Disney w/ my girlfriend and my parents for 7 days. Woop woop! April/May '09

[TxRabbit]

for your uncle.

I know what you mean about the shopping. It's like this overwhelming feeling (almost) buy buy BUY. It's okay. It's for Disney. I am having to reign myself in as well.

How exciting to get the earlier ADR for CP. I've eaten lunch and dinner there, and thoroughly enjoyed both. I've read good things about breakfast. I can't wait to hear how it is to be in the park before it opens. And keeping it a surprise!!! I hope you can! I'm not sure that I could...

I've never eaten at Fulton's. I hope you have a nice anniversary dinner. I'm sure you will.

You are getting so close!!! I'm glad to hear that you are giving yourselves more time for your drive. That'll be good. I can't wait to hear all about it!! You'll have to take notes about anything super wonderful along the way because we'll be driving the same route I think.

 

[autumnpalm]

I'm so sorry to hear about your uncle. Lots and lots of for your family. If it's okay with you guys, I will add you to my prayer list!

I have the exact same spending issue as you... I think we need to start some sort of support group, Tarah!

 

[TeaForTulips]

for your uncle.

I know what you mean about the shopping. It's like this overwhelming feeling (almost) buy buy BUY. It's okay. It's for Disney. I am having to reign myself in as well.

How exciting to get the earlier ADR for CP. I've eaten lunch and dinner there, and thoroughly enjoyed both. I've read good things about breakfast. I can't wait to hear how it is to be in the park before it opens. And keeping it a surprise!!! I hope you can! I'm not sure that I could...

I've never eaten at Fulton's. I hope you have a nice anniversary dinner. I'm sure you will.

You are getting so close!!! I'm glad to hear that you are giving yourselves more time for your drive. That'll be good. I can't wait to hear all about it!! You'll have to take notes about anything super wonderful along the way because we'll be driving the same route I think.

Oh I forgot to update that I totally spilled the beans.. I talked myself into telling... I was thinking... well.. I'll have to tell them to not eat breakfast and to get up extra early that morning... soooo why not just tell them now. im so bad at keeping surprises like that. ohh well. everyone was excited though! and we still have fultons as a surprise so all is not lost. haha.

I'm so sorry to hear about your uncle. Lots and lots of for your family. If it's okay with you guys, I will add you to my prayer list!

I have the exact same spending issue as you... I think we need to start some sort of support group, Tarah!

Thank you. I apreciate the hugs and prayers! It is very hard for me to see my mom so sad. I did not know my uncle, but he was the yougest of the 5 children at only 45. My grandmother is having a hard time planning everything for him. The funeral is this coming Thursday in Nebraska where they all grew up. My parents are leaving Wesdesday and staying through the weekend. I will be house sitting and animal sitting. My furry children live with my parents because my apt has a $500 non refundable pet deposit. I will also be having a laundry party there.

We do need a support group! I think we all totally enable each other on the DIS board.

 

[TeaForTulips]

somewhat of an update...


so we had found a really good deal through AARP for a rental van through National. turns out National will only accept credit cards to pay for the rental of the larger/premium vehincles. well everyone in my family is pretty much credit card free except for like a couple very small emergency cards that would not cover the entire price of like $700 (they had $500 limits of course) Now we all of the debit cards sponsored by Visa or Mastercard, but nope nope nope... National will only take an actual credit card. None of us wanted to give up the though of the mini van to downgrade to a smaller vehicle, so we bit the bullet for about $1oo more and went through a different company who is debit card friendly. Hmpf. I think of it as $25 more per person and it's really not so bad, but it was a hassel for sure.


I took my pics of my recent Disney related purchases. Here are some of my travel size things. I even found a pack of travel Princess band aids at Target for $1 I also go some moleskin, wipes, etc...

Here is the lovely BRIGHT yellow LSU disposable poncho.. haha. We got one for each of us. This picture does not do the brightness justice. Haha.

I found these at the dollar store. Woop woop!

I'm going to print out the free color pages disney offers online that you can print out. dollar crayons and a free coloring "book"


I also found this new wallet on clearance at Target. It is those little clutches that are a hard case. I thought it would be Disney friendly in keeping things organized and dry... at least thats what I told myself when I bought it.

Lastly, my mom and I found a pattern on sale at Hobby Lobby for a cute little tank topish top. When me sister and I were little we had these mickey dresses that my mom made...they were adorbale! So I went and found this fabric and my moms gonna try to make me a top for Disney... the picture is horrid but its reb with little mickey and minnies all over it. It is more subtle than the picture makes it appear though.

Lastly, we booked and paid for our hotel for the Friday night when we get into Orlando. Our disney pckge starts Saturday. I found a really cheap price for a Ramada thats like miles from the main gate.

http://www.ramadagateway.com/

Ive read some good and bad reviews, but we all figure we are only sleeping there so for about $60 we took it.

I hope everyone had a good weekend!

 

[Enchanted]

Hey, Tarah!

I'm sorry to hear about your uncle. My prayers are with your family.

YAY for the early CP ressie! That's awesome! Take lots of pictures in front of the castle!

I the Crocs you're considering. Those are sooo cute! I also love the Target wallet! I understand what you mean about buying things "in the name of Disney." It's a terrible addiction.

I'm almost certain that we stayed at that same Ramada on our first trip almost ten years ago. We only stayed there for one night before moving to ASMu (like you!), and I remember they were doing some updates and construction. There was a phone in the elevator that kept ringing, and when my dad went to answer it there was no receiver! We called it the "ghost phone."

You're just a couple of weeks away! I'm so excited for you!

 

[HeatherBelle614]

I'm sorry to hear about your uncle; please keep us updated. Prayers your way!

You're going to LOVE CP!! That is one of our FAVs and must-do ADRs. DH has never been, so I'm beyond excited for that this time, too! What a great surprise!!!

 

[TeaForTulips]

19 days! i cant believe it's almost here!


​

 

[autumnpalm]

Holy cow, 19 days!!

Only 10 more days until you're in the single digits!

I LOVE the clutch you got from Target btw.

 

[Angela0917]

Woo hoo!!! It's ALMOST time to go!!! Have you packed yet??

 

[TeaForTulips]

Holy cow, 19 days!!

Only 10 more days until you're in the single digits!

I LOVE the clutch you got from Target btw.

Thanks! It was on clearance which confirmed my buying it

It is starting to sink in how soon we are going! I feel so unprepared yet really I am going good.

Woo hoo!!! It's ALMOST time to go!!! Have you packed yet??

Hooray! Almost time for your wedding too! I hope you have fun at your bachelorette party this weekend!

Ummm.. not really on the packing. I have a laundry basket that ive been putting all the disney things in... but nothing has been packed. My parents are out of town for my uncles funeral and I am house/animal sitting. While doing this I am taking advantage of the washer and dryer. There will be nothing dirty left! Hopefully after this process I will start to sort and pack...

I am in between sizes right now tryin to lose this weight I have recently gained and all my summer clothes are either too big or too small. I am in the middle of sizes so Im having a hard time finding some shorts or capris or something to wear to Disney. Packing for 10 days is a lot more than I expected! I really don't want to do laundry while at Disney but it might be inevitable..

We are also going to the beach before we drive home while visiting old friends in Jacksonville, FL (where i was born) so Im also having to pack for that! Hmm... I think I need to get started on this! Thanks for bringing that up!


My crocs shipment came in... The shoes I ordered for Jen were too big. My return shipment have been confirmed via tracking number, but CROCs says to wait 2 billing cycles for my credit to appear! Thats insane! Since I had to order Jen down a smaller size I did the same for me... I am hoping they fit. *fingers crossed* I do NOT wanna do another return to them. Hmpf. Tomorrow is mine and Jens anniversary of three years. We are going to the zoo. Also she is planning some dinner at some place that is supposed to be great. We agreed not to do anything since we are "celebrating" at Disney, but the zoo is fun and only about an hour and a half away. I love a good zoo...

I hope everyone has a good weekend!

 

[autumnpalm]

Happy Anniversary!!!

I hope you and Jen have a wonderful time at the zoo. The zoo sounds like a lot of fun and I hope you have a great dinner at... wherever you end up!

I'll cross my fingers that the next shipment of Crocs fits. Wow, I can't believe you have to wait 2 billing cycles.Ugh.

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

[HeatherBelle614]

You are SO close!!!! I'm jumping up and down for you!!!!

 

[jewels1916]

I hope you and Jen had a great anniversary! I wanna see pics from the zoo!

 

[Angela0917]

Happy Anniversary! I love zoos!!!

 

[TxRabbit]

Happy belated anniversary! Got zoo pics? I, too, love a good zoo!

 

[TeaForTulips]

Hello! Happy Tuesday everyone... I am glad it is Tuesday because it means it is not Monday.

I had a tre fabu weekend and I hope everyone else did too!

Jen and I woke up early Saturday morning and it was blustery outside! I was still excited though. I was also having one of those I am ugly and fat days... (the many joys of pms ) Jen was very loving and helpful in getting me out of that funk.

I put on my new crocs! Mine were a little tight but we still thought if I would have gone up a size they would have been too big. Everyone thought I should wear them and perhaps they would "give" a little...

Jen wore her's too. They fit perfect and are still the most amazingly comfy crocs I have ever put on... Jen has gone on and on about them.

We stopped at a random Wendy's along the way for a quick snack and I started feeling a little worried about my crocs. The slight tightness was starting to feel tighter and bothersome. We grabbed some fries to share and I got some OJ and we were off again! Oh, this Wendys was in a truck stop and was the nicest Wendys I have ever seen! They even had a fireplace going! It was beautiful! No pics though.. I was hungry.

The zoo we were going to is the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler, TX which is about an 1.5 hours away. It is a small zoo, but very nice.

There was a delay in the car right as we got there and my sister called me crying upset about some things going on and so I started to cry right along with her... I of course could not enter the zoo bawling like a child so I finished talking with sister and got it together. I love you sister!

Side bar note... I do not recall if I ever mentioned my love of penguins, but I have a silly love of penguins. Disney, Christmas, Italy, Penguins, Tulips, Stars... we all have our own quirky loves in life yeah?

Well within 20 feet of the entrance walking into the zoo I see this.

There were not a bunch of signs everywhere guiding you.. they passed out maps which we had, but I knew it was going to be a great zoo trip when I saw this.

Continued in next post...

 

[tiggersam00]

Ahhh I love penguins too!!! I can't wait to see them! Hope you had a great anniversary at the zoo You leave sooooo soon are you getting excited???

 

[TeaForTulips]

So going in the direction of the sign we came across the "petting zoo" which consisted of one animal... goats!

This one was my fave. He had a little goat smile when we pet him.

This is wear you washed your hands. The water came out of the animal's mouths. It was very cute.

After the petting zoo was a lot of pretty birds... While the birds were nice what really caught our attention was the gianormous squirrel sitting in the bird's food bowl munching down!

See the bird tail?

The picture may not do justice... but this was a huge squirrel!

Perhaps it was early in the morning and we were easily entertained.

There was a large crowd that seems to be walking right along with us, so we stopped to let them get ahead a little. Meanwhile I took some footwear photos.

Jen in her crocs that she loves.

Me in some flip flops I brought for back up... and Im so glad I did. My crocs were hurting my feet. I will be selling them on ebay if I cannot return them.

Moving on!

These birds were crazy bright! We just saw brighht red dots before we got closer.

Rhino!

There was also a Rhino Building where you could get SUPER close to some!

They were so close I was inches away from being peed on! Jen had to yank me out of the way!


Continued in next post...

 

[TeaForTulips]

Next up were elephants! Jen loves watching the elephants. I did not get a picture but there was a large area of covered seating with different height sections that gave you a "savannah view". From where we were sitting we could see elephants, giraffes, lions, warthogs, etc, etc.. It was very neat and enjoyable. We also ate lunch there from their little cafe. We finally got up when a couple bees decided they wanted to be my "friend"

There was a walkway to get closer but it was blocked off with a sign that said it was for safety when the "bull" was out because he had such a long trunk reach. I was bummed, but thought that was neat.

This is an actual footprint of a full grown male african elephant...(the sign told me so)

Jen was seriously making fun of my picture taking by this point.

Giraffes!

It was lunch time for them too. Shortly after we sat down the elephants were grabbing at a tall fence with their trunk, then moments later food was being tossed over it. They knew what was over there!

From where we were sitting ... here is the view of the lions. They were pretty far away, but there was an ostrich that kept walking by them on his side of the trench like he was teasing them... it was funny.

If you look hard enough youll see the lion perched on the edge there in the distance. I think there's a couple warthogs too. Pumba!

Wildebeest! so many animals were in this savannah area...

Some type of deer or antelop perhaps? He came up close to get a drink of water.

Around this time I spotted this!

Another sign! Where were they??

Continued in next post...

 

[TxRabbit]

I LOVE zoos!! This one is totally reminding me of the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita. When DS was 18 months or so, summer time, we had a membership to that zoo. Seriously, every other DAY we were at the zoo. What do you want to do today? "ZOO WALK!!!" Ok. Kids wake up early you know. We would be there by opening. We saw all the animals in active time.

I loved it because you could get a tub of popcorn and then get free refills. I used only two tubs the whole summer. And if you had a souvenir cup, you could get $1 refills. (I used to be totally addicted to Diet Coke). AND they didn't care if you brought in outside food. Their petting zoo was much better than that one though.

That was a fun time. Your pics are bringing back nice memories.

Bummer about your shoes not working out.

Keep it coming!