Diary of a Recovering Park Commando

[portocall]

This is what I know for sure...
We are going to the World November 21-26, 2009, staying at Port Orleans Riverside, and will not be doing the Park Hopping thing.

First I will start with the cast...

There is me, Caralynn. I am 34 and grew up in Central Florida. Minnie Mouse used to be my neighbor. No, really, my friends sister was a CM who dressed as Minnie Mouse and was later promoted/moved to Cinderella. I have been to Disney World more times than I could care to count. Mainly Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Hollywood Studios opened when I was in High School and I really didn't care for it much, and I have never been to Animal Kingdom. I do love Disney and haven't had a fix since 2005. My dream has been, since I was little, to bring my family to Disney for about a week and stay at a resort... I am finally about to make that happen and am super excited about it.

I am married to DH, also known as Sean. He has been to the World twice, once with me and once with his family. I think the memory of the really bad blisters he got walking the World has made him a bit grumpy about it, but he loves me and has known since we got married that this trip would eventually happen, so he has finally agreed that now is a good time to go.

This was our Christmas card picture this year

My oldest son, I will call L is 9, but will make 10 before the trip. He is also a Disney nut and a planner. He has been to the World on a few day trips while visiting the family and can NOT wait until he sees the other parks. He is most looking forward to Epcot. Lucky for me, he is a planner so I have company for the next ten months.

One of my favorites of him
My middle son, F, is currently 8, but will make 9 just before we leave. He is excited to, but is pretty easy going. He has picked out a few rides that are must do's and is the most daring of the bunch.

He is such a nut!
My youngest son, S, is 4 and will about to turn 5 when we hit Disney. He does not want to go to Disney World at the moment, but we are showing him some Disney travel channel shows and you-tube videos and he is slowly becoming intrigued by the idea. Poor little guy, doesn't know what he is saying . He is not a fearful child, so I don't get it, but am hoping that he likes it when we get there.

We are from Southeastern Louisiana so we didn't pick Port Orleans Riverside, it picked us because we are a family of five. I think we are lucky that we have been through a couple extended hurricane evacuations and don't mind being piled on top of each other in a small hotel room. We find that the boys actually tend to behave very well that way so hopefully the trend lasts. But besides that, here is a picture of our anniversary trip to Vegas last summer, always seem to find a taste of home no matter where we go!

We were going to do this trip in June of 2010, however, my sister wants us to come to her house for Thanksgiving Dinner and when I priced November for "fun" it came up to be $1000 cheaper so I approached DH and he said book it. Well, he didn't have to tell me twice, it was booked the very next morning before he could change his mind. For those wondering how come it was so much cheaper I will tell you. We are staying two less nights, not at a Deluxe, got rid of the Park Hopper and Water Park options and boom a price even DH likes

Now if you are wonder how come this is titled the Diary of a Recovering Park Commando, it will be covered in my next post...

 

[portocall]

It wasn't as late as I thought so I will continue for now.

My name is Caralynn and I am a Park Commando. I don't want to be a Park Commando anymore. I want to notice that there are roses to notice... I want to be able to stop and tie my shoe without thinking that I am wasting valuable ride time, or that I might have to wait for the next boat... I want to experience Disney World for the enjoyment that it gives my family and not by the number of rides I rode... I want to experience a table service meal without having a panic attack of what else I might be missing... and I am going to try to change my ways.

But MY WAYS are hardwired... you see, a pitfall of being a product of a park commando family and going so many times, is that there are certain things that must be done and in a certain order. I am not like this with any place else, I swear, but I hit the entrance to Magic Kingdom and something comes over me. Epcot too, but not to the same degree, and since it is a very different park since my last trip, I hope it won't be so bad to control. The last time I was at Epcot, Test Track hadn't opened yet, Body Wars and the Making of Me was playing, and Horizons was my favorite ride.

So, what am I going to do about this very bad, nasty habit of mine? Aside from breathe, I am not sure. I have been going through a daily ritual of picturing myself on Main Street and actually sitting on a bench and people watching.

This is a very tentative schedule for me as we are too far out to really solidify much.

Saturday, Nov 21 Arrival Day/Check-in (settle if able)/Epcot until ready to leave
Sunday, Nov 22 Magic Kingdom
Monday, Nov 23 Animal Kingdom/DTD evening/Dinner at T-Rex
Tuesday,Nov 24 DHS/ Evening at Resort Campfire (if they have it)
Wednesday, Nov 25 Breakfast at Boatwrights/Epcot/River Roost in Evening
Thursday, Nov 26 Check Out Early/Spend last few hours before heading out at park with majority rule or parents rule but will probally be Magic Kingdom

Of course, breaks where needed, and one of the reasons we decided to stay on property is so that DH and I can divide and conquer if we want depending on what the kids need. We are not early people, so we probally won't make rope drop, however, we won't be too far behind it either.

We are not doing the Disney Dining Plan, we are doing the Hurricane Evacuation Dining Plan instead Seriously, aside from one morning at Boatwrights, breakfast will consist of cereal, milk, danishes, juice, and fresh fruit. I will also have sandwich fixings, chips, pudding and fruit cups, plus snacks for days where we eat table service, or hit the resort for a break so I am counting on eating on average, two counter service meals or one table service meals in the park.

I can of course use any advice from you dissers so please feel free to add your two cents. Thanksgiving week is crazy, I am sure, that will definatly be new to me.

 

[portocall]

As most people do when the New Year approaches, I got to thinking of what this year will bring. Normally, I refuse to make resolutions because who keeps those things? This year, I am going to make it my goal to lose 40 pounds by the time we go to WDW. The question is, can I do it? The answer of course won't come until November, but I promise to keep you updated.

Now, onto Disney planning... Central Florida weather in November is so hard to plan around. It shouldn't be July/August hot, but it can be... It shouldn't be Jan cold... but again it can be so that means I will have to pack for both. Luckily we are driving in, so anything I can fit in our minivan can come along. I also decided that I can hit up the seasonal clearance for our trip.

So here is a short list of some things that I will need to gather in the next eleven months...

bathing suits
sunscreen
ponchos
windbreakers
disney shirts (long and short)
car activities for the "car box"
a disney bag

What am I leaving off? If you see something... let me know please.

 

[portocall]

Today a miracle happened... DH actually wanted to know what the plan is for this Disney trip! This is wonderful because it is always good to be on the same page. DH of course wants a vacation that includes plenty of time to relax... Me, I am back to my old "park commando" ways and of course think relax? plenty of time to do that later, we have to spend as much time as possible at the parks. Then I remembered that I am trying to "recover" and wonder where are the DFA (Disney Fanatics Anonomous?) meetings when you need them?


One of the reasons we are staying on property is so that I can "come and go" to the parks without him if need be. I should preface this with an explanation, so my dear DH doesn't sound like a major jerk. I was raised in a pretty rural area of Central Florida and I have no fear of going anywhere at anytime. My DH was raised in New Orleans and Baton Rouge so when I moved here to New Orleans, I thought nothing of going to the gas station, Wal-Mart, or anywhere else at anytime of day and would talk to whoever, and in general not have enough "city sense" as he likes to call it . So, he does worry, and probally with good reason when I am out and about in the later hours of the evening. Not that Disney is a completely safe place, but he will know that I will be in a crowded place, waiting at a crowded bus stop, walking back to the room with people out and about and thus, not worry as much as me going back to a dark parking lot. But to get back on point, HE DOESN'T THINK I CAN CHANGE MY PARK COMMANDO WAYS. Time will only tell if I can, true, but this pre-trippie should show that I am at least trying. To look at the silver lining in that dark cloud of doubt, I do get to stay on property which I do prefer, so I will let that small revelation go for now.

This is what DH and I agreed to for the time being... We WILL go to one park each day, and hit up each park at least once. We did a family poll of the one park we must see and these are how they went:
Me: Magic Kingdom
DH: Hollywood Studios
Logan: Epcot
Fletcher: Animal Kingdom
Spencer: None of the above: Rather stay home We really have to do something about this one...

So there is no park we can skip without someone not having their wish. Now that we established this, how are we going to fit in "relaxation" into the equation?

Well, since we are a night owl family, and not morning people, DH suggested taking any thoughts of a rope drop right out of my head. He probally has a point. His idea is sleeping in until 9AM (which is really 8AM our time) and then taking our time getting to the park and going to the one with evening EMH's. IOW, relax in the AM, when we are groggy and cranky anyway, and then head to the parks. I am inclined to agree with him. On our first trip together in 97, we woke up at the crack of dawn for, at the time, MGM and I don't think I ever came out of the groggy fog. I just remember not enjoying being there, and just wanting sleep, so being well rested is important to us, I just hate how I wake up once the sun goes down. For parks that do close early, we will show up earlier, of course.

Whether or not I can be reformed or not stays in the air for now, but if the heart palpatations I am feeling for agreeing to "relax" ten months ahead of time are any indication, things are not looking good.

Up next, Thanksgiving day... what options we are throwing around. If anyone is reading this, stop in and say hi or feel free to throw me so advice.. If I am on my own, that is okay too cause I am finding this oh so helpful to do.

 

[portocall]

So today I wrote my complete packing list and oh my! I am going to have a ton to buy. Right now, our goal is to pay this trip entirely in cash so I have $250 per month deducted right out of my paycheck to go into our "vacation" account. Since my older children wear school uniforms during the school year, they have very little in the way of winter clothes. I mean, they have 2-3 days worth, but nothing like the summer clothes. Of course they have play clothes, but who takes their kids to Disney in clothes full of paint and grass stains? Plus, we live in New Orleans so it doesn't get too cold here anyhow. I will really have to pay attention to the clearance racks this year and HOPE I guess next years sizes correctly. The older two are at the age where they just grow out of the blue. My oldest started last school year in a size 7 and ended it in a 10. Unfortunatly at the end of the year when uniform pants are hard to find . My youngest will not have started school yet, so he always has more than a weeks worth of any season. Watch me go to all this trouble and have a weeks worth of 80 degree weather. That wouldn't be too terrible though, would it.

The other thing that I am doing is code watching. I would love to be able to upgrade to a Deluxe resort or free dining. I wouldn't mind one of the other mods, but it is a no-can-do since they don't accomodate 5. Our dates are November 21st-26th so hopefully something comes along.

 

[portocall]

The Disney Store is DANGEROUS! We are still more than 10 months out and I am buying Disney t-shirts. They were on sale, and the ones I had been eyeing online, but still... can we just say I am becoming Disney obsessed. I think that is fair to say yes. So, each of my sons got a character shirt, two got pluto and and the youngest got Donald Duck. I so wanted to get the pajama's too, but my innerself told me to hold on and save that for later.

I am still trying to figure out what we are going to do Thanksgiving morning. It is our checkout day so obviously pack the van up for our trip beachside. But dinner isn't until 2:00. When I booked our package, I went ahead and got the 6 day base tickets because the cost difference is nominal. I plan on turning in early on the Wednesday so I can pack and get most of the mundane tasks finished so we can grab and go early Thursday. I would LOVE to go to Magic Kingdom on Thursday... but how crowded is it first thing Thanksgiving morning? What we do this morning will affect the rest of the trip because I do plan on going to Epcot twice. But would we be cheating ourselves of the Epcot experience, and my favorite park if we only do Epcot on arrival day and departure day? This I need to figure out. I think Epcot is locked in on arrival day because Dsis plans on meeting us there as it is also her favorite park and then DSIL is meeting us at MK the next day because the is her favorite park... I don't mind the locals coming to see us but it doesn't let us play with those days much as we search for "the right fit" so to speak. My sister lives approx. 50 minutes from gate to house, so I am thinking we will need to leave NLT 12:15 for the exit to make dinner and not arrive to a house full of grumpy people. I prefer to leave that behind in "The Scary Adventures of Snow White". So this is where I am at with that.

Overall, I am beyond excited that DH agreed to move up the trip, but now worried in doing so won't leave us enough time. Decisions, Decisions.

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

Hi! I'm reading!!! Your kids are too cute!!!!


Daisy
xoxoxo

 

[michellem1118]

Sounds good so far! The inner commando in me won't let me do non-park hoppers... and in fact, is making me buy annual passes this year...
Good luck getting your inner commando under control.

 

[portocall]

Hi DearDaisyinDurham: Thank for reading my scatterbrained thoughts

Hi MichelleM1118: NOT getting a park hopper is KILLING me, but I am trying hard


So Disney did something wonderful that just may through a wrench in my plans. In a good way, I think, but I can be a bit of a control freak so it is really messing with me. What did Disney do you ask?

The Salute to the Armed Forces tickets and the military resort discount, thats what. And this affects me how? I will tell you. My sister and her newborn baby just happened to be visiting me when the announcements were made. Where is my BIL? In Iraq, yep, they are military and now they want to come. Well, I actually asked her, so I can't come across as innocent in the matter Well, as much as I would actually love to merge our vacations together, trying to synchronize a vacation with the US Army is anything but easy.

BIL is all for it, providing that he can get the needed leave and we DON'T stay at POR. Yep, that is where we are booked. Now his heart is in the right place that we shouldn't have to stay at a resort themed to our home but, we are booked at POR and are a family of 5 sooooo, they offer to put one of my kids on PAPER in their room at Caribbean Beach resort. I am worried about that KINDA for two reasons. 1st and most obvious is what if we switch and they can't make it, I can't take not being able to partake in the EMH and I would be lying by having 5 people in the room . and 2nd, despite my initial displeasure with having to stay at POR, I did some research, looked at the pictures and am kinda looking forward to it. I am going to do some serious searching into Disney's cancellation policy to see what the best options would be and might switch the package to a room only. We might just stay at two different resorts. I realize I have some time to figure this out and I can guarantee this won't be the last you hear of this.... whatever happens, we ARE going to Disney I just keep telling myself that anyhow.

In addition to this, my other sister tells me today that she is coming for our arrival day FOR SURE, and wondering where we are going to eat that night. That means no matter what, Saturday November 21st we will be in Epcot my most favorite park ever. We decided to eat in Moracco that evening. I really really wanted to eat in Mexico, her in Japan, but DH actually made sense and said he wanted to try a cuisine that we can't do everyday so Moracco it is. I hope the kids will be able to handle a table service dinner after 10 hours stuck in the car.

Happy New Year to everyone, may this year treat everyone well.

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

Any changes yet? Any updates?

All the best,
Daisy
xoxo

 

[portocall]

I didn't realize that I have stayed away this long! So, for the updates

First, I am the oldest of 4, two sisters (and BIL's) called A and K, and one brother (and future SIL) called BK... this is important so you can keep up

My sis K and BIL J and DN, Sam are currently booked for the same resort, same dates... now we will have to wait until July to see if he is able to get the time off so they can come for sure. He is in the military and they live out of the country, so my fingers are crossed.

My brother BK and fuSIL are booked for our first night at POR to be able to spend our first full day together at Animal Kingdom

And my sis A and BIL S are meeting us at EPCOT on our arrival day and we are going to have dinner together at Restaurant Marrakesh They are also considering booking a night so they can chill out as well. They would stay longer, or meet another day, but A is the host for the whole extended family for Thanksgiving dinner so the closer it gets to Thursday, the more busy she will be.

I think Disney should find a way to get me a discount of some sort since I now have a lot of people going and spending just to see us Of course, I am kidding. The only one who I am surprised about is A and S, since they really don't care for Disney... the others needed NO arm twisting


On another note: We had a surprise trip to Fort Worth, Texas last weekend, only 100 miles in the other direction and we would have been at the World, so I figured I would bring up the topic of how we are going to pull off getting to the World with DH... I had been waiting until it was closer but it somehow seemed relevent during the long drive back. We both have to work full days (we might be able to sneak out an hour early, but no more than that) the Friday before our Saturday arrival. So I gave DH three senarios as flying is out of the question for the five people, plus rental car.

Senario #1 Get home, pack the car, go to sleep, get up and leave at midnight or 1AM and drive straight thru...

Senario #2 Pack the car Thursday night, minus the expensive electronics DH requires, get home, eat dinner and hop on the road and stop around midnight which should be somewhere around Tallahassee... Get up at 6, eat breakfast and then drive the remaining four or so hours and estimate being in EPCOT around noon.

Senario #3 Drive straight thru after work, and add an extra night to our reservation, even though we would probably arrive around 4AM. Sleep and then go to the park around noon

And what did DH choose?





Senario #2
The one that I had hoped for... at least I will feel like we are making progress, and who wants to arrive at the World with only sleep on the brain, and kids ready to go?

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

Sounds good!! It's nice to have time to plan!