Beignets with a side of Butterbeer: An April 2013 PTR (Trip Report Link - 4/25)

[danceintherain]

Hey Everyone! Thanks for stopping by my PTR. It's been a while since I've attempted one, but I thought it would be a fun way to keep up my excitement between now and April, and to get input on some of my choices.

WHO:
Me 26 (Becca): Ive been a Disney fanatic practically from birth. My first trip was when my family lived in Orlando, and we had Florida resident seasonal passes. Instead of the standard trips to the zoo or park, my Mom packed up her 3 youngest (at the time) and took us to Disney during the day while my older sister was at school and Dad at work. I was 5 years old. We also went on weekends with the rest of the family.
Im incredibly indecisive, so I dont really have favorites.

(I'm the one on the right)​

DH 26: Logan wasnt raised on Disney (theyre a sports family). In fact, he was resistant when I first suggested that we go there for our January 2009 honeymoon. Ive been a lot of places, and Disney is my favorite, so he reluctantly agreed. His opinion did improve slightly when one of his Army buddies told him that he LOVED Disney. I decided that if I was going to convert him, I had to do the trip right. We stayed on-property at AKL in a pool view room for 9 nights. It started off a bit rough (I wanted to go-go-go and DH wanted to relax) but eventually we reached a rhythm we liked, and it has helped determine things for future trips. He might not love Disney as much as I do, but he doesnt fight me on it much, except when hes the voice of reason about crazy schemes.
Favorites:
Park: Hollywood Studios
Restaurant: He doesnt know, since we havent been to them all yet. Dining is his favorite part about Disney.
Ride: Rockin Rollercoaster
Character: Aladdin

DS: G will be just shy of 3 during our trip (hes a July baby) which is part of the reason for it. His first trip to Disney was in November 2010, when he was 3 months old. I hadnt planned on taking an infant to WDW, but DH got stationed in South Korea shortly after DS was born, and we needed a family vacation before he left. We stayed at CBR, and it was a lovely trip. He slept a lot, but it gave us our family time.
Favorites:
Park: No idea.
Restaurant: He was breast feeding at the time, but Im going to say his favorite was the Plaza Restaurant at the Magic Kingdom, because its the only one that we actually got to sit through without a crisis of some sort.
Ride: No official opinions yet, but he LOVES trains, which gives him a lot of potentials at Disney. Every time he sees a WDW commercial with Thunder Mountain he says choo-choooo! Hes too short for that, but hell love watching it, and if hes willing, hell get to ride the Barnstormer!
Character: ightening uQueen dahna Duck and Flow (his name for Mickey). He also loves Minnie Mouse (who he also calls Flow) and sleeps with a Minnie plushie every night that we got for our wedding.

and a more current one...

My sister: Kami is 19 and a Disney nut at heart, although she hasnt been to WDW near enough. She was born around a year after we moved away from Orlando, and her first trip wasnt until 2001, when we went as a family for Spring Break. She was 7. Shes been 2 other times (I went on both too). Once over New Years Eve 2006-2007, when one of our brothers went to march in the parade for band, and again in July 2009 when I finagled our parents to take most of the family for my college graduation present. None of her trips have been during ideal touring times. Im trying to convince her to do the Disney College Program, but she wont do it. Shes only a sophomore right now though, so Im still hopeful. The closest she has ever got to staying on the property was the Doubletree Guest Suites at DTD which were nice, but its not the same.
I'll have to get back to you on most of her favorites:
Character: Aladdin
Ride: She doesn't like roller coasters
Restaurant: She hasn't been to many

(she's holding the pig)​

Robin Goodfellow AKA Puck AKA Bo-Bo (not appearing on this trip): We got him in Korea, when I decided that G needed a pet of his own. He LOVED one of my friends cats, and I thought it might encourage him to be more mobile (he didnt crawl until he was 15 months old or walk until he was 22 months). Puck is such a good kitty, and G absolutely adores him. Im sure if it made any sense, Bo-Bo would be packed in Gs suitcase along with all his favorite toys. He greets us very emphatically whenever we return from being out of town. Many a person is treated to a long monologue from G where the only intelligible words are Bo bo Tat and lots of hand gestures.

And one more group shot sans Kami, because I don't think I have a picture of us all together.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1 - Why? If you must know...
Chapter 2 - Even Miracles Take a Little Time (When)
Chapter 3 - ...I can't go back to where I used to be...
Chapter 4 - Dont Think and Dont Worry. If the time comes, youll know what to do.
Chapter 5 - Turkey, lobster, sweet potater pie, pancakes piled up 'til they reach the sky.
Chapter 6 - Well, that depends on where you want to get to.
Chapter 7 - Substitutiary Locomotion
Chapter 8 - In every job that must be done there is an element of fun
Chapter 9 - We're gonna make you a star! Part 2
Chapter 10 - The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Chapter 11 - Relax on Vacation
Chapter 12 - OFF to Neverland!
Chapter 13 - Just Keep Swimming...
Chapter 14 - You Get An Idea and You Just Can't Wait
More Plans

Trip Report Link: Well Begun is Half Done...When Plans Go Awry
​

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Hi Becca! What a beautiful family!

I went to WDW on my honeymoon too....20 years ago! I was the reluctant one though. I thought we needed to go someplace exotic and romantic, but DH convinced me to go to Disney. Now he can't keep me away! Sometimes I wonder if he regrets that!

You will arrive the day we are heading home. I have a PTR if you'd like to read along! PTR link

 

[Alysa]

Eeek! Your son is so cute! And i love the retro photo! Looking forward to reading along!

 

[pwdebbie]

Great family photo! Your little man is adorable!

 

[lsenquiz]

following along.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Your son is a cutie patootie!!!!

 

[MagicalMerida]

I'm joining in! Your son is really cute, i can't wait to read more!

 

[danceintherain]

Hi Becca! What a beautiful family!

I went to WDW on my honeymoon too....20 years ago! I was the reluctant one though. I thought we needed to go someplace exotic and romantic, but DH convinced me to go to Disney. Now he can't keep me away! Sometimes I wonder if he regrets that!

You will arrive the day we are heading home. I have a PTR if you'd like to read along! PTR link

Thanks. Yeah, it's funny how that happens. I was a little apprehensive about our honeymoon too, mostly because I want to go everywhere and I was worried about DH, but he loved it! During the trip I took with my family over New Year's, I remember standing in Epcot thinking "this would be a great place to have a honeymoon, because you could eat in a different 'country' every night." While DH and I studied abroad in Prague, I realized that Disney also doesn't carry the stress of actual international travel.

Eeek! Your son is so cute! And i love the retro photo! Looking forward to reading along!

Thanks! I thought it'd be fun to throw some 1991 Disney in there.

Great family photo! Your little man is adorable!

He's adorable...and ornery...so this should be interesting.

following along.

Thanks!

Your son is a cutie patootie!!!!

He knows it too. He's a big ham.

I'm joining in! Your son is really cute, i can't wait to read more!

Thanks! I can't wait to write more.

 

[happybelle]

I am reading also. Your son is so cute.

 

[Duzzygirl]

Thanks for stopping by my PTR!!

I wish I could have made a Disney convert of my hubbin'. He tolerates it. lol

Anyhow, I'm along for the *ride*!!

 

[danceintherain]

Thanks for stopping by my PTR!!

I wish I could have made a Disney convert of my hubbin'. He tolerates it. lol

Anyhow, I'm along for the *ride*!!

Unfortunately, it doesn't make sense to make "Disney lover" a criteria for marriage.
My older sister's in-laws have a house in Orlando, and I think my sister has been to Disney less than I have in the past 7 years. Her husband doesn't care for it much. I talked to her about possibly joining us on our next trip (they only live an 7 1/2 hour drive away) and she told me she probably couldn't convince her husband to spend the money on Disney, but maybe on Universal. Mind you, I offered her some Armed Forces Salute tickets, which are basically half price, so they could have gotten 4 days in Disney for the same price as two at Universal.

 

[danceintherain]

If you've been paying attention, you'll notice that we were fairly Disney heavy for 2 years, then all of a sudden nothing for...two...and...a half...years! This was not for lack of trying. I've had 2 trips virtually planned (one of which was to Tokyo Disney and the other included a dinner ADR at BoG) and others as possibilities for those 2 ½ years, but they didn't pan out. We opted on a beach vacation in the Philippines during December 2011, instead of Japan for Disney, because I thought we'd definitely get to Japan at some point.

G really loves the beach. Hmm...maybe I should reconsider our hotel choice?

I even considered booking our flight back from Korea with a 24 hour layover in Los Angeles, so we could run off to Disneyland for a single day. The fact that Puck, 6 suitcases, a car seat, and a stroller were traveling with us made me reconsider those plans, but I'll make it to Disneyland eventually.

Unfortunately, last year was a rough one for my family. I had 2/3 grandfathers die (yeah...one of the only positives of divorce is that I have a spare grandfather) and my parents got divorced. All this on top of my husband being diagnosed with POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome basically he has bad nerves that trigger odd changes in blood-pressure, which sometimes causes him to lose consciousness, or to use the non-macho term - faint) and living in South Korea a million miles away from our families. I made two trips back from South Korea to see my Grandpas before they died, which seriously cut into my Disney vacation budget (although the miles are nice). There have also been lots of expenses to deal with from moving 6000 miles. Ultimately, I decided that we NEEDED a family vacation, and finally convinced DH that it would be worth it. Part of the reason why I decided to invite my sister to come with us is because I have no idea how DH will respond to the rides, and he tires more quickly than he used to (he was a marathon runner before) so I don't want him to feel bad if he needs a little more time or cant handle the parks at all one day.

Papa, Dad, Logan, and Kevin (BIL) at my wedding.
Pappaw didn't come because he had just started dialysis a few months before, and I got married in January, so traveling wasn't anticipated to be easy for anyone. He did dialysis for 5 years before finally deciding to stop doing it around Valentines Day last year.
Papa has had various forms of cancer for the past several years, and finally decided that the side effects from treatment weren't worth it.

G blowing out his 2nd birthday candles, while we were back in the States in July

 

[wiigirl]

Such a cute family!

 

[Alysa]

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss and about the crappy year. Cancer sucks.

If you've been living in Korea, did you get to go to Everland? That's kind of like a crazy version of Dsney... And you are right. the flight costs are brutal.

Will your husband recover from his condition?

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Sorry to hear about your difficult year.

I lost a grandma this past December. It's never easy. So glad to hear you were able to spend time with them before they passed.

 

[Duzzygirl]

Unfortunately, it doesn't make sense to make "Disney lover" a criteria for marriage.
...

Why not!?! lol Seems like it would be a fabulous idea.

Hubs was so disheartened the other day when he *thought* he found something to look forward too. My brother and sister-in-law were over and he was telling them about how he was looking forward to trying Butterbeer. We were like, "What?" He went on and on about it, then said it had something to do with Harry Potter (which none of us typically follow). We laughed and told him he looking forward to the wrong park(s). He didn't find it near as funny.

 

[danceintherain]

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss and about the crappy year. Cancer sucks.

If you've been living in Korea, did you get to go to Everland? That's kind of like a crazy version of Dsney... And you are right. the flight costs are brutal.

Will your husband recover from his condition?

No, we didn't make it to Everland. We didn't have a car while we were over there, so getting there was a big hassle. There were a couple of "tour" type situations we could have gotten tickets for, but they were pretty much all day commitments, because we were a good 2+ hour drive away. DH had a hard enough time handling things that were around an hour away. There were other things I would have much rather have spent the night near, but DH had the hardest time taking leave while we were there, and he was resistant to a lot of travel, because he hates feeling as if he's going to faint, especially in foreign situations. I think Disney will be easier simply because it's familiar to him. I'm definitely going to note where all the First Aid stations are though.

While he may go into a type of remission, during which he's not symptomatic, there's no cure for his condition. He's tried several medications, and sometimes they work, and other times they don't. Hopefully, we'll be able to establish some lifestyle changes that will help him feel more normal. He hates it, but I often compare his condition to my pregnancy. He gets dizzy and nauseated, sometimes approaching fainting (I fainted twice while I was pregnant). He has gained a lot of weight, and his medications are designed to increase his blood volume. He was even on a steroid for a while that made him prone to mood swings.

Such a cute family!

Thanks. We sure like ourselves.

Sorry to hear about your difficult year.

I lost a grandma this past December. It's never easy. So glad to hear you were able to spend time with them before they passed.

It was a difficult decision, but I'm glad I made the trips both times.

Why not!?! lol Seems like it would be a fabulous idea.

Hubs was so disheartened the other day when he *thought* he found something to look forward too. My brother and sister-in-law were over and he was telling them about how he was looking forward to trying Butterbeer. We were like, "What?" He went on and on about it, then said it had something to do with Harry Potter (which none of us typically follow). We laughed and told him he looking forward to the wrong park(s). He didn't find it near as funny.

Awww...poor guy. Maybe you should plan a trip to Universal, just so he can have one?

 

[archdandy]

I'm following along! I can't wait to hear about your plans, it sounds like your family sure needs this trip!

 

[danceintherain]

I'm following along! I can't wait to hear about your plans, it sounds like your family sure needs this trip!

I think we do too, and it's definitely nice to have something to look forward to.

 

[Monny2AE]

HI Becca! G is getting so big and handsome!!! He's at such a fun age for Disney and is going to have such fun this trip! Hopefully he stays awake more than the last one!