Can Grumpy get Happy on a Disney Family Vacation? AKL CL 1/09 PTR

[winkers]

I'm enjoying your report!

I have almost one day planned exactly like yours!

DHS~the Biergarten~ Illuminations cruise!

 

[west&east]

I'm enjoying your report!

I have almost one day planned exactly like yours!

DHS~the Biergarten~ Illuminations cruise!

Thanks! I am working my way through your report which is much more entertaining! What time is your ADR at Biergarten before the cruise? Are you planning on doing anything at Epcot or just dinner and straight to the boat?

 

[west&east]

I just found out that I got my first big client here in my new town. Starting my business has been slower than I expected here (I have done this in several previous places). I shouldn't celebrate too much until the $ is in the bank, but lets just say that if it comes through, it will cover the entire trip to Disney with a little left over. That will REALLY make Grumpy happy!

 

[winkers]

Thanks! I am working my way through your report which is much more entertaining! What time is your ADR at Biergarten before the cruise? Are you planning on doing anything at Epcot or just dinner and straight to the boat?

The adr is for 5:30....if we have time we'll explore Germany after dinner and then walk over to the dock fo the cruise.

I just found out that I got my first big client here in my new town. Starting my business has been slower than I expected here (I have done this in several previous places). I shouldn't celebrate too much until the $ is in the bank, but lets just say that if it comes through, it will cover the entire trip to Disney with a little left over. That will REALLY make Grumpy happy!

Congratulations! What kind of buisness are you in?

 

[west&east]

The adr is for 5:30....if we have time we'll explore Germany after dinner and then walk over to the dock fo the cruise.

Our ADR is also at 5:30. I hope to get a little time at Epcot before or after dinner, but my husband always accuses me of trying to do much, so I will also try to relax and not worry if we don't get to do it all.

Congratulations! What kind of buisness are you in?

I am self-employed in the mental health field. I do a vareity of things in my practice but the most lucrative involves consultation to the court system. And no, I can't get you any Prozac- I am not an MD.

 

[winkers]

[
I am self-employed in the mental health field. I do a vareity of things in my practice but the most lucrative involves consultation to the court system. And no, I can't get you any Prozac- I am not an MD.

Dang!!!
You must have alot of "stories" from your profession!

 

[west&east]

Oh yes. The stories are fascinating. I wish I could write a book, but to protect confidentiality, I would have to change too many details. Movie/ tv/ fiction writers can't begin to imagine the things that happen in real life.

 

[west&east]

I am doomed. As if I haven't been obsessed enough, my neighbor returned my 2009 Unofficial Guide today. I lent it to her when she and her husband spontaneously decided to surprise their 4 children the Friday before Xmas and drive down to Orlando from Charlotte. They had an off-site hotel booked and no other plans. None of them had ever been to Disney. I didn't offer any advice because I was afraid that once I started to speak about it, I wouldn't shut up! But I did offer my book which was secretly handed over at the end of a play date, wrapped in brown paper bags! She was all smiles today when I saw her so I guess they had a great time, but I haven't heard any details. I got my book back and now I will be reading the DIS or the UG non-stop. That book is amazing especially if you like details.

Today I became obsessed over how to fit Spectromagic into our plans. I posted a request for help on the Theme Park Attractions and Strategies board. The responses were unanimously in favor of Spectro, and they were the strongest endorsements I have read for just about anything. One description of the magic of Spectro brought tears to my eyes! So, I guess we must fit it in on Sat night. I have written about our plans through Friday, I will address Saturday next.

 

[winkers]

Spctro is fantastic!!!!
I can't begin to describe how wonderful I think it is! It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it!

 

[west&east]

Thanks Cherie (how do you get the accent over your e?). That seems to be the consensus. So I may be giving up a dinner at Boma which was planned for that night. Spectro is only showing on 2 nights of our trip and one night is our Illuminations Cruise, so we are very limited. I went ahead and booked an ADR at Boma for our arrival night now so if we are hungry enough, we can eat there our first night and I won't feel like we missed out. Seems strange not to eat at Boma at all since we are staying there! AAAAAHHHH. What will I do with myself when this trip is over?? I hope fretting over these plans will be worth it.

 

[winkers]

All the fretting will be worth it! I can't imagine how people can go on a vacation, espeacialy to disneyworld, with out doing research before.....goes against my ocd nature I guess.

As fo the little thingy above the e, a diser who is from France sent me my name with it and I posted it in the sig. Technicaly that's how my name is spelled, but I can't make it work on my keyboard.

I think Spectro is worth missing Boma!!

 

[momatater]

Hi Karen!

First, congrats on the new client!!!

Your trip sounds like it's gonna be perfect. I have to also agree with everyone else...Spectro is a MUST! I'm not a huge parade type girl, and I watch this one at least 2 times while there. (I remember yrs ago when it was called the electric light parade...I think I'm getting old! )

I liked your post about being doomed! lol I have a bunch going on right now and I'm trying to stay off the DIS....but after having withdrawals, I think I'll feed the need a bit more so I don't go crazy!

 

[west&east]

It has been a very busy weekend. Friday night, I went out for "girls night out" to see Bride Wars. I wouldn't put this on your must see now list but it was fun to go with the girls and it will be a good rental when it comes out on dvd. We went out afterwards for dessert and I got a delicious espressotini with decaf espresso, baileys, kahlua, vanilla vodka, and frangelico. Yummy. Saturday, my family spent the day playing Rock Band 2. We then went to a neighbor's for dinner and the Panthers game. It was sad to see our home team lose. Today we had some friends over for football. My DS5 was very tired at bedtime. Instead of reading a traditional book, I took out the Disney personalized maps and we spent about 20 minutes looking at them. DS was doing great finding the numbers and reading the words to tell what was at each point. He has never been to Disney and even the maps were huge entertainment. I have a feeling that we will be doing this a few more nights. I think the maps will be good entertainment on the plane and even at the resorts. I can't wait to share the magic with them.

Thanks to another DISer, we now have ADRs at Chef Mickey's for 5:05 on Sat the 24th. So the new plan is Chef Mickeys followed by Spectro. I don't want to be up too late Sat night because we have the sunrise safari the next morning! So my plan is to leave directly after Spectro and watch the fireworks at MK on Sunday night. It seems like this is getting more and more confusing!

 

[GaMsStella2]

Hey karen your trip report is wonderful. It's great to see all the pictures of your family. It must have been so hard keeping the trip a secret. Your daughter reminds me of my granddaughter Ansley who is 8. I can't wait to met you all in person on the cruise. We will also be going to Spectro on Sat
night. I agree it isn't to be missed. The extra planning will be worth it. I think it takes more planning during the off season because the parks close so early and now with Fantasmic show only 2 nights a week. Not sure we will see it this time around with the 19th being my birthday I would really rather be at the Magic Kingdom.
Linda

 

[west&east]

Hi Linda! Thanks for reading. I started wondering if I should have booked the cruise for a different night because we will miss Fantasmic, but it is impossible to do everything. There is so much to learn about Disney World!

The last day of our trip, Monday, 1/26 is a teacher workday. My son's Kindergarten teacher tried to schedule a conference for that morning, so I wrote a note telling her we would be at Disney. DS told her that we would be staying at AKL. She told him she really wants to come too! Later, my DD was walking down the hall at school, and DS's teacher started yelling to her by her last name. She said, I heard you're going to Disney and staying at AKL and why aren't you taking me? This kind of thing makes me happy on so many levels. It helps the kids realize how special and exciting the trip is. But even more so, it makes me happy that my son's teacher knows who his sister is. When we lived in Reno, my DD attended a small private school with about 120 kids for grades K-8. We knew most of the kids and a lot of the parents. Schools in our area of NC are much better so we go to public school now, but the school has over 700 kids for grades K-5! It is nice to know that my kids are "known."

After reading esterhead's trip report, I thought maybe DH and I should spend our night out at Epcot, going around the world. But he really wants sushi at CG. I think we will stick to our original plan. Can you tell I am piling up things to do on our next trip??

 

[pink dress]

We will be staying at AKL the 21-29. We are staying club level also.

 

[MnMomW3Boys]

I have really enjoyed reading this so far...I have a confession, I am one of "those" people who wing the whole Disney thing. I have been to WDW about 50 times, and have never planned hardly anything other then what days we are going to be at the park and what resort we are staying at. I just made our reservation today for May 10-15th, we are DVC memebers, and this will be our first stay at AKV. I am really looking forward to doing some different things this time around and can't wait to read your report when you get back.

 

[west&east]

I have really enjoyed reading this so far...I have a confession, I am one of "those" people who wing the whole Disney thing. I have been to WDW about 50 times, and have never planned hardly anything other then what days we are going to be at the park and what resort we are staying at. I just made our reservation today for May 10-15th, we are DVC memebers, and this will be our first stay at AKV. I am really looking forward to doing some different things this time around and can't wait to read your report when you get back.

Thanks for reading MnMom! My planning has never reached this level of obsession! Your trip in May sounds fabulous and at such a wonderful time.

I got more great news today- another client! It was very unexpected and out of the blue. I don't even know how they heard about me. The real work will begin after our trip. One week from now, I will be at AKL! I am also excited about the weather. The extended forecast is really looking up with temps in the low 70s. Ohhh how I hope the forecast is accurate! The closer it gets, the more accurate it will be. I am sorry for all the folks heading down to the chilly weather this weekend. It is getting very cold here in Charlotte but we won't have snow or below zero temps. So I won't complain.

So here is an interesting question for those of you reading. Do you ever feel guilty when you tell your friends about your vacation? Some of my friends have asked where we are staying, and I tell them (but I usually leave off the club level part!) but I feel a little bad because I know they would be looking at a value rather than a deluxe resort.

DH is out of town as usual but returns home tomorrow night. He hasn't told me his schedule for next week. I am hoping he doesn't try to fly back home on Wednesday morning when we leave Wed at 4:00! He just told me that he is getting sick of eating. Hmmph! Well then, that's what you get when you travel all week on an expense account. He had oysters and scallops for dinner tonight. He better not keep me from enjoying my meals at Disney! It is frustrating that when he is home, he doesn't want to go out, but I am tired of eating at home. Going out to dinner with 2 kids and no husband is just not so fun so I usually just eat at home or occasionally get take out.

 

[west&east]

We will be staying at AKL the 21-29. We are staying club level also.

Are you going on the sunrise safari on Sunday the 25th???? We will be there! If you see me, don't let my husband know how obsessed I am with all this.

 

[pink dress]

Your secret is safe with me. We are doing the sunrise safari on Thursday the 22. Since we are not arriving at the airport in Orlando until 10:30 pm I'm sure my family will love the fact that I scheduled it for the first day. This is our first trip to DisneyWorld. I didn't realized how much planning was involved but reading all the information here has sure helped.