’d be wandering around with three small children trying to find dumbo if we didn’t have you doing this”. Hey, I guess being overly prepared is good for something after all, huh?
I’ve been spoiled by 4 star resort quality hotels over the past couple of years, so staying outside the gates of my beloved world is something that I haven’t experienced since I was about six years old when we stayed at my grandmother’s house in Kissimmee. We’re staying at the Seralago hotel, which by the looks of the pictures I’ve see online doesn’t seem to be all that bad. The ratings from Trip Advisor seem to be cool. The kids suite is a big perk, since all three of the kids are so active and need something to do at all times. So I’m gonna be a big girl and suck it up, not cry when I see people boarding the monorail to the contemporary, and just think that I wouldn’t even be going if it wasn’t for Rebecca wanting to get in touch with me again.
I am still overwhelmed however.
I planned out my entire trip last year, only having myself and a friend from work along for the ride. I used Tour Guide Mike and it worked out great. We were up early, got our fast passes...didn’t wait in line at all. But my mother has so lovingly reminded me that I’m going to be with young children this time, who probably don’t have the same stamina or speed I did when I was their age (I could go from sun up to sundown at magic kingdom without a nap every day, don’t know how I did that since I cant seem to wake up before 10 on a day off now). We are staying off property but I do know how to work the times to get there before rope drop, I just don’t know how it’s going to be getting three kids to play along. I was hoping to get a few friendly hints from all of you lovely people here. I don’t want to be pushy, and I’ve told Rebecca that but she says she wants to make the most out of this, so planning like I’ve been is only going to help them.
We are leaving Connecticut on the night June 22, and we will in Floriday on June 24, but our park tourning wont offically begin until June 25, and then we will leave on June 30th to go back home. I’m just hoping we don’t have too many meltdowns, too many grumpy moments, and too many times getting to the parks late and missing out on alot of the things the kids have already stated that they want to do. Although, all that should really matter is that we are in disney, and it’s really going to be more about the kids enjoying themselves...not how many times I can ride Spaceship Earth in a day. Yes you heard me right. I am a Spaceship Earth freak. One year I think i rode the ride about 5 or 6 times a day, and by the end of the trip, the Cast Members new me by name. I have no shame.
We have five days, one day for Epcot, Animal Kingdom, The Studios, and I have 2 days planned for Magic Kingdom because I think that is where the kids are going to want to go back to the most. Money will be tight all around, so I doubt there will be room in the budget for a character meal, which is a bummer since the little ones want to meet characters. Princess especially wants to see Cinderella so come hell or high water I will brave a wait in line if I have to, lol.
Above all, I hope I can contain myself trapped in a car with three small children and two anxious parents for a day and a half. Thank god we are from Connecticut, so the drive isn’t that long. When I was young, my father used to drive down there every year with my mother and I , and I loved it. But yes, again...i was an only child. I guess it will be a learning experience overall for everyone involved. It’s my first trip with kids, and it’s Rebecca and Brian’s first big family vacation ever. So I’m glad we can all share it together, and for now at least I’ll just hope for the best.
I’m meeting with Rebecca on Sunday to make a ‘things we need to get for the trip list’. Gosh only 41 days left! I’m psyched!!
And just in case anyone wants to see my ugly mug in the meantime...here you go, a true classic from last years trip
Anyway, getting back to the original story... I am offically overwhelmed. This year, I was fortunate enough to become reunited with an old childhood friend. We’d hit a rough patch in our youth which caused us to separate and lose touch over the years. I was really happy to be able to reconnect with her though. We are both only children to parents of small families. I think out of all the friends I grew up with, she’s understood me the most, because she comes from the same type of environment (I guess for all of you single children out there, you kind of get what I’m saying.) The funniest part of our reunion I guess, was when we started to talk about our love of Disney World. I of course, have been more times than I can count. She’s only been once, but it was a memorable trip for her. Their family had won the trip from a raffle at their local church when she was sixteen You know, the seven day all expenses paid sort of deal. So I’m happy to say that her first trip to Disney was a more memorable experience than most of us have had, especially because her family was poor, and never would have been able to go otherwise.
I guess before I go any further I should introduce our overwhelming group. I’m Courtney, about to turn 26 a few days before we leave for Florida. Still single ( I won’t get into my love life drama here, lol), I still live with my parents, and I work in retail. In other words, I’m usually cranky, tired, and anxious to just get away from it all. Fortunately for me, I’ve been able to go to Disney three times in the past four years...staying in really really nice hotels like The Swan, The Contemporary, Port Orleans...this is one of the reasons I am overwhelmed right now, but I’ll get into that later.
Rebecca is my long lost companion. She’s married now with 3 young children (you probably get where I’m going with the overwhelmed part now). Her husband is Brian. He works long hours at an engineering job and that is probably the most I know about him at the moment. He’s a nice guy though. And I really commend him for providing for his family at all costs so Rebecca can stay home and take care of the kids. Every time I see him he looks so tired, so I hope this this trip will let him take a break and relax even if just for a little while.
Our three little er...angels, I guess you can call them, are aged 8, 5, and 3. (May I just remind you I have never been to Disney world with small children?) I love them, and they seem to really like me a lot, despite the fact that I’ve only spent a total of about 8 hours with all of them combined. Rebecca doesn’t know I’m writing this, so I feel weird about giving out their names on here. For this purpose I guess I will call the 8 year old Pokey, since he’s crazy about Pokemon, The 5 year old I will call Princess because she is completely obsessed with them, and the three year old I will call Peanut, because he is my little peanut. I have no pictures of them yet, but I will post them as time goes on.
So as I was saying about the whole hotel deal, I have been very spoiled in the past. Mostly thanks to my father, who chipped in and paid for my hotel expenses the last few times I’ve gone. I should feel lucky I know. But this time around I’m basically footing the bill for myself, since my parents are getting a house this year and cutting back on vacation money. I wasn’t going to be able to go to Disney at all this year, or so I thought. The evening Rebecca and I were discussing Disney world, she informed me that this year she and her husband would be taking the kids this year for their first trip to the world.
“Oh yeah?” I’d said with a smile. “That’s going to be a great experience. Where are you staying?”
“Well we can’t afford much,” she’d frowned. “But we got a great deal at a hotel right outside of the main gate.”
“Oh...”
Okay so the deal about this year was I wasn’t supposed to be taking any expensive vacations because of the *ahem* credit card bills I’d wracked up the previous year. Bu t of course the words Disney immediately had the wheels in my head turning, so I couldn’t help but ask “How much is it a night?”
“Only 50 dollars a night! Can you believe it!” She’d said excitedly.
“Oh...” I’d laughed nervously. That was cheap....but...no...must not...give in.... “Well that will save you on airfare anyway.”
“Oh we’re driving down. I hate airplanes.”
Yep. I lost myself after that.
I knew it was idiotic of me to even consider going anywhere after my um...misguided spending the previous year had lead me astray, but heck, it was Disney World, there was no airfare to pay for and the room was only going to cost 50 dollars a night. That would mean for five days I’d only be shelling out 300 dollars plus park pass cost and whatever else I might have wanted to spend on food. Still, I told myself...it wasn’t something I could just decide then and there.
“My stepdaughter was supposed to come,” she told me. “But she can’t go now so we have an extra room right next to ours already booked.”
Okay so at this point I figured it was meant to be. Everything was just magically falling into place. I could already hear the Wishes music playing in the background, and the cool breeze from the upwards decent into Spaceship Earth blowing in my face. I couldn’t resist. I was a slave to the powers of magic, and wonder. My dad would probably kill me too but at the same time, I knew he always had sort of a soft spot for my love of Disney anyway. It would work. It had to.
So I said. “I need to come with you.”
And she said “I so want you to!!”
Sunshine and daisies ensued. I went out that weekend and got my Unoffical guide and started reading up on the kids section, started planning out the itinerary for us, which by the way, Rebecca and Brian are oh so thankful for because as they said “we’d be wandering around with three small children trying to find dumbo if we didn’t have you doing this”. Hey, I guess being overly prepared is good for something after all, huh?
I’ve been spoiled by 4 star resort quality hotels over the past couple of years, so staying outside the gates of my beloved world is something that I haven’t experienced since I was about six years old when we stayed at my grandmother’s house in Kissimmee. We’re staying at the Seralago hotel, which by the looks of the pictures I’ve see online doesn’t seem to be all that bad. The ratings from Trip Advisor seem to be cool. The kids suite is a big perk, since all three of the kids are so active and need something to do at all times. So I’m gonna be a big girl and suck it up, not cry when I see people boarding the monorail to the contemporary, and just think that I wouldn’t even be going if it wasn’t for Rebecca wanting to get in touch with me again.
I am still overwhelmed however.
I planned out my entire trip last year, only having myself and a friend from work along for the ride. I used Tour Guide Mike and it worked out great. We were up early, got our fast passes...didn’t wait in line at all. But my mother has so lovingly reminded me that I’m going to be with young children this time, who probably don’t have the same stamina or speed I did when I was their age (I could go from sun up to sundown at magic kingdom without a nap every day, don’t know how I did that since I cant seem to wake up before 10 on a day off now). We are staying off property but I do know how to work the times to get there before rope drop, I just don’t know how it’s going to be getting three kids to play along. I was hoping to get a few friendly hints from all of you lovely people here. I don’t want to be pushy, and I’ve told Rebecca that but she says she wants to make the most out of this, so planning like I’ve been is only going to help them.
We are leaving Connecticut on the night June 22, and we will in Floriday on June 24, but our park tourning wont offically begin until June 25, and then we will leave on June 30th to go back home. I’m just hoping we don’t have too many meltdowns, too many grumpy moments, and too many times getting to the parks late and missing out on alot of the things the kids have already stated that they want to do. Although, all that should really matter is that we are in disney, and it’s really going to be more about the kids enjoying themselves...not how many times I can ride Spaceship Earth in a day. Yes you heard me right. I am a Spaceship Earth freak. One year I think i rode the ride about 5 or 6 times a day, and by the end of the trip, the Cast Members new me by name. I have no shame.
We have five days, one day for Epcot, Animal Kingdom, The Studios, and I have 2 days planned for Magic Kingdom because I think that is where the kids are going to want to go back to the most. Money will be tight all around, so I doubt there will be room in the budget for a character meal, which is a bummer since the little ones want to meet characters. Princess especially wants to see Cinderella so come hell or high water I will brave a wait in line if I have to, lol.
Above all, I hope I can contain myself trapped in a car with three small children and two anxious parents for a day and a half. Thank god we are from Connecticut, so the drive isn’t that long. When I was young, my father used to drive down there every year with my mother and I , and I loved it. But yes, again...i was an only child. I guess it will be a learning experience overall for everyone involved. It’s my first trip with kids, and it’s Rebecca and Brian’s first big family vacation ever. So I’m glad we can all share it together, and for now at least I’ll just hope for the best.
I’m meeting with Rebecca on Sunday to make a ‘things we need to get for the trip list’. Gosh only 41 days left! I’m psyched!!
And just in case anyone wants to see my ugly mug in the meantime...here you go, a true classic from last years trip
