Beginning before the begin...day 2 completed. Happy Monday (an oxymoron, right?) !!!

2vets

Addicted since 1971
Joined
Dec 28, 2001
Messages
2,201
Well, we don't leave until Fri am, but hell, I can't work anyways, so I have started my trip report with crucial background info. I will be back on Monday to fill you all in!!

Pre-trip and background

WARNING – this trip report could be offensive to people who: are from England, don’t like drinking, drive trucks on Rte 128 outside of Boston, are lawyers, ever dated my little sister, are high-maintenance princesses, refuse to budge from a short-term financial plan to take a trip, wear a lot of camouflage clothing…and probably more…will add to list later…

Introductions all around:

Me – 36. Science geek. Grew up in North FL, have been to Disney more times than I can count. Now live in the greater Boston area. I love Disney, obsess about it pre-trip via this board, and every once in a while get the financially irresponsible “wild hair” that incites me to book a 3-5-day trip down. I am also a breast cancer survivor of 3 years. (It will be official on March 13. My cancer story? I went to Disney during treatment, bald head and all, and I got a GREAT picture with Mickey’s hand right smack on the top of my bald head…my #1 goal for this trip is to get an “after” pic with Mickey’s hand on top of my head…out of which is now growing my shoulder length hair.) I am child-free, but we have two big and slobbery dogs, and I think that counts, don’t you? I like all rides and will eat and drink pretty much anything…except bananas, yucky…it’s a texture thing.

DH – 33. Recently chucked his job to go back to school. English born and bred, moved to Canada for a few years in ’00, then moved to the US. Is a liker of Disney, especially the UK pub in Epcot (go figure). Has been to DLP once and WDW once, the latter was when I dragged him along for a work conference in ‘04. Has also been to Universal twice, but doesn’t really get the difference between Universal and Disney, which leads to annoying questions like, “Are we going to ride the Hulk coaster?” and “I’m going to kick your butt on Men in Black.” Is a fan of the big, the scary, the fast…and if something does not meet his royal standard of bigness, scariness, or fastness, he will often deem it “pants” (meaning not so good, if not downright pathetic). My wonderful husband has a bit of a crabby streak, and sometimes this manifests itself as a statement like, “Americans are so _____”…note that the blank is usually filled in with something vague that can be applied to those of many nationalities, including his own. In retaliation, I enjoy one of two things (1) identifying all the English in the crowd by spotting football shirts and pale blue skin (apologies) and (2) calling him “Green Card” to remind him what side his bread is buttered on.

[Sample conversation – DH -“Why do Americans feel the need to drive so obnoxiously?”

Me – “Well, there, Green Card, having experienced a wee drive on the M25 outside of London, I think one might surmise that it originated in THE MOTHER COUNTRY!!!!!”]

DH has big shoulders and a shaved head. Until you speak to him he looks like one of two things: (1) English football hooligan (if you hear the accent) or (2) skinhead (if you don’t). He is neither. Rather, he is very sweet – washes the dishes, cleans the guest bathroom, makes my lunch for me every day, hugs me on the couch, and on occasion deigns to watch chick flicks with minimal sarcastic commentary.

( Background - DH and I have been married 2 years, met on a plane shortly after I finished treatment for the evil cancer. When I had ½ inch of hair. (For the aaahhh factor – he actually said that he saw me in the gate and thought I was beautiful. See? He’s got good taste!!) We lived on opposite sides of the country and managed to keep it together – after a year, totally on a whim, we flew up to Las Vegas for a few hours and got married…on the plane the whole time, it was like, “Are you sure about this?” “I dunno, are YOU sure about this” “I dunno either…” No, Elvis didn’t marry us. Shortly thereafter, he moved out to me…and it’s been 2 years! He is the best thing that ever happened to me…I am lucky, lucky, lucky.)

DS – 33. My baby sister. A lawyer. Lives in Fl. Now, she is one of the funniest and intermittently uninhibited crazy people you will ever meet. Paradoxically, she is a princess. A big ol’ high-maintenance one. But not usually at WDW. She does have the unfortunate (but one might say career-consistent) gift of exaggeration. For instance, if I have several beers while walking around Epcot and get giggly, it might leak back to a third family member that I have a “drinking problem.” (To me or you, that problem might only have been that the big beers in Germany are $10 apiece, and we can only handle so many digits on the bill when we check out of the hotel. I don’t know what the hell she’s thinking. But she’s my sister, so I deal with it.) She is currently “between” boyfriends…but she is quite pretty and usually has some poor slob whipped into submission, willing to deal with her characteristic lightning-fast mood changes and hyperbolic tale-telling.

So. One morning in January, my husband woke up, rolled over and looked me straight in the eyes, and said (in a very uncharacteristic, Mickey-esque voice…and not in any way big, scary, or fast), “Up and at ‘em.”

That was all it took. I booked a weekend at Disney – in a 1-bedroom BWV (keeping in mind my sister would want to come with us) so we can be together but not TOGETHER, as I think there could be a fistfight after 48 hours in the same hotel room. Ridiculous financial decision? Perhaps. Scrimping and saving and reworking the budget? You betcha. But here is what I have learned (SOAPBOX ALERT) – life is short, and you just cannot worry about every little thing. What happens if I get squished by a truck on 128 next week (anyone from the greater Boston area knows that this is a very real threat to any driver) and I didn’t take this weekend trip??? So in my humble opinion, if you want to blow some cash heading to Disney or wherever for an ill-advised long weekend, and you can logically find a way to do it without burying yourself in debt, GO. Carpe diem, baby.

My little sis’ birthday is the following week, so I told her if she wanted to come and join us, I’d spot her the hotel and her Fl resident pass, so she was in like Flynn.
 
And then, there was the little matter of waiting. (The time is now. See how many posts I have? Half of them have happened since January.)

So now…we’re on the verge of our trip. Bags are packed. Dogsitters are booked. Budgets are painfully reworked. Work is unaccomplished in anticipated excitement. Semi-intelligible emails fly at lightning speed saying things like, “Want to eat Krispy treat” and “Going to win the camo game for sure.”

At this point, I have to explain the CAMO GAME. This blows my internet cover for anyone who knows me in the “real world.” And I will start the explanation as I always do, with the following comment: you will read this. You will think this is the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard of. And then you will be in a big, open public place: a mall, Costco, the airport…and you will find yourself playing. It’s sad, pointless, and ridiculous, but once you start, you cannot stop. And so I hereby pass on the rules, which have been a family secret until now…

THE CAMO GAME. This game tallies up points that are earned when the players spot strangers wearing camouflage. The camo pattern must be present on a major item of clothing (as in, pants, shirts, jackets…we’ve tried to include accessories before, but it gets too hard to keep track). Also, camo does not count if it’s on a soldier, as they are required to wear camo and it seems a bit disrespectful. Obviously, rules can be changed to suit the players. We assign 1 point for regular camouflage and 2 points for fashion camo (pink, blue, grey). Subjective points for super-fashion camo. For instance, 2 weeks ago, I spotted a woman wearing tight, brown sparkly camo pants at the Phoenix airport – DH gave me 5 points. One of my sister’s poor slob exes had the all-time point-garnering camo spot, though, when he saw a woman wearing a long-sleeved mesh camo shirt with collar and cuffs – that baby got him 10 points. DH and I restart the game every weekend, but Disney is really the ideal playing field for this sort of game. People from all backgrounds, from all countries…man, oh, man.

OK, I need to get back to work. And we’re not even at Disney yet. But this report gives you an idea of what’s to come....

Have a great weekend - 'cause I know WE will!!
 
Hey there! Great start!! I may just have to do a weekend trip report as well! :)
 
This sounds like it is going to be lots of fun. Have a great trip and I look forward to reading when you get back. Now I have another reason to be nosy about other people. I love the camo game!!! :lmao: :rotfl2:
 

what a great thread - subscribing!!!

the camo game *giggle* :rotfl: Ohhhh, we are gonna play this !!! :rotfl2:
 
Yay!! Just when ZZub, 1000th Haunts & Disney Dog were winding down, this one looks promising!!! :banana:


Enjoy those diems!!!
 
Great start looking forward to the rest.

Hope its not too insulting to us Brits, though your DH sounds like he can cope!
 
First, let me just say to Disney Owl, don't worry - the blue legs comment was pretty much as bad as it's gonna get. But sometimes people are sensitive. Frankly, I am pretty darned pale blue right now, too, so I'm not CRITICIZING the pale blue coloration, simply COMMENTING on it!! Plus, just as you guys can ID Americans at 200 paces when they come over to your neck of the woods, I have become quite skilled at ID'ing those from the UK...it took a little time, but hey, anything to rile up the husband!!

OK, now, HERE'S a development I would never have predicted!!! There is an addition to our trip attendees!!

DS2 - I am ashamed to say that I don't know this sister very well, despite the fact that she and I shared a bathroom growing up. She is the middle one - so I'm the oldest, then DS2, then DS the high-maintenance lawyer princess mentioned above. DS2 and I (perhaps because of the bathroom sharing and/or the fact that I sometimes helped myself to items from her extensive wardrobe while we were in high school) have never really gotten along very well. Her story is - she had a broken engagement last year. That's bad enough in and of itself. But this was a truly bad broken engagement, the stuff tabloids and Jerry Springer were founded upon. I won't go into detail, but suffice it to say that you would be hard-pressed to imagine the details of this broken engagement. I have a big mouth and something inappropriate to say about pretty much everything, and this story silenced me.

So I may not have gotten along with my sister in the past, but I have been trying to be supportive. Because this was the sort of crapola that no person should ever have happen to them. But I'll say that I am still wary of DS2, because she and I have REALLY had it out on occasion - our good periods tend to be periods of silence.

Anyways, DS1 invited DS2 to join us a few days ago, thinking she'd say no, and I guess DS2 ruminated over the invitation and decided to come down. DS1 then told me that DS2 was coming...and I almost fell out of my chair.

There are a few ways to view this:

1) three girls, a semi-surly Englishman and 1 bathroom = not enough cash to tip Mousekeeping, not enough towels in the western hemisphere, a man holding his head in his hands, and people using others' expensive conditioner without asking first
2) potential for emotional car-crashy, weepy, screaming argument(s)
3) potential for emotional reuniony, weepy, "we'll never not get along again" sisterly love
4) (my husband's view) semi-surly Englishman looking like a stud walking around Disney with three cute girls

Let's have a poll, shall we????? Obviously 1 is inevitable. I think 4 is the most likely, though I predict we will not completely escape 2.

OK, I only have today left at work, and snow is forecast which could mean bad roads and an early departure, so I'll get back to acting industrious. (Look at me! I'm a hard worker, I keep my nose to the grindstone, I know nothing about the internet - I can barely check my email, busy busy busy...)

Have a great day, and can you guys just keep your fingers crossed that it's not ALL #2 (and yes, folks, this does carry the universal "#2" double-meaning...)
 
I vote for #4 and am sure you'll all have a great time....can't wait to hear about it
 
lillygator said:
Be safe in your travels down here!

You're a sweetie. No, no, silly - I meant early departure FROM WORK!!! We're on the first flight in the am...but I promise to be careful anyways. That goes for you, too...the extreme Fl sun glare and hot seats in the car can get treacherous, if memory serves...
 
Well THIS should be fun!! Interestingly enough, I also have a sister like that. As does my best friend. So... can't wait to see how it all shakes out!
 
Count me in, too. I LOVE the "Camo Game". I'm gonna start playing it. And the "pale blue skin" was PRICELESS. Anywho... this is going to be good.
 
GADISNEYGIRL said:
I also have a sister like that. As does my best friend. QUOTE]

Just had to say...before I escape work and go home for final preparations...THAT TOTALLY MAKES ME FEEL BETTER. I feel quite guilty about not being close to my sister, but I am at a loss as to how to actually GET that way. Sigh.

Oh, well, a little beer/Krispy Treat/mouse ear/teacup twirlin'/EE ridin'/monorail action may be the trick...

As they said in Clueless, "I'm outie." Hope you have a great Friday and weekend!!
 
the countdown is on! have a great trip 'home' tomorrow and i will be waiting for more from your trip report!
 
This sounds like hoot. I can't wait to hear all the details.

I also have a sister like that. I can't figure out where she finds so many men willing to put up with her antics, but she finds them all the time. She is on hubby #2 right now.

She knows about my Disney addiction and has said she wants to go too sometime, that it sounds like fun. I need to learn to keep my big mouth shut.
 
Yay, I can't wait for your report! The camo game sounds super addictive...I'm gonna try it. Have a mostly #4 trip (though 1,2 and 3 will make for a extra good report!).
 
I hear ya there with that sister thing. I am one of, count 'em, FIVE girls... and the youngest at that. *Sigh* Can't wait to hear how it all turns out.
:goodvibes
 











Receive up to $1,000 in Onboard Credit and a Gift Basket!
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE











DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter DIS Bluesky

Back
Top