Disney Holiday Firsts at Last! - 2 Days to Go and It's Quiet, Too Quiet

[mnmrmustard]

Hello Everyone. Sorry for not having anything going on here for the past week. Monday at about 3am my mother-in-law started having breathing complications. She didn't want to go to the hospital but by 8am she had spiked a fever and although she was conscious she was no longer coherent. We tried to help her transfer to her HoveRound but she was unable to maintain focus or balance so we had to call 911

The fire and ambulance people were very helpful and professional (this is the third time they’ve had to come in the last 2 years). I can’t say enough good things about them. Roxy rode with mom to the hospital and I followed. In the emergency room she was diagnosed with an infection and borderline pneumonia and was admitted.

By early afternoon she had received IV antibiotics, fluids, and a couple of breathing treatments and her mental clarity had returned Roxy and I took turns staying with her while she was there. It has been a tough time as we had been working with her on a move into assisted living. She had been resistant off and on and was shaken by the reality of this latest medical situation.

She now recognizes the need to go into assisted living but it is a hard thing for her to face as we’ve been taking care of her for over 11 years to one degree or another and we’ve all lived together for that entire time. It has been hard on all of us, especially the girls who have had their Nana in their lives and home since they were 1 and 4yrs old respectively. It has been hard to balance being there for Nana, the girls, and each other for the past few weeks.

I personally hit a wall a couple of days ago and although I continued to be there when I was needed for everyone I completely lost the ability to think proactively about work or home or even my usual escape, Disney. I have been the one primarily there with mom as I have a bunch of leave time and my wife is the entire office for the company she works for and it is payroll week.

We were able to bring mom home Wednesday afternoon and I’ve been staying with her as she is still pretty weak but keeps trying to do things that could stress her. She wanted to make a nail appointment for today despite having a gurgling in her breathing. So I had to explain again that she needs to rest and keep up her breathing treatments while the antibiotics do their work for her.

For me today I’m at least past that “wall” and am mentally a lot more together. Just being able to share it here helps quite a bit. Being the only man in the household and focusing on being a stable presence amongst the emotional ups and downs has been a literal emotional roller coaster. And I’m needing some Rockin’ Roller Coaster!

On the trip I got a depressing phone call from our AAA travel agent. The first hop of our return flight from MCO to SLC has been “discontinued” So now we have to take an earlier flight back home and lose our leisurely last morning at POP. We’ll have to pack the night before and get our bags down and be on ME at 8am. This is an extra bummer as the only official DISMeet I had set up was with Laurie and her fam, who were going to go out of their way to come to POP and have breakfast with us. Don’t know if that will still happen given our early departure

The only upside is that it gets us home a bit earlier so we can unpack and relax a bit Saturday night and have all of Sunday do decompress. I’ll be taking Monday off and will do laundry and such so Roxy doesn’t have to deal with it.

That’s enough gloomy stuff, I have to run an errand and then I’ll be back to post the Harry Potter pics we are using and some more info about our trip!

 

[mnmrmustard]

After talking with DW about the countdown calendar having been done a couple of times now and that although this is a WDW trip, one of the big things that will be happening is the girl's first trip to Universal Orlando and the WWoHP.

So I called upon the mighty beast that is Google Images and downloaded 30 Harry Potter images. I was going to add them to a Photoshop image and save it as a JPEG. But I got a case of the lazies and decided to just print them out using windows "print pictures" interface. When I got in there I saw that I could print out a contact sheet of 35 images.

So back to Google Images I went and found 5 more and then printed the result out of photo paper:

And here's the full size image:

Harry Potter Days

I've sent the image to DW, who is going to do word art on the back that will read:

NOV
29th​

It will stretch the length and width of the page so some of the squares will probably be all black. We're still working on a numbering scheme that won't be obvious but will still clue them in when the go to put it together.

With 35 days worth to lay out we'll start dropping the clues on October 25th. So only 20 days out from the start point of it

Oh, and with the flight changes I'll be updating my itinerary post:


Saturday, December 8th – Travel Day :-[

- Take bags down and check out
- Breakfast at Everything POP Food Court
- ME to MCO at 8am
- Flight departs for SLC @ 11:15am
- Arrive at SLC @ 2:07pm
- Depart for MFR @ 5:10pm
- Arrive back in Medford at 6:09pm
- Pick up dogs from sitters
- Drive home & brace for the post-Disney blues

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Hello Everyone. Sorry for not having anything going on here for the past week. Monday at about 3am my mother-in-law started having breathing complications. She didn't want to go to the hospital but by 8am she had spiked a fever and although she was conscious she was no longer coherent. We tried to help her transfer to her HoveRound but she was unable to maintain focus or balance so we had to call 911

That's both scary and exhausting...-she was probably also dehydrated... my mom was (she's a bit better now) constantly dehydrated... I had to keep reminding her to drink...

The fire and ambulance people were very helpful and professional (this is the third time they’ve had to come in the last 2 years). I can’t say enough good things about them. Roxy rode with mom to the hospital and I followed. In the emergency room she was diagnosed with an infection and borderline pneumonia and was admitted.

so many of the people who do medical related jobs are so dedicated and good at what they do... glad the pneumonia was borderline and not full blown...

By early afternoon she had received IV antibiotics, fluids, and a couple of breathing treatments and her mental clarity had returned Roxy and I took turns staying with her while she was there. It has been a tough time as we had been working with her on a move into assisted living. She had been resistant off and on and was shaken by the reality of this latest medical situation.

She's really lucky to have you... and I don't think many people really go into AL totally willingly... I think they come to the realization that it's really something they should do...

She now recognizes the need to go into assisted living but it is a hard thing for her to face as we’ve been taking care of her for over 11 years to one degree or another and we’ve all lived together for that entire time. It has been hard on all of us, especially the girls who have had their Nana in their lives and home since they were 1 and 4yrs old respectively. It has been hard to balance being there for Nana, the girls, and each other for the past few weeks.

My oldest... my daughter had an especially difficult time with my mom getting sick... - your girl's Nana will still be in their lives just not in the house...

I personally hit a wall a couple of days ago and although I continued to be there when I was needed for everyone I completely lost the ability to think proactively about work or home or even my usual escape, Disney. I have been the one primarily there with mom as I have a bunch of leave time and my wife is the entire office for the company she works for and it is payroll week.

You hit a wall because you are human and it is physically and emotionally exhausting to take care of a sick parent...

We were able to bring mom home Wednesday afternoon and I’ve been staying with her as she is still pretty weak but keeps trying to do things that could stress her. She wanted to make a nail appointment for today despite having a gurgling in her breathing. So I had to explain again that she needs to rest and keep up her breathing treatments while the antibiotics do their work for her.

Gotta give her credit for wanting to look nice...

For me today I’m at least past that “wall” and am mentally a lot more together. Just being able to share it here helps quite a bit. Being the only man in the household and focusing on being a stable presence amongst the emotional ups and downs has been a literal emotional roller coaster. And I’m needing some Rockin’ Roller Coaster!

My husband is also very supportive... in fact he has been there for my mom way more than my own brother... but there are times when I see it wearing on him... you have to make sure you make time to plan fun stuff to look forward to...

On the trip I got a depressing phone call from our AAA travel agent. The first hop of our return flight from MCO to SLC has been “discontinued” So now we have to take an earlier flight back home and lose our leisurely last morning at POP. We’ll have to pack the night before and get our bags down and be on ME at 8am. This is an extra bummer as the only official DISMeet I had set up was with Laurie and her fam, who were going to go out of their way to come to POP and have breakfast with us. Don’t know if that will still happen given our early departure

Oh wow... that is really annoying... It's awesome you're getting to go and everything but you had been counting on that extra time... time to get the Travel Agent... I'm just kidding but its still annoying...

The only upside is that it gets us home a bit earlier so we can unpack and relax a bit Saturday night and have all of Sunday do decompress. I’ll be taking Monday off and will do laundry and such so Roxy doesn’t have to deal with it.

It's good to be able to put a positive spin on this kind of stuff...

That’s enough gloomy stuff, I have to run an errand and then I’ll be back to post the Harry Potter pics we are using and some more info about our trip!

Harry Potter....

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

btw ... great Harry Potter pictures... can't wait to see how long it takes them to figure it out...

 

[DizNee Luver]

Mike, I'm so sorry about your MIL......it's so hard to see our parents get sick and unable to care for themselves. I lost 3 of my parents this year and seeing them frail and suffering was heartbreaking. I hope she gets to feeling better and the transition into an assisted living facility proves to be a positive for her!!

Well Booooooo on your flight being moved!! Goodness gracious....I was flying across the country to meet up with you and your family~~doesn't the airlines know that??? Who knows, maybe when time gets closer we can find another time.....possibly meet up for a dessert or something. I'll probably give you my cell # just in case we can "wing it".

 

[disney67]

Welcome Jeff and thank you for the compliment on my PTR & shirt designs! Very cool that you and yours will be there during the same timeframe as us. Will you be in any of the same parks as us on the same days? I'm still hopeful that we can keep the secret until at least 30 days out when we start laying out the "clues". We'll see how long it takes them to put it all together

How did it go for you the one time you were able to keep the secret? Were they excited/suprised?

I did not mention im going solo wife wanted to go to Vagas for a scrapbook get together and we have no babysitter so when she asked me to go there i said can i go to disney for my birthday which is 11-29 lol the day you guys leave .
Here is how we surprised them , my sister lived in CA and we told them we were taking them there for a visit and also had my sister call and tell them they she could not wait to see them , so we told the kids we to transfer planes in Orlando , it worked and when we got off the plane i had T-shirts made that said they are going to disney , we told the kids they looked hot and sweaty we need to change there shirts so we changed there shirts and they did not even read the shirts so with a bit of coaching they did and my dd ran to me and ds ran to wife , i think dd was in tears but it only took 2 minutes before disney overload on dd part to start i want to do this and that . It was well worth doing but i will say it is so hard when you are a disney addict and not to say something about a trip to the kids is really hard but it does pay off in the end

 

[disney67]

Hello Everyone. Sorry for not having anything going on here for the past week. Monday at about 3am my mother-in-law started having breathing complications. She didn't want to go to the hospital but by 8am she had spiked a fever and although she was conscious she was no longer coherent. We tried to help her transfer to her HoveRound but she was unable to maintain focus or balance so we had to call 911

The fire and ambulance people were very helpful and professional (this is the third time they’ve had to come in the last 2 years). I can’t say enough good things about them. Roxy rode with mom to the hospital and I followed. In the emergency room she was diagnosed with an infection and borderline pneumonia and was admitted.

By early afternoon she had received IV antibiotics, fluids, and a couple of breathing treatments and her mental clarity had returned Roxy and I took turns staying with her while she was there. It has been a tough time as we had been working with her on a move into assisted living. She had been resistant off and on and was shaken by the reality of this latest medical situation.

She now recognizes the need to go into assisted living but it is a hard thing for her to face as we’ve been taking care of her for over 11 years to one degree or another and we’ve all lived together for that entire time. It has been hard on all of us, especially the girls who have had their Nana in their lives and home since they were 1 and 4yrs old respectively. It has been hard to balance being there for Nana, the girls, and each other for the past few weeks.

I personally hit a wall a couple of days ago and although I continued to be there when I was needed for everyone I completely lost the ability to think proactively about work or home or even my usual escape, Disney. I have been the one primarily there with mom as I have a bunch of leave time and my wife is the entire office for the company she works for and it is payroll week.

We were able to bring mom home Wednesday afternoon and I’ve been staying with her as she is still pretty weak but keeps trying to do things that could stress her. She wanted to make a nail appointment for today despite having a gurgling in her breathing. So I had to explain again that she needs to rest and keep up her breathing treatments while the antibiotics do their work for her.

For me today I’m at least past that “wall” and am mentally a lot more together. Just being able to share it here helps quite a bit. Being the only man in the household and focusing on being a stable presence amongst the emotional ups and downs has been a literal emotional roller coaster. And I’m needing some Rockin’ Roller Coaster!

On the trip I got a depressing phone call from our AAA travel agent. The first hop of our return flight from MCO to SLC has been “discontinued” So now we have to take an earlier flight back home and lose our leisurely last morning at POP. We’ll have to pack the night before and get our bags down and be on ME at 8am. This is an extra bummer as the only official DISMeet I had set up was with Laurie and her fam, who were going to go out of their way to come to POP and have breakfast with us. Don’t know if that will still happen given our early departure

The only upside is that it gets us home a bit earlier so we can unpack and relax a bit Saturday night and have all of Sunday do decompress. I’ll be taking Monday off and will do laundry and such so Roxy doesn’t have to deal with it.

That’s enough gloomy stuff, I have to run an errand and then I’ll be back to post the Harry Potter pics we are using and some more info about our trip!

Im so sorry to hear about your MIL pixies and hope she is feeling better
i know how you feel when things like this happens and add to work , home , and all other little things that happen for this I say Pixies to you too

 

[disney67]

first i love the HP cards they came out
second sorry about your travel change i hate it when airlines do this , just a quick suggestion did you call them and ask if they had a later flight that worked for you and your family and if they would of been nice enough to change it since they were nice enough to take disney time away from you and your family ?
and since my mind is bad i thought i posted this it is a thread someone started for meets the week after thanksgiving if you want to come over and take a look ?
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2937979

 

[mnmrmustard]

That's both scary and exhausting...-she was probably also dehydrated... my mom was (she's a bit better now) constantly dehydrated... I had to keep reminding her to drink...

Yes, it was scary, and we do struggle with getting her to drink more than just cokes and coffee. She is getting better with drinking water - we keep a big glass with a lid full of ice water on her bedside table.

so many of the people who do medical related jobs are so dedicated and good at what they do... glad the pneumonia was borderline and not full blown...

Yes they are and we are continually thankful for it. Yes, the antibiotics seem to have kicked it pretty good. She still has a slight rattle in her chest which is chased away by her breathing treatments.

She's really lucky to have you... and I don't think many people really go into AL totally willingly... I think they come to the realization that it's really something they should do...

Most times she is thankful for all that we do for her, but as it is with anyone she has her off days where she gets angry and frustrated and we're the only targets. As the days go by she is more and more accepting of the move - the place she is going to is a palace so that helps.

My oldest... my daughter had an especially difficult time with my mom getting sick... - your girl's Nana will still be in their lives just not in the house...

I think the girls will feel better about it after we take them to see where she is going, which is going to happen tomorrow afternoon. Then once she is settled they'll be able to go over for visits which will be more special than just stopping by her room here at the house.

You hit a wall because you are human and it is physically and emotionally exhausting to take care of a sick parent...

I have actually done better than I thought I would. Both my mother and sister have worked as home health care provders and i didn't think I'd ever be able to do that kind of thing. I am feeling a lot more human now that I've come out the other side of hitting that wall. Each day is different though and I'm just taking it all as it comes.

Gotta give her credit for wanting to look nice...

Yes, she loves getting her hair and nails done. The place she's going to has a salon which does coloring and perms and all of that, plus pedicures. We'll still take her out to get her nails done as she has acrylics.

My husband is also very supportive... in fact he has been there for my mom way more than my own brother... but there are times when I see it wearing on him... you have to make sure you make time to plan fun stuff to look forward to...

Yes, I'm in the same boat as far as being there more than her own sons. Both of them are out of state, live lives full of drama, and drink too much. That is great that you keep an eye on your DH's mental state in dealing with it - Roxy does the same for me. We're pretty good about not flaking out at the same time

Oh wow... that is really annoying... It's awesome you're getting to go and everything but you had been counting on that extra time... time to get the Travel Agent... I'm just kidding but its still annoying...

Yeah, I hate it when plans get changed like that, but ya gotta roll with it right The travel agent was very apologetic and looked at alternatives but the options are very limited flying into our area airport.

It's good to be able to put a positive spin on this kind of stuff...

Disney at the holidays makes it all better

Harry Potter....

Agreed!!!

btw ... great Harry Potter pictures... can't wait to see how long it takes them to figure it out...

It should be interesting for sure.

Mike, I'm so sorry about your MIL......it's so hard to see our parents get sick and unable to care for themselves. I lost 3 of my parents this year and seeing them frail and suffering was heartbreaking. I hope she gets to feeling better and the transition into an assisted living facility proves to be a positive for her!!

It is tough here but wow, 3 parents in one year??? Mucho P&PD to you and your fam We are very hopeful and she just said she'll be up for taking the girls on a tour of the place tomorrow

Well Booooooo on your flight being moved!! Goodness gracious....I was flying across the country to meet up with you and your family~~doesn't the airlines know that??? Who knows, maybe when time gets closer we can find another time.....possibly meet up for a dessert or something. I'll probably give you my cell # just in case we can "wing it".

Yeah, no kidding right??? We'll figure something out or we'll just trek up to your neck of the woods when we both get back and compare pictures! Yes, we'll exchange cells for sure. Are you on Facebook? I'll be doing mini updates on it along with here on DISBoards - got the Android app.

I did not mention im going solo wife wanted to go to Vagas for a scrapbook get together and we have no babysitter so when she asked me to go there i said can i go to disney for my birthday which is 11-29 lol the day you guys leave .

Solo, how cool - talk about being able to set you own pace & schedule! I usually manage one solo morning on our trips to just stroll around and take pictures. It is always a fun time for me

Here is how we surprised them , my sister lived in CA and we told them we were taking them there for a visit and also had my sister call and tell them they she could not wait to see them , so we told the kids we to transfer planes in Orlando , it worked and when we got off the plane i had T-shirts made that said they are going to disney , we told the kids they looked hot and sweaty we need to change there shirts so we changed there shirts and they did not even read the shirts so with a bit of coaching they did and my dd ran to me and ds ran to wife , i think dd was in tears but it only took 2 minutes before disney overload on dd part to start i want to do this and that . It was well worth doing but i will say it is so hard when you are a disney addict and not to say something about a trip to the kids is really hard but it does pay off in the end

How very cool! It sounds like you did a great job keeping that secret. It is so fun seeing their faces light up and get so excited. It is VERY hard to keep the secret but we're only 19 days out from starting our "clues". I think the girls are sharp enough that they'll figure it out before our departure date.

When we went in 2008 we made it a scavenger hunt as part of Christmas. They were excited about the trip but bummed out that it would be another 11 days before we actually left.

Im so sorry to hear about your MIL pixies and hope she is feeling better
i know how you feel when things like this happens and add to work , home , and all other little things that happen for this I say Pixies to you too

Thank you and she is feeling better but is having trouble sleeping some nights just due to all of the things that go into moving her. She is having to do some estate stuff and other little things that just keep spinning around in her head. We sit down every day and talk about things and answer questions/find answers for her on a bunch of different things. Thank you for all the pixie magic, every bit helps!

first i love the HP cards they came out
second sorry about your travel change i hate it when airlines do this , just a quick suggestion did you call them and ask if they had a later flight that worked for you and your family and if they would of been nice enough to change it since they were nice enough to take disney time away from you and your family ?
and since my mind is bad i thought i posted this it is a thread someone started for meets the week after thanksgiving if you want to come over and take a look ?
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2937979

Yeah, it is a bummer but unfortunately we would have to change airlines and fly into SFO, which is a nightmare during winter. I'm getting more okay about the time change as it will get us home around 6pm instead of nearly 10pm so more decompression time.

Thank you very much for posting the meets thread - I'll hop right over there

 

[mnmrmustard]

As the days tick by (and I must say they are ticking by pretty fast!!!) I take the obligatory look back to past Disney endeavors.


Part 1 July 1976 - DLR

A skinny 7yr old boy and his annoying 11yr old big sister embark on a whirlwind SoCal vacation with our parents in a rented Chevy Citation (now THAT was a stylin' ride!). We hit Knotts Berry Farm, Lion Country Safari (now closed), Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, and of course Disneyland!

I have no pictures from the trip. It seems like there should have been some, but nobody seems to know about them. Due to this I did some fishing on flickr and snagged a couple of images that other people took on trips there in '76 ;-]

Disney itself was a bit of a blur, us trying to cover everything in one hot summer day. I specifically remember all of the red-white-and-blue theming for the Bicentennial. I also remember how cramped the submarine was and how much walking we did. Some of the high points were PoTC, Peter Pans Flight, and the Matterhorn.

From a nostalgia point of view I am happy to have been one of those older folks who go to ride on the Skyway

I remember REALLY wanting to ride up in the top bubble of the monorail. And no, it didn't happen.

And then there was the big letdown. I couldn't ride Space Mountain ...grrrr! I sat outside the gleaming white facade while Menudo (or at least that year's incarnation of them) were performing in front of it. I remember looking forlornly at it while they danced and sang. To this day I still equate the name Menudo to tragic disappointment

But then there was the end of the day and my curbside seat for the Main Street Electrical Parade. That was the capper, that was the one bit that really got me. Without knowing it then, it is what really made me the Disney fan that I am today.

There was a feeling of total immersion in the experience. The lights, the theme song (which still gives me a bit of a charge when I hear it), and the pure Disney magic of it. It was a perfect way to end the evening and it washed away any tiredness I may have felt. I remember going to sleep in the hotel room humming the song (much to the consternation of my big sister, with whom I was sharing a bed - lol).


Part 2 - 1982 - WDW

My DW Roxy went on a whirlwind family camper trip from Bakersfield to the east coast, hitting D.C., Civil War Battlefields, other historical sites, and finally MK/EPCOT during EPCOT Center's opening year. The sad thing is that they were so tired and burnt out from traveling that they only spent one day there divided between EPCOT Center and MK.

She was 8 at the time and just remembers fragments of both parks, much like my first trip to DLR. Things that stuck out for her were Spaceship Earth & Journey into Imagination at EPCOT Center and the differences in Space Mountain and PoTC at MK in comparison with DLR's versions.


Part 2.5 1985/86 Disney Legend

While I was a teenager and thought I knew it all, I had an amazing opportunity that I completely squandered. My mother was doing home health care and one of her clients was an accomplished painter named Margaret Gare Barks who lived in our small berg of Grants Pass with her husband Carl. Gares health was deteriorating (she passed in 1993) and Carl was always by her side in their house on Oregon street.

I would come over and assist moving things or cleaning when my mother needed me. During some down time Carl and I started talking. I had seen pictures on his walls so I knew he was a Disney nut. What I didnt know until that conversation was that everything on those walls were his creations.

Much of it featured Donald Duck and his nephews, plus Scrooge McDuck, which I learned he had created. He wrote for Disney in the 40s largely contributing to Donald Duck-related film works. After that he left Disney Studios but still penned work for Walt Disneys Comics and Stories for years to come. In his later years he received permission to produce oil paintings of scenes from Disney stories he had penned.

During our talk he asked me if I liked cartoons and I spouted off about my love for Japanese animation and how much cooler and more realistic it was. He took my words in stride and offered me a 1st edition Walt Disneys Comics and Stories By Carl Barks and signed the inside page:

I laughed and thanked him and put it in my small box of collectables and promptly forgot about it. Less than a year later I was in the Army and getting on with my life. I now look back and kick myself soundly around the room for not spending every moment I could with him to hear the stories of his life and art. Ah well, at least I can say I talked to a Disney Legend one-on-one &and cleaned under his refrigerator!


PART 3 January 2005 - DLR

Even though I had that Disney magic, it lay dormant inside me for the next 29 years!! It wasn't until my DDs were old enough to really enjoy Disney (ages 5 & 8 at the time) that we planned a trip. I planned it and it was a bit of a goof on my part as to when we went.

I found a website that showed crowd levels and apparently the week after new years was some of the lowest numbers in the park. What I neglected to cross-reference it with was the amount of rainfall that So Cal gets in early January. Soooo, we basically went there during the wettest month of the year yikes!

It was to be a 3 day visit to the parks. Part of it would be just us, the other part with one of my bro-in-law's and his family. Granted, we had a lot of fun and the rides that were open had basically no lines. Unfortunately it rained for over half the time we were there, ending with an outright downpour that flooded parts of CA. We stayed at the Best Western Park Place right across from the entrance to save $$$.

Here are some pics from that little adventure. They are a bit grainy as they are actually captures from video that I took there:

Me and the girls in front of the city backdrop next to the Aladdin Theater

Roxy and the girls with Goofy in CA

The wee ones meeting Mickey

Any you may have wondered about Bean's haircut being kind of "boyish". The little imp had decided to give herself a haircut a week before we left. That was how short it had to go to even out the chunks she had taken out of it - lol

There are more pictures but not too many as it was too wet much of the time we were there to film stuff. And a lot of them were just the girls posed by all of the different themed Mickeys they had stationed around CA.

But as I said, no lines. Among the stuff we rode:

Matterhorn - 4 times
PoTC - 8 times
Splash Mountain - 4 times
All the fantasyland rides multiple times
Soarin' - 3 times
ToT - 7 times for Bean (I only rode it 3 times)
Haunted Mansion - closed to change back from the Nightmare Before Christmas theme :-[

AAAAANNNNNDDDDD - SPACE MOUNTAIN - CLOSED FOR REFURB!!!!! Still hadnt rode that bugger. Also, no parades and no fireworks due to a mix of off season and bad weather.


Part 4 January 2008 WDW/SW/DC

So even though we ended up being soaked on our DLR trip I had still caught the Disney Parks bug, and caught it BAD! I managed to last until the spring of 2006 before I started talking to DW about our next adventure. I wanted this one to be big though I wanted Walt Disney World!!! And I wanted to incorporate a family reunion with it. She said wed have to save up and that it would probably be a good year down the road. So I started planning, and calling relatives, and planning some more. I found DISBoards in May and started one of the longest-lasting PTR/TRs ever seen.

We ended up going for an 11 day trip, staying at a 3 bedroom lockout timeshare that my mom had access to. We hit the four WDW parks, plus Typhoon Lagoon, Sea World, and Discovery Cove. At the high point we had a dozen family members with us and 6 of us (my fam plus mine and DWs moms) for the core of the trip. Many dreams were answered including swimming with dolphins, flying (grandma/granddaughter tandem parasailing), and many other Disney moments.

You will all be saved the staggering task of wading through the 1,800+ pictures I posted (I took over 10,000 in all) thanks to the boards posting limits. So heres a very small handful of high-points:


Roxy and I in the stocks

The clan on the move at DHS

Bean meeting Jack Hannah

My sister and Bean snuggling during lunch at the Coral Reef in The Seas at EPCOT

The girls with Baloo at AK

The fam in front of the Tree of Life

Bean coaxing a smile out of a bellhop at ToT (Daddy Daughter Day)

Genie hamming it up with Kyra (Mommy Daughter Day)

The whole fam with our dolphin Jenny at Discovery Cove

Bean and Nana landing from their 10 minute flight over Bay Lake with views of MK and the surrounding area

There were so many more special moments it is staggering, but this gives you the slightest touch of the joy of that trip. And yes, I FINALLY RODE SPACE MOUNTAIN!!!!!


Part 5 October 2009 DLR

Now having all of those dreams come true of course calmed down my Disney addiction. I was fine for over a year thats good, right??? In the spring I started scheming about another trip, this time back to our home turf at DLR. The rain and the girls young age kept a lot of magic from happening. So what could be more magical than having a Halloween trip back there!?!?! DW of course sighed and eventually acquiesced to my pleas and I started planning a mid-October jaunt to the land that Walt made.

A bit after planning started we had an addition to the family, but not in the usual sense. One of DWs nephews was struggling in school and at home and was about to be kicked out of both. So we talked about it for a long time and decided to take on 17yr old Kris. He is ADHD and was pretty emotionally damaged when he came up. It was a long and very hard road but we got him turned around, caught up on school, graduated, and by then end had him with 15 completed credits of college before he decided to move back home.

But more immediately for us it meant 5 instead of just 4 of us going to DLR! We managed to make it work and stayed on property for the first time in our Disney travels, taking a room with 2 double beds at the Disneyland Hotel near the top with a great view of the Peter Pan pool and Disneyland itself. It was so nice to have ME take us to our resort for the first time!

The trip itself was great other than I caught a nasty flu bug that kicked in on our flight day. I lasted the travel day which included a half day in Disneyland before having to take a down day literally lying in bed all day. Since Roxy and I were sharing a bed she of course caught it too and was in bed all day later on that week. Sadly it was also the day we had tickets to MToTP (similar to MNSSHP). She was a trooper and met us in CA in full pirate regalia about an hour after the even started.

It was still a very magical trip which we all enjoyed very much. Here are a couple of highlights of it:

Teacups at night

Bean either harassing Stitch or being harassed by him while Kris looks on

Aren't we a motley crew?

The whole clan with Snow and Dopey at Mickeys Trick or Treat Party

Again, waaayyy too many pictures than our pic limit will allow. As with the other big trips you can see my siggy for links to the TR if you are crazy enough to want to check it out.


Part 6 April 2011 WDW/US

Our last adventure was the first time I was ever surprised by a trip. Im traditionally in charge of the surprises, from Disney trips to the two big anniversary trips Ive surprised Roxy with. But this time it was her that surprised me with a birthday adventure to the World and Universal Studios Orlando. She told me 11 days before our departure date.

We would be staying on property at POP and it would just be the two of us! It would cover 4 days at Disney parks and 2 days at Universals parks. I did a mad scramble of planning even though she had the basics already set with our travel agent. Trying to leave for this trip turned out to be very problematic as my MiL fell a few days before the trip and broke her foot.

We had arranged for family to come up from Cali to watch over Nana and the girls but it was hard for us to leave mom in the state she was in. Unfortunately things did not get better and she ended up in the hospital with pneumonia the day before our flight. We ended up working all day, driving to the hospital and staying with her until 7pm, and then driving to Portland (4hr drive) to check in to our hotel for our 6am flight. So with shuttle time we had maybe 3hrs sleep.

While we were there MiL came home and then the night before my birthday she collapsed and was taken by ambulance to the hospital with congestive heart failure. She ended up being okay but it was very hard for us to enjoy our trip and made it an experience where I truly never want to do anything special for my birthday ever again. All I ask for on birthdays now is control of the TV remote for the day.

Sorry for the venting there, but given our current MiL circumstances that experience is pretty fresh in my mind.

The days in the parks were very magical and it was especially fun to watch Roxy when we entered Hogsmeade Village and the WWoHP. You know how walking down Main Street turns us into kids and we feel that excitement and get that glint in our eyes. That is what happened to Roxy when we crossed under the arch into Hogsmeade. And it was really cool to be able to set our pace without concerning ourselves with anyone being bored or hungry or tired. That part of the experience was very refreshing.

We did the dining plan and ate very well including a lunch at Le Cellier which I still consider to be literally the best meal Ive ever had in my life. And my birthday itself was a blast with me wearing that big stupid birthday cake hat that lights up and my birthday button. I got LOTS of happy birthdays and cool experiences. If you can make it to the parks on your birthday I strongly recommend it!

Doing a quick count of pics in this post I have 4 picture slots left so here we go!

Me heading off stage after being an extra in the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular at DHS and high-fiving the huge German stunt guy who fights with Indy on the plane

...and then getting my pic with Indy and Marian

Roxy geeking out in front of the Puking Pastillies display in Hogsmeade

Roxy with the Sorting Hat

Roxy and I at EPCOT at the end of a long day of Flowers and Gardens

I broke my WDW 2008 pic post record with this trip, posting over 2,200 pics lol


So that brings us up to&

Part 7 December 2012 WDW/US

Glad to have you all on board as our latest trip comes together. And as of now our girls are still completely in the dark with 50 days to go!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[disney67]

this really made me smile i so love how you took us thru time and space with a magical journey of your family the picture were magical and thanks for sharing

 

[reelmom]

I love Disney surprises, so I am joining in.

 

[mnmrmustard]

this really made me smile i so love how you took us thru time and space with a magical journey of your family the picture were magical and thanks for sharing

Thank you very much Jeff, it was fun reliving all of those moments as I wrote it all out and looked back through all of the pictures

 

[mnmrmustard]

I love Disney surprises, so I am joining in.

Thank you kindly, happy to have you along for our adventure *tips hat*

 

[Valgoof]

So much to comment on!
Hope MIL is doing better and you are able to get everything settled and decided.
Loved the journey through your past trips. I am from Columbus, OH so I love Jack Hanna. We are eating lunch at Le Cellier for the first time this trip. Hope we have as good an experience as you.
Love the surprise idea. Very fun. I would love to see WWoHP, but it hasnt worked out yet.
I think it's awesome that you were able to help your nephew.

A couple things I noticed in your itinerary. NPH is a very popular CP narrator. Last year we got in line at 2:00 for the 5:00 show, and we were not first. He was worth it, but it was a big chunk of time.
MVMCP--you can get into MK at 4:00 with your party ticket. Just a thought if you need a little extra time in MK or if you want to get in line early for the popular characters.

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Hey Jeff,

that was an awesome look back at how you got the Disney "bug" and your Disney experience through the years...

wow... that was a lot a couple things I thought of...

-I remember the first time I saw the Electrical Light Parade too and that was an amazing moment... still a great parade...

-It's a shame they were all so tired... but it is still really cool that Roxy's family was in Epcot for the opening year...

-Oh wow... that whole Carl Barks story... what a great memory and we are all a bit goofy when we're teenagers...but that's a great memory you have of meeting him ... and a keepsake too... Lucky you ...( I love Donald -he's my fave of the Fab Five...)

-California in January... making a mental note to stay away... although you all had a great time... But a very wet time... the thing is no matter when/where you go -that's also a possibility...

-Bean's hair...omg... it's kind of funny although I'll bet it might not have seemed that way at the time... Both my kids have done a variation on that... and while it is initially shocking... luckily it grows back...

-It looks like January 2008 in Florida was much drier and a great time...

-I love your Halloween Photo- You all look awesome... sorry about the illness... been there, done that...

-Oh my Jeff... all of that stress and trauma surrounding your April 2011... I feel traumatized for you... and I wasn't there... that's a lot of stuff to deal with... I am glad Roxy got to enjoy WWoHP so much... You guys need a redo sometime...

and now less that 50 days...

Your 2012 trip is going to be EPIC...

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

im here, sorry to read about the issues with the family right now, hope things get better real soon.

you picked a great time of year to go.

we loved it in december when we went.

looking at your days and not seeing any changes after the recent annoucnments, wondering if you say test track is scheduled to open dec 6th now.

at least i think i got that info from TA the other day.

awesome you will be there for the soft opening and the official opening for the new fantasyland.

one thing you might want to look into, i saw your oldest daughter likes japanese things.

have you guys ever done the pick a pearl?

not to expensive at 16 to pick the pearl.

and i found a great deal through another DISer that you can get the pearl carriage cages from ebay for 6 bucks. this is the seller i bought ours from.

the price went up a little but still a great deal, and we were thrilled with the item. my wife loves it.

might be something neat your daugthers would like.

try and get to the osbourn lights before they turn on, it is neat to see them completely off then bam it starts.

 

[Trentmom]

Hope your MIL is feeling better soon.

I loved the trip down memory lane for everyone. So cool to get glimpses of everyone's first experience there




Great pics of Harry Potter. Can't wait for you and Roxy to start dropping clues around the house

 

[mnmrmustard]

So much to comment on!
Hope MIL is doing better and you are able to get everything settled and decided.
Loved the journey through your past trips. I am from Columbus, OH so I love Jack Hanna. We are eating lunch at Le Cellier for the first time this trip. Hope we have as good an experience as you.
Love the surprise idea. Very fun. I would love to see WWoHP, but it hasnt worked out yet.
I think it's awesome that you were able to help your nephew.

A couple things I noticed in your itinerary. NPH is a very popular CP narrator. Last year we got in line at 2:00 for the 5:00 show, and we were not first. He was worth it, but it was a big chunk of time.
MVMCP--you can get into MK at 4:00 with your party ticket. Just a thought if you need a little extra time in MK or if you want to get in line early for the popular characters.

Yes, she is doing better. Had her check-up with her doctor this morning and all her stats are at much better levels. We're even going shopping this afternoon for some stuff for her new apartment!

Thank you on my Disney history, and if you like Jack Hanna you might want to look at our first Sea World day - we basically had front row seats for his presentation with lots of cool animals!

And yay for Le Cellier reses! DW would go back there just for the breadsticks - one of the flavors was pretzel which she absolutely loved.

I hope I didn't blow it with the surprise last night. I'm attending a 'citizen's public safety academy' on Tuesday evenings and left a document up with travel dates/ADRs. Someone else jumped on my laptop after I left - I hope they didn't see it!

Thank you so much for the info on NPH - we may have to rethink our first evening then and just catch Whoopi Goldberg reading it instead on our full EPCOT day. We don't have much of a time cusion and would be lucky to get there 90 minutes before show time.

On MVMCP entry time, I have been thinking about that. We could just go straight from AK to TTC and on to MK and have a counter service dinner there. I had been contemplating a meal at Peco Bill's. It would make for a looooonnngggg day though. I know I'd be up for it but I wonder how good DW and the DD's would fare. Especially given that the next day is WWoHP. Speaking of it, I do recommend building it into some future trip - it is a blast!

Do you have a PTR going? I hadn't located details about your grand adventure!

Hey Jeff,

that was an awesome look back at how you got the Disney "bug" and your Disney experience through the years...

wow... that was a lot a couple things I thought of...

-I remember the first time I saw the Electrical Light Parade too and that was an amazing moment... still a great parade...

-It's a shame they were all so tired... but it is still really cool that Roxy's family was in Epcot for the opening year...

-Oh wow... that whole Carl Barks story... what a great memory and we are all a bit goofy when we're teenagers...but that's a great memory you have of meeting him ... and a keepsake too... Lucky you ...( I love Donald -he's my fave of the Fab Five...)

-California in January... making a mental note to stay away... although you all had a great time... But a very wet time... the thing is no matter when/where you go -that's also a possibility...

-Bean's hair...omg... it's kind of funny although I'll bet it might not have seemed that way at the time... Both my kids have done a variation on that... and while it is initially shocking... luckily it grows back...

-It looks like January 2008 in Florida was much drier and a great time...

-I love your Halloween Photo- You all look awesome... sorry about the illness... been there, done that...

-Oh my Jeff... all of that stress and trauma surrounding your April 2011... I feel traumatized for you... and I wasn't there... that's a lot of stuff to deal with... I am glad Roxy got to enjoy WWoHP so much... You guys need a redo sometime...

and now less that 50 days...

Your 2012 trip is going to be EPIC...

Uh oh, you've fallen into the common name trap - Jeff is on my thread with me, but I'm Mike ;D

Yes, I caught the Disney bug, it lay dormant for a while, and then BOOM! Addicted for life!!!

I still go out of my way to see the Electrical Parade and watch videos of it on YouTube when I need a fix.

And yes, it was a bummer that Roxy didn't get the full experience of being at EPCOT right after it opened, but her and I both have made it our favorite park since then.

I am VERY happy to have had the experience of meeting Carl Barks as I am a big fan of Donald too. He adds to my list of celeb sightings/interactions:

- Was scared to death by Don Ho when I was 3 or 4 when my mom took me to his show. He had called out to see if there were any talented children in the audience and at the time I was apparently hooked on the 3 Dog Night song "Joy to the World". He good-naturedly tried to coax me onto stage to sing it but I was petrified - lol

- Watched the filming of parts of "The Three Amigos" at Old Tucson and saw Steve Martin & Chevy Chase from a distance several times and shook Martin Short's hand.

- Watched Johnny Depp pace a lot 'in character' on the set of Dead Man, which filmed in our area and listened to him jam at the hotel bar where they were staying.

- Briefly met ex-president Clinton and shook his hand after a speech he gave at the college where I work

- Met and talked several times with a retired movie editor and producer named Elmo Williams, who lives about 2hrs from here. His credits included editing on "High Noon", "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", and "The Vikings". He then became head of production for 20th Century Foxy and produced "The Blue Max", "Cleopatra", "Tora! Tora! Tora!", and a favorite of mine, "The Longest Day".

He was in charge of the battle sequences on that one and for you war movie buffs when you see the two German planes strafe the landing beach, he was in the second plane. Another tidbit, the extras playing American soldiers on the beach were actually French reservists.

They had started filming with active duty G.I.s, but when they started filming the first landing craft hitting the beach Robert Mitchum jumped out of his landing craft into the 6-foot surf and waded in. When he turned and saw the G.I's not following and instead looking hesitantly at the water her called them a bunch of 'yellow cowards'. The commander of the G.I.'s caught wind of it and pulled his men from the production.

Elmo has a LOAD of stories such as this from the films he worked on - he's 99 years old and still drives his own rig around Brookings, Oregon where he lives. To help raise money for the local community center he started selling off the original hand-drawn storyboards from 'The Longest Day'. I bought about a dozen of them and have 5 of them framed in my office.

Well talk about meandering around in a response - lol

Yes, no Cali in January ...ever ...again! We rode lots of rides but were basically soaked the whole time.

I'm sure I did the experimental haircut thing on myself too, what is it about little kids with scissors?

January in FL was MUCH better. It started out in the mid 80's so we did Typhoon Lagoon right off the bat. Most of the rest of the trip was pretty sunny and warm except the last couple of days, which dipped down into the low 60s/high 50s.

Thank you on the Halloween photo, it was fun but I would like to try it without being so drained by the flu - and I'm sure DW would agree.

Yes, LOTS of stress on that birthday trip - maybe one day I'll be up for taking another one once it is just Roxy and I. For now I just want to sit at home. Still lots of good memories form our days in the park and we'll be getting a do-over in December, just with kids tagging along.

Only 48 days to go until our EPIC ADVENTURE!!!!!

im here, sorry to read about the issues with the family right now, hope things get better real soon.

you picked a great time of year to go.

we loved it in december when we went.

looking at your days and not seeing any changes after the recent annoucnments, wondering if you say test track is scheduled to open dec 6th now.

at least i think i got that info from TA the other day.

awesome you will be there for the soft opening and the official opening for the new fantasyland.

one thing you might want to look into, i saw your oldest daughter likes japanese things.

have you guys ever done the pick a pearl?

not to expensive at 16 to pick the pearl.

and i found a great deal through another DISer that you can get the pearl carriage cages from ebay for 6 bucks. this is the seller i bought ours from.

the price went up a little but still a great deal, and we were thrilled with the item. my wife loves it.

might be something neat your daugthers would like.

try and get to the osbourn lights before they turn on, it is neat to see them completely off then bam it starts.

Hey Dan! Thanks much for stopping by!

Things are moving forward with the family stuff. I'm staying home today to help MiL out and to be there for her assessment by the facility's director and their health care coordinator. If all goes well we'll be moving her in next weekend.

I'm very hopeful for this trip - the time of year and all of that Disney Holiday magic should do a lot to help the four of us get past all of the angst this fall has brought us.

Good eye on TT still not being open, I'll have to scratch that off the itinerary for our EPCOT day. I get the feeling that DD1 will want a reprise of the last trip and go back to EPCOT so at least her and DW will get to ride it on the 6th.

Yes, DD1 is VERY into oriental things - you should see her room! And yes, she did the pick a pearl on our last trip and also got one at Sea World so she has two! The carriage cage isn't something I was aware of and I know she doesn't have one. Thank you for the link to that eBay seller, I'll look into it.

I soooo want to be at the Osbourne lights when they turn on. Do you know of a good spot to be standing at for it other than the obvious area where they "throw the switch"?

Hope your MIL is feeling better soon.

I loved the trip down memory lane for everyone. So cool to get glimpses of everyone's first experience there




Great pics of Harry Potter. Can't wait for you and Roxy to start dropping clues around the house

Hey Kelly! Yes, mom is feeling better and actually went shopping yesterday to buy a few things for her apartment - whoohoo!

Yay for memory lane Disney style, aye? I can only imagine how long the stories would be for veterans like you!

Yes, we start laying the 'clues' out on October 25th, so only 2 weeks until they start appearing around the house!!!!!

 

[mnmrmustard]

I have made some minor alterations to my itinerary based on the wonderful info and thoughts you have all been giving - thank you!