Cats, First Times and Disney! + Pics

[pamelaz]

Hi all!

Welcome to my pre-trip report.
This is my first Disney trip so I've been planning like crazy. I have the excel sheet, the books, the websites.. but best of all, this forum has been the most amazing with answers and advise. Thank you to all!

So the trip!
Aug 23-29.
Aug 23: We'll be leaving NYC at around 8AM. The plane arrives in Orlando at noon.
We come back on August 29th. We'll be leaving Orlando around 2:30PM so at least we'll have a little time in the morning...

The cast:
Hello there, I'm Pamela. I'm 27 years old, occupation: artist (fashion/art world), as well as this fall I'll be teaching at a art university in NYC for the first time. Super excited! What I'm more excited about.. I've never been to Disney, this is my first time. AHHH! I love everything cute. If it has a face on it, I will basically love it and oooh and awwww it. I'm thinking this is going to be a perfect match.

Hello there, this is Matthew. My other half. We've been together for 8 years. Not married, but we do have 4 kids (they have whiskers). Matthew has been to Disney when he was younger, but it's been 10+ years. This is a picture of his last visit:

So yeah, it's been a while!

So who is Matthew. He's a artist (we work together as a creative team), he's going into his 2nd year of Grad School at NYU, he also is going to be teaching this Fall too. He has a busy schedule ahead of him, so this vacation is going to be a great time before it all begins. He also loves everything cute, so lots of faces and character hugs await us. He also has amazing sneakers and will probably pack more shoes than me.

This is us at Halloween.

The other cast, these kids won't be coming with us, but we'll most likely mention them quite often, or include pictures in the actual review that our cat sitter will send us. We are in love with our cats. My nickname is "Meowza", Matthew never calls me by my actual name.

This is Essy, she's 17 years old and been with Matthew since 5th grade.

This is Xanadu, she's 5, Siamese and captain of everything.

This is FiFi Bofinkles, she's 10, very rowdy/dramatic and Xanadu's archnemesis.

This is Brother, 1 years old, Maine Coon, incredibly furry and the only boy. He's the baby (but also the biggest) and super super spoiled.

Ok now let's get ready:
Suitcase (check!)

Waterproof camera for the waterparks (check!)

Got our Bible (check!)

The plans - very random and not specific.
Get there Tuesday, go straight to our hotel (POP!). We ordered groceries from GardenGrocer to arrive around this time. Check out our hotel and hopefully get settled in our room (hopefully get a king bed too). Eat a little lunch from our garden grocer delivery (deli sandwich supplies!) and then unpack. Eventually make our way to Epcot. I'm most excited about Epcot..

We want to go to both water parks. We have the water parks + more passes.

We want to go to DisneyQuest. We're into video games and all things technology so this is going to be a big event for us.

We will go to the Star Wars Weekend events. Matthew loves Star Wars!

Dinner reservations at: Via Napoli, 50's Prime Time, Tokyo Dining, T-Rex and Sci-Fi Dine-In.

Other eats: Would like to try Earl of Sandwich, candy in Japan, Beaches and Crème, La Cantina, Liberty Tree Tavern (maybe), plus other things I wrote down.

We might rent bikes and go for a bike ride. Matthew is also into playing golf maybe, I'm not so sure.

Besides the dinner reservations, nothing is timed and we're here to just go with the flow. I doubt we'll do any rope drops but we'll see. We will take advantage of the extra hours at night and will use the park hopper to our advantage too.

So, let's go!
Grab your cats!
I will update this whenever I think of anything else..


PS. Long, very picture crazy review once trip is over.

 

[pamelaz]

I did the pre-order for photo passes today. I figure now we can have plenty of photos together, and I'm looking forward to the special ones too (like holding balloons, etc).

 

[corgi_monster]

I'm looking forward to hearing more! We have so much in common - my bf and I run our own crafting business and we specialize in kawaii goodies. When people ask me what I do for a living, my standard reply is that "I paint faces on miniature food."

Where did you get your suitcase from? It's so tokidoki - love it!

 

[FortWildernessLoopy]

Can't wait for the TR! As I'm sure you've been told, your going to LOVE it!

 

[pamelaz]

I'm looking forward to hearing more! We have so much in common - my bf and I run our own crafting business and we specialize in kawaii goodies. When people ask me what I do for a living, my standard reply is that "I paint faces on miniature food."

Where did you get your suitcase from? It's so tokidoki - love it!

Haha, "I paint faces on miniature food." - I love that. If you have a etsy shop or store, you should PM me.

Here's a link to my luggage, http://www.ebags.com/product/disney...al-world-30-spinner/213151?productid=10133523
I love it!

 

[pamelaz]

Can't wait for the TR! As I'm sure you've been told, your going to LOVE it!

Thank you, I'm so excited!
PS. I love that image.. very true.

 

[pamelaz]

Well I just did online check out. My only request was a refrigerator. I thought you could request online about a king bed, but I couldn't so I called it in. The rep was super nice and said I might not get it, but they'll try. No big deal, I'd sleep on a hammock if needed. She asked what I was celebrating besides my first time and I said "life". She liked this answer.

 

[pamelaz]

Someone will be cat sitting while we're away. The cats will remain here, but she will be stopping in daily to fed, rub their bellies, etc.

I picked this up today for a gift for her (besides also paying her).

 

[pamelaz]

9 days left.

Spending the rainy afternoon watching Beauty & The Beast while doing some work.

I tried to get FiFi Bofinkles involved but she would rather sleep next to me.

 

[pamelaz]

Just scheduled the Around the World at Epcot Segway Tour. http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/tours-and-experiences/around-the-world-at-epcot/

I was worried it would be full but she had no problem getting in my time/day request. This is going to be a surprise for Matthew! SHHH! I'm not telling him until the morning of, maybe just when we get there. Matthew is a big bike rider, we're talking zooming around taxis and going on very frequent 30 mile rides in the park, so he's been wanting to try this out. I'm a little worried (about falling and helmet hair), but it looks like much fun.

This will be us, haha.

 

[corgi_monster]

Awww, kitty is so cute!
oid the Segway - its incredibly easy. Even my Mom got the hang of it right away and she is the least athletic/physically inclined person I know. Helmet hair, unfortunately, is unavoidable! Have fun!

 

[pamelaz]

Awww, kitty is so cute!
oid the Segway - its incredibly easy. Even my Mom got the hang of it right away and she is the least athletic/physically inclined person I know. Helmet hair, unfortunately, is unavoidable! Have fun!

Thanks Corgi
I'm looking forward to it. Wooo. It can't come quick enough!

 

[pamelaz]

Watched Toy Story tonight. I love those Aliens.

 

[pamelaz]

Well in 1 week we'll be at Epcot right now!

I think I basically bought everything we needed. I'm going to try not to buy anything else until the trip. I think I say to my boyfriend 10x a day "Tell me about Disney". I just want to talk about it all the time.

I forgot to mention this part..
Matthew and I have a obsession with stuffed animals. We have what we call is "The Family". They all have voices and personalities. Well 2 of the oldest members of the family are the Grandpas (names: Grandpa and Grandpas Brother). They are frogs and we got them when we first started being together. They travel everywhere we go, I'm not sure how they got chosen to be the ones to travel, but they do.

Here's them on some planes:

At a hotel:

So the Grandpas will make special appearances on our Disney trip. We plan on taking them to one of the parks and getting caricatures done of them. Not sure what else we have planned with them but hopefully some PhotoPass images too.

 

[pamelaz]

Well I started to lightly pack today.

As you can see the kitties (especially Xanadu) is trying to figure out a way to go with: (I wish!)

 

[Oliquig]

Ack! You onlt have a week to go! You must be going nuts.

I too have a siamese, his name is Kahlua, but we call him by his true name. Evil Kitty.

 

[pamelaz]

Ack! You onlt have a week to go! You must be going nuts.

I too have a siamese, his name is Kahlua, but we call him by his true name. Evil Kitty.

I am. The buildup is always fun..

Hahaha, "Evil Kitty". Pretty accurate.

 

[pamelaz]

Woooooo.. 1 day closer.
I lied, I did end up buying some things today but mostly for the trip - some travel sized bottles. I also bought a really good sandwich sub but that isn't relevant here.

Today we were out and Matthew brought up "Is there anywhere to ride Segways in Disney World"? Thankfully we were walking down the street so he couldn't see the smile on my face. I think he's going to be excited for the surprise!

 

[pamelaz]

Alright, sleep tonight and leaving in the early AM.
Here we go!!!!!
<3 <3 <3