I have to admit it,I am a lurker.Worse then that,I have been coming to this board since 2004,when I found it doing research for my families last trip to DW.Occassionaly I would write something in...but for the most part,I would just sit back and absorb all the trip reports and tips from everyone else.I have learned so much,laughed so hard and at times,even shed a tear or two,and now I feel it is time to give back to others.But before I begin,I will get you aquainted with the cast.
DH..aka Grumpy...46,3rd trip to DW...is only going because he knows how much me and his dd's love DW.He is only Grumpy because that is his favorite character...
Me..aka...Mom...39 forever..3rd trip to DW,going because I am seriously addicted.
DD1,18 turning 19,aka,Princess...sophmore in college....4th trip to DW,as she went for her HS graduation and is up 1 from the rest of us...another addict.
DD2,14 aka,Tink..3rd trip to DW.Likes going to DW....but thinks her Mom and big sis are a little kooky because they spend time reading other peoples trip reports..lol.Loves Tinkerbelle.
This trip came about in a funny sort of way.My dd Princess and I wanted to take another trip to DW for awhile,but life was always getting in the way.But one day this past August,Princess gets a post card inviting her to attend a National Collegiate Honor Society convention in DW for this January at Coronado Springs. She had just been inducted into this society in her freshman year at college. Well...there it was! The perfect excuse to go to DW!
We didn't waste anytime at all...plans began to formulate inside our devious minds. 
So that night,when Grumpy comes home from a hard day at work,Princess and I proceed to tell him we have planned a vaction to DW and he is going with us..no excuses.We told him to put in his request for his vacation way ahead of time,and that we were not giving him any choice about it. And our tactics worked.He actually agreed very easily......heck, if I had known all along it was going to be that easy,this would be my 6th trip to DW instead of my 3rd! 
MY dh,Grumpy,is really a teddy bear at heart,and will do anything for his dd's. He was going to let her attend this convention because it involved her education and something she had accomplished.But he would never let her go alone., (it may have also had something to do with him knowing I would be pouting big time at the thought of her getting to go again, a 4th time when I was only there twice...lol..
)...so of course,he realized he didn't really have much of a choice.... the rest of us had to go as well.Yippee!
The months in between then and now have passed faster then I expected they would.I think the holidays helped in that way.First there was getting Princess settled back in school,and then getting Tink ready for her first year of high school.Then it was Hallooween and Tinks birthday after that.Thanksgiving came 2 weeks later and before I knew it,it was Christmas time...and December sped by pretty quickly...up until Christmas day that is.My entire family,except for me, was sick on Christmas day with some horrible lingering virus/head cold .There was no Christmas excitement..no Disney excitement from any of them.
I kept threatening them all that they had better get well fast,because I would be dragging thier comatose bodies to Disney if I had to!
Well...I almost had to eat my words then,as this past Saturday,my husband,who has diabetis,ended up in the hospital because his blood sugars sky rocketed due to him being sick with the virus.So I spent the last 3 days scared and worried for him. ..and I hate to admit..also worried about this trip.How horrible of a person am I to think like that?
I love my dh very much..
.and I certainly want him to be healthy more then to take a trip to DW...but yes...admittedly,I did feel sad about the possibility of having to cancel our trip.I held out hope,but I was all set to do what needed to be done if we couldnt go.Then this morning my dh calls me and tells me he is allowed to come home...his sugars are back to where they should be,
and they even gave him medicine for his head cold. He asked his doctors about the trip and his doctor told him he saw no reason for him not to go as long as he took it easy when he felt he needed it and started testing his blood twice a day now.And dh confided in me that he was also worried about the trip too...he said he didn't want to dissapoint us...
...of course,I only felt worse for my thoughts when he said that. But all is well that ends well. Our trip wasn't cancelled and now we are leaving in 3 more days! Want to hear something funny though? Princess never did make any plans to attend her convention. I honestly dont know why either.
Oh well...doesn't matter why we are going to Disney....what matters is that we are! 
Well,now that the time has almost come for us to leave,and I can't wait! It figures my wonderful family decided to share thier head colds and give it to me....but I am popping the coldeeze like crazy....
I am trying to get everything done before we leave in between work, bouts of sneezes and coughing,and I am pooped.. .but I will not give in to it! I will fight for my treasure! 
. We are leaving on the night of the 4th,and driving straight through,taking turns at driving. 
It is about a 16-17 hour drive,give or take an hour. We have done it before,and we actually enjoyed driving down.We stop for meals and rest stops only though .Princess is afraid to fly...it is a real fear for her so much that she and her friends took Amtrak down for thier grad trip in 2005.So we dont even bother with looking at airlines. We have it planned so that we will arrive around 3pm in Kissimmee on Friday afternoon ,and check into a hotel a mile or so outside of DW,where we will rest up that night....after checking out the Disney outlets....
Then we will wake up early,head on over to Port Orleans,and pre check in,so we can pick up our park tickets and begin our vacation.We will leave DW early on the 13th ,so Princess is back in time for school to start up again ,on the 15th.We got permission to take Tink out of school ,and she is a good student so she wont have any trouble getting back into it again. Unfortuantely,we wont be able to spend Princess's 19th birthday with her,as it is on the 16th ,but we are planning a few birthday surprises for her while we are down there.
So that is it for now...I will finsih this report when we return.And I want to thank everyone for all the wonderful trip reports,advice,tips,laughs,ect.Our trip was so much better because of it in 2004,and I expect this trip will be even better because of you all.So thank you to everyone who does contribute!
DH..aka Grumpy...46,3rd trip to DW...is only going because he knows how much me and his dd's love DW.He is only Grumpy because that is his favorite character...
Me..aka...Mom...39 forever..3rd trip to DW,going because I am seriously addicted.
DD1,18 turning 19,aka,Princess...sophmore in college....4th trip to DW,as she went for her HS graduation and is up 1 from the rest of us...another addict.
DD2,14 aka,Tink..3rd trip to DW.Likes going to DW....but thinks her Mom and big sis are a little kooky because they spend time reading other peoples trip reports..lol.Loves Tinkerbelle.
This trip came about in a funny sort of way.My dd Princess and I wanted to take another trip to DW for awhile,but life was always getting in the way.But one day this past August,Princess gets a post card inviting her to attend a National Collegiate Honor Society convention in DW for this January at Coronado Springs. She had just been inducted into this society in her freshman year at college. Well...there it was! The perfect excuse to go to DW!
We didn't waste anytime at all...plans began to formulate inside our devious minds. So that night,when Grumpy comes home from a hard day at work,Princess and I proceed to tell him we have planned a vaction to DW and he is going with us..no excuses.We told him to put in his request for his vacation way ahead of time,and that we were not giving him any choice about it. And our tactics worked.He actually agreed very easily......heck, if I had known all along it was going to be that easy,this would be my 6th trip to DW instead of my 3rd! MY dh,Grumpy,is really a teddy bear at heart,and will do anything for his dd's. He was going to let her attend this convention because it involved her education and something she had accomplished.But he would never let her go alone., (it may have also had something to do with him knowing I would be pouting big time at the thought of her getting to go again, a 4th time when I was only there twice...lol.. )...so of course,he realized he didn't really have much of a choice.... the rest of us had to go as well.Yippee!The months in between then and now have passed faster then I expected they would.I think the holidays helped in that way.First there was getting Princess settled back in school,and then getting Tink ready for her first year of high school.Then it was Hallooween and Tinks birthday after that.Thanksgiving came 2 weeks later and before I knew it,it was Christmas time...and December sped by pretty quickly...up until Christmas day that is.My entire family,except for me, was sick on Christmas day with some horrible lingering virus/head cold .There was no Christmas excitement..no Disney excitement from any of them.
I kept threatening them all that they had better get well fast,because I would be dragging thier comatose bodies to Disney if I had to! Well...I almost had to eat my words then,as this past Saturday,my husband,who has diabetis,ended up in the hospital because his blood sugars sky rocketed due to him being sick with the virus.So I spent the last 3 days scared and worried for him.
..and I hate to admit..also worried about this trip.How horrible of a person am I to think like that? I love my dh very much.. .and I certainly want him to be healthy more then to take a trip to DW...but yes...admittedly,I did feel sad about the possibility of having to cancel our trip.I held out hope,but I was all set to do what needed to be done if we couldnt go.Then this morning my dh calls me and tells me he is allowed to come home...his sugars are back to where they should be, and they even gave him medicine for his head cold. He asked his doctors about the trip and his doctor told him he saw no reason for him not to go as long as he took it easy when he felt he needed it and started testing his blood twice a day now.And dh confided in me that he was also worried about the trip too...he said he didn't want to dissapoint us... ...of course,I only felt worse for my thoughts when he said that. But all is well that ends well. Our trip wasn't cancelled and now we are leaving in 3 more days! Want to hear something funny though? Princess never did make any plans to attend her convention. I honestly dont know why either. Oh well...doesn't matter why we are going to Disney....what matters is that we are! Well,now that the time has almost come for us to leave,and I can't wait! It figures my wonderful family decided to share thier head colds and give it to me....but I am popping the coldeeze like crazy....
I am trying to get everything done before we leave in between work, bouts of sneezes and coughing,and I am pooped.. .but I will not give in to it! I will fight for my treasure! . We are leaving on the night of the 4th,and driving straight through,taking turns at driving. It is about a 16-17 hour drive,give or take an hour. We have done it before,and we actually enjoyed driving down.We stop for meals and rest stops only though .Princess is afraid to fly...it is a real fear for her so much that she and her friends took Amtrak down for thier grad trip in 2005.So we dont even bother with looking at airlines. We have it planned so that we will arrive around 3pm in Kissimmee on Friday afternoon ,and check into a hotel a mile or so outside of DW,where we will rest up that night....after checking out the Disney outlets.... Then we will wake up early,head on over to Port Orleans,and pre check in,so we can pick up our park tickets and begin our vacation.We will leave DW early on the 13th ,so Princess is back in time for school to start up again ,on the 15th.We got permission to take Tink out of school ,and she is a good student so she wont have any trouble getting back into it again. Unfortuantely,we wont be able to spend Princess's 19th birthday with her,as it is on the 16th ,but we are planning a few birthday surprises for her while we are down there. So that is it for now...I will finsih this report when we return.And I want to thank everyone for all the wonderful trip reports,advice,tips,laughs,ect.Our trip was so much better because of it in 2004,and I expect this trip will be even better because of you all.So thank you to everyone who does contribute!
what a fun trip
