Tink-erin-belle
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2010
- Messages
- 1,197
I know what you're thinking! You're thinking, "Uh oh! Here we go again! Another PTR! When are we going to be able to read a TR? Do you think you'll actually make it to Disney World this time? Do ya? Do ya? Do ya?"
The answer to that is yes! We will make it to Disney World this time! Yes this is my third PTR. No, I don't have any TRs to show for them, but... third times a charm!
In fact, I'm going to turn "Third Times a Charm" into a link for my TR when the time comes!
In case you didn't read Guilt and the Guilty Pleasure or There's No Turning Back Now, I'll give you the condensed story of why my kids and I haven't been back to Disney since 2009. I'm Erin. I'm a divorced mom of two. This is me:
I'm kinda cute, right? I don't know why I'm still single!
Seriously, though, I do know why. My life is basically my kids and my career. Oh, and the DIS 
I spend as much time with my kids as I can, so I don't have a lot of time for chasing after men 
My kids go see their dad every other weekend, so I have a little bit of free time then to go out with friends, but that's it. It's cool, though. I wouldn't have it any other way because kids are only kids once!
I said I was giving you the condensed version, right? I tend to do that. I claim to give the "long story short" version and I never do. I tend to go on tangents. If you can't deal with that, then you're not going to like this PTR
Please stay, though! 
So anyway, I had a trip planned for late November 2010 but my ex stopped paying child support and I took a promotion at work that ended up being a pay cut (better title, better hourly pay, but no commission). It was the right choice at the time but it wasn't great timing since child support stopped coming shortly thereafter. My income went down quite a bit, so I needed to reschedule our trip. This was when I started writing my first PTR Guilt and the Guilty Pleasure because I was planning on taking my kids to Disney for their birthdays in 2011. They were both born in April, so it was going to be a big blow-out trip! My finances still weren't where they needed to be, so I rescheduled the trip AGAIN! Then I started writing There's No Turning Back Now. Well, apparently, there was turning back because the trip I planned for October 2011 got pushed to November 2011 and then rescheduled to June 2012! Your heads are probably spinning right now, aren't they? Let me explain. I was running low on paid time off from work so I rescheduled October 2011 for November so that I could try to build my PTO back up. By the time November rolled around, most of my PTO was burned up by emergency dentist appointments and child support court dates. The good news was that my ex-husband was ordered to have his pay garnished for child support and for what he owed in arrears! The bad news was that I didn't feel financially comfortable enough yet to take unpaid time off for a vacation. I rescheduled the trip for June 2012 and this time, my sisters were coming along too! Everything was going great until I got laid off from my job 
It would've been totally irresponsible to go on vacation while I was job hunting, right? Right?!? I'm still second guessing that one 
In all seriousness, I knew I had to reschedule AGAIN. Thankfully, I got hired at a great company and I've been on the job for almost two months now! 
That brings us to my third PTR. Whew! Now, the plan is to go to Disney for 9 glorious days and 8 fun-filled nights from
August 24th to September 1st
at the beautiful
Pop! Century Resort
There may be a slight change in date and there may be a change in resorts, but we are getting there by August 2013, darn it!
As the dates stand right now, my sisters may be able to come for half of the week because their college classes start on August 28th - if I did my research correctly. Oh, who am I kidding? I always do my research correctly! 
My youngest brother's classes start the week before, so it's unlikely he'll make the trip unless I change my dates. Since I've already rescheduled this trip more times than I care to count, I doubt I'll make any drastic changes to the dates. By the time August 2013 rolls around, it will have been four years since our last Disney vacation (ouch, that hurts to write!) so we're going at a non-peak time. According to touringplans.com crowd levels are fairly low the week before Labor Day because so many schools are back in session. It'll be worth the wait because I can't stand it when it's overcrowded in WDW. As a kid, my parents used to take all five of us kids to Disney World either during Easter week or in mid-summer. It was the worst! We'll, it was awesome because it was Disney after all, but the lines were insane! The two times I've taken my kids have been in the off-season - October 2008 and November 2009 - and it made all the difference! I wanted to go in November of this year, but the busy season at my new job (an NPO) is October through March. So August 2013 it is! Hopefully, my sisters can go. Maybe, somehow, both of my brothers could make it. I'd love for my whole family to go, but I'm just glad that my kids and I are going!
So introductions, yes? Yes! As a courtesy to those who have already read along with me, I'm not going to rehash our favorite rides, characters etc. I'm going to list our favorite Disney movie, favorite villain, least favorite ride in Disney World and the food we're most looking forward to eating in Disney World.
First there's me, Erin, and here I am again - taking pictures of myself at my desk instead of working:
In August 2013 I'll be 40 (egad!
)
My favorite Disney movie is currently The Princess and the Frog because I love how hard working she is. That something I can relate to at this moment. "I'm almost there!"
My Favorite Disney Villain is Mother Gothel (from Tangled) because she is just so deliciously evil!
My Least Favorite Ride is Primeval Whirl because what I thought was a little mouse coaster turned out to be a jarring ride that left me and my kids with sore hips from banging into each other!
The Food I'm Most Looking Forward to Eating is a breakfast buffet. I mean, I'm looking forward to eating School Bread and Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bars, but my favorite thing to eat will always be breakfast. There is something homey about breakfast to me. There is a very comforting feeling that comes to me from sitting down with my kids in front of plates of eggs, bacon, sausage and Mickey Waffles!
Next up is Coy:
He will be 14 at the time of our 2013 trip.
When I asked Coy what his favorite movie was, he asked, "Can it be from the Disney Channel?" I said," Sure," and he said it was a movie called "You Wish!" I've never heard of this movie before but Coy has great taste in movies, so I'm going to take his word for it.
Coy's Favorite Villain is Syndrome from The Incredibles. I have to agree that he was a great character!
Coy's Least Favorite Ride is it's a small world. Oh no! I know Coy is with the majority on this one, but I love it's a small world!
The Food Coy is Most Looking Forward to Eating is funnel cake! Mmm! That's my boy! Disney's funnel cakes are SO GOOD! I like mine just dusted with powdered sugar. Coy and his sister like their's piled high with whipped cream and strawberries! Delicious! I have recently learned that they have pumpkin spice funnel cakes at American Adventure!
Next is True:
She will be 10 on our 2013 and I am so glad she will be a "Disney Adult" because one of my only pet peeves about Disney is the limited selection on the kids menus. The three of us are fairly adventurous eaters, so True's not happy when her choices are limited to chicken nuggets and mac & cheese. We mostly ate at buffets on our last two trips so that all three of us could get what we wanted. Now that all of us are "adults", I can book some meals at different restaurants such as Coral Reef, Le Cellier, maybe even Brown Derby! The kids even said they wanted to try Chefs de France! Oops! I'm getting ahead of myself here! Back to my baby girl.
True's favorite movie is Brave. We saw it a few weeks ago and it was a really good movie. We actually had a Dinner and a Disney Movie theme night for it. Don't get your hopes up, though. I'm going to post about it, but it was actually more of a comedy of errors than it was a theme night.
True's Favorite Disney Villain is Queen Narissa, the stepmother from Enchanted. That's another great character! We'll have to do a Dinner and a Disney Movie night for Enchanted soon.
True's Least Favorite Ride is Splash Mountain. I wholeheartedly agree! I should go back and change my answer because Primeval Whirl made my hips hurt but on Splash, I actually feared for my life!
Neither True nor I enjoy the feeling at the last drop where we lift off of our seats and feel like we are going to be thrown off of the boat! We'll get on the scariest rollercoasters any day of the week but we only get on Splash because Coy loves that ride.
The Food True is Most Looking Forward to Eating is... Well, when I asked True this question, she immediately answered, "Chinese food." Then she paused, gave an inquisitive look and asked, "Do they have Chinese food in Disney World?" I laughed, "Yes, True," and it was decided that we must eat Chinese! I guess we'll try out Yak & Yeti counter service.
That's it for intros! See? I'm even long winded just doing those! Well, I hope you guys stick around in spite of that! You might be wondering what else I could possibly write about, considering that I've been planning this trip for several years 
That's a good question! Kidding! I think my kids and I will get back into doing Dinner and a Disney Movie nights. We don't always do activities for these because it's all about the food for us. I think we will be doing lots of arts and crafts, though, because I have recently rediscovered the joy that is Michaels craft store! So I'll be posting about our crafts too. Here's a preview: Coy and True were at their dad's this weekend, so I went by Michaels on Saturday and got some cheap beads because I wanted to get back into beading. Well, I decided to make a bracelet. A Monorail Bracelet!
It's a little wavy because the cheap beads I got weren't uniform, but I like it for a first try! When True came home last night, she asked if she could have it (she didn't realize I made it for her) and asked me if I could teach her how to bead. I'm going to let her practice on these beads, but I ordered some high quality beads today that will be uniform. I think those beads will make all the difference with the monorail bracelets.
In addition to movie nights and crafts, I am going to try my hand at t-shirt DISigns. I think I might make autograph books and passports! I have a year until our trip, so I've got to do something! So I hope you join me and my kids as we try to have a little Disney Every Day!
The answer to that is yes! We will make it to Disney World this time! Yes this is my third PTR. No, I don't have any TRs to show for them, but... third times a charm!
In fact, I'm going to turn "Third Times a Charm" into a link for my TR when the time comes!
In case you didn't read Guilt and the Guilty Pleasure or There's No Turning Back Now, I'll give you the condensed story of why my kids and I haven't been back to Disney since 2009. I'm Erin. I'm a divorced mom of two. This is me:
I'm kinda cute, right? I don't know why I'm still single!
Seriously, though, I do know why. My life is basically my kids and my career. Oh, and the DIS I spend as much time with my kids as I can, so I don't have a lot of time for chasing after men My kids go see their dad every other weekend, so I have a little bit of free time then to go out with friends, but that's it. It's cool, though. I wouldn't have it any other way because kids are only kids once! I said I was giving you the condensed version, right? I tend to do that. I claim to give the "long story short" version and I never do. I tend to go on tangents. If you can't deal with that, then you're not going to like this PTR
Please stay, though! So anyway, I had a trip planned for late November 2010 but my ex stopped paying child support and I took a promotion at work that ended up being a pay cut (better title, better hourly pay, but no commission). It was the right choice at the time but it wasn't great timing since child support stopped coming shortly thereafter. My income went down quite a bit, so I needed to reschedule our trip. This was when I started writing my first PTR Guilt and the Guilty Pleasure because I was planning on taking my kids to Disney for their birthdays in 2011. They were both born in April, so it was going to be a big blow-out trip! My finances still weren't where they needed to be, so I rescheduled the trip AGAIN! Then I started writing There's No Turning Back Now. Well, apparently, there was turning back because the trip I planned for October 2011 got pushed to November 2011 and then rescheduled to June 2012! Your heads are probably spinning right now, aren't they? Let me explain. I was running low on paid time off from work so I rescheduled October 2011 for November so that I could try to build my PTO back up. By the time November rolled around, most of my PTO was burned up by emergency dentist appointments and child support court dates. The good news was that my ex-husband was ordered to have his pay garnished for child support and for what he owed in arrears! The bad news was that I didn't feel financially comfortable enough yet to take unpaid time off for a vacation. I rescheduled the trip for June 2012 and this time, my sisters were coming along too! Everything was going great until I got laid off from my job It would've been totally irresponsible to go on vacation while I was job hunting, right? Right?!? I'm still second guessing that one In all seriousness, I knew I had to reschedule AGAIN. Thankfully, I got hired at a great company and I've been on the job for almost two months now! That brings us to my third PTR. Whew! Now, the plan is to go to Disney for 9 glorious days and 8 fun-filled nights from
August 24th to September 1st
at the beautiful
Pop! Century Resort
There may be a slight change in date and there may be a change in resorts, but we are getting there by August 2013, darn it!
As the dates stand right now, my sisters may be able to come for half of the week because their college classes start on August 28th - if I did my research correctly. Oh, who am I kidding? I always do my research correctly! My youngest brother's classes start the week before, so it's unlikely he'll make the trip unless I change my dates. Since I've already rescheduled this trip more times than I care to count, I doubt I'll make any drastic changes to the dates. By the time August 2013 rolls around, it will have been four years since our last Disney vacation (ouch, that hurts to write!) so we're going at a non-peak time. According to touringplans.com crowd levels are fairly low the week before Labor Day because so many schools are back in session. It'll be worth the wait because I can't stand it when it's overcrowded in WDW. As a kid, my parents used to take all five of us kids to Disney World either during Easter week or in mid-summer. It was the worst! We'll, it was awesome because it was Disney after all, but the lines were insane! The two times I've taken my kids have been in the off-season - October 2008 and November 2009 - and it made all the difference! I wanted to go in November of this year, but the busy season at my new job (an NPO) is October through March. So August 2013 it is! Hopefully, my sisters can go. Maybe, somehow, both of my brothers could make it. I'd love for my whole family to go, but I'm just glad that my kids and I are going! So introductions, yes? Yes! As a courtesy to those who have already read along with me, I'm not going to rehash our favorite rides, characters etc. I'm going to list our favorite Disney movie, favorite villain, least favorite ride in Disney World and the food we're most looking forward to eating in Disney World.
First there's me, Erin, and here I am again - taking pictures of myself at my desk instead of working:
In August 2013 I'll be 40 (egad!
) My favorite Disney movie is currently The Princess and the Frog because I love how hard working she is. That something I can relate to at this moment. "I'm almost there!"
My Favorite Disney Villain is Mother Gothel (from Tangled) because she is just so deliciously evil!
My Least Favorite Ride is Primeval Whirl because what I thought was a little mouse coaster turned out to be a jarring ride that left me and my kids with sore hips from banging into each other!
The Food I'm Most Looking Forward to Eating is a breakfast buffet. I mean, I'm looking forward to eating School Bread and Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bars, but my favorite thing to eat will always be breakfast. There is something homey about breakfast to me. There is a very comforting feeling that comes to me from sitting down with my kids in front of plates of eggs, bacon, sausage and Mickey Waffles!
Next up is Coy:
He will be 14 at the time of our 2013 trip.
When I asked Coy what his favorite movie was, he asked, "Can it be from the Disney Channel?" I said," Sure," and he said it was a movie called "You Wish!" I've never heard of this movie before but Coy has great taste in movies, so I'm going to take his word for it.
Coy's Favorite Villain is Syndrome from The Incredibles. I have to agree that he was a great character!
Coy's Least Favorite Ride is it's a small world. Oh no! I know Coy is with the majority on this one, but I love it's a small world!
The Food Coy is Most Looking Forward to Eating is funnel cake! Mmm! That's my boy! Disney's funnel cakes are SO GOOD! I like mine just dusted with powdered sugar. Coy and his sister like their's piled high with whipped cream and strawberries! Delicious! I have recently learned that they have pumpkin spice funnel cakes at American Adventure!
Next is True:
She will be 10 on our 2013 and I am so glad she will be a "Disney Adult" because one of my only pet peeves about Disney is the limited selection on the kids menus. The three of us are fairly adventurous eaters, so True's not happy when her choices are limited to chicken nuggets and mac & cheese. We mostly ate at buffets on our last two trips so that all three of us could get what we wanted. Now that all of us are "adults", I can book some meals at different restaurants such as Coral Reef, Le Cellier, maybe even Brown Derby! The kids even said they wanted to try Chefs de France! Oops! I'm getting ahead of myself here! Back to my baby girl.
True's favorite movie is Brave. We saw it a few weeks ago and it was a really good movie. We actually had a Dinner and a Disney Movie theme night for it. Don't get your hopes up, though. I'm going to post about it, but it was actually more of a comedy of errors than it was a theme night.
True's Favorite Disney Villain is Queen Narissa, the stepmother from Enchanted. That's another great character! We'll have to do a Dinner and a Disney Movie night for Enchanted soon.
True's Least Favorite Ride is Splash Mountain. I wholeheartedly agree! I should go back and change my answer because Primeval Whirl made my hips hurt but on Splash, I actually feared for my life!
Neither True nor I enjoy the feeling at the last drop where we lift off of our seats and feel like we are going to be thrown off of the boat! We'll get on the scariest rollercoasters any day of the week but we only get on Splash because Coy loves that ride. The Food True is Most Looking Forward to Eating is... Well, when I asked True this question, she immediately answered, "Chinese food." Then she paused, gave an inquisitive look and asked, "Do they have Chinese food in Disney World?" I laughed, "Yes, True," and it was decided that we must eat Chinese! I guess we'll try out Yak & Yeti counter service.
That's it for intros! See? I'm even long winded just doing those!
Well, I hope you guys stick around in spite of that! You might be wondering what else I could possibly write about, considering that I've been planning this trip for several years That's a good question! Kidding! I think my kids and I will get back into doing Dinner and a Disney Movie nights. We don't always do activities for these because it's all about the food for us. I think we will be doing lots of arts and crafts, though, because I have recently rediscovered the joy that is Michaels craft store! So I'll be posting about our crafts too. Here's a preview: Coy and True were at their dad's this weekend, so I went by Michaels on Saturday and got some cheap beads because I wanted to get back into beading. Well, I decided to make a bracelet. A Monorail Bracelet! It's a little wavy because the cheap beads I got weren't uniform, but I like it for a first try! When True came home last night, she asked if she could have it (she didn't realize I made it for her) and asked me if I could teach her how to bead. I'm going to let her practice on these beads, but I ordered some high quality beads today that will be uniform. I think those beads will make all the difference with the monorail bracelets.
In addition to movie nights and crafts, I am going to try my hand at t-shirt DISigns. I think I might make autograph books and passports! I have a year until our trip, so I've got to do something!
So I hope you join me and my kids as we try to have a little Disney Every Day! 
And to add Karen to the mix --- totally fabulous! Can wait to continue reading about your plans!!!
You're first! 
My mom and brothers were at my house that Friday night, too, so I cut the cupcakes into sixths. I hope you guys don't mind me sharing these with you! 
The whole family loves pistachios so I don't know what their deals were. Coy doesn't like nuts in brownies or ice cream and he did at least take a bite of the pistachio cupcake, but he immediately offered the rest of his piece to me. Oh well. More for me and Mom! This cupcake didn't have a filling but it didn't need it since it had enough going on with the nuts in the cake and the frosting. So freaking good! 
It made beading the bracelets MUCH easier! Wanna see what I've made so far? 
