Converting my Aussie Hubby

Willow25

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 18, 2004
Messages
514
This is my first trip report and I have to admit I am very intimidated after reading all the other creative writers on this board. Oh well I am going to give it a go because I am feeling really inspired and I am having major Disney withdrawals and I keep thinking this might help to get me through. I am going to write about my first trip to Disney world December of 2004.

Here is some background for you all. I grew up in a small town in Oregon called Molalla (population of 4000). There was never much to do in Molalla except get into trouble therefore my parents signed me and my older sister (by one year) up for sports. We played t-ball, gymnastics, track, volleyball, and basketball. I ended up playing basketball because by the time I was 15 I was 6 feet tall. My sister who was very petite and 5 foot 5 inches tall ended up on the cheerleading squad :cheer2: . We were definitely opposites.

I was lucky enough to score a scholarship to play basketball at university. At this university I met my soon to be DH also a basketball player who was 6 foot 6 inches tall and an aussie (my poor parents).

Growing up my parents took me and my older sister to Disneyland four times. We always stayed off site, which in Anaheim is across the street from the park and we would have felt lucky to have a couple of meals in the parks. My parents are very early risers and I will never forget spending mornings across the street at Denny’s eating breakfast and feeling tortured when my parents would order another cup of coffee. At this time of course my sister and I were too young to understand that the park had not yet opened. But we could see the mountain top of the Matterhorn and we could see cars driving into the parking lot therefore we were sure it was open.

In later years I went to Disneyland for my senior year grad trip and again at the age of 20 with my best friend. My best friend and I planned this trip pre paying for our park tickets, accommodation, airfare and bus transfers. However when the time came for us to leave on our 7 night vacation we only had $180.00 each for food and spending money. Thank god for McDonalds!!! When I was 22 my university basketball team was playing in a tournament in California and our coach arranged for us to spend one day at Disneyland. I was the tour guide as most of the girls on the team have never been there.

When I graduated from university my DBF at the times parents and brother came over to America for the ceremony. We then toured the Western part of America with them including a stay at Disneyland. This was their first trip to anything Disney and it was interesting to see their responses to things. I think that it was a little bit of a let down as they had heard so much about it. This is what made talking the DH into DW so difficult. He really thought it was just a park.

At the age of 24 I married my Aussie in Portland Oregon. We both got jobs and settled into life in Oregon for about three years. My husband loves basketball and while I was able to let it go he has not. Australia has professional basketball leagues that are not at the standard of America’s and my husband was able to score a spot on a team. We packed up and moved to Ballarat, Victoria Australia. Ballarat is one hour east of Melbourne and about one hour north of some great beaches. It has definitely been a really hard adjustment for me as I am an American through and through.

My DH is a very fun guy who likes things to be predictable. He is quite a bit like his parents and a lot of Aussies. He is laid back about most things except money. He would be very happy in his life to not go on any vacations because he could use the money to buy plasma screen televisions :happytv: and video games. However my DH's one weakness is ME, YEAH!! So when I got my first job in Australia as a foster care worker he agreed to letting me plan a Disney World vacation to add to our first trip back to America together. I ordered my first UOG and signed up with some websites including the DIS boards. Talk about information overload. :badpc: :badpc:
 
After talking the DH into agreeing to DW I was armed with so much information that I absolutely drove him nuts. He was so sick of but if we do this then we won’t be able to do that and but the UOG says this is the best day to do this. On top of all that TGM sometimes does not agree with the UOG what to do??????

The first decision was to make a date for the trip. The first consideration is my DH skin. While most people have a hard time believing this my Australian husband is fair skinned. He is not only sensitive to sun but also to wind. Therefore in planning any trip anywhere weather is an issue. We really wanted to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas in America as the hot weather here really kills me during the holidays. After checking the DIS and UOG we realized that this was really good news for us.

I then started researching hotels. DH thought we should stay at some place like Motel 6 off property. It was difficult selling him on the perks of staying on site but eventually he agreed. I planned to stay at the All Star Sports as my husband is a sports fanatic. Then some fantastic room discount rates came out. We booked half of our stay at the Animal Kingdom, Dec 6-10. Then we decided to rent points from a DVC owner and booked the other half of our stay at the Old Key West resort, Dec 10-16.

Next we purchased 30 fun in the sun tickets. This was a special offer for Australian residents. It was actually cheaper than a 10 day park hopper and allowed us 30 days in all the parks and we also had the ability to park hop.

Now the waiting game. We had three months before our trip and oh boy did my husband feel neglected as I logged hours on the dis boards. I constantly second guessed our plans. Sometimes too much information can really be dangerous.

It was time to board our flight. We booked a flight through Hawaiian airlines as that was the cheapest at the time. We always arrive at the airport early as my husband 6’6” desperately needs at least an aisle seat. Unfortunately Hawaiian does not fly out of Melbourne. We had to fly from Melbourne to Sydney. We arrive at the Sydney domestic airport and look around for directions to the international airport. There are no shuttle buses like airports in the good ol USA offer and there are no helpful signs. I charge to one of the customer service desks and they politely tell me that we need to buy a train pass and catch a train down below. I gave my husband the I can’t believe we choose to live here looks and he looks back at me with his worried I am not going to get an aisle seat and we head off to the train. We wait for what feels like ages and the train finally arrives. Now please keep in mind that we have enough luggage for 6 week and they will not allow you to take the luggage cart on the train. By this time we are frustrated and sweaty from running around and lugging our suitcases and bags.

We finally arrive at the international terminal. We go to the Hawaiian counter and politely request an aisle seat for DH. The woman behind the counter informs us that there are none available and that we will be in the middle of a row of four seats. I look at my husband who looked on the verge of tears. Mind you I have only seen him cry once on our wedding day. I politely ask about the cost of upgrading him to first class. They have none available.
 
Now sometimes I feel like us Americans get a bad rap. After three and a half years of living in Australia trust me I have heard everything. We are, “ignorant, arrogant and fat”. But the best lesson I have learned after living in another country is that at the end of the day we are all just people. I have met some ignorant, arrogant and fat Australians too. But I have also met some of the most wonderful people, some Australian and some American.

My husband and I boarded the plane and we both felt pretty miserable at the thought of my 6’6” husband trying to fit his legs into the row of seats we were given. We went to sit in our seats and in one of the aisle seats was an American woman who looked to be about 5’ tall. She saw my long husband and took pity on us both. She offered to switch seats to allow him the aisle and for me to sit next to him. What a wonderful woman, we spent the next 14 hours chatting with her. She had just left Australia from visiting her American son who is married to an Aussie girl. It is amazing how many people are in the same situation as we are. We actually met a friend for life and continue to communicate with her to this day.

I won’t go into too much detail about the rest of the flight. My poor husband still did not escape the lack of space problem as the person in front of him put their seat back. Yes everyone has the right to do this. However it took my husband almost a full day to get his legs working properly again. He had indentations on his knees as once the seat in front reclined his knees actually held their seat up. I really get angry that airlines do not have more flexibility in their seating for people that are tall. We can not afford to pay $5000.00 for a business class seat and that is the only option they give someone like my husband. Sorry I digress. We land at LAX and fly up to Portland to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my family.

While my husband is not laid back when it comes to money he is laid back about it when we visit America. DH grew up in Australia wearing XXL and size 15 shoes. These sizes are still almost impossible to find over here but was much worse when he was growing up. Electronics are also extremely expensive here in comparison to the States. Therefore when the sales ads came out for the day after Thanksgiving sales he spends hours pouring over them and deciding which store to line up at first thing in the morning. I was a little worried that we were going to spend all our money before we even got to DW.

December 6th came quicker than expected and we found ourselves at the airport ready to board our SW flight to Orlando. :Pinkbounc
 
We had a great flight to Orlando. We paid $99 for a one way flight which took 6 hours. Amazing considering our flight from Australia was $1800.00. Anyway we arrive in Orlando and DH starts to worry a little bit because at 10:00pm it is really hot and humid. We check into the car rental booth and get our convertible rental car. Now I know there is a whole debate on wasting money on a rental car. However I know my husband well and I knew we would need a rental car. Also remember that he loves shopping in America so I knew we had to check out the outlets in Orlando.

We got directions to the World and head off on our way. We arrive at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and are awe struck at the theming and quality of the resort. We go to check in and we experience our first bit of pixie dust. The CM informs us that we have been upgraded to a Savannah view room :dance3: . I was so excited!!!! However by the look on DH face I could tell that this was lost on him. In all my information sharing my husband often had a glazed look on his face. I knew that he did not clearly understand what a Savanah view room was. I decided that I would wait until he noticed the animals.

We checked out our room and decided to go to a grocery store for supplies. This is one of my favourite parts of the trip. You probably think I am crazy but you will have to understand that in Australia there is no chocolate peanut butter combinations, no hostess items, their doughnuts are very different and I really miss all of these things. We stocked up on lots of naughty items and returned to our room for bed as we had a busy day tomorrow :banana: .
 

Great Trip Report!!!!!!

Hope you do like Australia, I'm Australian,Live in Victoria too! but Love America and want to move their. (My love for Disney parks and American food gets me teased by my mates all the time im the apparent "Try-hard American :rotfl: )

I Was there over Thanksgiving Last Year and completly understand the Day After Sales Facination, and The Trips to the Supermarket!!! Ahh i was in heaven :rotfl:


Will be reading This all sounds great!!

Just making me more anctious to get back thier next year!!
 
Bigglesworth

I have grown to love Australia over the past 3.5 years. It was never about Australia for me it was about letting go of the fact that I was no longer living in America. Once I stopped comparing everything I realized how wonderful it is here. We have met some fantastic people and I feel like it would be a difficult decision to actually leave here one day.

Have you checked out the USA food store in Bentleigh. I was there this past weekend and picked up some reeses. FANTASTIC!!!

I still do not love AFL which is difficult because everyone seems to love it.

I have been reading your report as well and will stay tuned for your additions.
 
Willow25 said:
Bigglesworth

I have grown to love Australia over the past 3.5 years. It was never about Australia for me it was about letting go of the fact that I was no longer living in America. Once I stopped comparing everything I realized how wonderful it is here. We have met some fantastic people and I feel like it would be a difficult decision to actually leave here one day.

Have you checked out the USA food store in Bentleigh. I was there this past weekend and picked up some reeses. FANTASTIC!!!

I still do not love AFL which is difficult because everyone seems to love it.

I have been reading your report as well and will stay tuned for your additions.


I Love the USA Food Store! been going long before my first trip to the USA (people bringing the stuff home to me when i was a kid got me hooked good!)

And i understand the AFL thing i hate it! makes no sence!! The main objective is to get a goal but even thought you wern't good enough to achive it and went to the side you still get a point!! It's Crazy!! :lmao:
 
It was never about Australia for me it was about letting go of the fact that I was no longer living in America. Once I stopped comparing everything I realized how wonderful it is here.

I think that's the same for anywhere you move to. I moved from Melbourne to Canberra last year, and I'm still comparing! I still can't help but say, "Crazy Canberra drivers!" or "At least Melbourne has a TGI Fridays!" I guess I'm just a Melbourne girl!

And I used to live in Bentleigh, and visited the US store on a frequent basis!

Anyway, great start to your trip report, Willow! :cheer2:

(But hey, there is a bus to the international terminal from the domestic terminal in Sydney. There's also taxi's, which cost less than the train or the bus!)
 
Hi Aussie Angel

That is so true about moving anywhere.

I did not know there was a bus but the line for taxi's reminded me of the long lines for Space Mountain in the middle of July. But good to know about the bus for in the future.
 
Our first morning was really magical. I organized a wake up call for 6:30am and refused to pick up the phone. My DH finally picked it up and I could tell from the look on his face that he secretly thought it was cool to hear Mickey’s voice. Remember I am trying to convert my DH into a Disney fanatic like myself. He got out of bed and showered while I enjoyed a few more minutes of shut eye.


I got up and had a look out the window. It was an amazing sight I looked out across the Savannah and spotted three giraffes eating from the trees. I tried to stifle my glea because remember DH still does not understand that we had an upgrade. He gets out of the shower and I have laid out some doughnuts and milk for him on the balcony. I tell him on my way to the shower that his breakfast is waiting outside on the balcony. He never makes anything easy and says to me I don’t want to eat outside because it will be too humid. I tell him that is fine but he needs to go out and get his food because I need to get in the shower.

As I am in the shower I hear scuffling feet and the door swung open. DH says in this excited voice, “Honey there are giraffes outside our balcony”. I say yes dear I know because remember when the CM told us our room was upgraded to Savannah view. This is what that meant. He then says so you mean this view was free. Yes Honey. Wow he says that is really cool.


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I finally drag him away from the balcony and we head to MGM. We did not plan enough time to get to the park because as much as I had read and planned I still did not realize just how big this place was. We parked the car and I started to get really excited when I saw the Tower of Terror staring at me. We had to go to guest relations as we had those 30 day tickets which required us to show our Australian drivers license. We had a very talkative CM who had some of the stock standard questions that bigglesworth described in his trip report about Kangaroos and koalas. (My husband really hates that Simpson’s episode, however he feels that Crocodile Dundee has a lot to blame for some of these questions as well). While I normally don’t mind chatting about Australia I was dying to get into the park.


We headed through the gates and directed ourselves towards the ToT. I must admit that while I am a big fan of roller coasters I felt intimidated by ToT. Also my 6’6” husband is a little afraid of heights and ToT was not a happy thought for him. The standby for this line was posted as 5 minutes. We get inside the hotel lobby and are greeted by a CM who is very into his role. He kept staring at me and he actually followed us into the library. He actually started to freak me out and I eventually hid behind DH. We watched the initial video which DH thought was fantastic.


It is time to board the ride and I definitely have butterflies. The ride starts to move and I am really nervous because I keep thinking that it is going to drop anytime. It keeps going and we move forward. I don’t know about the rest of you but it was pitch black and all of a sudden you hear that click sound and you know that any minute you are going to drop. I am really scared at this point and big DH is gripping my hand so hard it actually hurts. Then out of nowhere we are soaring up the elevator stops in mid air and we are just hanging there. The doors open and we are looking out across the park. You have literally a tenth of a second to have a look and oh my goodness we are hurled down, then up, then down, then up. My DH is actually screaming with laughter, in fact we both were. The ride finished and we could not stop smiling. We got off the ride and continued to laugh. We waited to see our picture which was hilarious. I could tell that this conversion was not going to take long at all :love: .
 
It is good to see the Aussies pop up, it seems as if we are not the only ones fanatical about Disney.
 
fantastic report. Thanks so much for taking the time to post this. SOUNDS like my hubby.....easy conversion too!! :thumbsup2
 
Great report! Keep them coming! Just to let you know that I have been to Ballarat - we went to Sovereign Hill, fantastic place. We have friends who live north of Bendigo.
 












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