Disney wants me to celebrate, who am I to argue? A June 09 PTR. Big Update 05/18

[mansionterror]

Greetings to you all, hopefully a few of you know me from my postings on others trip reports and more importantly maybe you read my June 08 trip report. My apologies for not getting that last day in, I promise to be better with this one!!

We are a family of Disney Vets; we have been to Disney many, many times most recently in November of 2008 for Thanksgiving and to take my Mom back after 21 years. My son has been raised on Disney, his first trip in 2006 at age 2.5. I couldn’t imagine spending my vacation any where else. Now on to the cast:

June 2008 at Hollywood Studios

A fav photopass photo from our November 2008 trip.

Melissa: That is me, I turned 30 (gasp) last year and have been taking trips to Disney since I was 3. I don’t know what it is about Disney, something just draws me there and I have this urge to go back every single year. We have been lucky to be able to afford a trip each year for several in a row. I love to read, am a huge fan of LOST and LOVE Lucille Ball. I am a crier and a pack rat by nature. There are certain movies that I can watch over and over and not get tired of…most of them are musicals of some sort.

On my 30th birthday

Posing with a wax figure of Lucy doing my favorite bit

James: DH, he turned 37 last year and can’t believe how close he is getting to the big 40! He is a HUGE NASCAR fan, that is like Disney to him and we have been fortunate to attend several races courtesy of his work. He has not always been the huge Disney fan like me, he only went once as a child and his Dad sat at the front gate the whole day and he didn’t get to do much. His first real trip was our Honeymoon in 1998. Disney is growing on him however and he is excited about getting to do a few new things this year. He loves any movie involving a car/race/Burt Reynolds. He loves shows like Pimp my Ride, American Chopper and tries to follow Lost.

Enjoying a drink in World Showcase

At a NASCAR race in Bristol, TN

Colby: DS, he turned 5 last August and started Kindergarten last year. He struggled at first but has adjusted well and is going to be a fine 1st grader next year. He has a smile that will light up a room and the most contagious laugh ever! Colby shares my love for Disney movies and knows many of the songs. He has recently taken up with Phinneas and Ferb and is big into Superhero films. He loves to take photos and be in them, Ham that he is. He also loves to watch LOST with me and likes it when they show the Smoke Monster.

A fav photo of Colby on our November trip

I love photos like this one.

We love to do things as a family and just have fun. I LOVE photography so you can be assured that this report will be picture heavy. So there you have it. Up next trip details.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

I'm here! Loving the pics...keep 'em coming!

 

[mansionterror]

Yeah! Tammy I am glad you are here!!

Seems like I have gotten quite a few views, hope others will respond.

 

[mansionterror]

Our travel dates are May 30 - June 6th. We are taking advantage of the 4/3 promo with a stay at Pop Century and 7 day park hoppers.

We have never gone to the park that many days but since we would not be paying for the extra days we thought why not. Our arrival day is Saturday and this will be the final weekend of the Flower and Garden Festival so we will probably head to Epcot that day. This is also SWW so on Sunday we may head to DHS so that Colby may have a chance to see/meet some SW characters!

I am still working our our schedule for the rest of the week.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Signing on for more. I have said it soooo many times before....trip reports and pictures are what keep me sane until our next WDW vacation.

 

[mansionterror]

Signing on for more. I have said it soooo many times before....trip reports and pictures are what keep me sane until our next WDW vacation.

Welcome, welcome!! I feel the same way. I love reading other reports during our down time.

 

[mansionterror]

Disney through the years: I thought I would take some time to post different photos from our trips with Colby over the years…I can post some older photos later on but I have to scan them in first.

The first trip we took with Colby was in March of 2006 when he was 2.5. This was a short trip in which we only went to the park 3 days and stayed off site. We really wanted to be able to introduce Colby to Disney, let him get a feel for the characters, etc. This was a trip of firsts for him...

We got Colby up at around 3:30 or 4:00.

Chillin in the car on the way there.

First picture at the Florida Welcome Center

Getting his first look at a palm tree

First look at the ocean. Notice his back is too it. He hated the ocean!

First Mickey Bar


Colby was a little hesitant with the Characters and with rides but he quickly fell in love with both.

This started a tradition of photos on the carousel. (pardon the incorrect date)

He loved the Tea Cups!

Chip & Dale made my favs list on this day!

Both were so sweet and patient with Colby.


We didn't do alot on this trip but it still holds wonderful memories for our family.

Our silly hat tradition began.

Colby relaxing and waiting to meet Goofy.

Goofy & our family.


Coming up next: Memories of our 2007 trip. It was our first on-site stay with FREE Dining!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Adorable pictures. Our son was just 1 and our daughter was 11 when we first went to Disney World. They are now 12 (well, in May) and 22 and have 13 trips under their belts. We are soooo counting down the days until August.

 

[shordiebecka]

how exciting! can't wait to hear more!

 

[mansionterror]

Adorable pictures. Our son was just 1 and our daughter was 11 when we first went to Disney World. They are now 12 (well, in May) and 22 and have 13 trips under their belts. We are soooo counting down the days until August.

I love taking a look back at previous trips because it is interesting to see how much DS has changed over the years. I hope to have many more trips with DS and that he continues to love Disney as much as we do.

how exciting! can't wait to hear more!

Welcome Shordiebecka! Thank you for joining us!

 

[punkin413]

i'm in! i love the past pics of your trip. colby is such a cutie!

 

[mansionterror]

i'm in! i love the past pics of your trip. colby is such a cutie!

Dawn! I am so glad you are here. Welcome!!

 

[frkymcky]

How funny, we will be there the exact same dates, our DD is 6 and will be completing kindergarten this year as well. We had a bit of a transition to kindergarten but it worked itself out! This year has been VERY difficult for us (our house flooded, nana passed, our dog passed and now I have a broken foot). We decided to take our DD only and our DS (2) will stay home with the grandparents. He sill takes 3-4 hour naps every day, without it it would be an awful day. After thinking long and hard we decided to make this a trip about DD, I think she deserves it and needs it.

Sorry - to ramble, anyhow would be interested to see if you have any of the same ADR's as we have, we may run into each other. I am very interested in your PTR!!!!

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[mansionterror]

How funny, we will be there the exact same dates, our DD is 6 and will be completing kindergarten this year as well. We had a bit of a transition to kindergarten but it worked itself out! This year has been VERY difficult for us (our house flooded, nana passed, our dog passed and now I have a broken foot). We decided to take our DD only and our DS (2) will stay home with the grandparents. He sill takes 3-4 hour naps every day, without it it would be an awful day. After thinking long and hard we decided to make this a trip about DD, I think she deserves it and needs it.

Sorry - to ramble, anyhow would be interested to see if you have any of the same ADR's as we have, we may run into each other. I am very interested in your PTR!!!!

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

Wow! You all really deserve this trip. This will be our second year going down this week. The only ADR we have at the moment is Grand Floridian Pirate Cruise for DS...we are not a big TS family so we generally do not do many ADRs. I am hoping for a CM cancellation though...so far only openings are late in the evening.

I am exited to hear that another Diser will be there the same week, where are you staying?

 

[frkymcky]

Wow! You all really deserve this trip. This will be our second year going down this week. The only ADR we have at the moment is Grand Floridian Pirate Cruise for DS...we are not a big TS family so we generally do not do many ADRs. I am hoping for a CM cancellation though...so far only openings are late in the evening.

I am exited to hear that another Diser will be there the same week, where are you staying?

We will be at OKW we arrive about 1:30 in the afternoon flying from NJ. We decided to do DDP so we have a few ADR's. DD is terrified of any character that is not a person, like Mickey, up close. So we will be doing 1900 Park Fare for dinner and Askerhus for breakfast. I would love to do CM but she would be under the table the whole time. LOL!!! I don't understand how anyone could be scared of Mickey, Pooh or any of the characters for that matter, it is what it is hopefully she will outgrow it.

 

[mansionterror]

We will be at OKW we arrive about 1:30 in the afternoon flying from NJ. We decided to do DDP so we have a few ADR's. DD is terrified of any character that is not a person, like Mickey, up close. So we will be doing 1900 Park Fare for dinner and Askerhus for breakfast. I would love to do CM but she would be under the table the whole time. LOL!!! I don't understand how anyone could be scared of Mickey, Pooh or any of the characters for that matter, it is what it is hopefully she will outgrow it.

I would really love to do PF when Cindy and company are there. I think the step sisters are a hoot! Colby is getting to the point where he realizes the truth about the characters while I try to keep the magic so that is a bit hard. He never really was afraid of them so we have been lucky there. What Colby hated were the 3d shows...Philharmagic had him climbing up on my shoulder the first time he ever saw it. He has slowly started to get used to it and loves it now.

We LOVE Pop but I think when Colby gets a bit older we may try some of the Mod resorts, I would love to stay at POR or CBR.

 

[mansionterror]

I hope everyone had a good weekend! We had lots of rain but on the bright side or should I say cloudy side at least it wasn't as hot. This heat is preparing us for Florida I guess....that is the one thing I dread, the heat!

On to Disney Trips past...

In 2007 our original plan was to go in February/March but James became un-employed so we had to postpone our trip to September. This worked out in the long run because we got to take advantage of Free Dining! This would be our first stay on site and we decided on Pop Century. We had an ADR every day of our trip, utilized photopass for the first time. We had so much fun!!

Florida Welcome Center.

Colby got his first gift basket!

We fell in love with Pop immediately!!

I don't think you can take a bad picture of the castle!

We did a resort photo shoot...back when they were affordable!

We met some old friends and made new ones:

Buzz Lightyear

Stitch

At Camp Minnie/Mickey.

Belle & Beast (Colby wasn't too sure of him)

We tried new things and enjoyed old favs...

James had a "Hey Howdy Hey" kind of day.

Colby actually loved Dinosaur on this trip...

Haunted Mansion quickly became a favorite.

We love the TTA!

Trying the Beverly for the first time.

Up next (hopefully tonight): More Sept photos. Thanks for reading!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Such cute pics. Can't wait to read more.

 

[shordiebecka]

love the picture with stitch, he's my favorite

Can't wait to see more!

 

[mansionterror]

Such cute pics. Can't wait to read more.

Thanks! We had a storm last night so I couldn't update, however I will try again tonight.

love the picture with stitch, he's my favorite

Can't wait to see more!

There is another picture from the Sept trip (that I will post) with Stich that is one of my favs! We had wonderful character interactions on this trip.