birthday trip report...now finished!

[bumbershoot]

Ooh are they tricky. Each time I went to book, "whoops, the price went up, instead of 17 now it's 42" or 20 or 22 or whatever. Thhhpppppttttth on them!

I called Disneyland Express to clarify, she gave me info, we're just taking that. Walking from the VA terminal (3) to #1 to be first on the bus, we'll just pay the round trip fare (with Anaheim OC coupon) then, it'll be good.

Instead of a store trip for water, we'll just drink water with all meals, etc etc.

And we don't have to haul the carseat. Thank goodness.


Currently charging all batteries that might be needed.
Currently washing all clothes not being worn.
Found a place to park the car while we're gone, made reservation and deposit.
Then to clear off this table and do some ironing with the cheapie deapie iron!

 

[bumbershoot]

Also done? Made the *November* payment on our car and tossed an extra 200+ of principal at it. Got to fill in almost 100 squares on my chart on graph paper (visual representation of the debt). Whoo!

 

[bumbershoot]

BTW... I'm rooting for E to make it on HMH this year!

Yay! We are too. I'm sure he will be disappointed later, if he doesn't do it. Especially since this might (it's planned to be, but you know how it is) be the last trip for something like a year...gotta get that car paid off then we have a WDW family reunion thing planned, both need to be done before going back (unless the brother/SIL decided they *must* see their nephew of course).

Anyway, we all know how the snowball works, especially on us, but the *plan* is to not go back for a good while after this...and if he misses HMH he won't have another chance for any HM until WDW.


I hear the laundry buzzer! Gotta go do more!

 

[Daisybelle]

Okay, now I'm curious, and this might be a better question for when you get home. Squares on a graph to show your debt paydown? Mind sharing what you're doing? I'm always looking for good tips to help me stay motivated to become 'debt free'. If/when you have time I'd love to hear about it!

And have a mahvelous time on your vacation! I look forward to reading the lastest installment of your Disney exploits!

 

[bumbershoot]

Hi!

I took the total principal we owe on the car (actually I started from the very very beginning to give myself a whole bunch of coloring to do, to motivate me right from the start), got a piece of double-sided graph paper. Divided it up so that each square = $5 of principal. Today we paid 465 in principal, so I colored in 93 squares.


Now here's what's WEIRD. I have the CAR page and the DVC page. And with both of them, when I initially wrote out CAR and DVC in the squares, the number of squares the word covered actually coincided with the amount of principal I needed to show as paid on that page....it was weird enough when it happened with the CAR page...when it happened with the DVC page, I nearly fell off my chair.

I got the idea from the less official Dave Ramsey forum, llnoe.com.

 

[Daisybelle]

I had never heard of that site, thanks for the tip. I've read one of his books and listen to his radio program when the rare chance arrises. He's coming to Portland at the end of this month and I'm toying with the thought of going. Maybe this site will help me determine if it's worth it.
Thanks! I appreciate it!

 

[bumbershoot]

You are welcome!

I really like the site. Their breakdown of the babysteps is so helpful, and the discussion (and tough love) in the forum for each of the steps is incredible!

I've read the actual daveramsey forum (to post and to get to the really meaty stuff you have to join for a fee) and that's helpful, but the livinglikenooneelse forums are good for me right now.

 

[jobo]

Molly-
I mostly lurk, but I wanted to wish you a fantastic trip and a happy birthday on Monday! Put that gift card to good use!

 

[bumbershoot]

E is watching Bolt. That scene when Mittens is in the pound...she's just shaking and looking so sad....


Robert is still asleep. Got up in the early AM with the cabergoline headache, finally got to sleep, and is still sleeping. Almost 4pm. Obviously he took a personal day today, but he was supposed to be helping me. In one of his awake times, he said that today's sleepiness was the worst yet...glad he wasn't going into work.

Kinda wish the sleepiness would lift, though....hopefully the endo will schedule a followup MRI soon. The prolactin levels have already dropped by something like 300 units, but I'd like to see if the tumor is smaller. If only I had xray (er, magnetic resonance) vision....

Back to work!

 

[kaoden39]

Have a good trip Molly. And have a wonderful birthday.

 

[bumbershoot]

Thanks and thanks!



All tshirts done, including the little cheapie bag I put a Jack head on.

One haircut done...the shortest one in the house is insisting on finishing up watching Space Buddies before the evils of the hair cutting...he loves the end result, but hates the process. If only I had a spaceship chair to make it more fun!

****
Second haircut done. Packing. Plans to be all packed and ready for wakeup!

Toodles!

 

[disneynerd420]

HAVE A GREAT TRIP AND HAVE A HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOLLY!

 

[bumbershoot]

Thanks and thanks!

I'm posting using wireless internet in our room right now. Robert put Nemo on (we have a DVD player in our totally normal, standard, room...I'd heard of that happening, so made sure we packed some DVDs), Eamon is playing his Leapster, we're resting our feetsies. Actually we're just resting...didn't get much sleep, and the flight felt long, the wait for the bus was long (we walked from terminal 3 to terminal 1, to be one of the first on, just in case and also to take up some time), the bus ride felt long, etc. We did not swim, as we were so tired it didn't feel safe.

Rode TSMM, it was most excellent! Got a FP for Grizzly on the way, and after TSMM and the Triton carousel, and after wandering, going to Guest Relations to get the Disney Debit Card "rewards card" while hubby and son shopped (for my present! so nice!), we snagged a FP for Soarin' and THEN finally rode Grizzly. Most excellent.


This is likely the last "to the minute" report of the trip, but I figured I'd do it since I have time.

Before we got to GRR, I saw this boy and he just caught my eye, then I saw his mom, and it was Tracey, QueenDoOver! Yay! How cool was that???? They'd just ridden GRR and were a bit soggy.

While we were on GRR, we were with two 2-person families, and 4/6 of us were wearing ponchos...as we approached the first downhill, we heard, over the PA system..."cheaterrrrrrssss, wearing ponchooooosssssss" LOL. Silly CM.


Anyway, we'll be having an early dinner soon. I'm fairly certain we're as far from anywhere in this hotel that we could be. If it weren't pleasant, I would have been having images of the Big Wheel scenes in The Shining. Long corridors....

 

[BillyFan]

How fun that you ran into Tracey! And thanks for the update, Molly! Enjoy your birthday trip!!!

 

[disneynerd420]

Sounds like you guys are having fun already. I hope you get the rest you need so you can tear up the parks later. Have a great time!

 

[bumbershoot]

Sitting on the balcony, drinking part of a 9 dollar pot of coffee (they brought one cup for a 40 oz pot???) using wireless internet while DS watches the DVC ad channel in the room.

Poor little dude...as a "remember me" thing from his illness, he had icky dried out spots at the corners of his mouth, and the go-go-go trip along with not quite enough water (though we're doing pretty well), not quite enough sleep, and too much chocolate milk (he has always gotten slight skin reactions from cow milk)...and it's just awful looking.

We decided to just STOP today. We're checking out and being the parks was just too addictive the other days...hubby and son (and maybe me not sure) are going to go ride Grizzly several times in a row, until they are sopping, then come on back and we'll swim. They've said we can use the pool after checkout, so as long as I plan out the bags correctly it will be good.

If I don't go on GRR, I can use that time to pack, and then we can go shop with birthday fun card and then maybe Lego (don't tell DS yet).


OK that's enough of that. Especially b/c our next door neighbors are on their own balcony, smoking cigarettes and I gotta go inside.

 

[kaoden39]

How nice to be able to sit on the balcony. I look forward to your trip report. And your take on the hotel.

 

[bumbershoot]

Things that come to mind about the trip....


possibly the furthest away room EVER, and no one knew where the super-secret door out of the GCH was. if we could just have had a trampoline we could have gotten into the room from where Naples is...alas....

painful feet.

fun.

love that funcard.

bad service at Cafe Orleans.

worst flight home we've ever had.




And now we have to get ready to get down to Portland for the Star Wars concert!

 

[kaoden39]

Enjoy your concert. I look forward to reading your trip report.

 

[bumbershoot]

With my mind still swirling with Star Wars music, and the fun of watching E conduct using his new, small, keychain lightsaber as a baton, and some dizziness from our nosebleed section seats...I will try to think about the trip.

It was a really good trip...just, perhaps, didn't stick in our minds all that well. The days were just SO long, and we kept forgetting what we had done only hours before! Crazy.


So we'll start at the beginning! Robert took the Friday off, b/c he still had the brownie points from working so dang hard on his business trip. While he was there he found out that there had been some weirdness with the travel arrangements of one of his co-workers...at first they thought the co-worker had been sneaky, but it turns out the travel agency the company uses is staffed with apparent idiots who think that putting someone in a hotel in London is acceptable when the business is in Slough...over an hour's train ride each way... Anyway, I booked the hotels for Robert after actual research, we were proactive with the flights, etc etc, and he's very frugal with eating, and works his tushy off...so they love him. Also, a 17 hour, then 19, then 20 (b/c it changed to DST while he was in NZ) hour time difference was difficult but he worked and worked and worked some more.

So he had that Friday off. Alas, it was his post-cabergoline day, and he slept most of the day. He said it was his worst/sleepiest day yet, and we were glad he wasn't trying to work. I only woke him because I knew he'd be upset if he hadn't *chosen* to sleep absolutely all day...he chose to get up.

However, I was very very behind in packing/preparing. So we were up rather late.

And then awake way way too early. But we made it, parked at the chosen lot, shuttled to the airport, checked in to get the cool VA boarding passes. Checked one bag, then got to the gate and they offered to anyone who felt like checking another bag that they'd do it for free, so...what the heck, right?

TSA was wandering around, checking peoples' boarding passes and IDs. Very odd, since anyone in that area had already been checked out. Though I just realized that Seatac isn't having you show your boarding pass as you go through the metal detectors now...you show ID at checkin and to the initial TSA agent, then you can just put it all away as you go through the detectors. So maybe it's a spot-check thing to make sure that's going well?

Anyway, they came through twice...and entirely SKIPPED us altogether, both times. Makes a person feel so safe!


The flight was fine, if bumpy (I hate bumpy but I try to stay brave for E and fellow passengers). Got to LAX baggage area just after the 9:30 bus left. So we took our time and walked from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1, just to be among the first on the bus and as something to do.

Still haven't seen a celebrity there!

Although this was our last trip for a good while, we've decided that when we do start going again, we're not going to LAX. Don't get me wrong, I actually really enjoy the airport. I find it to be hassle-free and simple.

But the wait there is just interminable and annoying, and I think I want to be closer in the future.


I've decided that most Grayline Disneyland Express interviews go like this:

"Hi, I'm applying to be a driver."

"Hello, nice to meet you. Here are our requirements. Are you a decent driver and can you handle heavy suitcases?"

"Yes."

"And are you slightly "off", just a bit more prone to going OFF about silly things that your guests won't care about, and you'll make them just a little bit nervous?"

"Yes."

"You're hired!"



See...instead of "Hello, I'm sorry I'm 3 minutes later than expected...the rules for transport companies involve having to check in with officials, and sometimes it takes longer than expected" and moving on....we got a HUGE rant (half inaudible) about the "corral" where they have to check in, that the LA cops will impound a bus, that they'll impound a car with the drivers in it, etc etc etc, on and on. Further down the terminals, seems someone might have called dispatch because people felt the bus was late, and when we got to that
terminal instead of "Hello, sorry I'm a few minutes late" they got a huge rant about not calling dispatch etc etc.

Frankly, I have my doubts about if it was the guests that called. See, at our terminal where we were waiting, there was a large group of Princess Cruise guests waiting, and the Princess reps were having a FIT about all the Grayline people taking up space on the island. I know for a fact that at least one Princess rep was calling some dispatchy type place to complain, because she needed to get 50 cruise passengers onto the island that us pesky Disneyland people were standing on...


While waiting, we met a woman who is doing casting for some travel show, and she was just going on (pleasantly) about Eamon's "look" and how his hair and face and eyes would really catch the eye of a casting/modeling agent and that we should think about it... It was pretty cool! And she didn't seem to be delusional...

The bus ride itself was pleasant once we got out of the airport. Again it was a plain white bus.

We stopped at DLH first, the ticket/money takers boarded. We hadn't paid anything up front so we just bought round-trip tickets right then, and it was a bargain. Same as we could have gotten from Ares ahead of time, but without the service charge. We got to stay on the same bus (actually, no one on the bus had to switch buses), and they took us to GCH very very next.