"Do You Mind?" - Disney Adventures with Teens August Trip Report

[irene_dsc]

Congrats on making your ADR's! They definitely show the difference between planning for little kids and older ones, when I mentally compare them to what we did! The only overlap was Ohana, fwiw. Ok, and not planning 180 days out - I might've tried for CA Grill for our date night (tho that really would've messed up the DDP TS credits, too). Jiko sounded interesting - we did Boma instead.

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

Here I am again to "fill in the gaps" in Susan's dialog.

We are now ready to discuss "Why Disney in '08?"

I think allowing Katie to make the next four vacations choices is a great idea. She's a smart little gal and knows that she'd be wise to chose vacations that her wallet won't be able to afford for the next decade.

Being an educator, I believed that experiencing was better than reading about something. So I always planned to take my girls to an educational and fun place each summer.

Susan gets her "planning" from me. I would plan trips years in advance depending on the $$$$ available. We went through some very lean years while I was separated from my husband. One year I got very creative and took the girls and my mother on a ten day vacation w/o having to pay for a hotel room nor full price entertainment. What I did was sign up with a bunch of "time-shares" and scheduled them on consecutive dates. They were within driving distance of each other and always gave discount coupons to local restaurants and entertainment. And as for the "90 minute sales pitch"..... as soon as I would mention that I was in the middle of divorce proceedings, the sales pitch came to an abrupt halt. Oh, well....... their loss. But we surely had fun, swimming, horseback riding, miniature golfing, spelunking, and sight seeing. We even went to a theme park for a day. That's what planning can do for someone on a limited budget.

After the divorce, our lives changed for the better. We moved from a 3600 sq. ft. home on 10 acres to a condo on a golf course. I finished my graduate program and was promoted to a principalship. After a couple of years my bills were paid off and we could start planning nicer vacations.

Some of the more elaborate trips included a week in Central Florida (3 days with Mickey), a week in Nassau (twice), and a two week cruise throughout the Caribbean where we had nine ports of call including Venezuela.

We truly do enjoy spending special times with each other and always try to create unique memories and traditions.

In reference to Katie's vacation choices, I'd love to join her on all of them with the exception of snowboarding. I'll go, but you'll find me in front of the fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate, if you need me. Although I "passed" my "bone test", I don't want to take a chance of breaking a leg, It's hard enough to get around at my age w/o the prospects of a cast or crutches.

And don't worry about planning 2 trips in one year. Now that I'm retired, I keep my bags packed. One for warm weather and one for chilly places.

And although I have been to Disneyland and DisneyWorld numerous times, I'm always ready to go. Every trip is unique.

I'm really looking forward to this one because of Susan's meal plan. I always ate at the snack kiosks or hamburger places in the past. I'm losing weight on the SBD at a nice rate and by August I'll be ready to eat to my heart's content.

 

[Donald is #1]

That's awesome that you signed up for KTTK. I took it last May and had an incredible time!

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

Now for the History lesson.

So Susan thinks her first Disney experience was in the Seventies. WRONG!

Susan's Dad returned from Viet Nam in late February, 1966. I flew to San Francisco to join him. We spent a few days sightseeing in the City by the Bay, then flew southward to Los Angeles. I had hoped to spend a few days sightseeing..... homes of the stars, Rodeo Drive, Hollywood Sign, movie and television studios, and of course, Disneyland. However, Joe had other ideas. His last paycheck from "Nam" was burning a hole in his pocket and the craps tables in Vegas were calling him like the sirens in The Odyssey.

So we whisked through Disneyland faster than a speeding bullet. Caught an early afternoon plane to Sin City and were in the Stardust Casino before sunset.

So what does this have to do with Susan's first Disney experience? Well, she arrived nine months later. So I figure she went to Disneyland as a fertilized egg!!!! OK, I know it's corny, Susan.

More on our history with Mickey later.

 

[dddisrunner]

Susan, I love having your mom on board this is so much fun! Sorry the ADR's didn't exactly go as planned but glad you got most of what you wanted!

Grandma you are too funny and I love your dialog!

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

OK, Kiddies, time to study some more of our Disney History.

Last time we discovered that Susan's first Mickey experience was perhaps a little foggy, or hazy, or filtered for her teeny, tiny eyes because she probably was in my womb at the time her dad and I went to Disneyland in 1966.

At this point, I'm going to make a little amendment to her first entry re:History.

The day trip from Jacksonville to DisneyWorld was in 1974. Susan's dad was away at Army Reserve Summer Camp for two weeks and my mother had flown down to Memphis from Indianapolis. My sister and her family were living in Jacksonville, Florida. She had a toddler and an infant whom we hadn't seen. So we (Mother and I) decided to drive down to visit them while Joe was away. My sister and I left Michael, the infant, with Mother and took Susan, Joann, and Amy(the toddler) to DisneyWorld for a day.

With a seven year old (Susan), a six year old (Joann), and a toddler (Amy) going to the Magic Kingdom for their first time, we didn't know what to expect. A day was all they could handle. None of the other parks were any more than a figment of Uncle Walt's imagination at that time. And if I remember correctly, the Contemporary was the only on site lodging at the time.

We rode all the rides the little ones could ride and saw all the sights and shows we mothers wanted to see. Then after the parade, we packed the three tired sweaty sticky sleepy-eyed little ladies in the back seat and drove back to Jacksonville.

I'm not sure about the next date Susan has listed. I thought it was either earlier or later, because I know for sure that we took a two week cruise in July, 1983. I thought we went before then, but I, too, think we went to Epcot for this trip. I just remember that the girls were not nearly as enthralled with Epcot as I was.

We stayed at the Ramada Inn at the entrance to DisneyWorld. We could stand on the balcony at night and watch the fireworks from our motel.

I'm thinking this trip may have been in 1984. I'm sure if I took the time to clean out the closet storing all the older souvenirs, scrapbooks, and photos, I could find something to indicate the correct year. That may happen, but quite probably not before we go to DW.

When Susan and Chris (the former) went to Mouseland in 1987, I spent one of those sleepless nights that mothers dread.

When she called me to tell me she had been mugged in the elevator, my mind went racing like A.J. Foyt at the Indy brickyard. (for you younger folks: like Jimmy Johnson at the Daytona 500) I couldn't think fast enough. All I knew was that I wanted to be there to hold her in my arms even though by then she was 20 years old and a few inches taller than I. I didn't care to hear about DisneyWorld, or Chris, or Florida, or anything else. I just wanted her back home safely. Fortunately hotel security stayed with her until her flight home and the Orlando police sent her mug shots to review for the next week or two. But her purse was never found and the horrible, mean, nasty, cruel, excuse of a human female was never arrested. Susan didn't have much in her purse, but it must have been enough for the criminal. I just hope that karma gets to her eventually. AND.....I hope that she never gets to wish upon a star!!!!!!!

Now, I have quite a Disney experience to relate about when I took a group of my students to Orlando. But that will have to wait till my next entry.

 

[swwake]

OK since I feel all guilty because my PTR has very few pictures and everyone else's has lots of fun and beautiful and interesting pictures, now will be a good time to add a few.

My sister and I left Michael, the infant, with Mother and took Susan, Joann, and Amy(the toddler) to DisneyWorld for a day.

Mom's sister, Debbie and Mom (last October near Fort Worth, Texas):

And here is one of my cousin Amy and me at the same event:

I'm not sure about the next date Susan has listed. I thought it was either earlier or later, because I know for sure that we took a two week cruise in July, 1983. I thought we went before then, but I, too, think we went to Epcot for this trip. I just remember that the girls were not nearly as enthralled with Epcot as I was.

We stayed at the Ramada Inn at the entrance to DisneyWorld. We could stand on the balcony at night and watch the fireworks from our motel.

I'm thinking this trip may have been in 1984.

The cool thing is that if it was 1984, I was 17 and between my Junior and Senior years in high school. Which means I was only a year older than Katie will be when we take her this summer. Our family does things every 25 years

When Susan and Chris (the former) went to Mouseland in 1987, I spent one of those sleepless nights that mothers dread.

Remember, Mom, at this point in the PTR, nobody knows that Chris (the former) ever existed. So for explanation, my high school sweetheart (well, sorta - we started dating after Valentine's day my senior year) and I married in 1989 and had Katie in 1992, later divorcing in 1995. So that is "Chris (the former)". Ironic that I ended up marrying yet another Chris.

When she called me to tell me she had been mugged in the elevator... Fortunately hotel security stayed with her until her flight home and the Orlando police sent her mug shots to review for the next week or two. But her purse was never found and the horrible, mean, nasty, cruel, excuse of a human female was never arrested. Susan didn't have much in her purse, but it must have been enough for the criminal.

Fact Check Alert: I was "mugged" but it wasn't as bad as it sounded. No guns, no violence, no pushing or shoving, not even a word. You see, I carried my purse over my shoulder. It hung to my hip and had a zip top. I realized that this lady who got on the elevator with me didn't push a button for her floor, so I turned around to offer to push her button for her and said "Hey, your wallet looks just like mine! See?" (reaching in my purse to grab for my wallet). Well, needless to say, my wallet wasn't in there and by the time I figured out what had happened, she was off at the next floor never to be found again. I was young and naive and scared and ran to my room, where my then-boyfriend was waiting. (So, my purse wasn't stolen. My wallet was. But what good is a purse without a wallet?)

Mom forgot to mention that I stayed on a cot in the security office overnight because instead of offering me his jumpseat (we both worked at FedEx), the boyfriend flew on home, leaving me in Orlando scared to death that this woman was going to go get her thugs and come after me, since surely she knew I had reported the incident.

Very little cash in my wallet. Maybe a couple of travelers' checks (remember those?), but I got them canceled quickly. A nice little dinner at Red Lobster did show up on my credit card bill, but I disputed it and it was gone. The biggest hassle was getting a new drivers' license, etc.

Oh yeah, and Dear Old Dad wasn't gonna make me wait until midnight the next night for my jumpseat, so he wired me a direct flight home on the first flight out the next morning.

So, there's the facts, Jack!

 

[swwake]

If my girls were in MK when I was taking the tour, and I knew they had their phones, I would feel a lot more comfortable.

I've always wanted to do this one. I look forward to hearing about it.

I am sure Katie will have her phone with her. What would she do without texting??! I think we'll all be more comfortable that we're in the same park at least, if heaven forbid something went wrong. I will definitely post a trip report about this tour when we return.

Congrats on making your ADR's! They definitely show the difference between planning for little kids and older ones, when I mentally compare them to what we did! The only overlap was Ohana, fwiw. Ok, and not planning 180 days out - I might've tried for CA Grill for our date night (tho that really would've messed up the DDP TS credits, too). Jiko sounded interesting - we did Boma instead.

Thanks! Yeah, we've obviously done a couple of kids trips. It's funny though, I don't remember EVER doing character meals. It seems like when we went in 97, there may have been one or two, but they were very hard to get into. At that time you had to be a resort guest to get ADRs (which were called something else back then - I don't remember), so we never made any reservations, and I really don't ever remember a problem getting in to any restaurant to eat. Now it seems like they are offering a wide variety of restaurants of a wide variety of entertainment as well as quality. I have just done so much research, we have hand-picked the ones we want to do. I think the girls are at an age where they will really enjoy these too.

Now, one other thing. I remember on our honeymoon we ate at the restaurant that was then in Cinderella's castle. I don't think it was CRT and I don't remember any characters roaming around. What I do remember is that we ate off of pewter plates and drank from pewter mugs. I thought those mugs were so cool how they frosted with a cold beverage, and I really wanted to get some for our home. I never got them, and it's a good thing, because they really aren't in style this millineum!

Only overlap is Ohana, huh? No WCC for you? Oh, and I have Kona breakfast on the tentative agenda. I want to try that Tonga Toast! But we're not planning to make a long-term ADR for it. We'll wait and see how our week works out.

That's awesome that you signed up for KTTK. I took it last May and had an incredible time!

Yeah, we're definitely excited about it! How did it go for you? I have heard cautions that it is LOTS of walking with very little break time. The CM also told me that it's rain or shine. I'd love to hear more details (without giving away any surprises), if you want to share. Have you done the 3-park behind the scenes tour too?

Susan, I love having your mom on board this is so much fun! Sorry the ADR's didn't exactly go as planned but glad you got most of what you wanted!

Thanks! I have been trying to get her to add on here for awhile. I had to teach her how to navigate the forums Now that she's here, I think it makes a great contribution and will be a keepsake for our scrapbook.

I think we're going to be very happy with our ADRs. I can be flexible. The more I hear, the more I think that CG reservation is right on time.

 

[swwake]

La Nouba tickets purchased!

Raglan Road ADRs made!

All that's left in the way of reservations or scheduled events is the Typhoon Lagoon Surfing and checking out the opportunity to wakeboard. Can't do any of these until 90 days out - so another 3 months.

That is, unless they announce a P&PP during our stay, in which case we have a decision to make....

Coming up - La Nouba seats - second guessing myself?

NEXT UP: NOT TO BE MISSED, AND MORE

 

[irene_dsc]

Thanks! Yeah, we've obviously done a couple of kids trips. It's funny though, I don't remember EVER doing character meals. It seems like when we went in 97, there may have been one or two, but they were very hard to get into. At that time you had to be a resort guest to get ADRs (which were called something else back then - I don't remember), so we never made any reservations, and I really don't ever remember a problem getting in to any restaurant to eat. Now it seems like they are offering a wide variety of restaurants of a wide variety of entertainment as well as quality. I have just done so much research, we have hand-picked the ones we want to do. I think the girls are at an age where they will really enjoy these too.

Now, one other thing. I remember on our honeymoon we ate at the restaurant that was then in Cinderella's castle. I don't think it was CRT and I don't remember any characters roaming around. What I do remember is that we ate off of pewter plates and drank from pewter mugs. I thought those mugs were so cool how they frosted with a cold beverage, and I really wanted to get some for our home. I never got them, and it's a good thing, because they really aren't in style this millineum!

Only overlap is Ohana, huh? No WCC for you? Oh, and I have Kona breakfast on the tentative agenda. I want to try that Tonga Toast! But we're not planning to make a long-term ADR for it. We'll wait and see how our week works out.

Well, this was our 1st trip (except for dh, who went as a kid), so I can't really compare to old stuff. I do think it sounds cool to eat in the castle - that old version sounds interesting. I am glad there are lots of character meals now to choose from - that worked out very well for us. Especially since we really didn't see very many characters just wandering around, and I didn't feel like taking the time to search them out.

I have to admit, I'm not sure of the appeal of WCC. And while Kona for breakfast sounds lovely, I probably wouldn't do it unless we were staying at the Poly - too much time out from prime park touring.

 

[swwake]

Well, this was our 1st trip (except for dh, who went as a kid), so I can't really compare to old stuff. I do think it sounds cool to eat in the castle - that old version sounds interesting. I am glad there are lots of character meals now to choose from - that worked out very well for us. Especially since we really didn't see very many characters just wandering around, and I didn't feel like taking the time to search them out.

I have to admit, I'm not sure of the appeal of WCC. And while Kona for breakfast sounds lovely, I probably wouldn't do it unless we were staying at the Poly - too much time out from prime park touring.

Sounds like you did it just right for the experience and ages of the kiddos.

Back in the '80s, the only way to get pics with characters was to search them out. There were no character stations like Toontown Fair or Camp Minnie Mickey or the station(s?) at Epcot. All that has been added and, IMO, for the experience for kiddos, it is great! You know where they will be and you can plan your day around it. Of course, it's always fun to just "happen upon" a character as well. And I think they still do it that way too. I love the whole Disney experience and how it lights up the eyes of young children.

WCC - For us, the decision was not about the food whatsoever (we can get better family-style barbecue here in Texas (5 minutes from home!). It was about the atmosphere, the reviews of how much personality, spunk, showmanship the CM servers have to make the experience memorable. I wanted these girls to experience that. I think it's a great fit for their age, and gives them a "Disney" feel without traditional characters. Also, we have always wanted to see (and have many times considered staying at) the Wilderness Lodge, so this will give us a chance to explore a little.

Now, as for Kona - I must agree with you. The only way we will likely go there will be on a non-park day or maybe a day when we aren't wanting to get to a park early. Maybe we'll go there for a nice big breakfast on Surfing day, since I hear that you are exhausted (not feeling like touring parks) and STARVING after the surf. We also want to explore the Poly, but we should get a chance for that with 'Ohana. And not so sure we really need the Tonga Toast anyway. That's why it's tentative.

I am so glad you had such a great trip. Your TR inspires me!

 

[irene_dsc]

Sounds like you did it just right for the experience and ages of the kiddos.

Back in the '80s, the only way to get pics with characters was to search them out. There were no character stations like Toontown Fair or Camp Minnie Mickey or the station(s?) at Epcot. All that has been added and, IMO, for the experience for kiddos, it is great! You know where they will be and you can plan your day around it. Of course, it's always fun to just "happen upon" a character as well. And I think they still do it that way too. I love the whole Disney experience and how it lights up the eyes of young children.

WCC - For us, the decision was not about the food whatsoever (we can get better family-style barbecue here in Texas (5 minutes from home!). It was about the atmosphere, the reviews of how much personality, spunk, showmanship the CM servers have to make the experience memorable. I wanted these girls to experience that. I think it's a great fit for their age, and gives them a "Disney" feel without traditional characters. Also, we have always wanted to see (and have many times considered staying at) the Wilderness Lodge, so this will give us a chance to explore a little.

Now, as for Kona - I must agree with you. The only way we will likely go there will be on a non-park day or maybe a day when we aren't wanting to get to a park early. Maybe we'll go there for a nice big breakfast on Surfing day, since I hear that you are exhausted (not feeling like touring parks) and STARVING after the surf. We also want to explore the Poly, but we should get a chance for that with 'Ohana. And not so sure we really need the Tonga Toast anyway. That's why it's tentative.

I am so glad you had such a great trip. Your TR inspires me!

When I said searching out, I meant going to the stations, actually. If dd hadn't been so terrified of all of them (except Cinderella), we probably would've gone to more of the stations, tbh.

On WCC - the waitstaff stuff didn't sound appealing for our particular family, I have to admit. Dh likes Good Service, not joking around. The 2 of us ended up at Ed Debevic's recently, and he just hated the whole thing. I'm sure being stressed out right after a meeting didn't help, but getting harassed by wait staff isn't his idea of fun. (Unless I'm really missing something here, and/or getting confused with Prime Time Cafe, which actually sounds a lot like Ed Debevic's to me.)

 

[swwake]

When I said searching out, I meant going to the stations, actually. If dd hadn't been so terrified of all of them (except Cinderella), we probably would've gone to more of the stations, tbh.

On WCC - the waitstaff stuff didn't sound appealing for our particular family, I have to admit. Dh likes Good Service, not joking around. The 2 of us ended up at Ed Debevic's recently, and he just hated the whole thing. I'm sure being stressed out right after a meeting didn't help, but getting harassed by wait staff isn't his idea of fun. (Unless I'm really missing something here, and/or getting confused with Prime Time Cafe, which actually sounds a lot like Ed Debevic's to me.)

I think you're right - PTC is more like Ed Debevic's. Or Dick's Last Resort. Although we were disappointed with our experience there (PTC) in 97. We didn't have a very fun server. I think WCC is less harassment and more fun. But it's whatever works for each person or family, so I totally respect that it may not have worked for your fam. I would think kids as young as yours may not get so much out of WCC. As for adults, I think you'd really have to be "in the mood".

I don't want to give anything away to my family PTR readers (Mom, Katie, maybe Caitlin and Chris if they are ever interested in reading it), so I won't mention the two main "funny" things I've heard about it. I have seen a couple of videos - the servers ride hobby horses and if it's a kid's birthday, they will have them ride around the restaurant on the hobby horse as well and everyone sings to them.

All of our other meal choices are more adult, some very "formal", so this will be a nice break for us.

 

[swwake]

Off Topic Warning!!

I just had to share the beautiful roses I got for Valentine's Day from Chris and Katie. Check it out!

 

[Donald is #1]

[Yeah, we're definitely excited about it! How did it go for you? I have heard cautions that it is LOTS of walking with very little break time. The CM also told me that it's rain or shine. I'd love to hear more details (without giving away any surprises), if you want to share. Have you done the 3-park behind the scenes tour too?[\QUOTE]

Let's see: First I had an 8:30 tour. So I got to MK early and was able to spend 10-15 minutes enjoying Main Street without lots of people. I walked all the way up to the castle to get pictures without millions of other park guests.

Yes there is a lot of walking in the tour, but my guide stopped at areas where we could sit 2-3 times during the tour. So we were able to sit down at times during the tour. I thought that the head phones that they give you were excellent. I was able to hear the guide perfectly even though he was walking away leading the group. It was great to hear about the meaning of the names in the window above Main St. We went on the Jungle cruise and the Haunted Mansion. I have seen some reports of tours also doing Pirates of the Carribean but my tour only did 2 rides. We were taken behind the scenes near Splash Mountain and saw the area where the parade floats are kept. We also went into the Utilidoors. But to be honest, they are basically hallways.

The meal at Columbia Harbor House is very good. When you check in for your tour, you give them your lunch selection. Then when group arrives, you head upstairs to a roped off area and your lunch is waiting for you. The guide had all kinds of information about the MK. It was definitely an awesome time.

I haven't done the three park one yet but it is on my wish list. In May, I will be doing the sunrise safari and then in December, I am hoping to do the Yuletime Fantasy Tour.

 

[Planning fanatic mom]

My girls loved WCC as did DH and me. I won't give anything away either. The girls were 14 and 11 at the time. The food was good and our server was the perfect combination of attentive and fun.

We also liked PTC. They are quite different experiences. DH loves to annoy the servers as much as they annoy the customers. I would only go there if DH were along.

Love the flowers!!!

I have to figure out what Raglan Road is. Yeah! Research!!!

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

Now a bit about a trip I took to DisneyWorld in the Eighties without my family.

I'm not sure of the year, but I'm sure I've got something in that previously mentioned closet that would give me the date. But this is also one of those life events one wishes to permanently erase from memory. On the other hand it was also an event that taught many people (including me) life lessons and gave those same persons character building experiences. (Those are phrases that I used often as a Principal.)

It was as a Principal that this WDW experience came to be. I was assigned to a very unique school. It housed grades K-8. It was located in a very, very rural spot about 25 miles from Memphis, Tn. About 10% of the students lived on farms. About 3% lived in very large homes on 1-4 acres. The other 87% lived in a housing project 1/4 mile from the school. Yes, a housing project in the middle of cotton and bean fields! Go figure!!!

The kids from "The Project" (as they called it) were living in ghetto surroundings minus transportation. Most of them had NEVER been inside Memphis City Limits after they were brought home from the general hospital. (If, indeed, they were not born at home.) (I had more than one student who was born in the commode!) True stories!

The Project had all elements of poverty, especially crime and drugs. There was nothing to encourage the students from not living the rest of their lives there. Most of them were being raised by grandparents, because parents were dead or imprisoned. I felt I could maybe open some doors for them if I could get them away from The Project for a few days.

At first, I started taking a vanload of 7th and 8th graders to Nashville to the Governor's Drug Free Conference each spring. It didn't cost the students a dime. That worked until a new governor was elected and stopped funding the program.

Next, I spent a full school year teaching interested students a unit on Aerospace. I culminated the study by taking them to Huntsville,Alabama to the NASA Space Camp. They knew everything there was to know about aerospace and NASA and really got a lot out of the trip. I used school funds to pay for their motel rooms, food, and admission. We had teachers and parents drive the students in a multi-car caravan from the school to Huntsville and back. The students stayed 2 or 3 in a motel room with a teacher/parent. This adult stayed with the students throughout their visit to the NASA center.

When we returned I gave them an evaluation form to complete about the experience. Upon reading them, I was shocked by responses to one question: "What did you learn that surprised you the most?"

Their responses were "that the soil in Alabama is red."

With that I knew that I had a lot more doors to open.

So my goal for the next year was Washington, D.C. I'm not going to go into all the exciting sub-stories about this experience on this page. I'll save it for my memoir. I'll just say that we managed to raise over $36,000 and took 63 students, parents, and teachers to our nation's capital. I followed that class and it had the highest %age of HS graduates of any from our school to that date.

Needless to say, after that trip I was expected to take each class to Washington D.C. In the ensuing years for a variety of reasons including $ and #'s, I took the students to D.C. and/or New York City and then got brave enough to plan a trip to Orlando. BIG MISTAKE in so many ways!

This became a very expensive trip that only a few could afford. The very students that I would have wanted to take simply could not raise the funds. (People are more willing to subsidize/donate to a child wanting to go to Washington, D.C. or NYC... not so much to Orlando.)

So we ended up with myself, a mother, a grandmother and grandfather, and 14 students going to Orlando. Our plans were to spend a day at the MK, a day at Epcot, a day at MGM, and a day at SeaWorld.

Each adult had certain students assigned to them. All of the students were from the families with $$ with the exception of two girls from The Project who had worked and worked to get the money up for the trip (with a little help from a local church that I contacted). Those two girls were my "charges". And believe me, they stuck like glue to me because they were such fish out of water everywhere we went.

Well, the first day seemed to go well. We got off the plane and went straight to MK until after the fireworks. Then to our motel for a moonlight swim in the pool. We got up the next morning and after dragging some stragglers from the motel gift shop, we went to Epcot.

When we got back to the motel and had our little nightly evaluation conference, I learned that several of the students were straying away from their chaperones throughout the day. (Not mine, they were still glued to me.) So I told everyone that the next day they would stay with their chaperones at all times and that we would all stay together throughout the day. That was MGM day and we really had a lot of fun being together as a group. Several of us were selected to play famous TV roles at one stop. I was Ethel with Lucy in the candy factory!

Our final day was spent at SeaWorld. We were to leave there at 4:00 pm to catch our plane back to Memphis. All was going well, and the adults were getting a little tired of being "tied down" to the kids. After a little discussion over breakfast, we decided that since SeaWorld was much smaller and very contained we could let the students roam free if they chose to do so. Well, the Grandparents had a few who wanted to stay with them and I, of course, had my two adhesives. The mother's son and his friends wanted to go off on their own.

At lunch time the mother and I and my two gals decided to go get some pizza at the main restaurant in SeaWorld. Just as we got in line to order, the Park Announcement System rang out, "Will Mrs. C....C... and Mrs. B....G..... please come immediately to the security office!"

I looked at the mother. The mother looked at me and in unison we both said "Oh, my God!" I just knew that one of the kids had fallen into the shark tank! And it must have been her son! (Which wouldn't have been a surprise to me, based on past experiences.)

We got to the Security Office in record time. (I think we went faster than the water skiers behind their boats! and we were wearing sneakers, not skis.)

We told the lovely lady at the desk that we had been paged. She took us to a back office where we were met by two policemen, the head of security, and two of our students. Of course one of them was Mrs. C's son! Apparently they had been caught in the gift shop "lifting" a few gold chains.

The rest of my afternoon was spent in that office. Long story short...All of the students with the exception of the granddaughter and my two girls had been shoplifting the entire trip. They had a game going to see who could get the most. They had items from the motel gift shop (refer to earlier comment re: said shop), the MK, Epcot, and SeaWorld. Nothing from MGM (remember they were being punished and had an adult on their tail that day.)

I was furious. I told the police to "book 'em!" Take them to Juvenile Court and I would call their parents and have them fly or drive down to escort them home. The police told me, "No, Ma'm. Just give us the stuff and take those little *******s back to Memphis!"

My wrath was pretty bad and God helped me out by delaying our flight due to bad weather. When we finally got in the air, we flew home in a horrible storm with lots of turbulence. I never enjoyed a rough flight so much because I could see those little white knuckles glowing in the dark and I could hear the frighten gasps with each "bump" in the air. Don't cha just love it???

There's so much more to this story. But that is really all that relates to Disney. So I'll leave it there and you can read the rest in my memoir.

 

[Donald is #1]

Now a bit about a trip I took to DisneyWorld in the Eighties without my family.

I'm not sure of the year, but I'm sure I've got something in that previously mentioned closet that would give me the date. But this is also one of those life events one wishes to permanently erase from memory. On the other hand it was also an event that taught many people (including me) life lessons and gave those same persons character building experiences. (Those are phrases that I used often as a Principal.)

It was as a Principal that this WDW experience came to be. I was assigned to a very unique school. It housed grades K-8. It was located in a very, very rural spot about 25 miles from Memphis, Tn. About 10% of the students lived on farms. About 3% lived in very large homes on 1-4 acres. The other 87% lived in a housing project 1/4 mile from the school. Yes, a housing project in the middle of cotton and bean fields! Go figure!!!

The kids from "The Project" (as they called it) were living in ghetto surroundings minus transportation. Most of them had NEVER been inside Memphis City Limits after they were brought home from the general hospital. (If, indeed, they were not born at home.) (I had more than one student who was born in the commode!) True stories!

The Project had all elements of poverty, especially crime and drugs. There was nothing to encourage the students from living the rest of their lives there. Most of them were being raised by grandparents, because parents were dead or imprisoned. I felt I could maybe open some doors for them if I could get them away from The Project for a few days.

At first, I started taking a vanload of 7th and 8th graders to Nashville to the Governor's Drug Free Conference each spring. It didn't cost the students a dime. That worked until a new governor was elected and stopped funding the program.

Next, I spent a full school year teaching interested students a unit on Aerospace. I culminated the study by taking them to Huntsville,Alabama to the NASA Space Camp. They knew everything there was to know about aerospace and NASA and really got a lot out of the trip. I used school funds to pay for their motel rooms, food, and admission. We had teachers and parents drive the students in a multi-car caravan from the school to Huntsville and back. The students stayed 2 or 3 in a motel room with a teacher/parent. This adult stayed with the students throughout their visit to the NASA center.

When we returned I gave them an evaluation form to complete about the experience. Upon reading them, I was shocked by responses to one question: "What did you learn that surprised you the most?"

Their responses were "that the soil in Alabama is red."

With that I knew that I had a lot more doors to open.

So my goal for the next year was Washington, D.C. I'm not going to go into all the exciting sub-stories about this experience on this page. I'll save it for my memoir. I'll just say that we managed to raise over $36,000 and took 63 students, parents, and teachers to our nation's capital. I followed that class and it had the highest %age of HS graduates of any from our school to that date.

Needless to say, after that trip I was expected to take each class to Washington D.C. In the ensuing years for a variety of reasons including $ and #'s, I took the students to D.C. and/or New York City and then got brave enough to plan a trip to Orlando. BIG MISTAKE in so many ways!

This became a very expensive trip that only a few could afford. The very students that I would have wanted to take simply could not raise the funds. (People are more willing to subsidize/donate to a child wanting to go to Washington, D.C. or NYC... not so much to Orlando.)

So we ended up with myself, a mother, a grandmother and grandfather, and 14 students going to Orlando. Our plans were to spend a day at the MK, a day at Epcot, a day at MGM, and a day at SeaWorld.

Each adult had certain students assigned to them. All of the students were from the families with $$ with the exception of two girls from The Project who had worked and worked to get the money up for the trip (with a little help from a local church that I contacted). Those two girls were my "charges". And believe me, they stuck like glue to me because they were such fish out of water everywhere we went.

Well, the first day seemed to go well. We got off the plane and went straight to MK until after the fireworks. Then to our motel for a moonlight swim in the pool. We got up the next morning and after dragging some stragglers from the motel gift shop, we went to Epcot.

When we got back to the motel and had our little nightly evaluation conference, I learned that several of the students were straying away from their chaperones throughout the day. (Not mine, they were still glued to me.) So I told everyone that the next day they would stay with their chaperones at all times and that we would all stay together throughout the day. That was MGM day and we really had a lot of fun being together as a group. Several of us were selected to play famous TV roles at one stop. I was Ethel with Lucy in the candy factory!

Our final day was spent at SeaWorld. We were to leave there at 4:00 pm to catch our plane back to Memphis. All was going well, and the adults were getting a little tired of being "tied down" to the kids. After a little discussion over breakfast, we decided that since SeaWorld was much smaller and very contained we could let the students roam free if they chose to do so. Well, the Grandparents had a few who wanted to stay with them and I, of course, had my two adhesives. The mother's son and his friends wanted to go off on their own.

At lunch time the mother and I and my two gals decided to go get some pizza at the main restaurant in SeaWorld. Just as we got in line to order, the Park Announcement System rang out, "Will Mrs. C....C... and Mrs. B....G..... please come immediately to the security office!"

I looked at the mother. The mother looked at me and in unison we both said "Oh, my God!" I just knew that one of the kids had fallen into the shark tank! And it must have been her son! (Which wouldn't have been a surprise to me, based on past experiences.)

We got to the Security Office in record time. (I think we went faster than the water skiers behind their boats! and we were wearing sneakers, not skis.)

We told the lovely lady at the desk that we had been paged. She took us to a back office where we were met by two policemen, the head of security, and two of our students. Of course one of them was Mrs. C's son! Apparently they had been caught in the gift shop "lifting" a few gold chains.

The rest of my afternoon was spent in that office. Long story short...All of the students with the exception of the granddaughter and my two girls had been shoplifting the entire trip. They had a game going to see who could get the most. They had items from the motel gift shop (refer to earlier comment re: said shop), the MK, Epcot, and SeaWorld. Nothing from MGM (remember they were being punished and had an adult on their tail that day.)

I was furious. I told the police to "book 'em!" Take them to Juvenile Court and I would call their parents and have them fly or drive down to escort them home. The police told me, "No, Ma'm. Just give us the stuff and take those little *******s back to Memphis!"

My wrath was pretty bad and God helped me out by delaying our flight due to bad weather. When we finally got in the air, we flew home in a horrible storm with lots of turbulence. I never enjoyed a rough flight so much because I could see those little white knuckles glowing in the dark and I could hear the frighten gasps with each "bump" in the air. Don't cha just love it???

There's so much more to this story. But that is really all that relates to Disney. So I'll leave it there and you can read the rest in my memoir.

Wow despite your WDW experience, I am very impressed! I chaperoned a trip once for a long weekend in Boston with an Explorer Post (High School students) and that was more than enough for me. I have all the respect in the world for people who can chaperone groups of kids for overnight trips.

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

Our 1997 trip was fun, especially since the Tower of Terror had just opened. It was also my first time to see WDW through the eyes of a grandchild. Words cannot express the enjoyment of "doin' disney" with a grandchild.

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

Our 1998 trip was quite a combination. Earlier in the year Susan had gone to Washington D.C. on business and had asked me if I would join her for a long weekend and give be her tour guide since I had been so many times with my school students.

Washington D.C. is one of my favorite cities and I jumped at the invitation. As luck would have it, we were on a flight that connected in Charlotte, NC. The connecting flight was overbooked. We were in no hurry to get to DC so we gave up our seats.

As a result, we got the next flight out to DC which departed less than an hour after our original flight. We also got First Class Seating and two free round trip flights to anywhere in the continental US. So we used those tickets for me and Katie to fly to Orlando to join Susan and Chris for the weekend. Susan had a business conference the week before the weekend and Chris had a business conference in Orlando the week after the weekend.
How convenient and "cheap" was that trip.

Animal Kingdom had just opened and not everything was ready and it rained most of the day. But we still enjoyed it. I loved the tree. Katie had a great time digging dinosaur bones. We all enjoyed the safari although not many of the animals were there yet.

One other thing. We went to see the Jungle Book performance and consequently got me to the airport too late and I missed my flight. Darn! that meant that I had to spend another night in Orlando and miss a day of work. Darn, darn!! So we got to go to some other Central Florida attractions. Katie got to play with a monkey at a museum, go to an upside down house, and eat at Bahama Breeze. I had to drink one of the BB ultimate pina' coladas. Darn, darn, darn!!!