The cast:
Courtney (me), 23. Addicted to all things Disney. (Even named my dog Tinkerbell.)
Frank, 24, the hubby, and a sailor in the Navy. Loves Goofy and Space Mountain.
Pre-trip
The planning of this trip started late this summer. DH was off in "places unknown" - due to his particular job, his locations are classified, but I'm sure we can all guess the general vicinity - since February (right after we got married) and we had gotten word that he may be back before Thanksgiving. In the meantime, I had moved from Nashville to Mississippi, where we will be temporarily stationed until next spring (after which, it's sunny California, here we come!). We never got a proper honeymoon, so I started planning for a Disney honeymoon for Thanksgiving week.
As luck would have it, Thanksgiving week was pretty much booked solid. We love going when crowds are low anyway, so after some emails and phone calls, we'd narrowed our choices down to the Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Wilderness Lodge, and after hearing so much about it, we decided to try concierge level this time around. (Since we received special military pays while he was gone, we figured we would put them to good use.) However, because we are military, and I am cheap, we fully intended to use a military discount. We can swallow $200 a night, not $300+. We determined that he could probably get approved for leave in early December, so after working with Melissa at Magical Journeys, the best as far as Im concerned, moving some dates around, we settled on the Wilderness Lodge for a week.
However, at this point, we weren't even sure if he would be back in time. Again, luck being on our side, he ended up coming home in mid-September, and now we're practically an old married couple, going on our honeymoon.
12/7/03, Day 1: Drive me Crazy
Our dog sitter cancelled on us at the last minute, and on Friday night, we quickly conned - er- asked my cousin who just moved to Orlando (well, Sanford really) if she would watch Tinkerbell for us while we were there. The original plan was for Tink to stay here, and a co-worker of DH's to housesit and dog sit for us. Tink must have known that something was going on (we think she can understand more English than she lets on, and she LOVES riding in the car), and woke us both up as the alarm went off, with slobbery kisses. She then bounced off the bed (much like Tigger, she doesn't walk, she bounces.) DH must have been excited too, because he decided to mock her, throwing his hands up in the air and racing around the house after her like a banshee.
Oy vey.
This makes me nervous, as my husband wants to start trying to have children soon. I'm not sure if either of us count as "grown ups" yet.
After I finished my fit of giggles, we quickly showered and got dressed and headed out to the car.
In a moment of infinite wisdom, we (mostly) packed the car the night before. I am not a morning person. And because DH and I have gone on 2 round trip long distance drives in the past month (30 hour RT drive for a Navy school in Maryland, and 16 hour RT drive for Thanksgiving in Tennessee), I am really getting sick of sitting in a car for hours on end. I normally sleep for the first few hours, and we are normally in my roomy Camry.
But he was convinced that his Beetle needed to even out mileage wise with the Camry, so I agreed to go down to WDW in the Beetle.
However, this was BEFORE Tink was supposed to come with us. This added the need to bring the gate, her crate (which, luckily, can be broken into pieces to fit into the car), her big bed pillow, food, toys, etc. She's spoiled, let's face it.
Tink likes to sit in the front seat. Preferably on someone's lap. And stare out the windshield. Never out the side windows, only the windshield. It's cute for about 5 minutes. Then it gets old. And since DH is allergic to her (and practically everything else in the world), he gets annoyed when I let her go ahead and sit on my lap for awhile when I'm playing passenger.
He gets even more annoyed when I let her do it when I'm the driver.
OY.
We switched off once, sang Christmas carols, listened to an Ellen CD, and pushed Scan on the radio TOO many times.
We also had a blast making fun of each other. About 40 miles out from where we had planned to stop for lunch, I realized that I had to go to the bathroom. I dont know if its that Im annoyed with the long trips or that we were going to Disney and it brought out the kid in me, but I decided to whine about every 5 minutes that I had to go to the bathroom. DH doesnt like to stop often, and wouldnt stop at the rest area that was 20 miles out from the Taco Bell, so I was forced to hold it.
Which gives me flashbacks to when we recently went to the movies to see Radio. My brother and I were sharing one of those huge sodas that could feed a small country, and about halfway through the movie, I needed to use the restroom. But, we were in the middle of an aisle, I had about 5 people next to me that I would have to jump over to get out to the aisle, and then go to the bathroom, and I didnt want to miss any of the movie, and assumed it would be over soon, so I held it. And held it. And held it.
I was in SUCH pain when that movie was over that I bolted out of the theater to find the bathroom, and was there for awhile. I think I had a gallon of soda in me!
I was hoping that I wouldnt be repeating that episode. However, DH did threaten to call the wambulance, and I think I heard a few Oy veys in there too.
5 minutes later, I whined again.
You know how when you are playing the worlds smallest violin for someone, when you feel sorry for them? When you rub your thumb and forefinger together? Yeah, after the wambulance comment, I got that.
Oy vey.
As it turns out, I held it just fine, like the adult that I am, and let DH order while I went to the restroom. By the way, for those of you traveling on I-10, the Taco Bell in Live Oak, has clean restrooms.
While he waited for our food, I let the dog out to run around and go to the restroom herself. Then we packed it in and headed back out.
After that, we quickly hit I-75, and the trip seemed easy and quick afterward. We stopped at the Official Disney Welcome Center in Ocala, to pick up the holiday info/times brochure, and just to get a break. We sat on a curb and let Tink run around for awhile, since we made great time, and felt like taking a little break.
A little more driving, and we were in Sanford to drop the dog off. We ate dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, a restaurant that I worked at when I was in high school, one that we both happen to love. For those of you who arent familiar with the chain, it is a buffet, costs about $10 per person for dinner, including a drink. There is a 55-foot salad bar, a soup bar with 5 soups and chili, baked potato bar with all the fixins, bakery with muffins, cornbread, pizza, a pasta bar with three prepared pastas, a fruit bar, and a dessert bar with ice cream and fixings, brownies, etc. The food there is always fresh, and very good; we love it. There are three in the Orlando area: one is near Universal Studios, the one we ate at was in Altamonte Springs, and Im not sure where the third is. Two thumbs up for Sweet Tomatoes.
Afterward, we decided to check into our hotel. Because we had planned to get into town pretty late, we Pricelined for our first nights hotel and ended up at the Park Inn and Suites Maingate, for $30, taxes and fees included. Of course, its always a game of roulette when doing Priceline, so we just hoped for the best. We knew we would be waking up early on Monday, and just wanted a place to rest for the night.
After waiting 20 minutes for the two people in front of us to finish their lengthy conversation with the hotel desk clerk about something in Spanish, we got checked in. The Park Inn is directly next to Water Mania, connected to Shoneys, and right outside the Maingate East. We were pleasantly surprised with the room, which was clean, free of smells, everything was in excellent condition. The shower was a bit small, but overall, for $30, we were incredibly happy with what we got.
The only issues we had were that the beds were double (again, for a one night stay, no biggie; I forgot to call the hotel ahead of time to request a king), and that for some strange reason, you have to put down a $50 deposit before they turn your phone on to be able to call outside the hotel.
No thanks, not for one night.
My family has a thing about calling each other when we are traveling and arrive at our destination okay, so we needed to get to a phone to call my mom and let her know we were in. Since it was still pretty early (about 7pm), we headed out to the Boardwalk. This was DHs first time seeing the Boardwalk area, so we walked all the way around Bay Lake. After I showed him Stormalong Bay, he decided that if we ever come to WDW when it is warm, we are staying at the Yacht Club or Beach Club.
Oy vey.
We called mom from inside the Yacht Clubs lobby. My dad informed DH that the Dolphins had lost to the Patriots. Heres how it happened DH was on the phone, and all I hear is, Oh my God! Are you serious?! I cant believe it! I am thinking that my mom fell down the stairs, or the house caught on fire or something. I am simply standing there, so I give him the What? look. He says to me, The Dolphins lost.
It was my turn to give him the worlds smallest violin motion. Ha! Take that!
Mom decides she wants to have an entire conversation with me, when I really just wanted to check in with her. We told her that wed call when we got into the Wilderness Lodge.
We took a couple of hours to do the loop around the lake, and then headed back to the Park Inn. We were both exhausted, and ready to just pour ourselves into bed.
DH found National Lampoons Christmas on TV, which I had never seen before, and he decided to narrate for me, like I cant understand whats going on all on my own. He likes to take care of me like that.
Have I mentioned that its incredibly annoying? It is. Were technically newlyweds, but that doesnt mean he doesnt get on my nerves.
However, the one thing that beats out his narration of anything on TV, is the weather channel. I admit it, my husband is addicted to the weather channel.
It drives me crazy.
He will be watching it at home, and mention to me that its snowing in Minnesota, or that its raining in Oregon.
Um, I dont live in Minnesota or Oregon, I could really care less whats going on there.
Not only that, but hes not one of those people who turns on the weather channel just to check the forecast and then change the channel in five minutes. Oh no, he will watch it for hours. I cant stand the goofy weather people and their corny jokes, and the muzak that they play in between the weather people commentary makes me nauseous.
Needless to say, when DH wants to tick me off, he puts the weather channel on.
Oy vey.
Anyway, back to TV. On commercials during National Lampoons, he switched to the Weather Channel. All while Im sitting on the other bed with the laptop out typing up our recaps. I got commentary from him on both, when it was obvious that I wasnt watching either.
Ah, newlywed-dom.
DH decided to snore like it was going out of style, and between squishing ourselves in the double bed (we're both "must sleep in our own space" kind of people), and the excitement of being back in the World, I think I slept all of 2 hours. Woke up at 3am, tossed and turned until 4, then eventually just turned the television on and watched infomercials until it was time for us to be awake. It's so tough to not be able to sleep when you don't have another room to go into so that you don't bother anyone else in the room, but DH doesn't mind having the television on, so it wasn't a big deal. (However, if it was the other way around, I would be royally ticked and woudn't be able to fall asleep.)
Best part of the day: Finally getting to Orlando!
Worst part of the day: Holding it.
Coming up next: Checking into the Wilderness Lodge!
Courtney (me), 23. Addicted to all things Disney. (Even named my dog Tinkerbell.)
Frank, 24, the hubby, and a sailor in the Navy. Loves Goofy and Space Mountain.
Pre-trip
The planning of this trip started late this summer. DH was off in "places unknown" - due to his particular job, his locations are classified, but I'm sure we can all guess the general vicinity - since February (right after we got married) and we had gotten word that he may be back before Thanksgiving. In the meantime, I had moved from Nashville to Mississippi, where we will be temporarily stationed until next spring (after which, it's sunny California, here we come!). We never got a proper honeymoon, so I started planning for a Disney honeymoon for Thanksgiving week.
As luck would have it, Thanksgiving week was pretty much booked solid. We love going when crowds are low anyway, so after some emails and phone calls, we'd narrowed our choices down to the Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Wilderness Lodge, and after hearing so much about it, we decided to try concierge level this time around. (Since we received special military pays while he was gone, we figured we would put them to good use.) However, because we are military, and I am cheap, we fully intended to use a military discount. We can swallow $200 a night, not $300+. We determined that he could probably get approved for leave in early December, so after working with Melissa at Magical Journeys, the best as far as Im concerned, moving some dates around, we settled on the Wilderness Lodge for a week.
However, at this point, we weren't even sure if he would be back in time. Again, luck being on our side, he ended up coming home in mid-September, and now we're practically an old married couple, going on our honeymoon.
12/7/03, Day 1: Drive me Crazy
Our dog sitter cancelled on us at the last minute, and on Friday night, we quickly conned - er- asked my cousin who just moved to Orlando (well, Sanford really) if she would watch Tinkerbell for us while we were there. The original plan was for Tink to stay here, and a co-worker of DH's to housesit and dog sit for us. Tink must have known that something was going on (we think she can understand more English than she lets on, and she LOVES riding in the car), and woke us both up as the alarm went off, with slobbery kisses. She then bounced off the bed (much like Tigger, she doesn't walk, she bounces.) DH must have been excited too, because he decided to mock her, throwing his hands up in the air and racing around the house after her like a banshee.
Oy vey.
This makes me nervous, as my husband wants to start trying to have children soon. I'm not sure if either of us count as "grown ups" yet.
After I finished my fit of giggles, we quickly showered and got dressed and headed out to the car.
In a moment of infinite wisdom, we (mostly) packed the car the night before. I am not a morning person. And because DH and I have gone on 2 round trip long distance drives in the past month (30 hour RT drive for a Navy school in Maryland, and 16 hour RT drive for Thanksgiving in Tennessee), I am really getting sick of sitting in a car for hours on end. I normally sleep for the first few hours, and we are normally in my roomy Camry.
But he was convinced that his Beetle needed to even out mileage wise with the Camry, so I agreed to go down to WDW in the Beetle.
However, this was BEFORE Tink was supposed to come with us. This added the need to bring the gate, her crate (which, luckily, can be broken into pieces to fit into the car), her big bed pillow, food, toys, etc. She's spoiled, let's face it.
Tink likes to sit in the front seat. Preferably on someone's lap. And stare out the windshield. Never out the side windows, only the windshield. It's cute for about 5 minutes. Then it gets old. And since DH is allergic to her (and practically everything else in the world), he gets annoyed when I let her go ahead and sit on my lap for awhile when I'm playing passenger.
He gets even more annoyed when I let her do it when I'm the driver.
OY.
We switched off once, sang Christmas carols, listened to an Ellen CD, and pushed Scan on the radio TOO many times.
We also had a blast making fun of each other. About 40 miles out from where we had planned to stop for lunch, I realized that I had to go to the bathroom. I dont know if its that Im annoyed with the long trips or that we were going to Disney and it brought out the kid in me, but I decided to whine about every 5 minutes that I had to go to the bathroom. DH doesnt like to stop often, and wouldnt stop at the rest area that was 20 miles out from the Taco Bell, so I was forced to hold it.
Which gives me flashbacks to when we recently went to the movies to see Radio. My brother and I were sharing one of those huge sodas that could feed a small country, and about halfway through the movie, I needed to use the restroom. But, we were in the middle of an aisle, I had about 5 people next to me that I would have to jump over to get out to the aisle, and then go to the bathroom, and I didnt want to miss any of the movie, and assumed it would be over soon, so I held it. And held it. And held it.
I was in SUCH pain when that movie was over that I bolted out of the theater to find the bathroom, and was there for awhile. I think I had a gallon of soda in me!
I was hoping that I wouldnt be repeating that episode. However, DH did threaten to call the wambulance, and I think I heard a few Oy veys in there too.
5 minutes later, I whined again.
You know how when you are playing the worlds smallest violin for someone, when you feel sorry for them? When you rub your thumb and forefinger together? Yeah, after the wambulance comment, I got that.
Oy vey.
As it turns out, I held it just fine, like the adult that I am, and let DH order while I went to the restroom. By the way, for those of you traveling on I-10, the Taco Bell in Live Oak, has clean restrooms.
While he waited for our food, I let the dog out to run around and go to the restroom herself. Then we packed it in and headed back out.
After that, we quickly hit I-75, and the trip seemed easy and quick afterward. We stopped at the Official Disney Welcome Center in Ocala, to pick up the holiday info/times brochure, and just to get a break. We sat on a curb and let Tink run around for awhile, since we made great time, and felt like taking a little break.
A little more driving, and we were in Sanford to drop the dog off. We ate dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, a restaurant that I worked at when I was in high school, one that we both happen to love. For those of you who arent familiar with the chain, it is a buffet, costs about $10 per person for dinner, including a drink. There is a 55-foot salad bar, a soup bar with 5 soups and chili, baked potato bar with all the fixins, bakery with muffins, cornbread, pizza, a pasta bar with three prepared pastas, a fruit bar, and a dessert bar with ice cream and fixings, brownies, etc. The food there is always fresh, and very good; we love it. There are three in the Orlando area: one is near Universal Studios, the one we ate at was in Altamonte Springs, and Im not sure where the third is. Two thumbs up for Sweet Tomatoes.
Afterward, we decided to check into our hotel. Because we had planned to get into town pretty late, we Pricelined for our first nights hotel and ended up at the Park Inn and Suites Maingate, for $30, taxes and fees included. Of course, its always a game of roulette when doing Priceline, so we just hoped for the best. We knew we would be waking up early on Monday, and just wanted a place to rest for the night.
After waiting 20 minutes for the two people in front of us to finish their lengthy conversation with the hotel desk clerk about something in Spanish, we got checked in. The Park Inn is directly next to Water Mania, connected to Shoneys, and right outside the Maingate East. We were pleasantly surprised with the room, which was clean, free of smells, everything was in excellent condition. The shower was a bit small, but overall, for $30, we were incredibly happy with what we got.
The only issues we had were that the beds were double (again, for a one night stay, no biggie; I forgot to call the hotel ahead of time to request a king), and that for some strange reason, you have to put down a $50 deposit before they turn your phone on to be able to call outside the hotel.
No thanks, not for one night.
My family has a thing about calling each other when we are traveling and arrive at our destination okay, so we needed to get to a phone to call my mom and let her know we were in. Since it was still pretty early (about 7pm), we headed out to the Boardwalk. This was DHs first time seeing the Boardwalk area, so we walked all the way around Bay Lake. After I showed him Stormalong Bay, he decided that if we ever come to WDW when it is warm, we are staying at the Yacht Club or Beach Club.
Oy vey.
We called mom from inside the Yacht Clubs lobby. My dad informed DH that the Dolphins had lost to the Patriots. Heres how it happened DH was on the phone, and all I hear is, Oh my God! Are you serious?! I cant believe it! I am thinking that my mom fell down the stairs, or the house caught on fire or something. I am simply standing there, so I give him the What? look. He says to me, The Dolphins lost.
It was my turn to give him the worlds smallest violin motion. Ha! Take that!
Mom decides she wants to have an entire conversation with me, when I really just wanted to check in with her. We told her that wed call when we got into the Wilderness Lodge.
We took a couple of hours to do the loop around the lake, and then headed back to the Park Inn. We were both exhausted, and ready to just pour ourselves into bed.
DH found National Lampoons Christmas on TV, which I had never seen before, and he decided to narrate for me, like I cant understand whats going on all on my own. He likes to take care of me like that.
Have I mentioned that its incredibly annoying? It is. Were technically newlyweds, but that doesnt mean he doesnt get on my nerves.
However, the one thing that beats out his narration of anything on TV, is the weather channel. I admit it, my husband is addicted to the weather channel.
It drives me crazy.
He will be watching it at home, and mention to me that its snowing in Minnesota, or that its raining in Oregon.
Um, I dont live in Minnesota or Oregon, I could really care less whats going on there.
Not only that, but hes not one of those people who turns on the weather channel just to check the forecast and then change the channel in five minutes. Oh no, he will watch it for hours. I cant stand the goofy weather people and their corny jokes, and the muzak that they play in between the weather people commentary makes me nauseous.
Needless to say, when DH wants to tick me off, he puts the weather channel on.
Oy vey.
Anyway, back to TV. On commercials during National Lampoons, he switched to the Weather Channel. All while Im sitting on the other bed with the laptop out typing up our recaps. I got commentary from him on both, when it was obvious that I wasnt watching either.
Ah, newlywed-dom.
DH decided to snore like it was going out of style, and between squishing ourselves in the double bed (we're both "must sleep in our own space" kind of people), and the excitement of being back in the World, I think I slept all of 2 hours. Woke up at 3am, tossed and turned until 4, then eventually just turned the television on and watched infomercials until it was time for us to be awake. It's so tough to not be able to sleep when you don't have another room to go into so that you don't bother anyone else in the room, but DH doesn't mind having the television on, so it wasn't a big deal. (However, if it was the other way around, I would be royally ticked and woudn't be able to fall asleep.)
Best part of the day: Finally getting to Orlando!
Worst part of the day: Holding it.
Coming up next: Checking into the Wilderness Lodge!
